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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2017)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2017 County unemployment falls Seaside, developers its lowest rate since 1990 squabble over sidewalks to Dropped down Provision could undermine new housing plan By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — The Seaside Planning Commission and local developers are still at odds over a sidewalk require- ment for a proposed affordable housing project. Owners of a 15-acre plot of land on the corner of South Wahanna Road and Avenue S called Blue Heron Pointe plan to build 45 homes priced under $300,000. But the developers — Ritchie Development Corp. — have said the city’s request to have a section of sidewalk built along Avenue S in the fi rst phase of the project would not be feasible. Commissioners discussed the issue at a meeting Tuesday night. Concerns voiced by the commissioners and members of the public included a 2009 street system plan that calls for sidewalks, bike lanes and foot travel lanes along Avenue S. Drainage concerns from cul- verts on the property and traffi c caused by the lot’s proximity to Seaside Heights Elementary School and a future construc- tion site were also mentioned. Developers presented an adjusted version of phase one of the three-phase plan Tues- day. The plan would call for a wider passage way inside Blue Heron Pointe that would allow more access from Avenue S to Wahanna Road until the exterior sidewalks eventually would be built in phase three. Meeting attendees expressed concern, though, that developers may delay building the sidewalks if they don’t collect the necessary funds after selling lots built in the fi rst two phases of the project. A number of commission- ers proposed including a dead- line to have the sidewalks built as part of any future approval. Commissioner Richard Ridout suggested the deadline could parallel the opening of a new high school in the city’s East Hills in fall 2020. “We’ve got no timeline here for how soon anything is going to happen, so I’d like them to put the sidewalk next to the property,” Ridout said. But Max Ritchie, one of the owners of the property, said the earliest his company could afford to build the side- walks would be in phase three. While he doesn’t know exactly when that phase would begin, it almost certainly will not be within four years, he said. Should developers miss the proposed deadline, the city could halt other construction on the property until the side- walks are built, Commission Chairman Ray Romine said. Sandra K. Gee, who lives on Cooper Street east of the property, expressed her sup- port for the sidewalk require- ment Tuesday night. “This is a multi million dol- lar project,” she said. “I don’t think the cost of that sidewalk on that curve will make or break it, but it gives the own- ers an out not to build it if they don’t sell all of their houses.” Commissioners will dis- cuss the issue further before voting on it at a public meeting on March 21. Ritchie said he is not sure yet how the proposed require- ment will affect the future of the project. to 4.2 percent in January Jobless rates for January* By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Area Clatsop Clatsop County’s sea- sonally adjusted unemploy- ment rate of 4.2 percent in January reached its lowest mark since at least 1990, according to fi gures from the Oregon Employment Department. Seasonally adjusted rates account for the annual expansion in employment during the summer and con- traction in winter. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the county dropped by 0.3 percent from December to January and 0.8 per- cent from the year prior. The county had the state’s eighth-lowest rate of unemployment, tied with Sherman County and lower than both the state (4.3 per- cent) and national (4.8 per- cent) rates. Five counties posted seasonally adjusted Jan. Dec. 1-yr. 2017 2016 ago 4.2 4.5 5 Columbia 5.5 5.8 6.5 Tillamook 4.5 4.8 5.3 Oregon 4.3 4.5 5 U.S. 4.8 4.7 4.9 *Preliminary, seasonaly adjusted rates. Source: Oregon Employment Department Daily Astorian graphic unemployment rates below 4 percent. Peak employment Regional economist Erik Knoder, who gath- ers employment statistics for Clatsop, Columbia, Til- lamook and Lincoln coun- ties, said at a recent Colum- bia Forum that the region has essentially reached peak employment. “In general, we have a continually approving econ- omy, and this refl ects that,” he said Tuesday of the unemployment rate. Unemployment is unlikely to go down much further, he said, because the Federal Reserve will even- tually raise interest rates to slow infl ation. Knoder also cautioned people to take the news of low unemployment with a grain of salt. “The unem- ployment rate is probably the least important number we publish,” he said. There needs to be at least three months of similar move- ment before a change can be considered a trend, he said, and the unemployment rate has an error range of about 0.4 percent in either direction. “What I tend to look at more is what the non- farm payroll employment is doing,” he said. The county’s nonfarm payroll employment in Jan- uary was 18,430, 400 more than the year prior for a growth rate of 2.3 percent. Employment contracted from 17,620 in 2008 to 16,700 in 2011 during the Great Recession, but has since expanded, passing the pre-recession level in 2015. Cannon Beach charter school gets a substantial boost Academy wins $100,000 grant By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — The Cannon Beach Acad- emy received good news this week. The charter school, set to open its doors in Sep- tember, received a recom- mendation for a $100,000 award through the Oregon Charter School Program. Funds will be allocated to curriculum costs, teacher training, classroom equip- ment and marketing costs, Phil Simmons, director of startup operations for the academy, said Tuesday. “The planning grant is administered by the Ore- gon Department of Edu- cation and the funds came from the federal govern- ment,” Simmons said. “The purpose is to help defer the startup costs for charter schools. We applied for the maximum grant amount of $100,000, and they awarded the grant.” The Seaside School Dis- trict participated in the grant process by verifying that the academy had been granted a charter to operate in the district and supported their receiving the grant to pro- vide startup funds, Super- intendent Sheila Roley said. “The members of the Cannon Beach Academy board have worked very hard to make this a reality and we were happy that they received some resources to help them in the process,” Roley said. Charter schools The state was awarded $8.7 million for charter school planning, imple- mentation and dissemina- tion grants in October 2015, charter school grant special- ist Jennifer Donovan said. “We will award up to 15, $100,000 planning grants over the three-year term of our federal c harter s chools p rogram grant,” Donovan said. So far, four planning grants have been awarded, she added. Simmons said the grant application detailed the school’s five -year planning efforts, provided budget details and indicated where funds would be allocated. All costs in the application were approved. “It’s just a matter of us executing the plan and get- ting reimbursed,” Simmons said. “They were quite impressed with our grant, so much so they’re making our application a model for future applications.” Where money will go The largest portion of the grant funds are slated to be used for training educa- tors in the school’s curricu- lum. Another $10,000 will go to three months of sal- aries for the director and English as a Second Lan- guage teacher. “This will really allow those two indi- viduals to really iron out any issues with our pro- gram and prepare our pro- gram for implementation,” Simmons said. As much as $30,000 will go to classroom equipment and curriculum expenses. The academy applied for the grant with the assistance of the Seaside School Dis- trict, a cooperation “which is not always common,” Simmons said. “Often- times there can be friction between a charter school and a district, because the district sees the char- ter school as taking away a source of revenue. My expe- rience is the district, partic- ularly within the past year, has been incredibly support- ive. They’re really trying to help us pull this off.” Something ‘unique’ Enrollment at Cannon Beach Academy is limited to 22 students. “It’s offer- ing something a bit unique,” Simmons said. Bare Root & Fruit BONANZA Save 50 % while they last! Small fruits, including strawberries and potted blueberries, raspberries APPLES • CHERRIES PEAR • PLUMS • PEACHES David Austin Roses and Weeks Roses are here! Organic Potting Soils and Compost Be in the know A colonoscopy may be your best option for cancer screening and prevention. 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