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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2015)
May 22, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 5A Unearthed fuel tank a reminder of ’70s landslide ODOT removes long-buried steel cylinder from Silver Point beach By Erick Bengel Cannon Beach Gazette The Oregon Department of Transportation recently unearthed a rusted remnant of North Coast history: an empty 1,000-gallon fuel tank buried during the leg- endary landslide of Feb. 3, 1974, at Silver Point. First reported by a man walking along the beach last month, the tank could be seen jutting up from the soil, having resurfaced just above the high tide line, according to Kevin Werst, the department’s transpor- tation maintenance man- ager for the Warrenton Section of District 1. $W ¿UVW WKH 2'27 personnel sent to inspect the large steel cylinder thought it was a septic tank. But when the four- man crew went to dig it out the morning of April 21, they could smell the residual oil, according to Felix Martinez, the coor- dinator for the Warrenton section who led the oper- ation. “Once we got in there and realized what it real- ly was, we were worried about spillage,” Martinez said. But after he and his team took a peek inside the tank, they reckoned it was safe to move, he said. Jim Crowell, a part- time Cannon Beach resi- dent since 1962 who lives about three-quarters of a mile north of the site where the tank was found, took photos as the men wrapped the artifact in a chain sling, pulled it from the earth with a backhoe, loaded it onto a trailer bed and hauled it away. The tank currently re- sides in ODOT’s mainte- nance yard in Warrenton, JIM CROWELL PHOTO An Oregon Department of Transportation crew pulls a 1,000-gallon fuel tank from the earth near the vegetation line at the Silver Point beach. The tank was buried during the landslide of 1974. where it is waiting to be recycled, Martinez said. ‘Nature of the beast’ The Silver Point land- slide, which occurred roughly at milepost 32, in- volved more than 1.5 mil- lion cubic meters of mate- rial that slushed across the highway down to the beach and “damaged or destroyed at least four houses,” ac- cording to the book “Volca- noes to Vineyards: Geolog- ic Field Trips Through the Dynamic Landscape of the 3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVW´ The slide “closed the highway for several days” and resulted in reconstruc- tion costs of more than $1 million, the books reads. Crowell said that the slide knocked two beach- front houses off of their foundations. The structures were removed and never rebuilt. Since then, “there have been no dwellings built on that entire stretch along the beach,” he said. But leftover debris from the houses, has, over the years, “periodically kind of squirted out down near the edge of the vegetation line,” including pieces of a river URFN¿UHSODFHKHVDLG After the landslide — and after the massive mound of mud and clay was cleared from the highway — the state installed drain pipes to collect water accumulation. But sections of pipe have apparently become dis- connected, and some have emerged from the ground “in a kind of haphazard ap- pearance,” Crowell said. Local historian Peter Lindsey noted that devel- JIM CROWELL PHOTO The empty fuel tank is placed atop a trailer bed after being pulled from the Silver Point Beach in the early morning hours of April 21. The Oregon Department of Transportation crew could still smell the residual oil, even after all these years. opers have had trouble building on the “somewhat mobile ground” from Silver Point to Hug Point. “We have a long history of slides in that area south of Cannon Beach,” though most are small slides, said Lou Torres, a public infor- PDWLRQRI¿FHUZLWK2'27 M U N I C I PA L M E M O May 2015 Is published monthly by the City of Cannon Beach ')QYGT5VTGGVr|21$QZr%CPPQP$GCEJ14 r|(CZ r|66; MEETINGS JUNE 2015 %KV[%QWPEKN4GIWNCT/GGVKPI %KV[%QWPEKN9QTM5GUUKQP &GUKIP4GXKGY$QCTF 2NCPPKPI%QOOKUUKQP %+6;%170%+.':'%76+8'5'55+10/C[ 2015 City Council met to discuss the six-month evaluation of the new City Manager. The meeting was held in accordance with ORS 192.660(2)(i). %+6;%170%+.4')7.#4 /''6+0)/C[ • Approved Proclamation 15-02; for the purpose of designating the week of May 17-23, 2015 as Emergency Medical Services Week; • Approved Resolution 15-04; for the purpose of authorizing the city of Cannon Beach to apply for an Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) grant to partially fund the acquisition of a 28 acre addition to the Ecola Creek Forest Reserve; • Appointed Todd Rowley to the Parks and Community Services Committee and Julie Walker to the Tourism and Arts Commission; • Discussed a letter from the Oregon Coast Alliance (ORCA) regarding a dune grading moratorium. %+6;%170%+.914- 5'55+10/C[ • Nadia Gardner gave a presentation regarding the new Cape Falcon Marine Reserve which opens January 1, 2016; • HRAP Coordinator, Samantha Ferber introduced her staff for 2015; • AT&T representatives gave a presentation to Council regarding a collocation of their services on the T-Mobile cell tower located at 315 S. Spruce St; • Discussed the FY 2014-15 3rd quarter finance report; • Reviewed and discussed the Public Works project to RO RO RO RO improve the storm drainage and construct a sidewalk for environmental and ADA purposes on the Little Pompey side of Spruce Street; • Discussed the Tourism and Arts Commission (TAC) grant process and scheduled a meeting with TAC members in late July (date tbd); • Discussed the possibility of increasing the Transient Room Tax. ':'%76+8'&'2#46/'06 • Budget Committee meetings were held April 22, April 29, May 6 and May 13, 2015 to develop the FY 2015-16 City of Cannon Beach budget; the approved budget goes before the City Council in June for adoption. • Interviews were held for the IT Director and Finance Director positions; Russell Barrett will start June 1st as the IT Director and Laurie Sawrey will start June 8th as the new Finance Director. • Les Wierson of the Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness (EPREP) Committee gave a presentation at the ‘Tsunami Evacuation Route Wayfinding Charrette’ held at Camp Rilea on May 14th. &'5+)04'8+'9$1#4& - scheduled for May 21, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. 2.#00+0)%1//+55+10 - At their April 23, 2015 meeting, the Planning Commission discussed: SV 15-01, Sign variance requested by the City of Cannon Beach to permit the placement of two interpretive signs along an existing pedestrian trail located in NeCus’ Park. Approved Scheduled to meet May 28, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. *#;56#%-41%-#9#4'0'55 241)4#/ The Haystack Rock Awareness Program invites you to their photo exhibit at the Cannon Beach History Center (1387 Spruce Street). Open now through the end of September. The program will also be hosting their annual summer training on Saturday, June 13th from 9am to 2pm at Cannon Beach City Hall (163 E. Gower Street). Email volunteerhrap@ci.cannon- beach.or.us to RSVP. To view our Beach Program schedule, please visit our website: www.ci.cannon- beach.or.us %#0010$'#%*(#4/'45 /#4-'6 The Cannon Beach Farmers Market is almost here! Our first market begins Tuesday, June 16th and runs every Tuesday through September 29th. Music and prepared food are from 1pm - 5pm. Vendors are open 2pm - 5pm. The market features produce, Cheese, Meats, Salmon, Eggs, Baked Goods, Honey, Sea Salt, Flowers, Mushrooms, Sweet Treats, Wine and more! This season we will have our childrens’ program during the months of July and August, every Tuesday from 3pm - 4pm. The childrens’ program will be led by Jason Schermerhorn and his two children Jasmine and Jackson. The location of the market is on the corner of E. Gower and Hemlock (midtown/City Hall parking lot). Belinda Underwood will be our opening musical act. For more info call 503-440-0054. See you at the market! 016+%'1(8#%#0%+'5 %+6;%1//+55+105$1#4&5 %1//+66''5 The City of Cannon Beach is seeking applications for the following vacancies: '/'4)'0%;24'2#4'&0'55 %1//+66'' ONE (1) vacancy to fill a four-year term. The primary responsibility of the Emergency Preparedness Committee is to plan emergency response on a city- wide basis and make recommendations to the City Council. The Emergency Preparedness Committee holds its regular Every winter, “we’re al- ways dealing with some mud or dirt that comes down. That’s just the nature of the beast there.” (14;174+0(14/#6+10 /#;145CO5VGKFGN %170%+.1459GPF[*KIIKPU /GNKUUC%CFYCNNCFGT/KMG $GPGƂGNF)GQTIG8GVVGT %+6;/#0#)'4$TCPV-WEGTC meetings on the last Friday of each month at 10:00 a.m. and schedules work sessions as needed. To be eligible to serve on a City committee, applicants must have resided within the city or its urban growth boundary during the one year immediately preceding appointment; or at the time of appointment, shall have owned real property located within the city or its urban growth boundary for at least one year immediately preceding appointment. Applications are available at City Hall, 163 E. Gower Street, Cannon Beach, by email addressed to riggs@ci.cannon- beach.or.us or on-line at www.ci.cannon- beach.or.us. Applications should be returned to Colleen Riggs, City Recorder, Cannon Beach City Hall, P.O. Box 368, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. For more information, please contact Colleen Riggs by email or phone at (503) 436-8052. %1//70+6;)4#065 Presentations for Community Grants Applications are scheduled for May 28, 2015 at City Hall beginning at 9:00am. The Parks and Community Services Committee will meet Thursday, June 18, 2015 to review the grant applications and prepare recommendations. The City Council will review the grant award recommendations at their work session scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2015 and final consideration of the awards is scheduled for the City Council meeting on Tuesday August 4, 2015. 6174+5/#465(70&)4#065 Interviews for Tourism and Arts Fund (TAF) Grant Applications were held Tuesday, May 19 and Wednesday, May 20th at Cannon Beach City Hall. The Tourism & Arts Commission will meet on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 1:00pm at City Hall to discuss the TAF award recommendations. The City Council will review the grant award recommendations at their work session scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2015 and final consideration of the awards is scheduled for the City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.