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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2019)
OUR 112th Year November 22, 2019 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM $1.00 Gearhart brings U.S. Highway 101 plan to regional commission Aim is reduction of accidents, injuries By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Construction of The Heights gymnasium. Temporary gym to fill gap at The Heights By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Visitors to the Seaside High School campus might not recognize it. It’s beginning to look like a school. The middle and high school roof is 100% complete. Stair frames have been installed and pours are sched- uled throughout the month. Crews are beginning installation of curtain- wall windows. Utilities, including power, low voltage and gas from The Heights to the middle and high school are complete. “For the high school and middle school, we’re on track,” project man- ager Jim Henry said at the Tuesday, Nov. 19, meeting of the School Con- struction Citizen Oversight Commit- tee on Tuesday. “for being done in July, which has been our deadline, our project goal from the beginning. See The Heights, Page A6 U.S. Highway 101 could narrow in Gear- hart to reduce crashes and injuries. The highway would go from four lanes to two lanes with a center turn lane. The configuration could reduce travel speeds and improve conditions for motorists trying to turn on and off the busy highway. One advantage is that it would make room for the turn lane and bicycle and pedestrian options without the need to expand the right of way. The city, the state Department of Transpor- tation and the Northwest Oregon Area Com- mission on Transportation heard plans for the potential changes at a meeting in Astoria last week. The commission is made up of local leaders and stakeholders to address transpor- tation issues in Clatsop, Columbia and Til- lamook counties and the western portion of Washington County. “There’s a slew of things we need to address in Gearhart,” Ken Shonkwiler, a senior region planner with the Department of Transportation, said after the meeting. “We met with Northwest ACT to do more regional outreach and explain the importance of it.” The state is conducting a facilities plan to look at pedestrian and bike access to address specific concerns this upcoming year, he said. In 2017, with the adoption of its Trans- portation System Plan, Gearhart identified 11 projects to improve roadway segments and intersections that could cost an estimated $23 million to $25 million to complete. See Highway 101, Page A6 Five candidates seek to fill vacant SEPRD board seat By R.J. MARX Sesaide Signal Phil Broome of Hoffman Construction leads a tour of the new site. Westbound view from the new campus. Five candidates have stepped forward to fill a vacant seat on the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District board. The vacancy came after District Position Lindsey Morri- son resigned in September. Su Coddington, Salomon Sibony, Rae- detta Castle, Erika Marshall and Katha- rine Parker will interview with members of the board, including board president Jer- emy Mills, Rod Roberts, John Chapman and Michael Hinton. Candidates will be asked their reasons for wanting to serve on the board, what experi- ence and background they bring to the posi- tion, and goals for the district, among other questions. The board member selected will serve until June 30, 2021. Interviews will take place in the Bob Chisholm Community Center. Following the interviews, the board will meet in workshop to discuss the interview process, the district’s executive director Skyler Archibald said. The selected candidate could be installed See SEPRD, Page A6 Inspired by mythology, artist Robin Montero pushes new boundaries ‘Life’s too short to be boring,’ designer says By EVE MARX For Seaside Signal Robin Montero has been making art all her life and has been a costume designer for a long time. “I started doing costumes for Shore- line High School in Washington,” she said. “I also worked for a sign company for 25 years. Starbucks was a client.” In 2006, the Fifth Avenue Theatre Company in Seattle hired her to design costumes. She left that post in June 2018. While working in Seattle as a cos- tume designer, Montero and her sister- in-law Tita opened The Montero Sisters Fabric & Creative Inspiration shop in Seaside on Holladay Drive. They closed that store in 2007. All along, Montero developed her fabric art. A Seaside resident since 2001, for the past 10 years, she’s lived in a unique set- ting with a stunning view of the Cove. “I love looking outside and see- ing nature, not development or con- crete,” she said during an interview in her artist’s aerie, a recent addition to her Al Hansen house. “I see eagles, I see elk, I see herons. Every day is a little different.” Lately she’s been focusing her artis- tic intentions on drag queens, creating mythical portraits of imaginary charac- ters she’s created in her mind. They’re architectural. They’re multidimen- sional. They’re made of felt. Eve Marx See Artist, Page A6 Robin Montero enjoys an awesome view of the Cove from her Seaside artist’s studio.