T he C olumbia P ress
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C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly
www.thecolumbiapress.com
March 20, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12
Middle school construction plans approved
The Columbia Press
Warrenton planning commissioners
Walmart
have approved the school district’s fu-
ture school complex, keeping with the
district’s plans to break ground on a new
middle school in May and open for class-
es there in fall 2021.
The 57-acre complex is
south of Walmart and will
Middle
be accessed by a new street
school
off Dolphin Road named
Warrior Way. Eventually,
the site will hold three sep-
arate campuses – elemen-
Future high
tary, middle school and
school
high school.
The three-hour public
hearing on March 12 cov-
ered traffic, roads, landscap-
ing, parking, grading, ero-
sion control, wetlands, and
stormwater management.
“There was a lot of infor-
mation,” said Kevin Cro-
nin, the city’s Community
Development director. “It’s
the largest application I’ve
seen in Warrenton.”
The district chose to send
the project through the ap-
proval process as one large
development so that all the major sys-
tems don’t have to come back as each
campus is constructed.
The first step in that process was to
have the city allow master-planned de-
velopments by adding them into the de-
velopment code.
In November 2018, voters
approved a $38.5 million
bond measure to finance
the new campus complex
and make other improve-
Future
ments, including the ca-
primary
reer technical center at the
school
high school. Taxpayers will
repay the bonds over the
next three decades through
property taxes.
Middle schoolers current-
ly attend Warrenton Grade
School. Moving them to the
new campus frees up space
at the crowded grade school,
which abuts a tsunami in-
undation zone that prevents
any expansion there.
The next step for the new
middle school campus is a
review of engineering plans
and building permits before
grading and fill work begins.
Two county commission seats, two measures on local ballot
The Columbia Press
Voters in some areas will get to
select two new members or return
incumbents to the Clatsop County
Commission during the May 19 pri-
mary election.
All voters in the county will decide
whether to approve continuing for
five years the property tax for Clat-
sop County Fairgrounds operations.
Measure 4-203 would levy 0.07 cents
per $1,000 of assessed value on prop-
erty owners, raising about $500,000
per year for the fairgrounds.
A second measure will be on the
ballot of those living within the Can-
non Beach Fire District. Mea-
sure 4-204 would pay for
staffing and operations by as-
sessing property owners there
0.35 cents per $1,000 of as-
sessed value. If approved, the
measure would bring about
$425,000 into the agency’s
coffers per year.
Those living within District
2, which includes Gearhart,
Clatsop Plains and portions
of Seaside and Warrenton,
will choose between incum-
bent Sarah Nebeker and John
Toyooka, both residents of
Nebeker
Gearhart.
Nebeker, first elected in 2012
and re-elected in 2016, serves
on the Arts Council, Columbia
River Estuary Task Force, Hu-
man Services Advisory Coun-
cil and Public Safety Coordi-
nating Council. She previously
served on the Gearhart Plan-
ning Commission.
Her opponent, Toyooka, is a
manager at Lum’s Auto Cen-
ter and served in the Marine
Corps. He has no prior govern-
ment experience.
Toyooka
See ‘Election’ on Page 4
A new world
Coronavirus strain
is changing us
locally, regionally
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
Spring is associated with nature and
human renewal, daffodils blooming
and robins feasting on the first mowed
lawn of the year.
Yet we’ll look back on Spring 2020
as the point when our lives changed.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19)
was declared a pandemic last week.
And, by the time you read this, there
will be more change, more disruption,
more panic and pain.
Nothing is as it was.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued
back-to-back-to-back executive or-
ders, cancelling all events of 250 or
more, then closing the schools, then
shutting down bars and eateries.
Wall Street tumbled and a panicked
populace decimated store shelves,
hoarding toilet paper, cleaning sup-
plies and food.
Most travel ceased and only essential
services seem to be open for business.
Every cog in the economic wheel has
paused.
Church services, weddings, and visits
to grandma’s house or the rest home
are no more. And it will get worse be-
fore it gets better.
Statisticians, epidemiologists and
other scientists predict at least two
weeks from the imposition of last
weekend’s closures and stay-at-home
orders before the numbers of dead
and sick stop climbing.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday – shortly
before this newspaper was sent to the
printer – there were 215,000 con-
firmed coronavirus cases worldwide.
There have been 8,732 total deaths
and 83,313 people who have recov-
See ‘Coronavirus’ on Page 8