Gorge Commission grapples with adding electrical charging stations
"They are not expressly permitted in the 2020 Gorge Plan," Washington State Parks Commissioner Holly Williams said, "which is not really surprising, given that when the plan was being developed in, say like 2018, 2019, there wasn't a lot of talk about vehicle chargers.” Photo courtesy of seaside.com
By Rodger Nichols
Cascade Locks, Ore., Oct. 10, 2023 - The Columbia River Gorge Commission met in person for only the second time this year Tuesday in Cascade Locks.
Commissioners received updates about the Cascade Locks, improvements to the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway and how the Forrest Service is dealing with standing dead trees left behind from the Eagle Creek Fire in 2017.
Tuesday's meeting contained several interesting aspects, including the welcome from the Port of Cascade Locks General Manager Jeremiah Blue.
"What we're seeing from our community is no longer a look for a casino or a Nestle or a mill or some big sort of entity to come in and provide those jobs," he said. "Most of the community at this time have those jobs. What they're looking for is why are we missing things in this town that other communities have. Why don't we have a bank? Why don't we have a dentist? Why don't we have these sorts of things that the community members really, absolutely feel like they deserve?"
He pointed out that the Cascade Locks city council has five of seven members who are new to political office and the Port of Cascade Locks has four new members, and they have concluded that the future of the town depends on tourism. To support that, the Port is going to concentrate on developing workplace housing, which is not a traditional area ports are involved in.
Commissioners also heard from Washington State Parks Commissioner Holly Williams, who said she met recently with Gorge Commission Executive Director Krystyna Wolniakowski about adding electric vehicle charging stations to parks in the gorge, and made a startling discovery:
"They are not expressly permitted in the 2020 Gorge Plan," she said, "which is not really surprising, given that when the plan was being developed in, say like 2018, 2019, there wasn't a lot of talk about vehicle chargers. The long and short of it is the installation is not quantified, and therefore may be difficult."
She also noted that the organization is considering Class 2 stations that can fully charge a vehicle in 10-15 minutes, at a cost of $40,000, and Class 3 stations, which take 3-4 hours to charge, but only cost $4,000.
The Commission will take up the subject in the coming months.
Forest Service representative Donna Mickley told the Commission she had been asked if the Forest Service was planning on doing any replanting in the area affected by the Eagle Creek Fire:
"This summer, we were able to maintain 95 percent of the trails in the burn area," she said, "and that includes the eight miles of closed trail what we'll have reopened in this coming year. What we saw this winter was a lot of landslides, and a lot of rock falls. So five years is the that time that root systems begin to fail after a fire - a lot of slides on the trail and so continue to have to do that ongoing maintenance to keep those open."
Asked if the Forest Service was doing any replanting in the area, she said that they have found that Mother Nature does a better job, though the Forest Service was trying to control invasive species in the area.
Terry Lingley, who coordinates activities in the Gorge for the Oregon Department of Transportation, announced that two more miles of the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail had been completed, running east from Viento State Park towards Mitchell Point, and new restrooms, complete with showers, were installed in Viento State Park.
Click to enlarge - Yellow portions show the final piece of the trail to be finished by 2026. Once complete, recreationalists will have a trail linked from Troutdale to The Dalles.
She also shared some information about the newly-recreated Mitchell Point Tunnel, which replicates the original tunnel built a century ago as part of the Historic Columbia River Highway. She noted that the tunnel is recessed 25 feet from the exterior of the rock face and five adits, or open arches, give people using the tunnel views of the Gorge. It will be part of the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, which, when completed, will allow bicyclists and hikers to travel from Troutdale to The Dalles, without having to brave the traffic on I-84.
Gorge Commission Executive Director Krystyna U. Wolniakowski and Rodger Nichols, photo courtesy of Scott Hege
Part of the meeting was spent honoring this reporter, who stepped down at the end of July, after 12 years representing Wasco County on the Gorge Commission. In addition to compliments from current Commission members and staff, former commissioners Janet Wainwright and Lorrie DeKay shared memories, and Wasco County Commissioner Scott Hege said, "Many times, I think we were kind of throwing you into the trenches to do things we knew were challenging at best, and you took them right on and did the best job you could. A job well done."
The Commission's next meeting will be by Zoom only on November 14.
