The White Salmon City Council has sent back its short-term rentals ordinance to the Community Development Committee for more revisions.  Mayor David Poucher thinks they are about 95 percent of the way to getting the ordinance where they want it, but the Council wants to be sure the ordinance meets their intentions.  The committee is being asked to do some “wordsmithing,” and then send it back to Council.  The ordinance is providing for a $75 fee for registering a short-term rental in White Salmon as officials try to get a handle on how many STR’s are actually in the City.  Poucher expects the ordinance to come back to the Council either late this month or early in December.

Wasco County Commissioners talked about what they can do to help with $300,000 in needed repairs for the Riverfront Trail.  The City of The Dalles, Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District, and the Riverfront Trail Committee have been looking at ways to get the funding to get that work done.  County Commissioner Scott Hege says they don’t have monies to donate directly, but there is an avenue for the County to have a role, particularly through seeking funds from economic development channels.  Most notable in the repair list for the trail is a section from the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center to the railroad underpass.

The Port of Hood River Commission approved six percent increases in marina moorage and airport t-hanger rates for 2020.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee notes the Port has been on a path for a number of years to better-than-break even in both of those areas, with the intent to build funds for improvements at both facilities.  McElwee says in the case of the marina moorage, it has been seeing six percent increases for the last few years, and it looks like with this increase the area will be self-sufficient and funds are being reserved for eventual dock upgrades and other needs.

Portland General Electric’s Bigelow Canyon wind farm has graduated from Oregon OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program.  Oregon OSHA says the wind farm, which has 217 wind turbines on 25,000 acres outside of Wasco in Sherman County, tackled a variety of safety improvements.  Those included installing deflector plates to protect workers from permanent obstructions or clearance issues as they move up and down ladders inside wind towers, standardizing safety and health procedures across facilities, and setting up TV monitors to display safety trending reports.  The SHARP program coaches companies on how to effectively manage workplace safety and health, and companies are recognized for their success in reaching specific benchmarks.   An employer becomes a graduate when it completes five years of SHARP.

Thursday Results

Oregon High School Water Polo Championships

First Round at Newberg

Boys:  Hood River Valley 17, Redmond 0:  The Eagles will meet Ashland next Friday in the semi-finals in Corvallis.

Girls:  Hood River Valley 16, North Eugene 1:  HRV faces Ashland next Friday in the semi-finals in Corvallis.

 

Football

Lyle-Wishram 64, Pomeroy 14:  The Cougars are now 8-2 on the year, and await their playoff seeding over the weekend.

 

Friday

Football

Oregon Class 5A Playoff First Round:  The Dalles at Henley, 6 p.m.

Oregon Class 1A Playoff First Round:  Dufur at Perrydale, 7 p.m.

SCAC District Playoff:  Goldendale at Royal, 7 p.m.

 

Saturday

Cross Country

Hood River Valley girls and The Dalles boys and girls at Oregon Class 5A meet at Lane Community College in Eugene, girls at 1:45 p.m. and boys at 2:20 p.m.

 

Columbia, Goldendale, and Stevenson at Washington Class 1A meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco, girls at 10:30 a.m. and boys at noon.

 

Trout Lake at Washington Class 1B meet at Sun Willows, girls at 10 a.m. and boys at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oregon Class 5A Boys Soccer Quarterfinal

Hood River Valley at Ashland, 3 p.m.

 

SCAC Volleyball Tournament Semi-Final

Goldendale vs. Zillah at Granger, 11 a.m.

 

The Port of Hood River Commission is going out to get bids on a project to expand the north ramp of the Ken Jernstedt Airfield and installing utilities that received a state transportation grant of $1.4 million over three years ago, but whether it actually happens depends on how those bids come out.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says in the time it has taken to get permits to do work, the cost of a significant wetland rehabilitation that would have to be done has increased enough where the original grant would not be enough to do the project.  McElwee says they would need close to a million dollars more to complete it, so what the bids look like will determine if they move forward.  McElwee says they hope to have bids back in December so the Port Commission can make a final decision.   

North Wasco County School District 21’s latest long range facilities meeting on Tuesday featured break out groups taking educational adequacy and facility assessment data to develop priorities, and then they were all brought together to explain their choices.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says representatives of BLRB Architects are going to take those viewpoints to develop a proposal, and bring that back for another meeting next month.  If the December meeting doesn’t get the plan done, Armstrong said they would schedule one more in January.  The next meeting will be on December 10.

Signups for the Hood River County Christmas Project will get underway on Thursday.  Once again the project will provide Christmas food boxes for Hood River County families who meet the state of Oregon’s low income eligibility standards.  But project coordinator Bruce Holmson says this year they are not going to require paperwork to sign up.  Instead, when a family comes to a sign-up location they will have a conversation with them and go from there.  Registration sessions will take place throughout Hood River County in November and early December.  For a complete schedule go to hoodrivercountychristmasproject.com.

 

Entry forms for Monday’s Veterans Day Parade in The Dalles will be accepted through Friday.  Forms are available at The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Wasco County Veterans Service Office, and the Columbia Gorge Veterans Museum.  There is no entry fee.  The parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Monday, taking the usual route through downtown The Dalles.  The parade committee is asking churches and public buildings that have bells, sirens, or chimes to sound them to kick off the parade at 11 a.m.  There will a community potluck hosted by the VFW Post and Auxiliary 2471 following the parade at the Oregon Veterans Home.

Oregon Class 5A Boys Soccer Playoffs

First Round

Hood River Valley 3, West Albany 0:  Ivan Solano scored the first goal 13 minutes in off a giveaway from the West Albany goalkeeper, and Fabian Magana added a pair of second half tallies.  Zack Marble and Andrew Mondragon each had key saves to split the shutout in goal for the Eagles.  HRV moves on to a quarter-final matchup at Ashland on Saturday.  The Grizzlies defeated Parkrose 4-0 last night.

 

LaSalle 5, The Dalles 0:  The Riverhawks fall to the top seed in the 5A tournament.

 

Greater Columbia League Volleyball Tournament at Goldendale

Klickitat-Glenwood def. Sunnyside Christian 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-10