3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017
Way to Wellville
forum presents
preschool expansion
Investors
would fund
preschool
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
An update to a feasibility
study on how to provide free
access to preschool for hun-
dreds of local children high-
lighted Clat-
sop County
Way to Well-
ville’s pub-
lic forum last
week.
Dan Gaff-
ney provided
an
update
Dan
to
Clat-
Gaffney
sop Kinder
Ready’s
upcoming study of free pre-
school for as many as 600
children in Clatsop and Tilla-
mook counties.
Partnered with Clatsop
County and Way to Well-
ville, the program would tar-
get preschoolers who qual-
ify for free or reduced lunch
— or those just above the
threshold — as well as those
who are learning to speak
English.
The program’s “pay
for success” model would
encourage investors to fund
the program. The estimated
money saved by the county
from the benefits of having
local children attend pre-
school — such as less money
spent on juvenile detention
centers — would outweigh
the costs, Gaffney said. The
total money saved would
then be awarded to the inves-
tor with interest.
The county received a
$350,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of Education in
December to fund the feasi-
bility study.
Last week, University of
Utah’s Sorenson Impact Cen-
ter awarded a grant that will
provide access to national
preschool data. An interme-
diary will soon analyze the
data and present findings to
the county as well as poten-
tial investors, Gaffney said.
“There’s so much to learn
from this whole process,”
Gaffney said. “In order to
do that, you need to have the
right data.”
Gaffney said he hopes to
have investors committed to
the project by the end of the
year.
Thursday’s forum, which
had an audience of roughly
35 people, was originally
scheduled for early January,
but it was pushed back due to
winter weather conditions.
Clatsop County was one
of five areas in the country
to be included in the national
Way to Wellville chal-
lenge. The challenge began
as a competition between
the areas over five years.
Whichever area most suc-
cessfully met the parameters
of the challenge would have
received $5 million. But the
challenge participants even-
tually decided to nix the
reward to encourage collab-
oration, and they extended
the program to 10 years.
Members of the local
program’s strategic coun-
cil explained Thursday what
projects they had worked on
in the past year. In its sec-
ond year, the local program
focused primarily on youth
health programs that encour-
aged behaviors such as emo-
tional development, drug
avoidance, stress reduc-
tion and active lifestyles.
They collaborated local with
schools, hospitals, parks and
other community organiza-
tions to execute the projects.
One area that has been
lagging for the program,
though, has been wellness
promotion for elderly cit-
izens in the county, Coor-
dinator Sydney Van Dusen
said. The program will seek
to create more projects for
people of all age groups
over the next few years, she
said.
Way to Wellville repre-
sentatives from across the
country will meet in Clatsop
County in April to hold their
third annual meeting, Van
Dusen said. It will be the
first of such meetings held
in Clatsop County.
Man brought into
custody after standoff
in Cannon Beach
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
A suicidal man on the beach
with a gun was taken safely
into custody Saturday after
a 2 1/2-hour standoff with
police, Cannon Beach Police
Chief Jason Schermerhorn
said.
Police from Cannon
Beach, Gearhart, Seaside
and Clatsop County deputies
responded to the north end
of Cannon Beach Saturday
afternoon. Determining the
man was suicidal, officers
negotiated with him over the
phone, via text message and
a public address system.
Police cleared the beach
during negotiations before
the man surrendered and
was brought into protective
custody.
The standoff ended at
6:30 p.m.
According to Schermer-
horn, the man was taken to
Providence Seaside Hospi-
tal for treatment and eval-
uation by mental health
professionals.
No one was injured.
“We are thankful for all
the assistance from Clat-
sop County Sheriff’s Office,
Seaside Police Department,
Gearhart Police Department,
Medix and Cannon Beach
Fire and Rescue,” Schermer-
horn said in a statement.
Oregon to seek federal
OK for interstate tolls
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Oregon
transportation officials intend
to seek federal approval for
interstate tolls.
The Oregonian reported
the tolls would fund I-5
work.
Oregon Department of
Transportation
Assistant
Director Travis Brouwer said
officials believe there will
be open spots in the govern-
ment’s FAST Act program
and they are researching next
steps.
No openings have been
confirmed by the Federal
Highway Administration or
the program’s manager.
President
Donald
Trump has yet to fill posts
in the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
Brouwer said the peo-
ple who fill these open jobs
would be crucial to any deci-
sions about tolling.
He said it would still take
years to put tolls in place if
federal approval is secured.
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Youth camp volunteers work
to connect with native culture
Students help
with project at
Megler Creek
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Students from the Naselle
Youth Camp in Washington
state planted the final seeds
Friday in a restoration project
near Dismal Nitch.
Six students and two
instructors, partnered with
Lewis and Clark National His-
torical Park and the Colum-
bia River Estuary Study Task-
force, sifted in the rain through
the frigid, muddy east bank of
Megler Creek to plant native
species such as thimbleberry,
red twig dogwood and tufted
hairgrass.
The youth camp houses
80 students who have pro-
gressed through the juvenile
justice program. The Washing-
ton State Department of Nat-
ural Resources funds a pro-
gram that allows about 30 of
them to be paid for outdoor
projects. Students at the camp
work 40 hours per week on
similar projects in the area and
also attend 20 hours of night
classes. Some also participate
in a Native American culture
group at the camp and volun-
teered for the six-hour proj-
ect on Friday, instructor Rudi
Rudolph said.
“This kind of fits with the
idea of restorative justice and
giving back to the commu-
nity,” Rudolph said.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Naselle Youth Camp student Derrick McCraigie, center, shares a laugh with others while
digging and planting along the Megler Creek restoration project on Friday near Dismal
Nitch.
Friday’s endeavor was the
final wedge in a months-long,
$1 million project funded
equally by CREST and the
park to restore the creek. After
Washington State Route 401
was built in the early 1900s,
the creek was largely cut
off from tidal flow from the
Columbia River. A 48-inch
pipe under the road — only
accessible to fish during high
tides — was the sole connec-
tion to the larger river.
Part of the project included
building a 25-foot culvert
under the road. More water
flowed through the area, allow-
ing project workers to redirect
the stream and allow more fish
to swim, feed and span. The
roadwork phase of the proj-
ect likely will be completed
by March, said Jason Smith,
a CREST habitat restoration
project manager.
Derrick McCraigie, 18, is
from Omak, where he lived
on the Colville Indian Reser-
vation. While at the camp, he
said he has been able to share
aspects of his tribe’s culture
such as the Salish language
and specific games the tribes
play.
“I wanted to teach people
about Native Americans with
my knowledge and experi-
ence,” he said.
Other students — like Ron-
ald Lenderman, 18, of Van-
couver, Washington — joined
the group to learn about and
become more involved with
Native American culture. As
a recreational fisherman, Len-
derman said he could relate to
Native Americans’ close con-
nections to the environment
and any projects that allow
more access for fish.
“I just really like the cul-
ture,” he said. “I feel really
connected with it.”
Advocates want Oregon to tighten
up rules for tiny house construction
Updates needed
to health and
safety standards
By TRACY LOEW
Statesman Journal
SALEM — Tiny house
advocates want the state Legis-
lature to crack down on “boot-
leg” construction and make it
easier to build the units legally.
The move comes as cit-
ies across Oregon, including
Salem, are eyeing tiny houses
as a way to ease tight rental
markets and address growing
problems with homelessness.
“Many communities are
struggling with, how do we
get people out from under-
neath bridges,” state Rep.
Paul Holvey, D-Eugene said.
“We’ve been forced into look-
ing at this in a new way.”
Holvey is chairman of the
House Committee on Business
and Labor, which is consider-
ing two bills dealing with tiny
home construction.
There’s no real definition
for tiny houses, also called
accessory dwelling units. They
can range from garage conver-
sions to backyard cottages to
small homes on wheels.
In all forms, tiny houses
have become wildly popular
with people looking to reduce
their environmental footprint
or embrace minimalist prin-
cipals, as well as those just
looking to save money. Own-
ers also list them on short-term
rental sites such as Airbnb as a
way to augment their incomes.
But many tiny houses
aren’t built to current health
and safety standards, said
Wikimedia Commons
Regulators are scrambling to keep pace with the tiny
house movement.
Mark Long, Oregon Building
Codes Division administrator.
House Bill 2737 would
establish special construction
codes for homes that are 250
square feet or less. Among
other things, it would allow
narrow ladders or stairways for
lofts; eliminate requirements
for minimum ceiling height
and room size; and exempt the
home from required electrical
service and water supply.
House Bill 2165 would
require tiny homes that are not
permanently sited or intended
for use as a residence to fall
under the standards for recre-
ational vehicles.
Although the state sets
building codes, inspections are
carried out by local municipali-
ties. Representatives from sev-
eral of those testified against
the proposals at two hearings
over the past week.
“Allowing tiny homes to
be built to a lesser standard
and occupied on a perma-
nent basis could be interpreted
that it’s acceptable for anyone
who occupies them to have a
lesser minimum standard for
life safety than those that have
a traditional home,” said Eric
Schmidt, Gresham’s com-
munity development director
and president of the board of
the Oregon Building Officials
Association.
And regulating some small
homes as RV’s would require
cities to hire extra staff and
train them on new standards,
opponents said.
“Having local officials sud-
denly become inspectors for
the recreational vehicle stan-
dard would be difficult. That’s
traditionally been done at the
state level, by the state,” said
Erin Doyle of the League of
Oregon Cities.
In written testimony, Lou
Pereyra, owner of Tiny Moun-
tain Houses, told the commit-
tee he was moving manufac-
turing from Oregon to Idaho
because of the Building Codes
Division’s “hard line” on reg-
ulations. The company said
it builds its tiny houses to
national RV codes.
“I just don’t have the
patience or the funds to battle
the state,” Pereyra wrote.
Both bills remain in com-
mittee. Holvey said both likely
will be revised before moving
on.
“They’re a long way from
being done,” he said.
Salem is the only major city
in Oregon that does not allow
accessory dwelling units. City
officials have been working
for the past couple of years to
develop a policy that would
permit them.
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