SEPTEMBER 25, 2015 • VOL. 39, ISSUE 20
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
When a tsunami hits, do you know where to go?
Teachers don’t like
Cannon Beach
Academy plan
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
Teachers with Seaside
School District 10 took the
opportunity to stand and
speak against a proposed
charter school in Cannon
Beach during a public hear-
ing on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
In a reversal of the Aug.
18 hearing, the majority of
those who testi¿ ed, includ-
ing parents, opposed the
school.
“It isn’t an ‘us vs. them,’”
parent 0ichelle Wunderlich
said. “I’m not against the
charter school. I’m just very
much for a strong district for
everyone.”
She said the charter
would take away ¿ nancially
from the district. “It’s affect-
ing the whole pie too much
for such a small piece,”
Wunderlich added.
Chuck Albright, a third-
grade teacher at Gearhart
(lementary School, echoed
Wunderlich’s sentiments.
He said all students need an
“excellent education” and
the wants of 75 students
should not be placed ahead
of the needs of 1,500.
He added that there’d be
diminished quality in the
district regardless of the
teachers’ skills.
Without
incentives,
Gearhart
fourth-grade
teacher Sena Bergquist said
she doesn’t see how Cannon
Beach Academy would at-
tract the same high caliber
teachers. And with the loss
of up to 85 students, she’s
also concerned about how
funding cuts would “neg-
atively affect” the other
schools.
Cannon Beach Academy
Board of Directors Presi-
dent Ryan Hull said he sees
a reduction in class sizes as a
bene¿ t for Seaside schools.
After the meeting he said
the district would receive 20
percent of what the charter
would get per student from
the state if it sponsors the
academy.
Seaside Union President
-ohn 0eyer handed over a
list of 11 points against the
charter school signed by a
dozen people, the majority
of whom were district teach-
ers.0eyer said he is not
comfortable with the acade-
my’s curriculum and would
only be OK with a school in
Cannon Beach if it managed
by the district.
A sense of belonging
Hull said Cannon Beach
Academy wants to be a part
of the district. If the school
district supports the acade-
my rather than the state, he
added, there would be “set
checks and balances.” The
academy would have to give
annual reports and could
be closed if it doesn’t meet
measurable goals.
“We’re part of the district
still,” he said. “We’re not
an outside entity, but we are
different.”
See Academy, Page 10A
CANNABIS IN CANNON BEACH
DANI PALMER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Race the Wave participants began at NeCus’ Park and ended at the Elk Creek Road emergency cache site in Cannon
Beach. Wearing their city of Cannon Beach shirts, Daniel Willyard, with the Water Department, left , and City Man-
ager Brant Kucera run along the beach, other runners not far behind them.
Race the Wave annual event
tests tsunami preparedness
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
I
f disaster strikes in Cannon Beach, residents are ad-
vised to run for the hills. They got some practice Sun-
day, Sept. 13, at the city’s second annual Race the
Wave, a 5K and 10K tsunami preparedness run and walk.
³It’s a Eeautiful state we live in, Eut there’s de¿ nitely
a ha]ard level,´ 2regon 2f¿ ce of (mergency 0anage-
ment Director Andrew Phelps said.
In the event of a megathrust quake, scientists esti-
mate Cannon Beach residents will have only about 15
minutes before a tsunami follows.
“Knowing the evacuation route is pretty much the
simplest thing you can do to be prepared,” Ali Ryan Han-
sen, earth science information of¿ cer for the Department
of *eological and 0ineral Industries, said. “<ou’ve got-
ta practice, gotta make that muscle memory.”
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Race, Page 7A
DANI PALMER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Cannon Beach residents Julie Sackett, left , and Marlene
Reynolds check out a city evacuation map during the
Emergency Preparedness Fair following Race the Wave.
Councilors seek to
serve ‘will of people’
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
The Cannon Beach City
Council laid it out to voters:
write an ordinance regulat-
ing marijuana dispensaries
or hold a vote in Novem-
ber 2016 giving voters the
chance to opt out of sales.
During the Sept. 8 work
session earlier this month,
no decisions were made,
but the council seemed to
lean toward an ordinance
by the end of the night.
“This is something the
majority of our residents
have voted for,” Council
President 0elissa Cadwal-
lader said. “I want to see
us as a council try to do
what we can to make the
retail not necessarily easier,
but something that ¿ ts our
community.”
Councilor 0ike Bene-
¿ eld said a vote in 2016
would give residents “an-
other chance to voice their
opinion,” but noted a ballot
would take time and mon-
ey.
Cannon Beach’s busi-
ness license ordinance cur-
rently requires businesses
to abide by local, state and
federal law, prohibiting
marijuana
dispensaries.
0edical and recreational
marijuana is now legal in
Oregon, but still considered
a controlled substance by
the federal government.
By relying on the current
ordinances alone, the city
could be at risk of being
sued, city attorney Tammy
Herdener said.
Other
municipalities
have been sued over sim-
ilar ordinances and while
the cities have prevailed
at a lower court level,
See Council, Page 6A
Pollution readings concern watershed council
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
With historically high bacteria
readings, the (cola Creek Water-
shed Council and Surfrider Foun-
dation believe something may
be wrong with Cannon Beach’s
wastewater infrastructure. The
cause, however, is uncertain. Are
high readings a result of failing
systems, human activity, storms
or something else?
Field coordinator for Surfrid-
er’s Blue Water Task Force Ryan
Cruse appeared before the City
Council Sept. 8. He and others
asked the city to conduct a com-
plete review to study potential
À aws in sewage and wastewater
systems.
The Surfrider Foundation has
documented a history of sporad-
ic high readings, mainly at Gow-
er Street and Chisana Creek.
On Aug. 29, Surfrider mea-
sured 518 organisms per 100
milliliters in the ocean near
Gower Street, well above the
158 organisms per 100 millili-
ters threshold considered safe
under the Oregon Beach 0on-
itoring Program, run through
the Oregon Health Authority.
High measurements of (.
coli in fresh water and enteroc-
cus in marine water are indi-
cators of the possible presence
of fecal matter and a potential
health hazard.
Watershed Council Chair-
man 0ike 0anzulli said the
city’s beaches have some of the
highest pollution readings in
Oregon.
In 2013, 12 percent of Can-
non Beach’s results exceeded
the national Beach Action Value
safety threshold, according to
the Natural Resources Defense
Council. Sunset Bay State Park
in Coos County was the worst,
with 35 percent of its results ex-
ceeding the health threshold.
0anzulli noted two recur-
ring themes: high readings at
the Gower Street and Chisana
Creek outfalls, and “city deni-
al” of potential infrastructure
problems. He said a Cannon
Beach 2012 study suggested
the need for infrastructure test-
ing, but to his knowledge, the
testing never happened. “The
city does not know the source
of all the contamination,” he
said, adding Cannon Beach
needs to investigate further.
Public Works Director Dan
Grassick countered that the city
did take steps to ¿ nd solutions
for the high readings. No health
issues were determined, he said.
See Watershed, Page 11A
Hannah
Moore with
the Oregon
Beach Mon-
itoring Pro-
gram tested
ocean water
near Gower
Street in
Cannon
Beach.
DANI PALMER/
CANNON BEACH
GAZETTE