JUNE 16, 2017 • VOL. 41, ISSUE 12 WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM COMPLIMENTARY COPY Builder’s fees to help meet housing need Tax on building permits would fund affordable housing By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette City councilors approved an ex- cise tax Tuesday, June 6, designed to fund affordable housing projects. In a 4-1 vote, councilors approved a 1 percent tax that would be applied to building permits — so if someone applied for a permit to build $200,000 home, $2,000 would go into the fund. If the surcharge was applied to commercial and residential permits in 2016, the tax would have yielded about $96,000, City Planner Mark Barnes said. Councilors who voted for the tax supported any way for the city to raise money for affordable housing projects, as well as the builder incen- Councilors approved a 1 percent tax that would be applied to buidling permits. tives that would waive the tax if the proposed units were affordable. What projects are chosen and assessed to be affordable — which means households intended for peo- ple with incomes 80 percent of the median county income — would be decided by the City Council. But Councilor George Vetter, the one dissenting vote, took issue with the principle of taxing a small group of people to solve what he calls “a com- munity problem” in Cannon Beach. “I would much prefer to see this issue solved with a general obligation bond,” Vetter said. “In a citizen survey, the people identified this as a commu- nity problem. I’d like to see the solu- tion come from their pocket books.” Council votes to negotiate lease at center Cannon Beach Academy finds a home Vetter also said that he doesn’t think the waiver will be enough to entice developers. “We’re talking about market val- ue,” he said. “To get the best return, we would need to make up with some kind of subsidy.” Other cities like Salem and Port- land have passed similar taxes, while Astoria is still considering the option. See Tax, Page 7A City fills interim manager post Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn to replace Brant Kucera By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Cannon Beach Academy board member Phil Simmons, Lisa Nofield and academy board President Kellye Dewey all celebrate after the City Council vote to negotiate a lease for the former Children’s Center. By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette W hen the City Council voted unani- mously to begin lease negotiations with Cannon Beach Academy, a feeling of elation and relief enveloped the council chambers. “We did it,” Amy Moore, the newly hired executive director of Cannon Beach Academy, said fighting back tears. “It’s a small battle that we won, but it’s progress. We’re doing this for future generations, for the kids in this town.” The council’s vote Tuesday confirmed the academy can move forward in negotiating a lease for the city-owned, former Preschool and Children’s Center at 3781 S. Hemlock, which See Academy, Page 10A BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Cannon Beach Academy Executive Director Amy Moore tears up as Cannon Beach city councilors vote to pursue lease negotiations with the school. Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn will serve as interim city manager starting in July. After 2½ years in Cannon Beach, City Manager Brant Kucera is leaving at the end of the month to become the city manager of Sisters, citing the need for “a change of pace.” “Sisters is a small city but it’s growing fast and I find that opportunity really appeal- ing to me,” Kucera said at the end of May. Schermerhorn was suggested as a can- didate because he had served as an interim city manager briefly between former city manager Rich Mays’ retirement and interim city manager Jennie Messer in 2014, Kucera said, and is familiar with the duties. “He is well-liked and well-known throughout the community,” Kucera said. The City Council voted unanimously for Schermerhorn. Selecting the police chief also means the city does not have to spend time or resources finding, hiring and training an interim pick from outside City Hall. Schermerhorn has been the police chief of Cannon Beach since 2012, and before then was a sergeant for Seaside Police from 2005 to 2012. He received a bachelor’s de- gree in criminal justice from Western Ore- gon University. He will be receiving Kucera’s salary during the interim. City councilors chose Jensen Strategies based out of Portland to lead the nationwide search to fill Kucera’s position by November. During a work session Tuesday, councilors chose Jensen Strategies because they exclu- sively recruit for Oregon cities, and coinci- dentally was the firm that selected Kucera to be city manager in Sisters. The process will cost $24,000, plus additional expenses. A meeting with the firm is scheduled Mon- day, June 26. While summer is generally the busiest time for law enforcement in Cannon Beach, Schermerhorn said he was not concerned with an overwhelming workload. With how the hi- erarchy of the department works, Lt. Chris PAID Artists find canvas in the sand PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE See Manager, Page 10A By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette SUBMITTED PHOTO The Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest has seen many changes in its 53 years. Some of these changes are seen in the number of people, the competitors, and, of course, the sandcastles themselves. But this tradition has one ele- ment that no tide can wash away: Debbie Nelson, the chairwoman of the Sandcastle planning com- mittee. Nelson has been the chair- woman for the past seven years, as well as a participant, judge or event organizer every year since the contest began in 1964. “I have decades’ worth of Sandcastle shirts at my house,” Nelson said, laughing. About 15,000 master artists, amateurs and spectators are ex- pected to come to this year’s Sandcastle celebrations Friday through Sunday, June 16 through 18. Regular festivities, like the sandcastle building contest, pa- rade and 5K fun run and walk, are all returning. This time it will all happen in a special context: the 50th anni- versary of the Oregon Beach Bill. There will be information at the event this year for visitors inter- ested in learning more about the bill that passed in 1967 and de- clared the Oregon Coast open to the public. “It’s because of this bill that we can continue to do this,” Nel- son said. Shortly after the bill’s passage, Nelson remembers going to the first Sandcastle Contest when she was 4 — the year after a tsunami hit the North Coast. She remembers first festivities being small and mostly local. “The town didn’t really ad- vertise,” she said. “It was to help quell fears after the tidal wave.” Cannon Beach Mayor Sam Steidel also remembers partic- ipating in the early days of the festival, when most contestants were kids and families rather than world-class artists. “Families would get plots next to each other, and then help each other out with each other’s cre- ations,” he said. Ebbing and flowing Now, the contest has become the oldest west of the Mississippi River, attracting up to 30,000 peo- ple and some of the world’s most competitive sandcastle makers. Steidel — who, like Nelson, is a lifelong Cannon Beach resident See Sandcastle, Page 7A