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Clatskanie Grows Clatskanie Grows
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022
VOL. 131, NO. 14
What to do about RVs? Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
Citizen complaints prompt city review JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
The Clatskanie City Council may soon begin reviewing steps to address city and business operators concerns about recreational vehicles (RVs) parked on city streets and on private property without legal consent. Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hinkelman said he has been reviewing consistent complaints about transient and abandoned RVs. “The transient RVs park at different places all over town,” Hinkelman said. “They move around so that are not technically violating city law, but they are parking and not hooking up to required services. There is also the issue of abandoned RVs.” Hinkelman said the city wants to take a proactive approach in addressing the citizens’ concerns. “So, we are looking at this as public safety issue,” he said. The City of Rainier recently passed an ordinance to address citizens’ concerns about RVs in that community. Hinkelman said Clatskanie’s city council could review that ordinance to see if it might be adaptable in his city. According to the City of Rainier’s ordinance, the purpose is to limit the use of camper vehicles and other nonpermanent structures for permanent human habitation. “Because it is the determination of the city council that their use in
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Clatskanie may soon develop an ordinance to deal with citizen complaints about transient and abandoned recreational vehicles.
the city for permanent habitation is deleterious to the health, safety and welfare not only of the persons residing therein, but, additionally, of the public at large,” the Rainier ordinance states. Rainier City Administrator Scott Jorgensen said his city’s ordinance was developed with the input of the city council and the city planning commission. Portions of the Rainier RV ordinance were patterned after similar ordinances
in other jurisdictions, including Longview, Washington and Aurora, Oregon. “The city and council have been receiving complaints from citizens about people living in RVs for prolonged periods of time,” Jorgensen said. “It was felt that the concerns about the RVs needed to be addressed from a public health standpoint. There’s also the issue that RVs take up a lot of room when they’re parked on the sides
of streets in residential neighborhoods.” Jorgensen said the Rainier City Council and the city’s planning commission still wanted to enable people to have visitors in their RVs on a short-term basis, or for visitors to bring their RVs onto residents’ properties, so provisions were included in the Rainier ordinance to allow for those instances. Abandoning a vehicle is against the law, according to the Oregon
Department of Transportation (ODOT). The registered vehicle owner could be held responsible even if they sold the vehicle but failed to file the proper paperwork with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), The registered owner could be subject to a Class B Traffic Violation as well as cost to remove and dispose of the vehicle, according to ODOT. In other Clatskanie news, the city council has voted to send a two-year ban on psilocybin products within the city limits to voters. Oregon Measure 109, which legalized the use of psilocybin products to those over 21 in a controlled clinical setting, was passed by Oregon voters in November 2020. During the regular monthly Clatskanie City Council meeting Aug. 3, the council members voted 3-2 to refer the ban to voters in the November General Election. Councilor Gary Jones abstained, saying he needed more information before making his decision. “There were a lot of people who testified against the ban during the council’s meeting,” Hinkelman said. “Those opposed to the ban were very much in favor of having the psilocybin products available for their medicinal purposes.” Hinkelman said the two-year ban would allow the Oregon Health Authority to define and adopt rules to help guide cities and counties in regulating the psilocybin products.
Wabanang donates $500 to high school
Courtesy from SRFPD
The Wildfire Mobilization Team consists of Columbia County and Banks fire agencies.
Local team returns from wildfire JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Several members of Columbia County fire agencies, including Clatskanie Fire and a team from Banks Fire, are back home after joining the battle against the
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Contact The Chief Phone: 503-397-0116 Fax: 503-397-4093 chiefnews@countrymedia.net 1805 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens, OR 97051
nearly 11,000-acre Miller Road wildfire in Wasco County. The local team of 14 personnel had responded to Maupin early Wednesday morning, Aug. 3 to assist other firefighters. The Columbia County team includes, Columbia River Fire & Rescue, Clatskanie Rural Fire Protection District, Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD, Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District and Scappoose Fire. Columbia County is one of five structural task forces that had been sent to the Wasco County wildfire. Scappoose Rural Fire Protection District Chief Jeff Pricher told The Chief as the local team left for the wildfire that all of the responding county firefighters and apparatus would be part of the initial attack firefighting force. That attack included responsibility for holding established firelines, providing structure protection, executing triage of structures in the fire area (identifying the fire safety charastics of threatened structures, survivability in the interface zone of structures and performing mitigation measures (when possible) to prevent fire from destroying property), creating fire lines, coordinating with other resources in a coordinated effort for full fire suppression. Pricher said the team went in knowing the dangers. “There was a combination of low humidities (below 20%),
sustained winds over 15 mph and gusts over 25 mph,” he said. “It was hot. The terrain is very steep and with the smoke, visibility was limited. The temperature firefighters are exposed to with all of the firefighting gear is very taxing.” The fire activity in the conditions that the local crews experienced were significant, according to Pricher. “The type of fire behavior is more dangerous than in previous years as a result of drought, climate change and significant fuel loading,” he said. Pricher provided the following brief synopsis of what the team was able to accomplish: Day 1 - Aug. 3 Initial attack providing structural protection for the Juniper Flats Fire station. Day 2 Aug. 4 Mop up around structures. Mop up is a systematic method of making sure that all hotspots are identified and mitigated. Mop up includes strengthening firelines but putting out fire from the fire edge to different interior distances depending on safety factors and fire intensity. Depending on the slope, water bars are created to prevent erosion from fall rains on the newly created firelines.
See WILDFIRE Page A6
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Chapter presiding officer Janis Allen and chapter member Sarah Hinkelman deliver the funds to Clatskanie Middle/High School Coach Rob Kingery. STAFF REPORT chiefnews@countrymedia.net
The Clatskanie chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star (OES), Wabanang Chapter #127, has donated $500 to the Clatskanie Middle/High School. The donation will go toward the school’s athletic fund for athletic scholarships. OES is a fraternal organization for men and women. OES Members are guided by agreed upon values, morals, and laws. Members form friendships that last for years, according to the chapter organizers. “The charitable nature of the organization can be seen through the millions of dollars raised to support national, jurisdictional, and local charities,” the local chapter states in a release. “The chapter is dedicated to uplifting the community through fellowship and service
together. To that end, the Wabanang Chapter held different fundraisers between Sept. 2021 and June 2022, which allows the chapter top make donations.” The fundraisers included a rummage sale, Bunco night, and a silent auction. “Clatskanie and the surrounding community were very generous during the fundraisers which allowed the chapter to make this donation,” the release states. The Wabanang Chapter was founded in Clatskanie in 1917. Members meet monthly at the Clatskanie Masonic Lodge. The chapter’s next fundraiser, a Bunco Night, is scheduled to be held in October. To find out more, visit the chapter’s website, www.tinyurl.com/ clatskanieoes, or contact the chapter at wabanang127@gmail.com.