Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 4

The Daily News online: wwwtdncom Steelscape: Cawley happy with the sale A4 THURSDAY DECEMBER 20 2007 THE DAILY NEWS LONGVIEW WASH Willow Grove: Meeting goes late Mottet recuses herself I Newly appointed planning commissioner Ann Mottet re-I cused herself from proceedings over Pac Rim's proposed I Willow Grove housing development Wednesday She had been one of the development's most outspoken critics before she was tapped to serve on the planning commission last month Not long after her appointment Pac Rim questioned whether the Willow Grove proposal could get a fair hear- ing if Mottet was allowed to have a vote Mottet at first said she wouldn't recuse herself but an-j nounced Wednesday that changed her mind She did not attend Wednesday hearing on the project In a statement she said I have no conflict of interest I choose to step aside during this decisiorwnak-! ing process so as not to jeopardize the work of the plan- ning Still she said expression of opinion does not cre-! ate an ethical conflict of interest for a public servant If it did no official could ever express an opinion and later participate in decision-making on the issue" Tony Lystra The Daily News From Page A1 changing and that the county should approve a large-scale development there to keep up with the times Pac Rim wants the county to redesignate 325 acres of agricultural land on the peninsula to make way for as many as 207 homes The company is representing 14 Willow Grove property owners and could build as many as 80 houses on 245 of the acres leaving the remaining property for the owners to develop Pac Rim representatives said Pac Rim executive Chuck Eng said the houses would cost between $450000 and $1 million agriculture interests have changed since we moved there in he said new come would much prefer a farming operator come in and purchase the farm and do a heck of a bang-up Youngquist said ladies and gentlemen that going to Sonny Wenner 74 who lives on Willow Grove and is among 14 landowners partnering with Pac Rim to change the agriculture designation also said the area is changing want it to go he admitted But Wenner who has lived on Willow Grove since 1939 said has Earlier this year IMSA sold all its US holdings to Ternium an Argentina-based company that officially took over in August Ternium kept one holding in the United States a facility in Shreveport La which consists of a metal coating line paint line and slitter The Kalama plant produces about 50000 tons of coated steel annually which pulls in about $30 million Ramey said Most of the steel produced by the company is sold to companies that make metal buildings roofs or small metal parts such as gutters according to Ramey Lanny Cawley executive director of the Port of Kalama was pleased to learn that BlueScope won out on the sale because the port has a previous working relationship with the company just looks good and feels good to Cawley said From Page A1 Plant employees were informed of the sale Wednesday afternoon said Renee Ramey marketing manager BlueScope was one of five companies that had expressed interest in buying US holdings she said of all the alternatives this was the best-received by employees Ramey said adding that she could not immediately identify the other interested companies Ramey said she expects the sale will have little impact on Steelscape plant in Kalama but she heard for certain The company was originally founded in 1996 as BHP Coated Steel which opened the Kalama plant BIIP was owned by Blue-Scope until it was bought by Mexico-based Grupo IMSA been taking place all these years whether they like it or not creeping up on agricultural is he said what are we going to do just let it sit there and turn to blackberries? I say we should jump at the Dan George of Planning Solutions Inc a Vancouver architectural firm working with Pac Rim said that when people look for places to build a business of the things they want to see is housing He said the development would preserve the pristine quality And he said it would preserve areas for wildlife as well Green he said The homes each on lots of at least one acre would be built over the next decade the company said The 325 acres amounts to 30 percent of Willow Grove and a development there would roughly double its popidation The commission took testimony late into the night and planned to continue its meeting to next month By 10 pm the opponents had not yet had a chance to speak The planning commission must recommend to the three-member board of commissioners whether they should approve or deny the project Critics have said unleashing new development would forever change the rural area often used for jogging Smedley: From Page A1 of them live out here so not like we get together and sing Christmas she said get it out of my system Smedley said Fellow volunteers appreciate music on the long and busy day helps get everybody in the Christmas said volunteer Linda Mayers FEMA: New budget includes flood relief county to overcome them a beautiful piece of he said is going to be developed at least to preserve the quality of living Former County Commissioner Van Youngquist who is negotiating the sale of the largest block of land about 145 acres on behalf of his late wife said fanned Willow Grove for years But he said less-than-ideal soils and the economics of modern farming paint a bleak future for farming on the peninsula Youngquist said had the property on the market for about two decades and been able to sell it to boating and walks along the Columbia River argued that the farm land should be preserved The proposal has also raised the question of how the peninsula can grow sensibly in the absence of a current comprehensive plan for the county The bible for growth been updated since the mid-1970s and officials are poised to begin a new one next year There are also questions about extra traffic sewage and stormwater Eng acknowledged the site poses development challenges but said his company would work with the A lifetime of writing songs federal relief she praised FEMA staffers Wednesday for their hard work and for quick processing of the request for aid to the additional counties federal response continues to keep pace with the hard work being done by our state and local responders and emergency Gregoire said Individuals affected by the flooding may register with FEMA at wwwfemagov or by calling (800) 621-FEMA The new budget proposal includes $15 million for disaster relief $50 million for a flood-control project to protect Interstate 5 in the Chehalis-Centralia area about $500000 for the call up of the National Guard and up to $10 million to help build affordable housing in flood-stricken counties for Corps officials heavily lobbied the governor to veto the provision which was authored by former state Rep Richard Curtis of Ridgefield The governor asked the Corps and ports to work with the Coifs but negotiations have been slow and so far unproductive according to the family bottom line is that the ports and the Corps have not worked with Although the Corps expects to finish the dredging portion of the project by 2010 important to finish up the wetlands projects too Hicks said To the Coifs though also important to preserve farmland and a way of life is said Margaret Coif Hepola going to make From Page A1 Clallam and Kitsap counties join those already approved for individual assistance including checks for home repairs small business loans housing assistance unemployment checks legal services and crisis counseling Grays Harbor and Lewis counties were approved by FEMA on Dec 9 and Mason Pacific and Thurston on Dec 15 The governor said nearly 5000 families have registered with FEMA for disaster assistance with more than $67 million approved declarations will bring key aid to help our communities that have suffered so much and assist in the recovery from this Gregoire said Although initially concerned about the pace of have available land for the summary says Lower river ports have the ultimate trump card in this dispute They could use their power of eminent domain to condemn the property and the courts would then decide how much the Coifs would be paid for the land Hicks says eminent domain would be used only in a last resort The say the last financial offer from the Corps was for $4800 an acre for their bottoms land and $2500 an acre for land on Martin Island but that was in 2005 Washington Gov Chris Gregoire in April vetoed a section of a farm bill that would have prohibited ports from using eminent domain authority to acquire land for wetland mitigation Port Coif: Family believes there are viable alternatives people in a better mood I think It does said volunteer Mandy Clark nice of her to take time out and do Music has been a part of life since childhood Her mother encouraged her and her two elder sisters to become professional singers They competed in talent shows and performed in nursing homes poverty One of the homes she lived in was smaller than most modern garages and had no indoor toilet During the Great Depression Coif Hepola remembers that her mother who had a sixth-grade education earned money teaching women how to sew clothes from potato sacks left a she said had to work to get Her own children took jobs as young as 10 in local berry fields she said and used earnings to buy their own clothes In college Bob remembers waking up at 3 am to work as a logger before class earning his own way through Washington State University Hard work is in their blood said mother and son And if the Corps condemns their land Coif Hepola said her family would still survive They would still be farmers the battle is just the principal of the she said Dredging forward Development of dikes industry and the Columbia River channel over the last century have gobbled up large chunks of wetlands which nurture fish and wild perform much anymore Smedley hopes to land some gigs in area coffee shops She said noise will provide good practice for playing in front of a crowd even though most of the clientele pay too much direct attention either going to brighten their day or be background she said ones is more environmentally beneficial she said The three sites Hicks said offer most for the environment as the Corps will be returning the area to its natural state before the Woodland dike was constructed not being obstructionist the Coifs assert describing several alternatives and compromises offered the ports and to the Corps They think unfair that they being asked to sell 70 percent of all the land needed for wetlands mitigation even though channel-deepening covers a stretch of river 106 miles long The family also criticizes the corps wetlands-creation plan: One option is to move a Woodland Bottoms dike so that the Columbia floods or periodically saturates what is now dry farmland Noting the plan would cost millions does not sound like a cost-effective way of creating needed according to a family written summary of its experience with channel deepening are other sites on the river that could be used for mitigation In fact the ports of Woodland Kalama Longview and Woodland The performances and practicing faded away over the years but Smedley picked it up again in college She wrote her first song 15 years ago after hearing a song her sister wrote want to lose she said of her music carried me through tough things that have Though she life help recharge ground-water and absorb flood waters Deepening the Columbia River from 40 feet to 43 feet from Astoria to Portland will make inland ports such as those in Longview and Kalama accessible to ever-larger cargo vessels However the project is filling even more wetlands and state law requires compensation or to offset those losses said Corps channel-deepening project manager Laura Hicks Wetland conversions are planned at three sites: one in Clatskanie the Woodland Bottoms and on Martin Island Part of the Woodland Bottoms land was formerly owned by the Chumley family- Hybrid cottonwoods on the Chumley site already have been stripped away and work to create a wetland has begun The Clats-kanie-area wetlands project is nearly finished The Corps originally considered about 14 sites to create wetlands It limited its choice to three spots because its more economical Hicks said In addition creating a large wetland rather than many smaller From Page A1 Under its $160 million Columbia River channel-deepening project the ports and the Corps want to buy about 500 acres of the Woodland Bottoms and Martin Island land and convert it into marsh The idea is to help compensate for wetlands losses along the lower river But no matter the price the Coifs say their land for sale and to understand why one must first know about the matriarch Margaret Coif Hepola of our Considered one of prominent historians Coif Hepola grew up along the Lewis River before Northwestern Electric Co purchased part of their family acreage and built Mer-win Dam in 1930 Losing their land in 1927 was heartbreaking for her family felt robbed of our Coif Hepola 90 writes in Water Babies a published account of the Lewis early years Since then her family has only acquired land she said but never sold any Three of her five children still work the farm and all still live on the Woodland-area holdings which total 1200 acres (the Corps) said we bought the land to said Coif Hepola are not Sitting with Bob her son recently in the brand new kitchen of a stately house she moved into just last week Coif Hepola said she worked hard to overcome FIBRE EMPLOYEES A DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO RETIRE COMFORTABLY? 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