Here you find me on one of the Willamette River piers in Albany, where I stopped for a few remarks on my afternoon bike ride on Christmas Eve:
State regulators are inviting public comment on their proposed new Albany “water quality permit,” but they don’t tell us anything about the most important question: How much will this cost?
Three years ago I took the bike down the trail in Albany’s Simpson Park and made a video of the experience. Not many people saw it, but just yesterday somebody left this comment: “This park today is absolutely filthy and infested with homeless encampments.”
Now that warm weather is likely to lure more boaters out on the Willamette River, allow me to point out a couple of new hazards in the water off Albany’s Dave Clark Riverfront Path.
Now that the job of clearing a big pile of river debris is complete, let’s take one more look at the Albany railroad bridge where the work was done.

Bowman Park dock will need some work
The floating dock at Albany’s Bowman Park looks in poor shape, but mostly it’s a seasonal problem that another period of high water in the Willamette River may help solve.
Tags: Bowman Park, debris, floating dock, flotsam, Willamette River