Port to Study Tide Gate at Astoria Regional Airport

Jan. 19—A tide gate that has plagued the Astoria Regional Airport for a number of years will get a closer look by the Port of Astoria thanks to a grant from Business Oregon.

The $99,600 grant will allow the Port to perform a site assessment and a wetlands delineation, as well as several other tasks, on the Vera Slough tide gate. The Port had been working with Warrenton and Clatsop County to determine how the tide gate could be adjusted, or revamped, in order to lower water levels at the airport in Warrenton.

Nearly two decades ago, the Port teamed with the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce to make improvements to the Vera Slough tide gate, including raising the water level to add acres of wetlands. However, the raised water tables are now "dangerously high," Matt McGrath, the Port's deputy director, said.

McGrath, who presented a picture of significant flooding near the Airport Industrial Park to the Port Commission on Tuesday, said that while the problem is not new, the recent flooding is indicative of the challenge.

"In our mind, what is happening is the Vera Slough tide gate, because it raised the water table so much at the airport, it's causing the erosion of a lot of the infrastructure — you're talking runaways, all of those types of things," McGrath said in an interview. "Especially if we're looking at development land ... that's really not good for the industrial park, especially when people are putting millions of dollars into their infrastructure out there."

Scoular is midway through the construction of a fishmeal processing plant at the Airport Industrial Park. The Port hopes to bring in more businesses in the near future.

Port Commissioner Dirk Rohne said during Tuesday's meeting that he spoke to the installer of the tide gate, who has made improvements to the concept in regard to evacuating water more efficiently.

McGrath is unsure about the solution or cost to fix the tide gate, but expects the grant and ensuing study to answer those questions.

"This is a long-standing problem that hopefully the Port will make progress on through this grant," Shane Jensen, the Port's grant consultant, said.

At Tuesday's meeting, the Port Commission also raised several base rates at the airport that hadn't been adjusted for about three decades.

The landing fee for aircraft will be raised to $2 per 1,000 pounds over 10,000 pounds. The original fee was set at 50 cents.

The callout fee for retrieving Port staff to fuel after hours will also be raised to $50 per hour, with a two-hour minimum. The fee was originally $50 per callout, regardless of the time span.

The new fees were approved unanimously.

Port commissioners also voted to raise the overnight parking fee for aircraft from $5 to $10. The motion was approved 4 to 1, with Commissioner Robert Stevens voting against it.

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