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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2016)
6A • June 3, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Afordable housing, trust are key concerns By Lyra Fontaine Cannon Beach Gazette The “community livability report” provides opinions of a representative sample of 296 Cannon Beach residents and has a 4 percent margin of error. The city was rated high on community characteristics, city services and opportunities to volunteer, and low on edu- cation opportunities, employ- ment opportunities and health services. The city developing a spe- cial event facility was not important for 35 percent of re- spondents and somewhat im- portant for 33 percent. The survey can help the city know what to spend mon- ey and time on, Councilor Mike Beneield said. “Affordable housing stood out,” Councilor Melissa Cad- wallader said. “This isn’t seen as a good community for fam- LYRA FONTAINE/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE he city heard concerns about safety. ilies. That tells me the type of housing we need is not just one-bedroom and studio, but family-type affordable hous- ing.” Conidence in city govern- ment was good or excellent for 35 percent of respondents. “We need to build our trust with the community,” Coun- cilor Wendy Higgins said. “That’s the biggest thing that hit me.” Recent public hearings caused a “huge public outcry,” Beneield said. The low rating also followed some residents expressing dissatisfaction with the idea of a strategic plan and survey, Cadwallader said. Mayor Sam Steidel was among them. He said the cit- izen survey was “not the tool I wanted to use,” adding that responses are “skewed” since they followed contentious council decisions. Retaining the city’s culture was important to all councilors and staff interviewed. Steidel said he would like to see a conversation with sec- ond homeowners, who mostly did not respond to the survey. “I wasn’t always supportive at irst, but I know we’re going to see major results because of this,” Higgins said after priori- ties were set. Grassick said the planning sessions help him understand council priorities, which he can now implement and com- municate to his staff. BUSINESS DIRECTORY M INI -S TORAGE SPACE AVAILABLE CANNON BEACH MINI-STOA GE Units Available 5’ x 10’ • 10’ x 10’ Contact Shawna at 503-436-2235 C ONSTRUCTION “Helping shape the character of Cannon Beach since 1973” Residential • Commercial • Remodeling New Construction • Storm Damage Repair Full Service Custom Cabinet Shop 503.436.2235 Survey from Page 1A About 75 percent of survey respondents indicated it was essential or every important that the city assist with the development of additional af- fordable housing. Most people who work in Cannon Beach, including service industry workers and city employees, live outside the city because they cannot afford it, councilors and staff said. Many said the absence of affordable housing and a school were interwoven issues. Some recent overnight campers have been employees of Cannon Beach business- es who were unable to ind a place in town to live, Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn said. “When people live in town, they take pride in their com- munity and get involved,” he added. Haystack Rock Awareness Program employees are rent- ing rooms or unable to ind housing, program coordinator Melissa Keyser said, adding that affordable housing would increase workplace stability. Emergency management With a looming earthquake and tsunami, city staff and coun- cilors discussed the non-seismi- cally secure water plant, mass care and needing a long-term recovery plan. The group said they want citizens to be informed, safe, conident and healthy. The city should have enough supplies to take care of the population plus 25 percent more, Kucera said. The city will aim for a mass care site — an open and acces- sible area without infrastructure — at South Wind by the end of 2018. The city also set goals of creating a water puriication system by the end of 2017, hir- ing an emergency management program manager by mid-2017 and acquiring better emergency communications assets by 2018. By 2019, the city aims to have 100 emergency-certiied residents, recruit more Medical Reserve Corps members and protect computer information in an off-site facility. In ive years, the city hopes to have a long- term recovery plan. Infrastructure planning The city’s ive-year goals include saving $2 million in reserve to relocate “essential services” to South Wind, and for ratepayers to support util- ity operations, maintenance and capital improvements, since the city’s general fund subsidizes utility funds. Public Works Director Dan Grassick said it would take years for the city to be able to move critical services, like police, to South Wind, due to the expense of adding roads and other infrastruc- ture. The city will aim to create 50 parking spaces by 2017, have water and wastewa- ter capital improvements by 2017 and adopt a transporta- tion system plan by 2018. Councilors said they have heard about or experienced lack of parking for years in downtown and local streets. The city will make a inal decision on whether to pur- chase the elementary school site by the end of 2016. The group debated the purchase, which is included the upcoming year’s budget, although there is no consen- sus on how it will be used. The site is currently undergo- ing an environmental study. Some said the city’s need to purchase the school seemed less urgent than other prior- ities discussed, while others pointed out that the site could be a valuable asset to the city. The former school has “sen- timent attached to it,” Steidel said, recalling how the choir used to sing inside it. H EATING & C OOLING Relationship with community Cannon Beach was rated a good or excellent place to live by 87 percent of sample resi- dents, but only 35 percent of respondents positively rated their conidence in city gov- ernment. Goals set include improv- ing the “conidence in local government” rating to 45 per- cent and improving “overall direction” by 10 percent with- in two years. “Natural environment” and “community engage- ment” are priorities for the community within the next two years, residents respond- ed. The room discussed how to further protect and educate people on the environment, such as with eco-tourism. The city’s administra- tive goals included having a state-compliant public re- cords retention program by 2017, adopting inancial pol- icy and update the employee handbook by 2017, and hiring a human resources employee. Other goals discussed were regular committee member trainings, volunteer appreciation, more region- al government meetings and mentoring people interested in running for council. 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The site is currently un- dergoing a phase one en- vironmental assessment to determine whether there is contamination or other risks, Kucera said. The decision on whether to purchase the school will be discussed within the following months. The proposed $1.7 million for the Fir Street pedestrian bridge project was removed because the city did not re- ceive the state grant needed to build the bridge. However, the budget included $150,000 to rehabilitate the Fir Street vehi- cle bridge by fall. The committee removed the proposed $100,000 for the Second Street Plaza project. Utility increases The committee approved increases on monthly utility charges: 7 percent for water, 5 percent for wastewater and 3 percent for storm drain. The committee also ap- proved utility rate studies for water, wastewater and storm drain to ensure the enterprise funds become self-supporting. The general fund currently subsidizes enterprise funds, which include utilities. Can- non Beach water rates are 30 to 60 percent of those in As- toria, Warrenton and Seaside, Kucera said. The committee approved $125,000 for the City Hall re- model phase one, $135,000 for water plans and $250,000 for the second phase of the city’s RV park infrastructure project. The budget also includ- ed computer equipment and server upgrades, a new police four-wheel drive vehicle and a new roof for the Public Works building. more money was put into ending fund balances, funds for the next iscal year that may be spent the current is- cal year during an emergency, than in contingency, which al- lows more lexibility in when it can be spent. It is preferable for the city to “go through hoops” to spend money, some budget commit- tee members said at the May 18 meeting. The iscal year be- gins July 1. powered by (no Scotch Broom) 503-717-1454 34154 HIGHWAY 26 SEASIDE, OR C ONSTRUCTION B OB M C E WAN C ONSTRUCTION , INC . 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