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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2016)
SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 • VOL. 40, ISSUE 19 Dougherty looks beyond the bond Former Seaside Superintendent Doug Dougherty answers questions about the $99.7 million bond that will be put before voters in November. Q: Given the mold and asbestos you’ve described in Seaside schools, what is the health risk for students as the school year begins? Doug Dougherty: We have had the mold tested. It is not at a level that See Bond Q & A, Page 7A WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM COMPLIMENTARY COPY Crumbling schools propel district vote District to seek $99.7 million for new campus By R.J. Marx Cannon Beach Gazette Voters will get a say in wheth- er they will pay to move three Seaside schools out of the danger zone. Citing dire need and tsuna- mi risk, Seaside School District Superintendent-emeritus Doug Dougherty presented a proposal for a $99.7 million bond Thursday, Sept. 1, for a new campus for all the schools. Members of the Sea- side School District Board of Di- rectors unanimously voted to bring the resolution to voters in the No- vember election. “I’m really happy we’re mov- ing forward,” board Chairman Steve Phillips said after the meet- ing. “We have pared down to the actual needs of the district rather than the wants.” Dougherty said there are four schools in the state in the tsunami inundation zone. Three of those are in the Seaside School District. Gearhart Elementary School, Broadway Middle School and Sea- side High School were built with an expected life span of 45 to 50 years. Each has been used beyond that span. “The schools are currently unsafe, they are deteriorating and they’re very ineffi cient,” he said. At Broadway Middle School, students are in structures with un- reinforced masonry, aging utili- ENJOYING THE LAST OF SUMMER ties, cinder block construction and walls torn by horizontal shearing. Gearhart Elementary school’s gym is riddled with dry rot and “would collapse in an earthquake,” Dougherty said. Leaks are so bad in the 68-year-old school , “ It’s pretty much like playing whack-a- mole, where you are pretty sure the leak is not coming directly from the spot it’s leaking from. Often it’s many feet away and trying to track it down is very, very diffi cult.” See Vote, Page 7A Nicholson housing plan wins new OK Cannon Beach group raised $25,000 to fi ght council approval By Lyra Fontaine Cannon Beach Gazette A property owner got the go ahead again for new homes on his half-acre Cannon Beach property. The state Land Use Board of Appeals affi rmed the City Coun- cil’s March approval of Jeff Nicholson’s four-lot residential development last week. Ten residents had challenged the council’s decision, includ- Jeff ing Jeff Harrison, president of Friends of Cannon Beach, a Nicholson group formed in opposition to the development. The group sought to reverse the council’s fi nal approval, with conditions, of Nicholson’s development plan. The Board of Appeals found their argu- ments “provide no basis for reversal or remand of the decision .” After Nicholson bought the property in 2014, his plans were denied by the Planning Commission, then tentatively approved by City Council in 2015 and affi rmed in a previ- ous state decision. In January, planning commissioners said the development plan lacked details, including when and how the new houses would be built, landscaping and protections for neighbors during construction. Friends of Cannon Beach said the approval set an unwanted precedent for future development , since the City Coun- cil’s tentative approval came after a threatened lawsuit by the developer. “LUBA confi rmed overwhelmingly that the appeal was completely without any merit whatsoever,” Nicholson said in a statement. The 70-member Friends of Cannon Beach raised about $25,000 to fi ght the decision. “Once again, LUBA did not affi rm this was a good decision, but rather that the City Coun- cil had the right to make it,” Harrison said in a statement. “For Cannon Beach, this most un- fortunate action shrugs at our ordinances and is in no way good for our town.” Board denied all arguments PAGE 4 SUBMITTED PHOTO The appeals board denied arguments that the fi nal plan lacked suffi cient detail, veered from the approved preliminary plan and lacked a development schedule. PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE See Nicholson, Page 6A At Cannon Beach Gallery, putting art on a pedestal Storytelling through ceramics By Lyra Fontaine Cannon Beach Gazette Last Friday, Cannon Beach Arts Association program di- rector Jane Brumfi eld was busy painting pedestals, carefully un- packing ceramic sculptures, and installing the artists’ work. Brumfi eld was preparing for the Sept. 3 opening reception of the new Cannon Beach Gallery exhibit “Narrative Ceramic Sculp- ture: A Story Told Through Clay.” “I am very interested in nar- rative art,” said Brumfi eld, who curated the exhibit. “This is my baby, really.” The exhibit features work by ceramicists Wesley Anderegg, Akio Takamori, Michelle Galla- gher, Jacquline Hurlbert, Marga- ret Keelan, Babette Harvey, Hei- di Preuss Grew, and Robin and John Gumaelius. The artists used their life ex- periences, observations or imag- ined worlds to create unique and imaginative pieces — which can be interpreted and appreciated differently by each person who views them. Some sculptures explore themes like identity, aging, the See Art Exhibit, Page 6A LYRA FONTAINE/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Program director Jane Brumfi eld sets up Cannon Beach Gallery’s newest exhibit, “Narrative Ceramic Sculpture.”