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.
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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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Capital projects, utility increases, potential school purchase passed
Budget from Page 1A
Elementary
school purchase
The budget includes a
$665,000 loan for the potential
purchase and remediation of
the former Cannon Beach ele-
mentary school site.
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-
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