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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Vehicles entering and exiting Ecola State Park must traverse several patches of rough road.
Park: Rangers keeping eyes on road conditions
Wear and tear
Continued from Page 1A
Landslide
The trail work Cox has in
mind would be separate from
the reroute that’s necessary to
reconnect a trail from Ecola
Point to Indian Beach. That
trail was severed by a land-
slide that sent a hillside of dirt,
trees and undergrowth ocean-
ward, creating an ocean view
where there had never been
one before.
A new route recommended
by Ptarmigan Ptrails, a trail
construction company, would
take hikers around the slide
area with a climb to a ridge far
above. The proposed reroute
is expected to cost between
$20,000 and $50,000.
The original trail that
hugged the cliff line has not
been passable since last year.
The park itself was open and
closed sporadically throughout
the spring as Cox and his staff
dealt with issues related to sev-
eral landslides.
Park rangers have kept the
trail segment from Ecola Point
to the slide open, but they
have discouraged foot traffic
through the slide area. Signs
at the pay station above Ecola
Point and at the trailhead to
Indian Beach inform visitors
that the trail is washed out and
A sign at the park ranger pay station at the entrance to Ecola State Park lets visitors know about the condition of trails.
asks hikers not to try and cross
the slide.
Dozens of people have
clearly ignored the plea. The
slide area is criss-crossed by
narrow paths stamped with
boot prints and animal tracks.
In May, one park ranger said
the area looked like a bomb
had gone off. It still looks that
way, but the scar isn’t as fresh
now. Undergrowth has crept
back and, with the mild start
to winter this year, persisted
into December. Beyond the
makeshift paths, the ground
is soft and fractured. A shal-
low muddy stream cuts down
the hill, spilling coppery water
across the beach far below.
Last December, storms shut
down access to Indian Beach
and caused sinking and slid-
ing along Ecola Park Road.
Erosion around the Canyon
Creek culvert became an issue,
too. Such problems continue to
haunt the park leading into the
winter months this year.
The park receives an esti-
mated 313,808 visitors each
year, most of them arriving
during the summer months
when the weather is more invit-
ing. Summer traffic wore away
at repairs crews completed on
Ecola Park Road in the spring.
Areas where the asphalt was
torn away and replaced with
compacted gravel are now
pockmarked by potholes. The
park management had opted
to repair the areas with gravel
to make future fixes easier to
address.
“We are always concerned
about the status of the road
and the slide that’s occur-
ring there and how that can be
impacted by a heavy rain event
or heavy rain combined with
strong winds,” Cox said. How-
ever, routine winter weather is
not a huge concern, he added.
The park has weathered many
storms. Road conditions sim-
ply remain another thing for
rangers to keep an eye on.
Cannon Beach: ‘We’re just not catching up’
Continued from Page 1A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Warrenton will require developers of subdivisions of 20
lots or more to provide a neighborhood park.
Warrenton: Wider road
requirement applies to any
new road construction
Continued from Page 1A
New local roads are now
required to meet a pavement
width of 36 feet rather than
the range of 28 to 36 feet
more typical in Warrenton.
In past discussions
about the many new devel-
opments in the works or
under construction, Fire
Chief Tim Demers said
he was concerned about
fire engines being able to
turn around in streets and
access the new buildings in
case of fire.
Wider streets will also
allow cars to park on both
sides of the road. In some
neighborhoods, cars ride up
onto the sidewalk to park —
a misguided effort to park
on the street but keep the
road clear that eliminates
the ability for pedestrians to
use the sidewalk, city com-
missioners have noted.
The requirement applies
to any new road construc-
tion, including work done
by the city.
But many of the council-
ors questioned a rate increase
that would only partially
finance projects. Some wor-
ried without full funding from
rates, the system would not be
maintained and would eventu-
ally depreciate. Others raised
questions about whether com-
mercial outfits were paying
enough under the current rate
structure.
“We have this need — it
is well-established — and we
are only going to get half of
it funded? That doesn’t make
sense to me,” City Councilor
Mike Benefield said. “If we
don’t have the funds, we’re
going to be back to square one
when our water system isn’t
paying for itself.”
The city plans to hold a pub-
lic hearing in February before
implementing any changes.
But for now, the city is consid-
ering approving just the first
year of rate increases proposed
in the five-year plan, which
would increase the cumulative
water, wastewater and storm-
water base rate by 16 percent
from this year to next — about
an $8 difference for the aver-
age residential ratepayer.
City Manager Bruce St.
Denis and Public Works
Director Jim Arndt recom-
mended revisiting the issue
after designing a five-year
capital project schedule. The
plan would impact rates annu-
ally by accelerating or slowing
increases depending on what
projects are planned for each
fiscal year.
“Instead of locking into a
rate schedule, let’s vet the proj-
ects by the board and the com-
mittee and talk more clearly
about what we need in terms of
cash flow and rates,” St. Denis
said.
A different approach
Approving the plans and
the rate increase to fund it
stalled earlier this year after
committee members raised
concerns about how projects
were prioritized and discrep-
ancies within the rate study
completed by Civil West Engi-
neering Services.
Since May, the committee
worked with Arndt to evaluate
the benefits and drawbacks of
funding the whole master plan
versus just a percentage, dif-
ferent rate structures and pay-
ment phase-in options.
The committee opted to
recommend financing only the
water and wastewater mas-
ter plans partially in an effort
to lessen the overall impact to
ratepayers and incentivize the
city to find alternative funding
through grants and bonds.
The
committee
also
thought funding only half the
plan would encourage the city
to prioritize financing the most
urgent projects.
“The (public works com-
mittee) has reservations about
the priorities and the reason-
ing and explanations for some
of the projects,” the com-
mittee wrote in a letter to the
City Council. “We are rec-
ommending you adopt the
plans because they are a good
starting point for evaluat-
ing our water and wastewater
systems.”
But Arndt cautioned coun-
cilors that while the city always
seeks out grants to fund proj-
ects when applicable, funding
less than 100 percent would
likely not keep up with depre-
ciation of the system over the
20-year life of the plan.
“After 10 years of no
increases, we’re just catching
up,” Arndt said.
Benefield and Councilor
George Vetter said they felt the
increase was relatively nom-
inal in comparison with what
could be accomplished with
the revenue if the plans were
funded fully.
“If this is what it costs to
have water, then this is what
it costs. Why pull from other
sources other than rates?” Vet-
ter said.
Restructuring
While agreeing with the
needs of the system, Mayor
Sam Steidel was wary of any
more increases that could
impact ratepayers, and sug-
gested exploring ways for the
city to use lodging tax revenue
to help fund projects.
“The number of day-trip-
pers we have is an abuse on the
system,” Steidel said.
Councilor Nancy McCar-
thy also questioned whether
a different type of rate struc-
ture could be explored to make
sure commercial customers
were “paying their fair share.”
Bob Reid, a member of
the Public Works Commit-
tee, agreed with McCarthy’s
inquiry, arguing the commer-
cial outfits that attract thou-
sands each year play a role in
the degradation of the water
and sewer system.
“If you charge commercial
businesses, they pass it onto
the tourists, which are largely
the reason why we have to
support a system built to sup-
port 10,000 people for a town
with only 1,700 residents,”
Reid said.