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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2015 LaMear: Council voted to select Russ Warr as president Continued from Page 1A night. Nemlowill nominated Councilor Russ Warr as coun- cil president, who presides when the mayor is absent. But her motion did not receive a second and died. Price then nominated Councilor Drew Herzig, but her motion also died for lack of a second. Zemlowill nominated Warr seconded the motion. The council voted unanimously to select Warr as president. Warr had been excused from the meeting and was not in atten- dance. On a night that consist- ed mostly of ceremony — Johnston, the police chief and assistant city manager — the council took care of several items. The City Council autho- rized bids for the renovation of the Astoria Senior Center. The city had received a $1.5 million community develop- ment block grant and the se- nior center’s patrons pledged another $95,000 for the work, but the council decided last June to delay bidding, hoping to attract lower bids during the slower construction months during the winter. - tes told the council that bids would likely be due in late February and that a construc- tion contract could come back Construction could start in could be completed by August. The council also agreed to award a $9,230 contract to Weatherguard Inc. for a new roof on Shively Hall, the event facility overseen by the parks and recreation depart- ment. The existing roof is leaking and causing damage to the hall. And the council adopted a resolution establishing a li- brary renovation fund for im- JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Former Mayor Willis Van Dusen swears in Mayor Arline LaMear during the City Council meeting Monday. provements to the library. The council accepted a $7,400 do- nation from the estate of Ruth Jensen, the late teacher and librarian, to furnish the chil- dren’s room in a renovated library and to act as possible seed money for other private contributions. Herzig sought assurances renovation fund would not commit the city to renovating - tion. Some have questioned, for example, whether the li- brary should be expanded into the decaying Waldorf Hotel. “So the word ‘renovation’ does not commit us to any plan or any location?” Herzig asked. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Councilor Cindy Price speaks with City Manager Brett Es- tes during the City Council meeting Monday. purely a term given to the fund for the collection of do- nations. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Gretchen Easton, right, pins a badge to Sgt. Chris Mc- Neary after he was sworn in during the City Council meet- ing Monday. The Astoria Police Department announced McNeary’s promotion to sergeant Dec. 31. Housing: places really qualify as “af- fordable housing”? “Not really. That’s the best we have in Cannon Beach right now,” Risley said. “In this price range, there just isn’t much to choose from.” Continued from Page 1A areas of expertise, will begin meeting in January and spend the next nine to 12 months developing recommendations for the City Council to ad- dress the problem. This “think tank” is “the Obstacles If the city wants to cre- ate more affordable housing, there are only so many tools it can work with, Cannon Beach Cannon Beach more inclu- residents “can’t be only se- niors who can afford $3 mil- lion homes.” said. One is to zone more dense- ly to allow more multifamily housing units to be built per acre of land. “That’s one of the main ways of doing it,” he said. However, “that’s not this community at all. This community is very much sin- gle-family homes.” What’s available So what are the most “af- fordable” homes in Cannon Beach right now? In the second week of De- cember, the cheapest house for sale was a one-story, 832-square-foot two-bed- room, two-bathroom house Way. Its listing price was $249,900. The property is a short walking distance from town, which is often a selling point, Risley said. But it’s also about 2 1/2 blocks from U.S. High- way 101, so noise pollution may turn off a prospective buyer. The roof is in good shape, but the gutter needs to be cleaned. Painted Looney Tunes characters adorn the walls of a bedroom (which, to some minds, may an as- regular-sized car and would probably make more sense as a workshop, she said. “I think (the house is) pret- ty well priced,” she said. “I don’t see a lot of work that needs to be done to it right away.” The second cheapest was a cabin-style duplex at 136 and 1946 and selling for $264,000. - ing boasts one bedroom, one ERICK BENGEL — EO Media Group The cheapest house in Cannon Beach during the second week of December is this one at 248 Elliott Way. It is listed at $249,900. nook Ave., in the Haystack Heights neighborhood, east of Highway 101, priced at $285,000. The 1,582-square foot home, built in 1975, has a double garage, freshly paint- ed white walls and new lam- bathroom, a loft area and a front deck. Whoever buys the property could live in one side and rent out the other to help pay for the investment. The home, cozy as it is, would probably not work for a couple with one or more children, but it might work for a single parent, Risley said. Though the loft could use a guardrail and the lack of pri- vacy might be a problem, the cabin is a short walk from the beach — something the cur- Eric Kliewer, who rents half of a house on East Jefferson Street, explains how he gets the most use out of the cozy space, which includes a loft. The building is listed at $264,000. The neighbors in Haystack Heights tend to be permanent residents rather than vaca- tioners. And, with a partial view of the ocean and (on a clear day) the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, it is “re- markable” that the home is listed under $300,000, said Tommy Huntington, another The third one down the list was a three-bedroom, Sotheby’s. But do any of these three ERICK BENGEL — EO Media Group his son make the most of, he said. “It would take the right person” to live there, one who said. three-bathroom, one-sto- ry house at 3648 W. Chi- also clash with Cannon Beach’s design tastes. “There’s no desire to see high-rises,” he said. “The reason this town is really at- tractive to visitors is because of the way it looks, and if you start messing with the aesthet- ic, you might not have peo- ple visiting anymore at some point.” Yet another obstacle is that there’s little inexpensive land to build on, and “the closer you are to the ocean, the more expensive it is,” Risley said. Finally, “we’re very limit- said. “We’re essentially built out at this point. There’s noth- ing to build on. And expand- ing the urban growth bound- ary is not necessarily a viable option because the terrain doesn’t allow you to build any more.” So, unlike communities with fewer restrictions, there Beach’s housing problem. tives,” he said. - Park: ‘It was a labor of love, just like all these kinds of projects’ Continued from Page 1A Co., the sign is meant to bring the Clatsop-Nehalem “brand” back to the area, she said. Walsh carved the letters herself in her studio with a chisel and mallet. Both the 10-foot-long sign and its base were milled from a cedar log from Tillamook. Though the physical labor involved in shaping the wood took Walsh about a month to complete, the signage proj- ect began at the end of June, involving the parks and com- munity services committee and the design review board. Walsh collaborated with Tracy Sund, a street specialist with public works, and Basch, who sent her photos for inspiration. The whole project cost $4,800, according to Jean manager. “It was a labor of love, just like all these kinds of proj- ects,” said Sund, who super- vised the installation. Once the sign had been mounted, Roberta Basch, Dick Basch’s wife and culture advis- er to the tribe, uttered a ceremo- nial prayer, blessing the city’s relationship with the tribe, the ancestors who lived at the site long ago and, of course, the site itself — what it was, what it is and what it may become. “This is a new time for all of us,” she said. The formal chris- tening of the site, she added, restoring the Clatsop-Nehalem presence in Cannon Beach. “This is only the beginning.”