DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2018
145TH YEAR, NO. 131
ONE DOLLAR
Group
to assist
senior
citizens
Volunteers step up to
help seniors in need
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
‘What price do
you put on a life?’
Levy would fund two
full-time paramedics
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
ANNON BEACH — Every five years, Can-
non Beach voters are given the choice on a
levy that pays the salary, benefits, training
and other expenses for a full-time fire chief.
For this year’s ballot, Fire Chief Matt Benedict
wants the rural fire district’s board to consider mod-
ifying the levy to cover funding for two full-time
firefighter paramedics.
The change would more than double the rate to
$0.35 per thousand of assessed property, up from
$0.1488. It’s a difference between paying roughly
$14 a year on a $100,000 home versus paying $35.
The fire district would bring in about $385,000
a year, compared to the $141,469 since voters last
approved the levy in 2013.
Last year, the fire district applied for two Fed-
eral Emergency Management Agency grants to fill
the two firefighter paramedic positions, but did not
receive the award due to reporting errors made by
previous administrations. While the district plans
to apply for the two grants again, funding the posi-
tions through a levy would be more reliable, Bene-
dict said.
“With the grant process we cannot rely on the
funding in the future,” he said. “The levy would be
more permanent as it would be for five years and
hopefully supported by the voters to continue in the
future.”
If the board approves, one firefighter position
would also be in charge of recruitment and reten-
tion, while the other would take on fire inspections.
“We can survive right now, but with more and
more tourists coming in, we need more extra per-
sonnel,” Benedict said.
ABOVE: Rolling hose is just one of the many jobs personnel with
Cannon Beach Fire and Rescue perform after a call. BELOW: Fire-
fighting gear hangs ready for the next emergency at Cannon Beach
Fire and Rescue. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
A different kind of call
Part of what is driving the need, Benedict said, is
the growing number of medical calls. The fire chief
See LEVY, Page 4A
Tillamook power line draws controversy
Link between
Tillamook and
Oceanside
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
EO Media Group
Controversy over an elec-
trical transmission line in Til-
lamook County is expected
to come to a head this year as
the developer pursues three
key permits.
The 8.6-mile line would
cross farmland and forest-
land, drawing opposition
from landowners in its path
who worry about imped-
iments to agriculture and
logging.
Opponents argue that
a new transmission line
between Tillamook and
Oceanside isn’t justified by
actual electricity demand,
but may instead be intended
as a connection to future
wave power or offshore wind
energy projects.
The Tillamook Public
Utility District, the project’s
developer, claims the trans-
mission line is necessary to
improve the reliability of
the electrical grid and denies
it’s motivated by renewable
energy speculation.
Adding to the tension is
the utility’s planned use of
eminent domain to obtain
easements along the trans-
mission line’s route.
“It’s really angering peo-
ple in the Tillamook area, as
it should,” said Cameron La
Follette, executive director
of the Oregon Coast Alliance
conservation group.
To begin construction, the
utility district would need to
obtain a conditional use per-
mit from Tillamook County,
a fill-removal permit from
the Department of State
Lands and eminent domain
authority from the Oregon
Public Utility Commission.
Those three permits are
pending and are expected to
undergo public comment in
the coming year.
The Oregon Farm Bureau
and Oregon Dairy Farm-
ers Association have both
objected to the project.
For dairy farmers affected
by the line, it’s problematic
for multiple reasons, said
Kurt Mizee, whose family
owns Tilla-Bay Farms.
“Stray voltage,” which
occurs when electricity
essentially leaks into the
ground, is one concern, he
said.
The phenomenon is
known to reduce milk pro-
duction among dairy cows
and harm their health.
See LINE, Page 4A
Area in
detail
101
Pacific O
cean
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Cannon Beach Fire Chief Matt Benedict makes the rounds of the garage doing routine maintenance and checking gear.
A new group in Astoria hopes to help
senior citizens on fixed incomes stay housed,
fed and warm.
When John Day resident Chelsea Johnsen
read in December about a woman who was
going to lose her apartment due to a major
rent increase at the first of the year, she felt
she had to do something. She wasn’t the only
person.
A handful of people contacted the Asto-
ria Senior Center to see how they could help
Marge Glaser, a 74-year-old Astorian living
on a fixed income. Their donations ensured
Glaser will be able to stay in her apartment
for the time being.
But they didn’t want to stop there. The
week before Christmas, Johnsen, Senior
Center director Larry Miller and many of
the people who had reached out to Miller
asking how they could help held a meeting.
They want to do more for people in similar
circumstances.
“Marge is like the perfect person (for this
kind of aid),” Johnsen said.
Glaser is a senior
on a fixed income,
she lives alone, she
has lived in the area
for decades, she had
friends offering tem-
porary places to stay,
and she just needed a
bit more help to make
ends meet.
The group plans to
open a bank account
under the umbrella of
Colin Murphey/
the Senior Center’s
The Daily Astorian
nonprofit status and
Glaser
are looking for seniors Marge
to help. The center will with her dog,
administer any pay- Dorothy.
ment of funds, Miller
said, and the bank account will solely exist to
assist seniors in need.
For now, the group is keeping the criteria
for aid loose. Miller hopes they will reach out
to local and regional organizations and coor-
dinate their efforts with existing programs
and services. Johnsen is considering contact-
ing the Meals on Wheels program to find out
which seniors owe money on their accounts.
Maybe the group could pay off what’s owed,
she said. For now, people interested in get-
ting involved or donating should contact the
Senior Center, she said.
Organizations that serve senior pop-
ulations say the lack of affordable hous-
ing options and transportation are the big-
gest obstacles facing the region’s elderly
and lower-income population. Buildings like
the Owens-Adair Apartments in Astoria, set
aside for low-income seniors, function with
wait lists that are several years long.
A former volunteer with the Astoria
Warming Center, Johnsen has seen many
elderly women end up homeless due to a
variety of factors from rent increases to sud-
den illness and bills piling up.
“I always thought if we could have caught
them before they got here,” she said.
ORE.
TILLAMOOK
STATE
FOREST
Tillamook
Bay
101
6
Tillamook
Netarts
131
Proposed new
transmission
line
101
N
3 miles
Capital Press graphic