Roberts For Clatsop

Thank you for your support

2008-11-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

I appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve as your County Commissioner. I look forward to keeping the County heading in a positive direction and to meeting the many challenges sure to be faced in the next four years. I will continue to serve the best interests of the entire County with honesty and openness.

I intend to continue this blog site and hope it will help us keep in
touch.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Patricia Roberts

Thank You

2008-11-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

I appreciate the congratulations, but there remain a few Clatsop County ballots turned
into other county voter sites that are yet to be counted. It is extremely unlikely that these few ballots will effect the out of my election, but caution is always best. It will take at lease 10 business days to complete the certify the election.

I remain optimistic and appreciate hearing form you. Thank you for your support.

Patricia

A Letter From Clifton Dean Ferguson

2008-10-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Clatsop
County Commissioners;

Thank you for
taking the time to read my comments and concerns regarding Marine
Reserves off the Oregon Coast. Proposals have been submitted and are
now available for public review.

I have the
following comments for your consideration:

1)

I
would like to express my disappointment at the Marine Reserve
proposals submitted for the North Oregon Coast area for the following
reasons:

a.

You
may or may not be aware, but much of the year bottom fishing is
constrained to inside 40 fathoms. This leaves very little productive
bottom fishing areas for those of us fishing out of Columbia River
ports. The major areas inside 40 fathoms we have access to are the
Tillamook head and Cannon Beach areas.

b.

Closing
these areas to recreational bottom fishing effectively closes bottom
fishing to North Coast sport fisherman year around.

c.

These
closure areas would have the same affect as having the ODFW simply
close the area north of Cape Falcon to all bottom fishing without the
expense of maintaining Marine Reserves.

d.

The
Tillamook Head Marine Reserve closes one of the most productive
salmon, bottom fishing, and crabbing areas available to North Coast
residents. This will have a major economic impact upon:

i.

Charter
operators who run bottom fishing trips. This will effectively kill
the bottom fishing charter business from Columbia River ports.

ii.

Commercial
salmon trollers who frequent this area as this is one of the most
productive areas certain times of the year.

iii.

Commercial
crabbers who frequently fish in that area.

iv.

Recreational
fisherman and the plethora of industries that are supported by tourism
and fishing as that area will now be out of bounds.

e.

The
Cannon Beach and Manzanita reserve is troublesome due to the following:

i.

The
size of the MPA extends north to encompass Tillamook Head. This is a
VERY large area singled out as an MPA.

ii.

As
your aware, MPAs will be managed by rule making specific to each MPA.

iii.

As
proposed, commercial fishing has been singled out as being allowed in
the MPA. No mention of recreational fishing is made in the proposal.
One of the reasons cited for the need of Marine Reserves is due to
excessive commercial harvest. Here we are allowing commercial
harvest exclusively within an MPA. I do not believe that is congruent
with the spirit of an MPA and certainly not the Marine Reserve process.

iv.

Should
surfing, paddling, recreational fishing, and commercial fishing all be
equally allowed within the MPA then certainly I have much less
objection to the proposal.

f.

One
of the stated goals of a Marine Reserve is to stabilize fishing
regulations and opportunities (provide safe haven to “Big Fat Females”
in order to increase overall fish populations). This goal cannot be
studied if ALL fishing areas are closed. We would never know if the
MR has been successful in providing a net increase in fishing
opportunities and populations without areas adjacent to a MR remaining
open to fishing.

g.

I
personally fish these areas frequently and spend in excess of $15,000
per year on fishing equipment, electronics, fuel, bait, licenses,
launch fees, etc. These closures will cause a considerable reduction
in fishing opportunities and therefore a reduction in economic
activity as far as my dollars are concerned.

h.

The
ODWF has expressed concern over declining revenues in license fees.
One of the reasons for this decline is continued erosion of fishing
opportunities. These closures will be one of the largest losses of
fishing opportunities ever implemented. I would anticipate another
large decline in license sales with the implementation of these
reserves. This past year I obtained a fishing license in both Oregon
and Washington, but fished nearly exclusively out of Ilwaco. Should
these productive bottom fishing areas be closed off the coast of
Oregon I see no reason for me to purchase an Oregon fishing license
next year. I will fish exclusively from Washington ports.

2
I
would like to express my disappointment at the Marine Reserve
proposals as I was never contacted by any of the groups proposing
marine reserves along the North Coast.

a
The
ODFW stated many times that involvement by Ocean users would be
critical in considering these proposals.

b
I
am an Ocean user but was never contacted, nor do I know of any other
Ocean users in my area that were contacted.

c
The
process we were promised was not followed and therefore these proposed
areas are invalid.

3
I
DO support the Depoe Bay proposal and any other proposal that is
reasonable and was done via collaboration of all the affected parties.

a
I
believe strongly that this is the road toward successful
implementation of Marine Reserves.

b
It
is in alignment with the Governor’s Executive Order #08-07 and avoids
severe economic impacts to the coast communities.

Again, thank
you for taking the time to listen to my comments and concerns and
thanks for your involvement in this process.

Sincerely,

Clifton Dean
Ferguson

OPAC

2008-10-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

There is a proposal to establish marine reserves off the Coast of
Oregon. The Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) has been
legislatively mandated to advise the governor regarding marine
reserves. OPAC will be meeting in Florence, Oregon on October 23 and
24, 2008 to consider 20 proposed sites and to make recommendations to
the governor as to which should become marine reserves.

Marine reserves, as I understand, them prohibit all public human
activies and even entry. No commercial or sports fishing, or any
‘extractive’ activity would be allowed. In fact they areas would be
completely off-limits, forever, except for scientific research. Three
marine reserve sites are being proposed in waters off Clatsop County
that are linked with marine protected areas, from Tillamook Head south
to Cape Falcon in Tillamook County. In effect, if these three areas
are adopted, they would close important ocean waters to charter boat
operator, crabbers and commercial fishermen alike. The Board of County
Commissions has taken a stand against establishing additional no
fishing area without releasing areas already off limits. The impact
and cost to our communities would be too high.

For more information go to the Oregon Marine Reserves site:
www.oregonmarinereserves.net

The following are excerpts from this web site:

How were sites proposed?

Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council Marine Reserves Process
PROPOSAL FORM FOR SITES FOR FURTHER EVALUATION Please submit one

proposal per site. Complete and submit the two sections of this
proposal form. Attach your answers from section 2 to this form,
including a map showing the proposed boundaries of the site. Proposals
can be submitted to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife up
until September 30, 2008. Where to submit your proposal: By
mail: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife OPAC Marine Reserves
Process 2040 SE Marine Science Dr. Newport, OR 97365 By email:
Odfw.MarineReserves@state.or.us (please include “Submit Proposal” in
the email subject line) SECTION 1: CONTACT INFORMATION PLEASE
FILL IN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: Please type, or print legibly to
ensure we are able to contact you with any questions. Attach this
sheet as the first page of your proposal. 1. A Name for Your
Proposed Site: Tillamook Head Marine Reserve 2. Name of Principal
Contact: Mike Manzulli & Nadia Gardner 3. Affiliation/Organization:
Coastal landowners and residents 4. Daytime Phone: (503)
440‐7862 5.
Email: manzulli@hotmail.com 6. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1281
Cannon Beach, OR 97110 7. Additional Information: PROPOSAL
FORM FOR SITES FOR FURTHER EVALUATION

What information has be submitted?

Where are these sites located?

Since 1999 3 large areas of our local ocean have been closed to our
drag fishermen. First, the state of Washington closed all it’s state
waters, out to three miles. Then in 2001 a lawsuit brought against
the National Marine Fisheries Service by Oceana, the Natural Resource
Defense Council, and the pacific Marine Conservation Council was ruled
in favor of the environmentalist. The result closed a swath of water
from Canada to Mexico between 50 and 250 fathoms to drag fishermen
called the Rockfish Conservation Area. This area alone represented
75% of the traditional fishing grounds of our local drag fishermen.
Off cannon Beach this area is over 30 miles wide. Then in 2005 the
last large area closure was made when Oceana threatened another
lawsuit. This area closure is called the Essential Fish Habitat and
closes the ocean from the 700 fathom line as far out as any bottom
fishing vessel can fish.

Drag fishermen have modified their fishing techniques to provide net
designed that do not drag across the ocean floor and thus are
environmentally friendly. The new nets have “excluders” that greatly
reduce if not eliminate Rockfish species and retain the targeted Sole.
The vessels now have location and observation methods that are being
overseen by governing bodies. All commercial vessels are required to
have monitoring systems( black boxes that operate 24 hours a day 7
days a week / all 365 days), and human observers. Despite these
improvement no water have been reopened to our fishermen.

The local fishing fleet has been reduced to half as a direct result of
these three large area closures. If the state waters are also closed
fishermen will be put out of business and processors severely harmed.
These state water closures include sports fishermen as well as
commercial. Our local economy would be delt a huge blow and our
communities would face further devastation.

The County Board of Commissioners is requesting the state review these
initial federal water closure and consider the impact upon our local
economy and communities. If state waters are to be closed can federal
waters be re-opened? To date the Oregon governing bodies has not even
attempted to negotiate with the Federal authorities.

If you have an opinion please sent it to Terry Thompson, the Lincoln
County Commissioner and representative for Lincoln, Tillamook and
Clatsop Counties on OPAC before October 23- 24 meeting.
tthompson@co.lincoln.or.us

Attached are map showing the waters already closed to fishing.

Map of the Rockfish Conservation Area Closure :

The following map shows the Essential Fish Habitat Closure:

Land Use Code Revision Project

2008-09-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago the County Board of Commissioners asked for a review of Clatsop County Land and Water Development and Use Ordinance (LWDUO) #80-14. The existing LWDUO was adopted September 30, 1980 and though it had been revised several times during its 28-year history, it was in need of a complete rewrite. Planning Department staff and County Counsel have been working with the Planning Commission since March of 2008 when the draft revision was complete. This Wednesday, September 24 a joint work session will be held between the Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners. The meeting will be at 5:00 PM in the Boyington Building. The public is invited to attend but no public testimony will be taken at this time.

An overview of the revision project will be presented. The report is filed with details to streamline the development and land use review process and decision-making process. Also the consolidation of zoning rules and the development standards are addressed. There is an emphasis on maximizing the county resources.

This initial draft will continue to be refined and adjusted as the Planning commission continues to meet with County Counsel. Once this editing process is complete the new code will be ready for review and public discussion at public hearings. Notices will be mailed to all County property owners, leaseholders, affected government agencies, and other interested parties about one month before the first Planning Commission public hearing. Following the Planning Commission’s recommendation, the Board of Commissioners will conduct a second public hearing on the new code before taking final action to adopt the new land use ordinance.

The process is long with the editing not expected to be complete before the end of 2008. Notices of the Planning Commission’s hearing will not be mailed before January 2009 and the Board of Commissioner’s not before April or May of 2009.

The Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area

2008-05-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

The Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area, the first National Heritage Area on the West Coast, became official today. President Bush signed the Omnibus Natural Resources bill which included the bill authorizing a feasibility study of our area.

The proposed Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area includes land in Wahkiakum, Clatsop and Pacific counties and brings parts of our historically and culturally significant areatogether under a common purpose. The study will gather such common elements as the natural, historic, cultural, educational, scenic and recreational resources that are important to our nation's history. The study can take up to three years to complete.

I serve as a board member of the Columbia-Pacific Heritage Area Committee and support this effort to promote our region and to create job and strengthen our local economy.

Meet Commissioner and Candidate

2008-04-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Meet the Commissioner and Candidate at the Pacific Grange Intersection of Cullably Lake Lane and HWY 101 Sunday, April 27 2-4 PM. Hope to see you there.

Fisheries

2008-04-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

In answering an interview question for the Hip Fish, I was reminded of the details of a Board action from 2006 that exemplifies what the county can do to promote economic development that builds upon local fishing traditions and diversifies the county’s economic base.

The Clatsop Fisheries Program is an economic development program that secures and administers grant funding for salmon research and production. The program runs three net-pen sites and one hatchery facility to benefit the region’s sport and commercial fisheries. The program has a long record of cooperation with the states of Oregon and Washington in the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) project funded by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) since 1993, with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife since 1975, and with Oregon’s Fish Restoration and Enhancement program since 1988.

Some in the community felt the program could be better operated as a non-profit rather than run by the county. The Board gathered a committee of local fisheries experts to study and review the effectiveness and efficiency of the county run program and to recommend if a non-profit would be a better choice to run the program. The results of the study strongly recommended continuing the program under the county’s management.

The study concluded the program generated an annual gross revenue, region wide, through purchases of everything from fishing bait, fuel, eating out and to motel stays of over $ 3 million and was the source for over 400 jobs. The fact there was no recognition or credit for the success of the program illustrates how important periodic reviews by out side groups of county programs is. In response to the study, the Board established a stabilization fund for the program to ensure its continuation and its continuing contribution to our local economy.

The LNG Review Process

2008-03-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here is an overview of the process used for reviewing the Bradwood Landing application for developing an import LNG terminal, pipeline and related facilities. Several issues are discussed in greater detail, but not all issues are covered. Remember, this is a 330 page document and written is legalize.

What has the Board of County Commissioners approved?

On March 20, 2008 the Board of County Commissioners discussed final revisions and voted to approve Bradwood Landing, LLC application for permits and development of an LNG Marine terminal, pipeline and related facilities. The document contains the conditions and required approvals necessary before a building permit will be issued, and the conditions required during the construction, operation and eventual decommissioning of the proposed development

This 330 page document covers every issue raised by the county during the approval process. Testimony from the public hearings is also addressed through these written findings. The Board, assisted by our planning consultant, planning staff and our land use attorney, as well as the Planning Commission deliberations and decisions, established conditions the applicant must meet to achieve compliance. The Planning staff had recommended denial of several issues until the applicant provided compliance. The Board took the approach of granting approval contingent upon the applicant meeting all approval criteria. The standards remain the same and end result is the same.

Review process to date:

The application process submittal to Clatsop County began December 12, 2006.

This initial application was found by the Clatsop County Planning Department to be incomplete. It took until February 14, 2007 for the application to be deemed complete. The Department then reviewed the application for compliance with the County’s Comprehensive Plan, Water Development and Use Ordinance (LWDUO) and Standards, and statewide planning goals. Next, the Planning Commission held public hearings on July 10 and 17^,2007 to hear testimony about the proposed development. The record was held open until July 31, 2007. Rebuttal was extended until August 17, 2007. The Planning Commission deliberated on August 28,2007 and on September 29, 2007 adopted their written findings recommending approval with conditions.

Next the Board of County Commissioners held public hearings on the application on November 19 and 26, 2007. The record was left open for additional comments and rebuttal until December 3, 2007. On December 13, 2007 the Board of County Commissioners deliberated and voted to give tentative approval to the application contingent upon preparation of suitable findings and approval by the Board. At the March 20, 2008 meeting revised findings were approved by the Board. County approval is not the final step in Bradwood’s permitting process. Before an LNG terminal may be built, Bradwood Landing LLC must also obtain permits from several state agencies and get authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Review by those state and federal agencies are now under way.

Industrial nature of the site.

Industrial use of Bradwood began in 1843 with the establishment of a sawmill at the base of Hunt Creek Falls. The railroad came in 1893. By 1930 an entire community had been built to serve those working in the mill. In 1983 the county zoned the mill site, Marine Industrial in recognition of the sites as “irrevocably committed” to water dependant industrial use. In 1990 the county reaffirmed this designation and established a 200 foot wide Aquatic Development Zone for a channel between the existing dock and the main Columbia River navigation channel. Waterway next to the existing dock area was also zoned Aquatic development at this time.

Two examples of required conditions for approval, both zone changes. At the time of the application the 40 acre terminal site was already zoned MI (Marine Industrial). Since an LNG terminal is considered an outright use in a MI Zone, why are any zone changes needed?

About five acres of wetlands, along the southern edge of the MI site is being rezoned to accommodate fill so the existing railroad can be re-aligned. Why is this allowable? The fill is necessary to accommodate the proposed development of the remainder of the site, and the loss of wetlands will be compensated by the creation of high quality estuary wetlands elsewhere.

Another zone change is required in the estuary, to accommodate a turning basin for LNG tankers. This change requires over 40 acres of Aquatic Conservation zoned water way be rezoned Aquatic Development so the necessary dredging can take place to deepen the area to accommodate the LNG ships. Some of the reasons given address the necessity of the dredging for the development of the upland use, that it is the minimum necessary for that development to occur, and that effort will be made to keep the negative impacts to a minimum.

The reasons given by the applicant for these zone changes must withstand the potential legal challenges of a Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) and the review of both state and federal agencies.

In addition to these rezone issues, a Mitigation Plan is another condition of approval., The Mitigation plan must demonstrate compliance with state and federal standards for the impact upon fish, fish habitat, aquatic organisms, tidal wetlands, non-tidal wetlands, riparian habitat, designated critical habitat and wildlife habitat. The applicant is in the process of compiling with these state and federal requirements.

The Bradwood sub-area plan called for any development to be small to medium in scale. How can this development be considered small?

There are two facts that indicate that this project can be identified as small to medium. First, the state of Oregon in an attempt to encourage development of former mill sires, around 1990, ruled that all former mill sites were exempt from any building size. ( other industrial site are limited to a 30,000 square foot square t building size for industrial development.) In fact Bradwood, a former mill site, is specifically named in Clatsop County documents as exempt from a limitation on building size. Second, the only other indicator of size in the planning documents state the relative number of acres of an industrial site. Large is defined as 100 acres or more. Bradwood, at 40 acres thus is on the lesser side of medium, or 50 acres. There is no height limit on industrial sites in Clatsop County.

Further, the Board stipulated that the small to medium size limited the site to a maximum of two LNG tanks. The applicant had request three tanks. The applicant had also requested all language limiting the site to the small to medium size development be removed from the approval criteria. Their request was denied. Further the application is limited to the 36 mile pipeline included in the approval document. No other pipeline is included in this approval.

A Little More Background

2008-02-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

My profile on this site list my education and professional associations, however there are more that I would like to list here:

I am currently the Chairperson of the Clatsop County Board of Commissions and am serving my fourth year in office. In August, 2004 I was appointed to fill the remaining term of retiring Commissioner Bob Green after winning the May primary election. I was elected to a four-year term in November, 2004, which began in January of 2005.

I am self employed and have been the sole owner of an architectural design business in Gearhart since June 1991.

I was born and grew up in Portland, Oregon and spent many summers at the coast. I purchased my home in Gearhart in 1976 and moved here full-time in 1991. I have two grown children; a son who lives in Portland and a daughter who lives in New York. I am blessed with two grand sons and a grand daughter.

Other than the organizations listed in my profile that I am presently working with, I have in the past worked with:

American Institute of Architects as an associate member of both National and Portland chapters, with an interest in historic resources.

Clatsop County Historical Society Board of Directors and Officer.

Chair of the Gearhart Landmarks Commission.

Member of the National Trust Historic Preservation, Seaside Museum and Historical Society, the Lower Columbia Preservation Society and the Gearhart Heritage Committee.

My occupational background:

Patricia Roberts Residential Design: sole owner

Various Portland Architectural firms

Volunteer Coordinator for Friends of Pioneer Courthouse Square

A teacher in Portland Public Schools

My Government Experience:

Clatsop County Commissioner, District 2; appointed

Clatsop County Commissioner, District 2; elected

Gearhart Landmarks Commission; appointed

Gearhart Budget Committee; appointed

Precinct Committee Person; elected

Please Stand By

2008-02-19T14:24:00.002-08:00

Please stand by while I develop this space as a communication tool not only for my up-coming campaign, but as yet another way to give and receive vital information on County Government.

I encourage comments, but please allow time for your comments and my replies to be published here. I am usually busy with my elected duties and am often called out of town, but I promise to address the issues as quickly as I possibly can.