MAY 19, 2017 • VOL. 41, ISSUE 10
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
City drops 40 percent water hike
Public works committee seeks alternatives
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Cannon Beach has backed away from a
40 percent water rate increase.
A 40 percent water rate in-
crease is no longer being consid-
ered in Cannon Beach for next
fi scal year.
The rate increase was proposed
earlier this year to help fi nance the
water and wastewater master plan
that detailed about $3.4 million in
water infrastructure and $1.3 mil-
lion in wastewater projects. The
projects would focus on rehabbing
or replacing a variety of systems,
including brittle water lines and
water storage tanks.
But concerns from the public
works committee about discrep-
ancies within the rate study and
disagreements about how certain
projects were prioritized has made
a substantial rate increase a prob-
lem .
Instead, the city will consider
a 3 percent rate increase to cover
normal operational costs, as well
as transferring up to $250,000 and
$275,525 for water and wastewa-
ter capital projects, according to a
draft of the budget.
Public Works D irector Dan
Grassick said that any rate in-
crease after this fi scal year will be
considered after the public works
committee fi nishes reviewing the
master plans and rate structure,
which would have increased wa-
FLOCKING TO THE ROCK
ter bills from about $52 a month
to $70.
“That is a very complex and
multifaceted discussion that will
need to involve an in-depth and
detailed discussion with the full
c ouncil, and given this is Cannon
Beach, with the greater residential
and business community before
any decisions about a potential
rate increase are decided upon,”
Grassick said in an email.
See Water, Page 7A
Aff ordable
houses
proposed
in budget
City hopes to install
four homes in RV park
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Participants in “Flock to the Rock” drive into the Sea Ranch RV Resort to start a weekend of motorcycle touring and camaraderie.
Cannon Beach is proposing to build four
new affordable housing units in the RV
Park by fall as a priority project in the next
fi scal year.
“Affording housing is the No. 1 issue
we’re all talking about. It’s important ev-
erywhere, but especially on the coast,” City
Manager Brant Kucera said.
The RV Resort on Elk Land Road and
Haskell Lane was identifi ed as potential
site in a report compiled by the affordable
housing task force last year, citing the fact
the city owned the land, as well as relatively
low start up costs as benefi ts.
Each house would be around 400 square
feet and mobile, Kucera said. With rent
anticipated to be $600 to $800 a month,
the homes would be intended for single
and working-class people with incomes of
about $15 an hour.
The project would be funded by a newly
proposed affordable housing fund totaling
$429,740, which if adopted, would take ef-
fect in July. The homes would be paid for
using a bank loan, rents and construction
excise taxes if the City C ouncil chooses to
approve it, Kucera said.
If the pilot program is successful, the city
could expand this program out to include up
to 12 homes on this property, which in line
with the city’s goal to build 25 affordable
homes by July 2018, Kucera said.
Excise tax
Women’s
motorcycle
touring
group fi nds
community
in new,
annual
event
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Four years before leading a group of 80 women on
a three-day motorcycle tour to Cannon Beach, Ruth
Belcher was terrifi ed of driving on the freeway.
It had been 15 years since Ruth Belcher had last
ridden a motorcycle. She started riding dirt bikes with
her grandma when she was 9 years old in Kentucky’s
Appalachian mountains, but took a hiatus to raise her
two sons until four years ago.
“I realized there was something that I was missing
that I loved,” Belcher said.
Things were different when she returned. She said
she felt “a little older, and a little heavier,” and some
of her riding confi dence had waned.
When she sought a way to reach out to other wom-
en motorcyclists, she found her options were limited.
So the Everett, Washington, native took it upon
herself to make some options by founding Global
Moto Adventures, an international, women’s only
motorcycle touring group after trying to network with
other women riders on Facebook and different clubs
didn’t cut it.
See Bikers, Page 8A
A citizen survey last year identifi ed af-
fordable housing as the top priority for the
city . But the proposed excise tax — which
would contribute an estimated $92,000 of
the total fund — has received a lukewarm
welcome from some city council ors.
The proposed excise tax is a one -time
1 percent imposed based on the construction
value listed on the building permit. Portland
and Salem have implemented these taxes
and one is being considered in Astoria .
The idea would be to use this revenue
to help support affordable housing , as well
as have private contractors contribute to
supporting a service from which their own
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Housing, Page 7A
Crowd gathers to celebrate 50 years of public beaches
Former Gov.
McCall’s son
toasts Oregon’s
Beach Bill
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Tad McCall, son of late Oregon governor Tom McCall, far
right, speaks at the Beach Bill anniversary presentation
Saturday in Cannon Beach. Th e celebration was to recog-
nize the eff orts of those who sought to protect and main-
tain public beaches in Oregon.
In a lot of ways, the rela-
tionship between the Oregon
Coast and those who live here
is like a marriage vow: you
love it for better or for worse.
This love was tested Satur-
day, May 13, as about 30 peo-
ple huddled under umbrellas
and raincoats in a sporadic rain
and hail storm, only the Pacif-
ic Northwest can provide, to
celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the Oregon Beach Bill.
The Beach Bill is what
established public ownership
of the Oregon Coast after a
hotel in 1966 wanted to rope
off a section of sand in front
the hotel for guests. On May
13, 1967, former Gov. Tom
McCall fl ew his helicopter to
Cannon Beach as a statement
of his commitment to keeping
all 363 miles of Oregon shore-
line public for everyone.
Oregon is one of the few
states with this broad an in-
terpretation for public beach
access.
‘Beach of history’
Now 50 years later, the
late governor’s son, Tad Mc-
Call, addressed the crowd, un-
phased by the hail bouncing
off the lid of his ball cap, to
celebrate on the beach his dad
helped save.
“This beach is the beach of
history. This is where the pic-
ture of freedom of the beach
was painted,” McCall said.
The 73-year-old McCall
traveled from Arlington, Vir-
ginia, back to the Oregon
Coast for the fi rst time in 30
years, he said. His coast roots
were planted mostly on the
beaches of Gearhart and Lin-
coln City, but his dad’s love
for the beaches spanned the
entire coastline, he said.
“He helped Oregonians
understand themselves. He
knew if you took care of na-
ture, nature would take care of
you,” he said.
See Beach, Page 3A