AUGUST 14, 2015 • VOL. 39, ISSUE 17
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Destination for room tax increase still uncertain
Additional revenue
to have ‘huge impact’
on Cannon Beach
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
Visitors will be contributing a
little bit more to the Cannon Beach
experience. Cannon Beach’s City
Council unanimously approved
an ordinance raising the city’s
transient lodging tax from 7 to 8
percent during their regular meet-
ing Tuesday, Aug. 4. City Man-
ager Brant Kucera said the city
anticipates about $360,000 more
in revenue for ¿scal year 0-
6, from 2ct. to -une 30, 06.
The ordinance goes into effect on
2ct. and will apply to all reser-
vations made after that date.
Reservations made prior to the
passage of the ordinance are not
subject to the tax.
The city’s room tax was last
increased in 00 and with the
state’s percent tax, will bring
Cannon Beach’s lodging tax to a
total of 9 percent.
6eventy percent of that percent
increase will go toward tourism, like-
ly the Visitor Center, while 30 percent
will go into the city’s general fund, di-
vided in accordance with state statutes.
The room tax allocation was des-
ignated to the center during the city’s
budgeting process, but City Council
talks focused on whether the money
would also bene¿t the Chamber of
Commerce, which runs the center
and recently received $8,48 from
the Tourism and Arts Commission,
for a time. At one point, two differ-
ent contracts, one for the center and
one for the chamber, was suggested.
A ¿nal decision on the allocation
will be made next month.
The additional revenue will have
a “huge impact on Cannon Beach”
and planning for the future, Cham-
ber of Commerce Executive Direc-
tor Court Carrier said after the deci-
sion.
A whopper of a bill
While future visitors of Cannon
Beach will see a slight increase in
their lodging bill, residents Cindy
Bryden and Ernest Goff saw a mas-
sive increase in their water bill —
from a monthly average of $4 to
$0 — over the March 0 to April
0 service period.
A member of the city’s water
crew met with Bryden to discuss po-
tential plumbing problems, but none
were found, leaving the high water
usage a mystery. Public Works Di-
rector Dan Grassick said the city’s
electronic reading meters have a
low failure rate and when they do
fail, it’s in the customer’s favor as
the volume measuring mechanism
slows down. No exterior leaks were
discovered, either.
See Tax, Page 9A
Cannon Beach
keeping an eye
on water demand
City officials tap Ecola
Creek early
By Dani Palmer
EO Media Group
DANI PALMER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Two-year-old Gunner, the Cannon Beach Police Department’s chocolate Labrador K-9 officer, gets some lovin’ from his family
during National Night Out Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the city park. Surrounded by community members, Officer Josh Gregory’s wife,
Alisha Gregory, holds Gunner’s leash, 2-year-old Colin Gregory smiles as he looks on and Jacie Gregory, 13, and Scott Gregory,
14, pet their dog.
Community and police
share a ‘National Night Out’
Cannon Beach holds
National Night Out
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
C
annon Beach Police Chief -ason
Schermerhorn has been at the
market in uniform and heard a
parent tell a child, ‘You better be good
or he’s going to get you.’
Police aren’t out to get people, he said.
National Night 2ut, held at the Chamber
of Commerce on Tuesday, Aug. 4, pre-
sented a chance for youth to see law en-
forcement of¿cers aren’t scary. “We’re
just everyday people,” Schermerhorn
said, working to help people.
Promoting police and community
camaraderie, more than 6,000 law en-
forcement department’s around the U.S.
held National Night 2ut, according to
the National Association of Town Watch.
The evening offered food, activities for
kids, a rafÀe for all and the chance to
chat with the department’s of¿cers.
“What the goal is just letting people
come talk to us on a different level,”
Schermerhorn said.
The event offers a chance for com-
munity members to bring up concerns
or ask questions and get to know the of-
¿cers, he added.
Schermerhorn had participated in Na-
tional Night 2ut as an of¿cer with the
Seaside Police Department and said he
thought it’d be great to do in Cannon
Beach, as well.
While some communities around the
nation struggle with police and citizen
relations, the small community has al-
ready built a strong relationship.
Schermerhorn said residents are good
at keeping an eye on their neighborhoods
and working with law enforcement.
“In many cases, people call in and
let us know what’s going on,” he said.
“Some feel like they’re bothering police
when they do it and they’re not.”
Cannon Beach resident Michael Diak
brought his son Dominic, 3, to the event.
He said Cannon Beach police do a
good job of making the city safe. Hav-
ing the officers be apart of the com-
munity is “a special quality,” he added.
In its second year of holding the
event, the Cannon Beach Police De-
partment saw about 60 people Tues-
day evening, around 0 more than last
year.
Cannon Beach Fire and Rescue was
unable to attend this year as the depart-
ment was short handed, but Home De-
pot came out to offer crafts to the chil-
dren. Schermerhorn said multiple local
businesses and organizations, such as
the Cannon Beach Bakery and the Ro-
tary Foundation, also made donations
to the event.
Cannon Beach offers multiple op-
portunities throughout the year for res-
idents to meet with police one-on-one,
including Coffee with a Cop and Burg-
er with a Cop.
CANN2N BEACH —
The city of Cannon Beach
is now dipping into Ecola
Creek water supply —
about a month ahead of
schedule for the ¿rst time
in years.
The Public Works De-
partment started the Eco-
la plant up in late -uly, DAN GRASSICK
drawing 00 gallons per
minute to supplement water that comes from
three mountain springs during the summer.
“In a normal year, we’d usually make it to
Labor Day weekend,” Public Works Direc-
tor Dan Grassick said.
But it’s been a dry summer, with .8
inches of rain in -une and only .66 during
See Water, Page 9A
Weapons fears
drive emergency
container debate
City plans to continue
container program
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
The city of Cannon Beach will continue
its emergency cache container program, but
is exploring changes after concerns regard-
ing safety arose.
Residents spoke against discontinuing
the program during a city council meeting
in -uly. City Manager Brant Kucera said
despite concerns, the program would not be
phased out in Cannon Beach.
“2bviously it’s an important program,”
he said during an emergency preparedness
meeting )riday morning, -uly 3. “6o there’s
no intention of eliminating the program.”
But, he added, there is “valid concern” for
what is placed inside the containers, intend-
ed for use in an emergency such as the Cas-
cadia subduction earthquake and tsunami.
Cannon Beach started the program three
years ago and has expanded to three locations
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Containers, Page 9A
Save our cannon!
When is the Cannon Beach cannon
coming back to the museum?
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
The Cannon Beach His-
tory Center and Museum is
working to save the city’s
namesake. So if you’re one
of those who’s stopped by the
museum wondering where
THE cannon is, it’s in Astoria
awaiting its new, permanent
home.
“People ask every day,
‘Where’s
the
cannon?
When’s the cannon coming
back?’” said Elaine Trucke,
executive director of the cen-
ter and museum.
The cannon is currently at
the Columbia River Maritime
Museum in storage. The Can-
non Beach History Center
and Museum is raising mon-
ey to install an exhibit that
will preserve extensive con-
servation work, and hopes to
have it back by -anuary. The
exhibit will be presented in a
microenvironment that will
help protect the antique in a
climate-controlled area.
The cannon was on the
USS Shark when it foundered
on the Columbia River Bar in
846, and had been used in
border disputes and the West
Indies. It washed up onto a
beach in Arch Cape but was
lost in the tide and not seen
again in the area until 898.
The cannon sat in front of
Arch Cape’s post of¿ce for
years before moving in the
940s, ending up in private
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Cannon Beach History Center and Museum’s capstan is soaked in wax after a chemical
treatment at Texas A&M.
hands and eventually being
given to the museum in 00,
Trucke said.
In 00, while com-
paring it to other cannons
found in Arch Cape, a repre-
sentative from Texas A&M
discovered the underside
was falling apart and was
severely rusted from sitting
outside for more than a cen-
tury. Pieces were falling off.
The museum decided
then to raise the money to
restore the cannon and the
capstan. They shipped it to
College Station, Texas, in
0, where repair work
began.
See Cannon, Page 10A