June 2, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Fire district to invest in new equipment, volunteers
not only for Cannon Beach,
but for volunteer departments
around the country, Benedict
said. According to the National
Fire Protection Association, the
number of volunteers decreased
12 percent from 1985 to 2015.
To help with retention,
Benedict is proposing to add
$39,000 to the budget for more
part-time firefighter positions.
It would be structured so that
existing volunteers could sign
up for two, 10-hour paid shifts
a week at $15 an hour. Seaside
Fire Department already has a
similar program.
Right now the fire district
has 18 volunteers, which Ben-
edict said is adequate for now.
Ideally, he hopes to recruit to
reach a total between 25 and
30.
“Volunteers who signed up
for shifts would get more expe-
rience working beside me and
others to know how to run a
fire station. They need to know
how it runs in case something
happens to me,” Benedict said.
“It’ll give them more confi-
dence, more one-on-one atten-
tion — I see it as a win-win.”
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
The Cannon Beach Rural
Fire Protection District is fo-
cused on saving money for
future upgrades in next fiscal
year’s proposed budget.
Along with a new fire en-
gine, nozzles and other appara-
tus, the fire district may add a
recruitment officer to improve
volunteer retention and add
more paid, part-time firefighter
positions.
This is Fire Chief Matt
Benedict’s first budget cy-
cle to oversee, and he said his
goal is to help “standardize and
streamline” the budgeting pro-
cess for the district to clarify
why each item is needed to the
public.
“We’re setting this budget
up for the future,” Benedict
said. “We are saving money for
when our apparatus need to be
replaced to be fiscally responsi-
ble.”
Recruiting and keeping
qualified volunteer firefighters
is a task that is becoming in-
creasingly more challenging
Fire Chief Matt Benedict
Benedict said he also hopes
the extra cash will help ease the
financial burdens of his volun-
teers.
“Anything I can do to help
my volunteers be more finan-
cially stable,” Benedict said.
Benedict is also propos-
ing to apply for a four-year,
$728,150 grant to fund a new
recruitment officer. The funds
would help pay the officer’s
salary, as well as training and
outreach materials to develop
a long-term strategy to find and
keep volunteers.
Lack of affordable hous-
Free admission to state parks
The Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department in-
vites people to stay and play
for free to celebrate State
Parks Day on Saturday, June
3.
Camping will be free the
night of June 3 in all RV
hookup sites, tent sites and
horse camps. Day-use park-
ing will be free both June
3 and 4 at the 26 parks that
charge a day-use fee.
People can reserve online
at www.oregonstateparks.org
or by calling 800-452-5687.
Phone reservations must be
made by 5 p.m. June 2. The
campsite rental will be free,
but all reservations will still
include an $8 non-refundable
transaction fee. Of the 56
state park campgrounds, 46
take reservations.
State Parks Day is always
the first Saturday in June.
The Oregon State Legisla-
ture established the free day
in 1997 to focus public atten-
tion on Oregon’s state park
system.
Parks around the state
will hold special events on
June 3. Silver Falls State
Park east of Salem will hold
its annual foot races. The Sil-
ver Falls Challenge includes
a 5K, six-mile run and a kids’
1,500-meter run.
Detroit Lake State Park
will offer free hot dogs, a
visit from parks mascot JR
Beaver, and Junior Ranger
programs for the kids.
Four parks in the Bend
area,
Tumalo,
LaPine,
Prineville and Cove Pal-
isades, will hold geology
2019, and the district intends to
secure a grant to foot a bill that
could push $500,000.
The National Fire Protec-
tion Association stipulates that
engines need to be cycled every
20 years to keep insurance rates
low for the city.
For this fiscal year, the dis-
trict is also hoping to secure
grants to hopefully replace the
fire engine at Arch Cape and 35
radios for all personnel, Can-
non Beach Fire Division Chief
Marc Reckmann said, though
exact estimates haven’t been
exacted yet.
“All of our radios we have
are obsolete. It’s getting to the
point where it’s hard to find
replacement parts for them,”
Reckmann said.
Law enforcement and the
fire team have had longstand-
ing issues with radio commu-
nications in southern Clatsop
County, Reckmann said. This is
mostly due to hilly geography,
outdated technology and too
few repeaters in the area that
help convey signals to dispatch
in Seaside, he said.
Cannon Beach Police De-
hikes or presentations that
weekend.
Detroit Lake will also
participate in the Oregon De-
partment of Fish and Wild-
life’s Free Fishing Week-
end. Visitors will be able to
fish, crab and clam without
a license June 3-4 at parks
around the state. ODFW will
provide the gear, bait and in-
structions.
Other state parks offering
free fishing include Benson
State Recreation Area in the
Columbia River Gorge, Fort
Stevens State Park near As-
toria, and Champoeg State
Heritage Site north of Sa-
lem. For a complete list of
parks with fishing events go
to www.dfw.state.or.us/edu-
cation/angling/free_fishing.
asp.
ing and the high cost of living
are two main reasons Benedict
identified as major issues con-
tributing to recruitment strug-
gles.
“It’s definitely a trick-
le-down effect,” he said.
About $85,000 is proposed
to be transferred into a reserve
fund for the eventual replace-
ment of a 1995 fire engine set
to expire in the next few years,
and will eventually cost around
$400,000. Fire nozzles and
self contained breathing appa-
ratus equipment will need to
be replaced before expiring in
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Tuesday, June 6
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Monday, June 12
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Depart-
ment Board, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main
Station, 188 Sunset Ave.
Tuesday, June 13
Cannon Beach Public Works
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Thursday, June 22
Cannon Beach Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Emergency Pre-
paredness Committee, 10 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Friday, June 30
Tuesday, Aug. 1
Cannon Beach Emergency Pre-
paredness Committee, 10 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, July 11
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m.,
meeting and work session, City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Tuesday, July 18
Thursday, June 15
Cannon Beach Public Works
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Parks and Commu-
nity Services Committee, 9 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Thursday, July 20
Cannon Beach Design Review
Board, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Cannon Beach Parks and Commu-
nity Services Committee, 9 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, June 20
Thursday, July 27
Cannon Beach Public Works
Cannon Beach Planning Commis-
Alaina Giguiere
Marty Giguiere
Owner/Principal Broker
c: 503.440.3202
f: 877.812.1126
e: alainagiguiere@mac.com
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Coastal Advantage
503.436.1777 • CoastalAdvantage.com
Friday, July 28
Tuesday, Aug. 8
Tuesday, Aug. 15
Cannon Beach Public Works
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Thursday, Aug. 17
Cannon Beach Parks and Commu-
nity Services Committee, 9 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Design Review
Board, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Egrane Brown
Susan Tone
Broker
c: 503.440.1648
e: egranebrown@gmail.com
Broker
c: 503.354.4072
e: suanetone@nehalemtel.net
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Geri Lane
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partment has also proposed
about $8,000 in the city budget
to fund new radios and a new
repeater. Benedict said the two
departments are starting con-
versations about coordinating
the efforts.
“These radios are our life-
line to the outside world,” Ben-
edict said. “There’s been close
calls in certain remote areas,
and we need to be able to get
out if a situation turns upside
down.”
As for Arch Cape’s engine,
Reckmann said the current one
is functional but is not as ade-
quate as it should be to accom-
modate some of the off road
needs of that community.
Grants are becoming more
competitive, Reckmann said,
which puts small communities
like Cannon Beach behind the
needs of larger metro areas
when it comes to replacing in-
frastructure.
“I hope to get some other
surrounding communities on
board so we can apply for a
regional grant — then I think
we’ll have better chances,”
Reckmann said.
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