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.
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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
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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
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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-
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M U N I C I PA L M E M O
May 2015
Is published monthly by the City of Cannon Beach
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MEETINGS
JUNE 2015
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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).
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• 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-
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• 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
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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
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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
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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!
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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.”
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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.
