3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
After winter storms, Ecola’s Indian Beach road still closed
state parks; Saddle Moun-
tain State Natural Area; and
Manhattan Beach, Hug Point
and Tolovana Beach recre-
ation sites.
“In terms of landslides,
it’s mostly Ecola that expe-
riences them,” Rippee said.
“It seems not a year goes by
that repairs are needed. It’s a
very active area.”
Storm damage
takes toll at
state park,
recreation site
By DAVE FISHER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
Torrential rainfall, a likely
result of El Ni ño, coupled
with Ecola State Park’s frag-
ile surface geology led to the
closure of Indian Beach road
and removal of the viewing
platform at Ecola Point park-
ing lot in mid -November.
When the storm-damaged
road will reopen isn’t cer-
tain, but Matt Rippee, park
manager of the Nehalem Bay
Management Unit which
oversees Ecola and seven
other parks and recreation
sites in northwestern Ore-
gon, is hopeful it could be as
soon as May.
The November storm,
said Rippee, dumped over
8 inches of rain along the
north Oregon C oast during
a five-day period in Novem-
ber , rendering the culvert at
Canyon Creek underneath
the road useless and leading
to its closure. A subsequent
deluge in early December
triggered the drop of another
section of the road leading to
Indian Beach near the park
entrance.
“That area of the road is
still stable enough and park
crews have been able to fill
it in to keep it passable. If
we take another big hit, how-
ever, it could lead to closing
the park,” Rippee said, not-
ing that the Ecola State Park
host has vacated the park as
a precaution.
Creek rerouted
As for the culvert, Can-
non Creek, which flows
through the park and is “usu-
ally a nice little creek,” ac-
cording to Rippee, rerouted
itself around the culvert cre-
ating a dangerous situation
and closing vehicular access
to Indian Beach.
“In the meantime, Indi-
an Beach is still accessible
by trail. It’s just a matter of
parking at the Ecola Point
parking lot and taking the
trail down to the beach from
there,” Rippee noted.
Park crews removed the
viewing platform due to its
History of landslides
EO Media Group
Spectacular scenes normally abound from the viewing platform at Ecola Point in Cannon Beach as seen in this photo
from 2013. A viewing platform had to be removed after winter storms threatened its stability.
precarious perch just above
an active landslide. In 2012,
a portion of another viewing
platform in close proximity
to the one just removed actu-
ally fell into the sea, accord-
ing to Rippee. In evaluating
new sites to relocate the
platform, the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department
will be aided by geotech en-
gineers in its effort to secure
a more safe and secure loca-
tion. It is a process already
underway as the department
looks to have the park ship-
shape for visitors later this
spring.
Good year for parks
Wiped out trail
Farther south, 5 miles
from Cannon Beach, the
November storm effectively
wiped out the trail from the
parking lot to the beach at
Arcadia Beach Recreation
Site. The beach access trail
at Arcadia was earmarked
for improvements this spring
at a cost of $5,000 and with
the help of state correctional
crews.
“The plan was to improve
Submitted Photo
Canyon Creek rushes throug a culvert under Ecola State Park Road in November.
the trail anyway, but this will
certainly change the scope of
that work,” said Rippee, who
is no longer sure that the
money set aside for the proj-
ect will cover the cost. The
good news is the parking lot
and restroom facilities are
still open to the public. The
parks department suggests
gaining alternative beach ac-
cess at nearby Hug Point or
Tolovana recreation sites.
Other state parks and rec-
Warrenton repeals ‘useless’ marijuana ordinance
Commission
also makes
board and
committee
appointments
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The
Cit\ Commission held a ¿ rst
reading Tuesday night on a
repeal of an ordinance that
would prohibit the posses-
sion of less than an ounce of
marijuana since the ordinance
no longer complies with state
law.
Measure 91 went into ef-
fect last July, making it le-
gal statewide for people 21
and older to possess up to an
ounce of marijuana without a
medical marijuana card. But
the Warrenton municipal code
still listed such behavior as a
violation punishable by a ¿ ne.
Police Chief Mathew
Workman consulted with
City Attorney Hal Snow, who
recommended that the com-
mission repeal the ordinance,
wait to see what happens with
other marijuana laws and then
decide if they wish to add
them to the city code or sim-
ply enforce state laws.
Either way, the commis-
sion agreed with Workman
that the existing ordinance no
longer served a purpose.
“Not really too much of a
choice, is there, c hief?” Com-
missioner Henry Balensifer
said.
“No,” Workman replied.
“It’s a useless ordinance at this
point because it’s not illegal.”
In other business Tuesday:
• The commission unani-
mously voted Balensifer m ay-
or p ro t em. Balensifer would
perform the duties of the may-
or should Mayor Mark Kujala
be absent.
• The commission made sev-
eral board and committee ap-
pointments and reappointments.
Gerald Poe, of Hammond,
was reappointed to the War-
renton Budget Committee.
Melvin Jasmin, of Warren-
ton, was reappointed to the
Warrenton Community Cen-
ter Board.
Christie Schreckengost, of
Warrenton, was appointed to
the Warrenton Parks Advisory
Board.
Kelsey Balensifer (wife of
Commissioner Balensifer),
of Warrenton; Rochelle Cou-
lombe, of Warrenton; and Na-
talie Duggan, of Warrenton,
were appointed to the War-
renton Community Library
Board.
And, in their roles as the
Warrenton Urban Renewal
Agency, the commission-
ers appointed Dan Jackson,
of Warrenton, to the Urban
Renewal Agency Advisory
Board while reappointing
Tess Chedsey, Dennis Faletti
and Ed Wegner.
The commission chose to
postpone appointing members
to the Warrenton Business As-
sociation because some appli-
cants were absent.
• Sydney Van Dusen and
Sue Cody (former deputy
managing editor of The Dai-
ly Astorian), board members
of the Northwest Coast Trails
Coalition — a former division
of the nonpro¿ t Warrenton
Trails Association — present-
ed the commissioners with a
DailyAstorian.com
check for $3,324.97 for the
Warrenton dog park.
reation sites that comprise
the 10,000-acre Nehalem
Bay Management Unit, aside
from Arcadia and Ecola,
have, so far, fared better this
winter. They include Ne-
halem Bay and Oswald West
As for the rest of 2015,
it was a good year for the
state parks’ system. Early
numbers indicate visitation
throughout the state was up
nearly 25 percent from the
year before. Rippee is keep-
ing his fingers crossed that
the worst weather this winter
is over and that he and his
staff can once again concen-
trate on “routine” park main-
tenance in anticipation of the
2016 season.
As for the stormy and
wet November weekend that
closed Indian Beach Road at
Ecola State Park and beach
access at Arcadia Beach
State Recreation Site, Rip-
pee sums it up in just five
words: “That was quite a
weekend.”
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To prove his point, Rip-
pee accessed Google Earth
on his computer and zeroed
in on Ecola State Park. A
closeup image shows telltale
signs of landslides that have
occurred previously. Trails
over the years have had to be
rerouted as well.
If El Ni ño simmers down,
as forecasted for the ear-
ly part of this year , Rippee
said he is confident repairs
at Ecola and Arcadia will
be completed by May. He is
quick to point out, however,
“that’s a best -case scenario.”
As far as a dollar amount
for the work, it is too early
to tell until Parks and Rec-
reation solicits bids, some-
thing that will occur in the
next few weeks. Compli-
cating matters in repairing
the culvert and washed out
road at Ecola is the issue
of fish passage in Canyon
Creek. Engineers have yet
to determine whether or
not to replace the existing
culvert with a larger one or
construct a bridge over the
creek. Once the bidding pro-
cess has been completed and
the storm season has passed
work will commence.
65 N. Hwy. 101 Ste.204
Warrenton
503-325-5722
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