7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2018
Developer:
Hollander has the
option to appeal
Continued from Page 1A
Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Along with a new maritime sciences building, a master plan for the Marine and Environmental Research and Training
Station would include improvements to Clatsop Community College’s automotive and welding courses.
With the reasons for the
denials finalized, Hollander
has the option to appeal. The
company has not seemed
interested in taking that route,
though, Estes said.
In June, a company rep-
resentative said Hollander
would likely look at other
plans, and that there was
flexibility to change the
hotel’s appearance and incor-
porate the community and
city critiques. The company
did not immediately respond
to a request for comment
Tuesday.
The company is under no
city-imposed deadlines to
begin developing the lots off
Marine Drive.
Hollander held a commu-
nity meeting earlier this year
to discuss the design of the
proposed hotel, but was crit-
icized for presenting plans
at the June hearings that
appeared unchanged from
earlier drafts.
People who testified
against the proposal said the
plans did not reflect feedback
the company received from
the community.
“If they get anything
through this, it is that they
need to listen,” Jared Rick-
enbach, the president of the
Design Review Committee,
said Tuesday.
“They didn’t listen enough
to mow the lawn yet, though,”
said committee member
Sarah Jane Bardy.
Workforce: ‘Just today, there are 21,500 job
Scam: ‘We just live
openings. ... There’s going to be even more’ in fear of someone’s
vacation getting ruined’
Continued from Page 1A
The college’s career-tech-
nical campus, the Marine and
Environmental Research and
Training Station, attracts mar-
itime students from around the
U.S., along with workers who
come for professional develop-
ment. The campus also plays
host to automotive, welding
and firefighting programs.
The college, with the only
maritime program on the
Oregon Coast, was recently
named the state’s designated
maritime training college. It
is also poised to become one
of several maritime centers of
excellence, a federal designa-
tion that could provide more
support.
The college has been
exploring a $14 million capital
campaign to match $8 million
in state bonds it was promised
by the state. Christopher Bre-
itmeyer, the college president,
has called the campaign an
opportunity to help train peo-
ple locally for high-paying,
high-demand jobs and bring
attention to a relatively hidden
campus.
“I think that we have a
very, very unique opportunity
to serve our community, the
region and really meet some
national needs, in terms of the
maritime industry,” he said
during a college board meeting
Tuesday.
Much of the maritime train-
ing takes place in the 23-year-
old maritime sciences building
staff say has antiquated utili-
ties and technology not suited
for modern education. Other
classes are held in a small,
deteriorating shack owned by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers next door, and on the
college’s training vessel, the
Forerunner.
The $8 million in lot-
tery-backed state bonds the
college was promised require
Continued from Page 1A
Some of Clatsop Community College’s maritime classes are held in a deteriorating U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers building next to campus. The college is hoping to modernize
its maritime programs.
at least an equal match by
2021. Architects with SRG
Partnership, contracted to cre-
ate a master plan for the cam-
pus, originally looked at add-
ing a second story to the
existing maritime sciences
building. But the building was
constructed before more strin-
gent seismic standards and
is located on dredge spoils
that could liquefy in a large
earthquake.
“With liquefaction, the
building can be expected to be
moved anywhere from 2 feet
vertically (and) 15 to 25 feet
horizontally,” said Gary Dan-
ielson, a senior associate with
SRG, during a presentation of
the master plan to the college
board Tuesday. “So a big jump
for any structure.”
SRG found it would be
more cost-effective to build
a new 8,700-square-foot aca-
demic hall on a larger pad sup-
ported by more than 1,000
stone piers digging 60 feet
into the ground to prevent the
building from moving in an
earthquake. Installing the piers
is estimated at nearly $1.9 mil-
lion, while the total cost of the
new maritime building is pro-
jected to be around $20 million
by 2021.
The college this week held
listening sessions with local
officials, maritime workers
and potential supporters to
publicize the capital campaign.
In addition to the new mar-
itime building, the campaign
would help pay to modern-
ize welding and automotive
classes; improve Liberty Lane
heading into campus; build a
new carport for vehicles being
worked on by students; add
new equipment such as ship
simulators for the college’s
programs; and build a nature
trail.
Clatsop County voters in
2014 passed an $8 million
bond measure as the local
match on a $16 million rebuild
of Patriot Hall, with the other
half funded by state lottery
bonds. Breitmeyer said the
college felt the need to raise
its own money to improve the
South Tongue Point campus.
Much of the donations would
likely come from maritime
companies and other groups
affected by the training the col-
lege provides, he said.
The college board will
decide in the fall whether to
pursue a capital campaign.
Consultant Catherine Crooker,
who has said the campaign
will depend on several multi-
million-dollar donations driv-
ing interest, is approaching
large potential donors and will
provide a recommendation in
the fall on whether the cam-
paign is feasible.
Esther Moberg, a college
board member, said she is con-
cerned about the timing of a
campaign, given the recent
Patriot Hall redevelopment,
and wants to make sure there
is sustainable growth for an
expanded maritime program.
Staff have estimated the
college could handle double
the maritime students it cur-
rently serves by adding courses
to meet industry demand, Bre-
itmeyer said.
“I’m pretty confident in
those numbers, in terms of the
growth and sustainability of
the program, given the needs
of the industry,” Breitmeyer
said Tuesday. “Just today,
there are 21,500 job openings
— that’s today. As we move
forward and people age out,
there’s going to be even more.”
“(This home) has been in
our family for generations.
So when something like this
happens, it’s almost personal.
How dare you take our house
and scam somebody?”
Vacation rental scams
are not uncommon. Accord-
ing to the American Hotel
& Lodging Association, 15
million rental scams last
year cost Americans $1.3
billion.
O’Brien’s case is one of
only a few Cannon Beach
has seen in awhile, Cannon
Beach Police Chief Jason
Schermerhorn said, but he
noted it likely happens more
often than reported.
“I think sometimes peo-
ple don’t come forward
because of embarrassment,
or they think you can’t track
down the scammer,” he said.
“But people should report,
because there could be some-
thing different about your
story that could be the detail
that helps us find them.”
Police initially tried to
track down the fake adver-
tisement and the phone num-
ber the family used to com-
municate about the rental,
but both were already wiped
by the time the report was
filed. Because the family
used a check to pay in full,
the payment could not be
tracked or stopped like a
credit card transaction.
This is what makes inves-
tigating these cases difficult,
Schermerhorn said.
“It’s frustrating because
it feels like there really is no
recourse,” O’Brien said.
While many local rental
companies have yet to face
scams, many, like Linda
Beck-Sweeney of Cannon
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Consumers should be
wary of scams when rent-
ing property.
Beach Vacation Rentals,
take precautions.
Properties can only be
booked through the com-
pany’s website or another
accredited
platform,
Beck-Sweeney said. She
only accepts credit cards and
checks every guest in per-
son. Often, scammers will
give customers access codes
before they arrive at a prop-
erty, and then disappear
when the code doesn’t work.
Her company also mon-
itors sites like Craigslist.
But this is a time-consum-
ing task for a small business,
she said, making it unlikely
the team catches every fake
advertisement.
“We just live in fear of
someone’s vacation getting
ruined,” she said.
While finding the person
who scammed the family
who showed up at her door is
unlikely, O’Brien hopes peo-
ple looking to vacation on
the coast will use her story
as a lesson.
“There’s not much we
can do to make people stop
doing this, but the word
needs to get out for people to
understand to not use Craig-
slist to do a rental, and that
you need to be able to use
something credible,” she
said.