By KENNETH LIPP/YachatsNews
WALDPORT — State officials say 10-year-old funding agreements require the development of Don Lindly Park to include a launch for motorized boats, but current park users who have taken advantage of its open spaces and unique public access to the Alsea River want to retain its rustic state.
No one in the standing-room-only audience in Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue’s community room last Thursday needed to see the full slide presentation on the latest designs for the park. Several had offered comments during a Zoom meeting the previous week featuring the same presentation.
To the last person, the crowd was already in agreement – no motorized boats and take it easy on the pavement.
Lincoln County has a 40-year lease of Lindly from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It’s a 10-acre former recreational vehicle park on the south bank of the Alsea River along Oregon Highway 34 right at milepost 7. Much of the property is wooded or wetlands and there are few improvements — a gravel drive and lot, old RV power hookups, homemade log benches and a fire pit. There’s also remnants of a gangway to a now-inaccessible floating dock.
The county, Oregon State Marine Board and ODFW started looking for a place for a public boat launch in the upper Alsea tidal area in 2011 after receiving significant comments for years that one was needed. They located the Lindly property in 2013, and ODFW purchased it the next year for $300,000. Seventy-five percent of that was federal funds, 25 percent from the marine board plus a contribution of $35,000 from the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which fundraised for the purpose.
While there are several private, pay-to-launch boat ramps along the lower Alsea, there are no public launches in the 12 miles of tidewater east of the Port of Alsea’s marina in downtown Waldport.
A first design for the development of Lindly was scrapped in favor of a larger parking lot, but then that design was shot down in the permitting process because it encroached on wetlands. The latest redesign returns to largely the same footprint as the first, with several dozen parking spaces for trailers and cars. Like the previous two designs it includes a boat ramp on the west end of the park as well as a multi-purpose floating dock around the bend.
But users who commented during a Zoom meeting March 9 all thought the proposed parking lot was far too big and that motor boats and heavy traffic would ruin the park.
Unanimous in opposition
Thursday’s meeting at the Waldport fire station was a rain check from a meeting postponed Feb. 28 because of a big snowstorm. Every seat in the community room was filled and about 10 people were standing. Also attending were representatives from ODFW, the marine board and Lincoln County Public works director Roy Kinion, who led the meeting.
Kinion called for comments from the crowd row by row. About 20 people spoke. Few identified themselves by name, but most said where they lived in relation to the park or shared their personal experiences there.
Jon French of Waldport, who also joined the Zoom meeting the week before, brought a poster urging officials to keep the park natural and illustrating how little open space would be available under the latest design.
Chuck Pavlik, president of the Alsea Sportsman’s Association, said his group originally helped clean up the site eight years ago, and they strongly believed the park should have a handicapped-accessible kayak launch and fishing area — and no motorized boat launch. Pavlik is also a member of the Port of Alsea board and active in statewide ODFW fishery issues, including the Oregon Hatchery Research Center farther up the Alsea.
Pavlik’s sentiment was repeated again and again.
But those comments also hit a snag with the terms of the park’s purchase, according to ODFW and marine board officials. ODFW’s Holly Hutchko said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sport fish restoration program funds that covered three-quarters of the park’s purchase are to be spent on “boating facilities.”
What’s more, according to ODFW western regional administrator Chris Kerns, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the expenditure with the understanding that a boat launch would be built.
“Any time we buy property, we have to run that through our commission,” Kerns said. He said he wasn’t sure how to request that the original purpose be changed.
Janine Belleque, boating facilities manager for the marine board, said funding provided by the board also came with covenants and rules, including the requirement for motorized boating.
Ultimately, Kerns said, if the park did not get a boat launch, ODFW’s continued ownership of it would likely be “untenable.”
Mona Linstromberg of Tidewater suggested the county should buy it. Many in the audienced voiced their agreement.
With the fire department board waiting to take over the room, the meeting was closed after an hour with several people waiting to speak.
County parks supervisor Kelly Perry told YachatsNews Monday ODFW is discussing the matter internally and will schedule a meeting with county officials. Then another public meeting will be held, Perry said.
- Kenneth Lipp is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at KenLipp@YachatsNews.com
Thank you for a very fair assessment of the meeting.
Very good article of what transpired at the meeting. I do think that some would have liked to have seen the actual presentation – not everyone at the Public Meeting was on the Zoom Call to see the full presentation but I understand that would have shortened the already limited time we were able to speak (original meeting was for 4-6, we only had 4-5). I hope that people will visit the Don Lindly website and watch the Zoom Meeting.
I was truly heartened by the response from our local community. As you said not one member of the public spoke in favor of the current plan, including the president of the Alsea Sportsman’s Association (which was a wonderful surprise to me!). It’s interesting to me that a fishing guide from Albany has posted a ‘call to arms’ on social media to get this latest plan going and yet no one spoke up at the meeting. That’s the faction that really wants to see this happen and we, as local people who enjoy the park, must stop Plan C from going forward. Kelly Perry is still reviewing public input so please send in your comments. The Public Response Form can be found here: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/f3f5a735a7d2469fbfa45d2272d228d6
Thank you, again, for a great article.
Please use the money for something more useful for the local people not just out-of-town fishermen. I live on the river. It already gets too crowded and the out of towners are going faster every year. A nice park would be good, but nothing else
I also attended the meeting in Waldport. Due to the brief time allotted for the discussion, the folks in favor of the project were never allowed to speak. The meeting was dominated by half a dozen individuals who had their turn to comment yet continued to dominate the conversation. It was a jaw-dropping display of entitlement, privilege, and selfishness by those opposing the public’s using a natural resource that belongs to all Oregonians that frankly left me too dumbfounded to speak if I had a chance. Those opposed were against the project simply because they did not want others to experience and enjoy the Alsea tidewater and they attempted to hide that fact with a thin veil of concern for the environment, businesses, and various other reasons. I appreciated the Alsea Anglers’ honesty … they simply don’t want anyone fishing in their water which is unique to this organization. Influential and effective angling organizations are advocates for access to the public waterways for all anglers and spend considerable time and volunteer hours assisting ODFW with repairs, maintenance, and upgrades at other locations throughout the state.
This article failed to report that the money spent by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to purchase the property 10 years ago has a legal requirement to be spent on a facility that includes all watercraft and accepted thousands of dollars in private donations to help build out the facility with a launch for power boats. ODF&W will be required to dispose of the property and since it is owned by all Oregonians will likely be required to sell the property to the highest bidder to reimburse the fund used for this type of project. Also, ODFW is mandated to supply access to public resources such as the Alsea tidewater on behalf of all Oregonians.
Overall the sense of privilege and entitlement exhibited by those in opposition to the project was disturbing.