ST. HELENS, The St. Helens City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday night to give up the city’s right to buy 10 acres of school district land on Ross Road in Warren, clearing the way for the St. Helens School District to sell the property to a buyer the council’s motion named as Romano Capital.
The vote closed a decision the city had been sitting on since Sept. 17, when the district notified the city that it had an offer on the land. Under a right of first refusal the city executed in 2009, the city had 30 business days, until Oct. 29, to match the offer or step aside, according to the explanation given to the council during the public portion of the meeting.
A year earlier, Mayor Jennifer Massey, then-City Administrator John Walsh, and Council President Jessica Chilton had gone to the school board to ask it to pause the sale and explore a partnership with the city instead. The board’s minutes from Oct. 22, 2025 summarize their comments this way: “Selling the property for $700,000 is a bandaid. This only works with this property. This is a facility that supports a lot of our youth.”
What the Council Decided
The special session was held by Zoom. The council opened at 5:30 p.m., went into a closed executive session at about 5:33 p.m. to deliberate on the real estate deal and consult with its attorney, and came back on the record at 6:36 p.m. The public portion lasted about 10 minutes.
The motion, read from the meeting chat, authorized the city administrator to sign a waiver of the right of first refusal “with respect to the sale of property referred to as zero Ross Road from the school district to Romano Capital,” on the condition that the sale goes through on the terms in the Sept. 17 notice. If the terms change or the sale does not close, the motion says, the city’s rights remain in effect.
No council member asked a question or offered comment before the vote. Councilors Brandon Sundeen, Russell Hubbard, and Mark Gundersen and Massey voted yes. Chilton was not among the four members who voted, and did not take part in the conflict-of-interest declarations at the start of the meeting.
The terms of the offer were not read into the public record. The $700,000 figure appears only in the school board’s October 2025 minutes, and the Tribune could not confirm from public records whether the current offer is for the same amount.
The council’s motion identified the buyer only as Romano Capital. The city has a separate exclusive negotiating agreement with a company called Romano Properties, LLC, to develop the former veneer mill property in the city’s Riverfront District, an agreement the council extended for a third time in August. The Tribune could not confirm from public records whether the two companies are related.
Why the District Is Selling
The school board declared the Ross Road parcel surplus on Aug. 27, 2025, by Resolution 2025-26-004, which states the 10 acres at 58610 Ross Road are “not required for school purposes.” The board declared a second parcel, 7.28 acres at 2675 Gable Road in St. Helens, surplus the same night. Board Chair Reed Hjort, Vice Chair Christine Smith-Reed, and Directors Melody Killens and Rochelle Russell voted for both; Director Bill Amos was absent.
The minutes record the board’s reasoning in one sentence: “It was discussed that selling these properties will only help us this school year. It doesn’t take care of next year.” Killens noted the Gable Road parcel had been planned for school buses.
The district has been cutting to close a budget gap, and voters are deciding a five-year local option levy, Measure 5-312, on the Nov. 3 ballot. The Tribune covered the levy here and the board’s Oct. 21 meeting here.
The Property
County records list the owner as the St. Helens School District and put the parcel at 10.76 acres, with one non-residential building and no houses. It sits next to Grace Baptist Church at 58690 Ross Road, outside the St. Helens city limits but inside an urban growth boundary, and county zoning maps show it as R-10 single-family residential.
The parcel carries a farm-use special assessment, which lowers its property tax while it stays in farm use. Under Oregon law, taking land out of that program can trigger additional back taxes.
Neither the Sept. 17 notice of sale nor the 2009 agreement that created the city’s right of first refusal was posted with the meeting materials. The city’s website listed no agenda packet for the special session as of Thursday, though the meeting notice said one would be posted by 5 p.m. Monday.
Also Tuesday: Conflict Waivers and a Mistaken Agenda Item
The council also adopted Resolution 2103, which lets City Administrator Erik Finch sign conflict-of-interest waivers requested by the city’s outside law firms without bringing each one to the council. City Attorney Ashley Wigod told the council that law firms representing a public agency sometimes have another attorney in the firm representing the same client on an unrelated matter, and that Oregon’s rules of professional conduct allow it if both clients sign a waiver. The resolution requires the administrator to report any waivers to the council afterward. It passed 4-0 with no discussion.
The meeting notice had also listed an update on Project Arcadia, the city’s $7.5 million sale of the former paper mill at 1300 Kaster Road to Arcadia Paper Mills, LLC. Massey said that item was listed in error and was not discussed.
Sources: St. Helens City Council special session recording, Oct. 27, 2026; special session notice dated Oct. 26, 2026; St. Helens School District Resolution 2025-26-004 and board minutes of Aug. 27 and Oct. 22, 2025; Columbia County GIS taxlot and zoning records for Account 29238; St. Helens Resolutions 2061, 2095, and 2102; Oct. 21, 2026 council packet.