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.
Friday, Feb. 26
Cannon Beach Emergency Pre-
paredness Committee, 10 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, March 15
Cannon Beach Public Works,
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