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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2016)
May 20, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A Fir Street Bridge to get rehabilitated Bridge will be more likely to survive earthquake By Lyra Fontaine Cannon Beach Gazette During a tsunami or earthquake, the Fir Street Bridge that connects downtown to the city’s north end is likely to collapse. City oicials want to make it safer. The bridge will undergo repairs and seis- mic rehabilitation this fall to increase its survivability in the event of a moderate earthquake. “What this will do is improve the bridge’s odds of surviving a moderate earthquake in that it would still be func- tional after that,” Public Works Director Dan Grassick said. The City Council approved a resolu- tion to adopt a supplemental budget for the bridge’s rehabilitation at a meeting last week. The cost for Oregon Bridge Engineer- ing Consultants to create a design, plans and speciications is $26,500, funds ex- isting in this year’s bridge repair and re- placement fund. The construction cost of up to $150,000 is in the proposed budget for next iscal year. R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE he Fir Street bridge will undergo re- construction. “What the engineers will do is in- crease the width of the bearing pads of each of the spans and do some other im- provements,” Grassick said. “There are a couple of cross ties that have corroded and we’ll ix all of those.” Oregon Bridge Engineering Consul- tants will complete design work by July, and the construction would be completed by October. “The vehicle bridge has got some maintenance issues so while we’re doing those, we thought we might as well have the design engineers increase its surviv- ability,” Grassick said. City plans still include constructing a “tsunami survivable” pedestrian bridge near the Fir Street Bridge to make it eas- ier for residents and tourists to vacate the downtown area within the 15-minute evacuation time frame. The construction of the pedestrian bridge depends on whether the city is awarded a $1.8 million Connect Oregon grant, which the city would match with $500,000. If received, the grant would be awarded this fall. “The reason why this is critical and that council is acting on this grant is that it was estimated by Professor (Althea) Rizzo that this would save between 500 and 1,500 lives in a tsunami event,” City Manager Brant Kucera said at a budget committee meeting last week. “That area takes a very long time to get out of that downtown area to higher ground and not having access to that bridge is one reason why.” The pedestrian bridge project, which would cost $1.7 million, will only move forward if the city receives the state grant, Kucera said. City Council voted to pursue a Con- nect Oregon grant to help build a Pe- destrian bridge over Ecola Creek in No- vember. CANNON BEACH GAZETTE/SUBMITTED PHOTO Tsunami map of Cannon Beach. New Fire Chief Benedict to start June 1 Fire Chief from Page 1A “The department seems to have a lot of potential,” Bene- dict said. “I want to help them get to that point to bring out all the potential to make us one of the premier agencies on the North Coast.”’ Benedict was chosen out of 20 applicants from across the country. He emerged as one of three inalists after interviews from an area ire chiefs’ panel and a Cannon Beach citizen panel. The board selected Benedict at the end of April. Benedict began his career in 1994 as ireighter para- medic for the Pendleton Fire District. He was promoted to lieutenant paramedic, cap- tain paramedic, then assistant chief and ire marshal in 2014. For six years, he was also chief of Helix ire district. “We’re really excited to have Matt here,” Stearns said. “He brings professionalism and a drive in the ire service that I think will be very bene- icial to the community.” Benedict started in Pendle- ton when Stearns was Herm- iston’s ire chief. “I’ve had the beneit of knowing Matt since he start- ed in the ire service,” Stearns said. “I was in a neighboring LYRA FONTAINE/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Chief Matt Benedict famil- iarizes himself with the lad- der truck. agency and got to watch Matt come up through the ranks pretty quickly within the or- ganization.” Born and raised in Port- land, Benedict said he is ex- cited to live on the northern Oregon coast, where he va- cationed as a child. He also looks forward to being closer to family in Portland. “The people I’ve met down here have been very friendly and have so far welcomed me to the community,” he said. After selling their He- lix home, Benedict and wife Amanda, an emergency room nurse, will rent or buy in the 102.3 KCRX & KAST-AM 1370 Cannon Beach area. They have four children who will visit often. “I looked up to ireighting my whole life when I was a little kid,” Benedict said. “I fulilled my dream.” Benedict said he brings “education, experience and knowledge” to guide the core group of ireighters and strengthen the ire district. He has dealt with many challenging ireighting situ- ations. Last summer, an explo- sion and ire in downtown Pendleton destroyed part of a building. Benedict and other ireighters prevented the ire from spreading past the for- mer City Hall building. In 2012, a tour bus crash into a ravine near Pendleton led to multiple fatalities and inju- ries. Numerous agencies from surrounding counties worked with Pendleton Fire District during the situation, using an incident command system. Benedict looks forward to working with agencies near Cannon Beach. “In Pendleton, your neigh- boring agencies are a half hour away,” he said. “Here we have Seaside, so it’s going to be a good working relation- ship.” Cannon Beach ire district has 25 ireighters and are “al- ways looking for more,” Stea- rns said. There are also six members of Fire Corps, made up of retired ireighters. “I took a look at the orga- nization and how it was oper- ating and helped them decide who would be the best it for the organization,” said Stea- rns, interim chief since De- cember. “I think Matt is going to be excellent.” After his time in Cannon Beach ends, Stearns will vis- it his grandchildren, return to Hermiston and see where life takes him. He may take anoth- er interim chief position. “I don’t think I’m done yet,” Stearns said. At the May 9 meeting, resident Eric Reiter thanked Stearns for his work. Benedict will be at the next ire board meeting June 13. SERVING LUNCH & DINNER OPEN AT 11:30 Tuesday’s Open at 4pm present the California Beach Boys Friday, May 27 th Liberty Theatre at the Tickets at the box offi ce and ticketswest.com Delightful Beer Garden • Ocean View Deck Pool Tables • Darts Full Bar ( including Bill’s Tavern brews ) but that’s not all... Smoked Pork Ribs • Steak • Seafood and much, much more! Located in SOUTH Cannon Beach 3301 S. Hemlock St. • Tolovana Park 503.436.1130 • Minors Welcome TURKISH RUG EVENT Memorial Day Weekend Friday and Saturday May 27th - 28th SESAME +LILIES 183 N. Hemlock St. Cannon Beach 10am-5:30pm 4 3 6 . 2 0 2 7 Do you know where to go? Learn the way to safety By Lyra Fontaine Cannon Beach Gazette When the ground begins to shake on the north end of Cannon Beach, will you know where to go? The Cas- cadia subduction zone earth- quake could create a tsunami that will reach the Oregon coast within 15 to 20 min- utes, according to the state. The ifth annual evacua- tion route practice walk on Saturday, May 28, offers an opportunity for both res- idents and tourists to learn how to get to the tsunami safe zone. The walk should take 15 to 20 minutes, volunteer tsu- nami walk coordinator Jeneé Pearce-Mushen said. “We want to make sure people understand and start doing the walk on our own,” she said. Participants will gather at 10 a.m. at the Les Shirley Park bus stop and will walk the Oak Street route to Eighth Street. The new “safe area” on Laurel Street north of Fifth Street will be discussed. An open house will take place at 11 a.m. on Eighth and Oak Street. At 12:30 p.m., partici- pants can meet at Les Shirley Park to discuss potential im- provements. People are “going to be distressed and need help” when a tsunami comes, and those who know the route will be able to assist others, Pearce-Mushen said. The walk is open for any- one in the county and tour- ists. People can bring their go-bags, pets and anything else they need to be prepared. “If we have a Cascadia earthquake, we’ll know where to go,” Pearce-Mushen said. Cannon Beach’s Largest Selection of Oregon and Washington Wine! UP C OM I N G TA STI NG S May 21 • Great Wines for Grilled Foods May 28 • Sokol Blosser June 4 • A Galaxy of Wines June 11 • Capitello Wines June 18 • D’Anu Wines June 25 • Kramer Vineyards “Best Wine Shop” - 2016 Reader’s Choice Award Shack Hours Sun-hurs • 11am to 5pm Fri-Sat • 11am to 6pm Tasting Room Hours Saturdays • 1 to 5pm 124 N. Hemlock, Cannon Beach 503.436.1100 - www.beachwine.com Making Sweet Memories for Over 50 Years Freshest Homemade: Saltwater Taffy S T as I id O e O N Chocolates CA LO utlet Mall W n C O T ow Se & h ac n Be no an Caramel Corn Downt Caramel Apples THE ONLY E D & MORE!! TAFFY MA N IN CANNO Wedding Treats & BEACH! Gift Baskets Available! WE CAN SHIP CANDY DIRECTLY TO YOU! www.brucescandy.com • 503-436-2641 • 503-738-7828