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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2016)
6A • January 15, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Cannon Beach will seek $102,000 for emergency materials, guides Grant could fund emergency equipment ‘Anyone could pick up a guide and understand their role in this event.’ City Manager Brant Kucera, on emergency field guides By Nancy McCarthy Cannon Beach Gazette If Cannon Beach receives the $102,000 state homeland security grant the city is ap- plying for, communication during emergencies may be improved. The grant application will be part of an overall grant be- ing sought by Clatsop County. During a Cannon Beach City Council meeting Jan. 5, the council unanimously ap- proved City Manager Brant Kucera’s request to apply for the funds. About $30,000 would go toward developing three dif- ferent field operating guides for the city staff; volunteers working with the emergency responders, including ham radio groups and community emergency response teams; and local community organi- zations as well as businesses. The guides would “allow someone to understand how to run a command center better or allocate resources,” Kucera said. “Anyone could pick up a guide and under- stand their role in this event.” The remaining $72,000 of the grant would provide equipment, including a gen- erator for the emergency com- mand center, which would be based at the fire station or the public works building; hand- held radio sets for response staff; and a military-style tent to act as a temporary com- mand center. In other business, the council: • Removed from the agen- da a planned public hearing on a proposal by Jeffery Nich- olson for a four-unit planned development at 532 N. Laurel St. The hearing was postponed because the city Planning Commission has not complet- ed its hearing on the matter and will take it up again at 6 p.m. Jan. 28. • Approved revised leases for the Cannon Beach Library and the Tolovana Arts Colony. Although Kucera proposed that the library’s original 99-year-lease on city property, due to end in 2070, be changed to end in 2026, library board members protested. Library Treasurer Phyllis Bernt said a lease with only 10 more years left would prevent library board members from making long-range plans, would reduce the library’s sense of security in its location and could jeopardize a public/ private partnership between the city and the library that has been working well. The council agreed to a compromise that would con- tinue the 99-year lease but would require the library board to comply with updated insurance requirements. The board also would be required to allow an evaluation of the lease every five years. The Tolovana Arts Colo- ny’s lease with the city ends in 2020. Its lease also was revised to reflect new state require- ments to increase insurance coverage. • Heard comments about the council’s ongoing consid- eration about whether mari- juana dispensaries will be al- lowed in Cannon Beach. Local resident Marlene Laws said she had collected 156 signatures of those who don’t want a marijuana shop in town. David Robinson, pastor of Cannon Beach Commu- nity Church, told the council that the commercial sale of marijuana would discourage young families from moving to town and would adverse- ly impact tourism. Business owners would have to worry about employees using mar- ijuana, and there could be more impaired drivers, Rob- inson said. However, Jan Sie- bert-Wahrmund said the pub- lic has been “misled” about marijuana and that the drug suffers a double standard when compared to alcohol. “Moderation is the key,” said Siebert-Wahrmund, who add- ed that it still would not be legal for children to use marijuana. She noted that 63 percent of the community’s voters approved marijuana’s legalization. “I don’t feel that having a shop in town would stop tour- ists from coming here,” Sie- bert-Wahrmund said. • Heard praise of the city’s public works and planning de- partments from Bruce Fran- cis, manager of the Breakers Point condominiums. When enormous swells on the Ecola estuary caused deep under- cutting of the bank adjacent to one of the condominium buildings, Francis said the city staff responded within 24 hours to shore up the building and also prevent a 2-inch gas main from bursting. “We are very indebted to the prompt action by the city staff,” Francis said. Planning commission seeks to fill vacancy Clatsop County invites applications for an open seat on its Planning Commission. The Planning Commis- sion is the county’s commit- tee for citizen involvement on development and land use issues, such as zoning, natu- ral resources, transportation, natural hazards, economic development, housing, farm and forest lands and coast- al zones. The commission makes land use decisions on variances, conditional uses and subdivisions. It also makes recommendations to the Board of County Com- missioners on amendments to the comprehensive plan and its implementing ordi- nances. The Planning Com- mission regularly meets the second Tuesday of each month, in Astoria, beginning at 10 a.m. The open position is for a vacant term ending June 2018. For additional infor- mation about the commis- sion’s meetings or respon- sibilities, contact Jennifer Bunch, Senior Planner, at 503-325-8611 or jbunch@ co.clatsop.or.us. Clatsop County strives to have a Planning Commission that represents all geograph- ical areas of the county, in- cluding incorporated cities. The commission currently does not have representa- tives from the following planning areas: Elsie-Jewell, Seaside Rural, and Lewis & Clark/Olney-Wallooskee; however, all interested par- ties are encouraged to apply. The Board of Commis- sioners will consider the appointments at one of its upcoming regular meet- ings. Application forms are available from the County 0anager’s of¿ce at 800 E[- change St., Suite 410, Asto- ria, OR, or online at www. co.clatsop.or.us. The dead- line to apply is Feb. 29 at 5 p.m. SUBMITTED PHOTO Filmmaker Shane Anderson explores risks to our re- gion’s forests. Film outlines risks of clearcut logging By Andrew R. Tonry Cannon Beach Gazette Standing on the beach, looking east, you can see them ² the e[panding swaths of clearcuts carved out of the hills. Every few months it seems another is shaved away, almost like a haircut. What’s tougher to see — at least with the naked eye — is how those clearcuts have the potential to disturb both the water we drink and the air we breathe. Such potential for dev- astation is the subject of “Behind the Emerald Cur- tain,´ a documentary ¿lm shown at the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce Jan. 6. The ¿lm is produced by the Portland-based nonprof- it advocacy group Paci¿c Rivers along with North Fork Studios, and directed by Shane Anderson. Much of the crisply shot and foreboding half- hour ¿lm is set less than 30 miles south of Cannon Beach, in Wheeler and Rockaway Beach. In those nearby locales, the ¿lm posits, both drinking wa- ter and o[ygen have been compromised by destruc- tive logging practices. According to the ¿lm, natural root systems act as a ¿lter for Rockaway’s Jetty Creek watershed, and that after such forests were clearcut the amount of silt in the water increased dra- matically. Filtering out that silt is a comple[ and cost- ly process, which added unnecessary chemicals to public drinking water. Im- provements to Rockaway Beach’s water processing facilities, the ¿lm asserts, cost some $1.6 million. “Behind the Emerald Curtain´ also e[plores chemical spraying after for- ests have been logged. Most disturbing is the testimony of one Wheeler resident. She tells of stag- gering to a local clinic after a spraying near her home. 8pon arrival she ¿nds the scent of the same chemicals to have permeated the clin- ic, and a patient suffers a subsequent seizure. In a ¿lm full of disturb- ing images, another follows. As the camera zooms out from the clinic, a freshly logged hill looms directly behind it. According to ¿lmmak- ers, the only way Wheel- er residents can be made abreast of nearby spraying schedules is to pay $25 for the information. “<ou have to pay to ¿nd out if you’re being poi- soned,´ says a Àabbergasted interviewee. But “Behind the Em- erald Curtain” doesn’t take issue with particular perpetrators so much as it does with Oregon law. Un- der the auspices of the Or- egon Forest Practices Act, it alleges, everything these private landowners — and the companies who log it — are doing is perfectly legal. As such, the ¿lm is as much a call to action as it is an e[posp. PUBLIC MEETINGS Tuesday, Jan. 19 Meeting, 6 p.m., 188 W. 2nd St. 9 a.m., City Hall 163 E. Gower St. Gower St. Cannon Beach Public Works, 9 a.m., City Hall 163 E. Gower St. Tuesday, Feb. 16 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Tuesday, April 19 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Thursday, Jan. 21 Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6 p.m., City Hall 163 E. Gower St. Thursday, Jan. 28 Cannon Beach Planning Com- mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Friday, Jan. 29 Cannon Beach Emergency Pre- paredness Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Monday, Feb. 8 Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec- tion District Board of Directors Cannon Beach Public Works, 9 a.m., City Hall 163 E. Gower St. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Thursday, Feb. 18 Cannon Beach Design Review Board, City Hall, 6 p.m. 163 E. Gower St. Thursday, Feb. 25 Cannon Beach Planning Com- mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Thursday, March 17 Cannon Beach Public Works, 9 a.m., City Hall 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Design Review Board, City Hall, 6 p.m. 163 E. Gower St. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Friday, March 23 Thursday, April 21 Cannon Beach Emergency Pre- paredness Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Design Review Board, City Hall, 6 p.m. 163 E. Gower St. Thursday, March 24 Cannon Beach Planning Com- mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Planning Com- mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. 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