NORTH COAST
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015
3A
Sales tax might help fund convention center expansion
Hike in lodging
taxes also
proposed
By NANCY MCCARTHY
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — A local sales
tax could be imposed on all
businesses throughout Sea-
side to help pay for a proposed
expansion of the Seaside Civ-
ic and Convention Center and
a new parking structure.
The sales tax also would
come with a bump in local
lodging taxes, said Russ Van-
denberg, general manager of
the convention center. Van-
denberg spoke to the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce at its
weekly meeting Friday.
Vandenberg said the pro-
posal will come before the
Seaside City Council this
year. The council would have
WKH¿QDOVD\RQWKHH[SDQVLRQ
DQG WKH ¿QDQFLQJ VFKHPH LW
will not be subject to a public
vote.
A proposed $25 million
convention center expansion
has been in the works for at
least six years and has un-
dergone studies by three con-
VXOWLQJ ¿UPV 7KH WHQWDWLYH
design, however, would elimi-
nate 42 parking spaces, which
could be restored by construc-
tion of a parking structure,
adding $6 million to the bill,
Vandenberg said.
It would cost $200,000 a
month for 30 years to pay off
the debt, he said.
C.H. Johnson Consulting,
which did the latest study,
VXJJHVWHG WKUHH ¿QDQFLQJ
RSWLRQV 7KH ¿UVW VXJJHVWLRQ
was to work with the cities of
Cannon Beach and Astoria to
increase their lodging taxes
and contribute the proceeds
to the convention center. But,
Vandenberg said, “I feel, re-
alistically, that’s not going to
happen.”
The second option was
to raise the city’s 8 percent
lodging tax by 6 percent. That
would bring in $2.6 million a
year, about the amount needed
annually. Another 1 percent in
lodging taxes goes to the state.
In comparison, Vanden-
berg noted, Portland has a 13
percent lodging tax.
The third option was to
create a 2.75 percent “busi-
ness improvement district”
tax that would be applied to
all retail sales — including
food stores and restaurants
— throughout Seaside and
combine it with an increased
lodging tax that could reach to
SHUFHQW 7KH DFWXDO ¿JXUHV
have not been determined yet,
Vandenberg said.
“We haven’t come up with
a formula,” he added. “We
have to look at all the options.
But everything we do comes
with a price tag.”
Within 10 years the city
could realize a 50 percent
increase in economic devel-
opment and event days, Van-
denberg added. That would
generate another $20 million
to the $44 million annual eco-
nomic impact the city already
experiences from the conven-
tion center.
The expansion would al-
low the convention center to
bring groups of 500 to 600 to
town. It currently is limited
to conventions of 200 or few-
er people. Within a 300-mile
radius of Seaside there are
“hundreds” of larger groups
that have been unable to use
the center, Vandenberg said.
When asked in a survey if
they would come to Seaside,
the “overwhelming response
was yes,” he said. “There’s
a very strong indication that
groups would come to Sea-
side.”
To accommodate the visi-
tors, Seaside already has 600
“convention quality” rooms
within walking distance, ac-
cording to Vandenberg. Some
hotels would have to undergo
some upgrades if they wanted
to compete, he added.
Questions to Vandenberg
focused on what would pre-
YHQWSHRSOHIURP¿QGLQJOHVV
costly lodging elsewhere or
going to another town to shop
if the sales tax was adopted.
“I think you might be
shooting the goose that’s lay-
ing the golden egg,” one per-
son told Vandenberg.
If the City Council ap-
proves the expansion and
funding, the architectural de-
VLJQV ZRXOG EH ¿QDOL]HG LQ
2016 and construction could
begin in 2017, Vandenberg
said.
Suspicious pipe closes
the Astoria Column
sives Unit for consultation. They
also conferred with the Astoria
Parks and Recreation Director
Astoria Police closed the Asto- Angela Cosby, who checked with
ria Column Sunday morning to in- her staff to see if they recognized
vestigate a suspicious item, appear- the item.
Oregon State Police Explo-
ing to be a potential pipe bomb.
By noon, the Oregon State sives Unit determined the device
Police Explosives Unit removed was unlikely to be explosive in
the item and deemed it not likely nature. The item was moved re-
motely then taken from the area.
explosive.
The park was reopened to
An Astoria Column caretaker
reported the suspicious item to the public just before noon.
Johnston said his department
the police at 9:46 a.m. Sunday.
Police arrived and found a appreciates the cooperation of
large diameter pipe that was at those who were inconvenienced
OHDVWSDUWLDOO\¿OOHGZLWKFRQFUHWH by the closure.
“These cases are frequently
As a precaution, Astoria Po-
lice Chief Brad Johnston said, best addressed with an abun-
WKHUHVSRQGLQJRI¿FHUVDVNHGWKH dance of caution,” Johnston
few people at the column to leave said. “Getting it wrong in the
and closed the park to the public. more cautious direction has very
7KH RI¿FHUV WRRN SLFWXUHV RI little downside. Getting it wrong
the item and sent the pictures to on the more optimistic direction
the Oregon State Police Explo- has huge downsides.”
By KYLE SPURR
By The Daily Astorian
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Brittany, right, and Zoey Thorne tour the Columbia River Maritime Museum during an Oregon Connections Acade-
my-sponsored trip Friday.
Oregon Connections charter
students visit Astoria museum
Field trip highlights National School Choice Week
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Elliana
Fladstol,
a
17-year-old high school
junior, helped her mother,
Teri, greet and register fam-
ilies on Field Trip Friday at
the Columbia River Mari-
time Museum. The students
and their families came
from Astoria, the Portland
metro area and, in the Flad-
stols’ case, Tillamook.
Oregon
Connections
Academy, the state’s largest
public online charter school,
organized a field trip that
brought 18 students to As-
toria on the tail end of Na-
tional School Choice Week,
which highlights public,
charter, magnet, private and
homeschooling options.
Connections Academy is
associated with Scio School
District in Linn County, and
includes about 3,700 stu-
dents statewide and 60 in
Clatsop County. Parents at
the academy’s field trip had
varying reasons for choos-
ing it.
“I always wanted to
be a stay-at-home mom,”
said Teri Fladstol, adding
that she was certified by
her local community col-
lege when the family lived
in Washington. “Part of it
was staying at home, being
with the kids and educating
them.”
After hearing critiques
about the limitations of
public schooling from rel-
atives who were teachers
and aides, said Fladstol, she
decided she could teach El-
liana and her younger broth-
er, a freshman. Elliana has
been enrolled in Connec-
tions Academy since sev-
enth grade.
Elliana said she logs on
to Connections Academy
in the morning to check for
emails, assignments, les-
sons and grades. Then she
completes her lessons for
the day online. “It’s all pret-
ty simple from that stand-
point,” she said
Although she isn’t in a
physical school, Elliana has
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Elinora Cannon, left, 2, and Elijah Cannon, right, 11, from
Oregon Connections Academy listen in at the “Fishermen
Tell Their Stories” exhibit during a visit to the Columbia
River Maritime Museum Friday.
her own brand of physical
education, often jogging on
a treadmill at home. She so-
cializes with peers through
programs like 4-H and her
church. “It’s not like I’m at
home all the time and sepa-
rated from the world.”
The Fladstols said they
meet teachers at open hous-
es and during field trips
around the state. Her chil-
dren are able to go through
entire textbooks in-depth
with homeschooling, Teri
Fladstol said, something
she’d heard was uncommon
in public school.
Elliana’s father is a me-
chanical engineer from a
family of mathematicians,
Fladstol said, so math has
never been an issue.
School issues
Brenda Teague said it
was issues with administra-
tors at individual schools
that led her to take son Jo-
sef Teague, 10, out of John
Jacob Astor Elementary
School as a first-grader, and
later Lewis and Clark Ele-
mentary as a fifth-grader.
Josef, who said he prefers
a traditional school but is
alright with Connections
Academy, will leave home-
schooling again next year
to attend Astoria Middle
School.
“After middle school
age, the kids are treated
less like they’re the teach-
ers’ wards, and more like
they’re people,” said Bren-
da Teague.
Josef said he socializes
with neighborhood friends
and those he’s made at
school. He works out with
his brother, a student at As-
toria High School, in the
weight room.
“He’s learning stuff that
his older brother was learn-
ing in seventh grade,” said
Brenda Teague, adding that
success in homeschooling
depends on the child.
American Cancer
Society seeks
volunteer drivers
An estimated 22,410 Or-
egon residents will learn that
they have cancer this year.
The American Cancer Soci-
ety provides transportation to
and from treatment facilities
to help people with cancer
JHWWKHFULWLFDOFDUHWKH\QHHG
however, getting to their
scheduled treatment may be a
challenge, the society reports.
“One cancer patient re-
quiring radiation therapy
could need anywhere from
20 to 30 trips to treatment
in six weeks,” states Lily
Westlund, American Can-
cer Society mission delivery
specialist. “A patient receiv-
ing chemotherapy might re-
port for treatment weekly for
up to a year. In many cases,
a patient is driven to hospi-
tals or clinics by relatives or
friends, but even these pa-
tients must occasionally seek
alternative transportation.
That’s where the American
Cancer Society Road To Re-
covery program comes in.”
The free program pro-
vides patients rides to and
from their medical treatment.
To ensure that all patients
have transportation when
they need it, the society is
looking for volunteer drivers
and a road coordinator. Road
To Recovery volunteer driv-
ers arrange their own sched-
ules, with some volunteering
as little as one afternoon a
month and others driving
patients as often as twice a
week. Those who have a car
and some spare time can help
someone keep an important
appointment
For information about
and the Road To Recovery
program and other ACS pro-
grams and services, or to vol-
unteer, call 800-227-2345 or
go to www.cancer.org
W A NTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
PUBLIC NOTICE
CMH ENT/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic to close Feb. 20, 2015
After two years of dedicated service, Dr. Christopher Nyte
will be leaving Astoria and the CMH ENT/Cosmetic Surgery
Clinic will be closing.
Dr. Nyte will continue to keep scheduled appointments until
Feb. 20, 2015, and will ensure that his patients have alternative
options if they have been under his care. Any patients who
have seen Dr. Nyte in the CMH ENT/Cosmetic Surgery
Clinic in the past 2 years will be able to access their records
through the CMH Medical Records department; the phone
number is 503-338-7528.