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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2016)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 Schools: $128.8 million 2013 bond measure failed at the polls Continued from Page 1A Dougherty said there are four schools in the state in the tsu- nami inundation zone. Three of those are in the Seaside School District. Gearhart Elementary School, Broadway Middle School and Seaside High School were built with an expected lifespan of 45 to 50 years. Each has been used beyond that span. “The schools are currently unsafe, they are deteriorating and they’re very inefficient,” he said. At Broadway Middle School, students are in structures with unreinforced masonry, aging utilities, cinder block construc- tion and walls torn by horizon- tal shearing. Gearhart Elementary school’s gym is riddled with dry rot and “would collapse in an earthquake,” Dougherty said. Leaks are so bad in the 68-year- old school, “It’s pretty much like playing whack-a-mole, where you are pretty sure the leak is not coming directly from the spot it’s leaking from. Often it’s many feet away and trying to track it down is very, very difficult.” At Seaside High School, classrooms are water-damaged and pipes covered with asbes- tos. Mold fills storage areas. An oil boiler is inefficient and must be “patched together” to remain functional. On rainy days, leaks quickly fill large garbage cans — “everything from slow drips to streams of water.” A 2013 district bond issue asked for $128.8 million to fund a new campus and would have required $2.16 per thousand dollars of assessed value for property owners. That measure failed at the polls. The new bond equates to about $1.35 per thousand, a 37.5 percent total reduction in cost from the previous bond. A proposed auditorium was eliminated to reduce costs, as were plans to rebuild Seaside Heights Elementary School. “The board heard the message when it was defeated last time,” Phillips said prior to the board vote. “People were concerned about that price.” The new bond was “look- ing at what we honestly have to have, not just as a safety factor for our children, but to replace deteriorating buildings that are starting to cost the dis- trict money that we don’t have.” Phillips said. “I think people will understand we’re looking at things we really need, not just a wish list,” Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside School District Superintendent-emeritus Doug Dougherty presents information about the state of Seaside schools on Thursday to the Sea- side School District Board of Directors. Q&A: Dougherty looks beyond the bond Seaside Superintendent-emeritus Doug Dough- erty answers questions about the $99.7 million bond the School District Board of Directors decided to put to the voters in November. By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Q: Given the mold and asbestos you’ve described in Seaside schools, what is the health risk for students as the school year beings? Doug Dougherty: We have had the mold tested. It is not at a level that would cause great concern. The mold was in a storage area. It wasn’t in the class- rooms. The lead pipes have been encapsulated for years and decades. They’re perfectly safe. We have had asbestos people who specialize in that come and periodically check that as well. Q: When will the plans for the new school campus be available? A: We met with the architects, the firm Dull Olson and Weeks, on Friday. It could be a few days or it could be a few weeks. Q: Do you intend the new facility to act as an emergency shelter? A: Yes. We’ll have a structure where we’ll be able to house people in. It will be built to stay safe to stand in a 9.0 earthquake. The only level higher is for hospitals. Q: What are the schools that would be moved out of the tsunami inundation zone? A: Gearhart, Broadway Middle School and Sea- side High School. Q: In the 2013 bond plan, you were originally going to close Seaside Heights Elementary School. What will happen to that school? A: We are adding an addition to Seaside Heights Elementary. … That will help the additional stu- dents that will be coming from Gearhart Elementary School. Q: How many students will the new campus hold? A: It will hold 1,700. We currently have 1,550 students. Q: Will the middle school and high school be separate? A: They will be fairly close to one another for efficiency purposes. It will cost us less for us to be able to do that. Q: What will happen to the old schools? A: Those will be sold whenever the board decides they want to sell them. That money could go to an auditorium or could be sold. I believe most of those areas are zoned residential. Q: If this school bond doesn’t pass, do you have a Plan B? A: Sen. Ron Wyden came to me and said the relo- cation of Seaside schools is a matter of life and death. I have all types of scientists basically concurring that the schools need to be moved soon, for that reason. That’s only part. The other part that’s very important for our community is to understand the current condi- tions of our current structures. Those are crumbling. They’re deteriorating. In the last five years, we’ve had to spend an average of $300,000 a year in emer- gency repairs per year because buildings are structur- ally deteriorating. It’s continuing to go up because the buildings are crumbling. Q: Are you a paid consultant? A: I’m doing this as a citizen. I’m still working for the school district. But I am off hours at this time. Q: If this does pass, do you see federal involve- ment and state involvement more likely? A: I’ve been here 15 years trying to get federal and state monies. Sen. Wyden and Sen. Merkley had two $10 million requests for us. Those didn’t go any- where. There’s still currently money out there school districts all over the state can access, that we cannot access because our schools are in tsunami inundation zone. I get a lot of support from legislators, from our senators, (U.S. Rep.) Suzanne Bonamici, everybody, but the problem is, accessing those funds has been very difficult for them. Am I optimistic? Do I hope? I hope there are additional funds. But we need to move forward. Q: If the voters approve the $99.7 million bond, will there be hidden or additional costs? A: What we have been told, of all the school proj- ects this architectural firm has done, they’ve never gone over budget. Crash: School district preparing to support students next week Continued from Page 1A Friends, co-workers remember Katrina Morrell Gasser, who worked with Sabrina Rainey at Tongue Point Job Corps, said the two were close as friends and mothers and spent time at the Clatsop County Fair together. “I think she’s some- one who’s really caring and enjoyable,” Gasser said, add- ing Rainey was a residential adviser at Tongue Point and had graduated from the center. Sabrina and Jaden were deeply involved in Clatsop County 4-H. Jaden, who graduated Asto- ria Middle School this year, had recently become a camp coun- selor and worked at this year’s 4-H summer camp at Fort Ste- vens. Her mother served as a behind-the-scenes volunteer, helping with home-economics projects, cooking for the kids at Spring Into Arts and hanging club banners at the fair. “They were very giving and caring and kind, and they always gave from the heart,” Sandra Carlson, coordinator of Clatsop County 4-H, said. Makayla Mestrich, who knew Jaden through 4-H, Oregon State Police An Astoria mother and her daughter were killed Thursday morning in a crash on U.S. Highway 30 east of Astoria. described her in a message as “a bright young girl with a wild personality with a big future ahead of her.” “Jaden has been one of my campers and I’ve had the oppor- tunity to watch her grow and become a camp counselor,” she wrote on Facebook. “Sabrina was always extremely helpful to everyone at fair and anything else that was needed for 4-H.” Astoria School District Superintendent Craig Hoppes remarked, “It’s a very sad situ- OREGON CAPITAL Founder: ‘Many lives have been changed and saved because of his vision’ Continued from Page 1A He supported the Boy Scouts, and invited Scouts to participate through their explorer program. Many local emergency responders and law enforcement officers, such as Hanson, started their careers as explorers. Bob Johnson, a retired Asto- ria firefighter and now part-time Medix employee, recalls being part of the explorer program with Medix in the early 1980s. He remembers Dickson keeping the atmosphere light by telling jokes, and playing pranks on the explorers, who rode in the ambu- lances and worked in the dis- patch center. “He could really be a lot of fun.” Johnson said. Dickson was the first para- medic certified in Oregon. He opened Medix on 14th Street in Astoria, where The Pet Works shop is now located. Medix, currently based out of Warrenton, was purchased in 2006 by JD Fuiten. In 2007, Medix started ser- vice to Long Beach, Ilwaco and parts of south Pacific County, Washington. During Dickson’s time as owner, Medix was nationally recognized for its service. “He was really a leader in the industry in those days,” Tad Peterson, the deputy state fire marshal in Astoria, said. Peterson, who also par- ticipated as an explorer scout with Medix while growing up, said Dickson worked with the national EMT association to develop protocols that are still used today. Some of the proce- dures were considered ahead of their time. “Clatsop County was way ahead of the ballgame for a lot of years,” Peterson said. Peterson joined Medix in 1985 and worked there until 2005, when Dickson retired. Over the years, Peterson said, he became close with Dickson, and admired his dedication. “I considered him a very close friend,” he said. Kevin Miller, Lewis and Clark Volunteer Fire Department captain and former Medix EMT, said Dickson taught many para- medics and EMTs at Clatsop Community College. He encour- aged firefighters to learn emer- gency medical services to assist Medix on scene. “David had a vision he wanted for this county and helped to change the Emergency Medical Services system to what it is today,” Miller said. “Many lives have been changed and saved because of his vision.” INSIDER ation — very sad situation. We, as a school community, grieve their loss.” The school district has been spending time over the last 24 hours preparing to support their students when school opens next week, he said, including setting up a safe room at Asto- ria Middle School for students. “We’ll be there on Tuesday when school starts to support our kids,” he said. A GoFundMe page has been created to raise money for the family’s funeral expenses. Reporters Erick Bengel and Edward Stratton contributed to this report. We’re investing in Salem coverage when other news organizations are cutting back. Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! 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