The Astoria City Council met on March 16, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting featured a presentation on forest management strategies, approval of routine consent items, and several regular agenda items including amendments to the downtown parking district, an emergency road repair contract, and authorization to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for workforce housing at the Customs House site. The council also heard extensive public comment on whether to establish a designated campsite for individuals experiencing homelessness and what criteria should be used for site selection. The meeting adjourned at 9:07 PM.
City Forester Ben Hayes presented the annual work plan for the watershed, covering 2025 accomplishments (road maintenance, reforestation of 58 acres, road inventory) and 2026 projects: a carbon credit re-verification (estimated 32,000 credits valued at $250,000–$350,000), a 48-acre commercial thinning project using a sort sale structure, 40 acres of pre-commercial thinning, and road mitigation work. Councilors asked about sedimentation near Middle Lake, tree watering during heat domes, and thinning methods. Hayes explained selective across-strata thinning and that carbon revenue supports a watershed reserve fund. City Manager Spence announced Astoria’s drinking water won the award for best surface water in Oregon from the Oregon Association of Water Utilities.
Assistant to the City Manager Ryan Quigley proposed updates to the parking code, including cleanup of outdated language, aligning parking hours with signage (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), creating a framework for a future permit program, and removing obsolete data-collection requirements (Section 6.365). Councilor Adams asked about removal of employee/occupant reporting; Finance Director Norton confirmed it would reduce staff workload and privacy risks. Councilor Davis appreciated the cleanup. Public comment: Donna Mae Perdue (1067 Duane Street) described severe parking difficulties for residents and hotel guests, noting confusion about restrictions and a prior towing incident. The council held the first reading; motion by Councilor Mazzarella, second by Councilor Conklin, passed 5-0.
City Engineer Nathan Crater presented the need for emergency repairs after a December 8, 2025 rainfall event caused roadway settlement and closure. Two bids were received; staff recommended awarding a $48,452 contract to Big River Construction. Due to recent rain and slide movement, work may be delayed until conditions stabilize, with a goal to reopen by late April. Councilor Adams moved to approve the contract; seconded by Davis, passed 5-0. A second motion to authorize a 20% contingency ($9,690.50) also passed 5-0. No public comment.
Community Development Director John Roberts presented the RFP for a community land trust (CLT) development on a 1.1-acre site near Astor Elementary School, targeting households at 80–120% Area Median Income (AMI). The RFP encourages middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, cottage clusters) with permanent affordability through a ground lease model. Council questions addressed long-term affordability, interest rate impacts, resale restrictions, and feedback from the county housing task force. Councilor Davis expressed support for smaller units, Councilor Conklin noted pre-existing traffic/parking issues near the school, and Councilor Adams emphasized community engagement requirements in the RFP. Public comment: Several residents voiced concerns about traffic, parking, school safety, landslide risk, and loss of recreational space; others supported the project and density. Imelda Bradshaw (no address) asked about nonprofit oversight. Rick Colford (3506 Harrison) cited landslide history. Laura Parker, Lisa Morley, Mary Ann Monson, and others raised safety and congestion issues. Andy Kipp (461 Exchange) supported the CLT model and urged higher density. Motion by Councilor Davis, second by Adams, to authorize the RFP passed 5-0.
Mayor Fitzpatrick opened a one-minute public comment period on whether to establish a designated campsite for individuals experiencing homelessness. No council action was taken. Public comments:
Mayor Fitzpatrick opened a one-minute comment period on what criteria the council should use when selecting a location. No formal action was taken. Public comments: Speakers emphasized proximity to transit, services, sanitation; disability access; consultation with unhoused individuals; adequate buffer from neighbors; safe ingress/egress; visibility for enforcement; good drainage; and avoiding sites suitable for housing development. Several speakers opposed placing the site far from services or in a way that isolates residents.
Good evening and welcome to the Monday, March 16th, 2026 meeting of the Astoria City Council. For the record, the time is 6 p.m. Mr. Spence, if you could leave us in the pledge, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic. One nation under indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Mr. Spence. If we could have a roll call, please. Councilor Davis. Here, Councilor Mazzarella. Here. Counselor Adams. Counselor Conklin. Here. Mayor Fitzpatrick. Here. So we're gonna have a presentation shortly, but I would like to call for a moment of silence for the U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tyler Jaggers, who passed on March 5th after being injured during a rescue mission on February 27th. Thank you. Mr. Spence, we have a presentation and it looks like it will be from our forest about our forest management strategies, annual work plan review and update from our city forester Ben Hayes. Yeah, so Ben Hayes, our safe forester, is online. He has a prepared presentation for council, and I will hand it over to Ben if he could hear us. Yep. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Great. Um, so this is our annual uh forest operations update. As some people may know, we used to do a series of presentations through the year, and we've consolidated those into a single presentation. So if we can go to the next slide. Uh we'll talk about what happened in 2025, particularly road maintenance, replanting in a forest road inventory. We did not have a harvest project in 2025 because we did uh double harvest in 2024. Then we'll talk about what's going on in 2026, uh, the carbon project, a harvest project, some pre-commercial thinning, so very young forests, uh, road maintenance, forest stewardship council certification, and mitigation of a road. And for folks who don't know, the city is very unique that it owns a 3,800-acre watershed, and so that's where the drinking water for the city of Astoria comes from. And it's a very unusual um and unique thing that the city should be proud of that it's owned this watershed for a long time and has managed it really well. So if we can go to the next slide. Uh road maintenance. So the city has an extensive road system within the watershed, and it's the responsibility of the city to maintain decommission and rebuild roads as needed. Um, we have an annual kind of fixed scope of work, and we use that road system for both forest stewardship, but also to allow for um property access and protection, fire protection, which is increasingly an issue and a concern. And then by maintaining it, we're decreasing the potential of sediment runoff. Uh the forest practices act was updated recently, and so that's shifted some of our responsibilities and costs around road maintenance. Um, and as part of that, we're doing this large road inventory and a maintenance and abandonment plan for the Bear Creek roads. Go to the next slide. Um, last year we completed uh reforestation on a 58-acre harvest unit from 2024. So we we usually reforest in the winter following when we do a harvest. In this case, we actually skipped a year, and that was really successful. So it allowed us to select better seedling stock from a wider variety of different species and seed zones. And then when we were doing that, we also replanted 12 acres where we had seedling mortality when the heat dome happened and temperatures reached over 100 degrees in the watershed.