December 15, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Seaside resident fights
campus relocation
A show of numbers from unusual creatures
Pyrosomes washing
up on local beaches
By Katie Frankowicz
For Cannon Beach Gazette
The pyrosome invasion continues.
Thousands of the strange, pick-
le-shaped gelatinous creatures continue
to wash up on Clatsop County beaches
months after ocean biologists first re-
corded masses of them drifting offshore
during a research cruise in the spring.
Very little is known about pyro-
somes or why they have shown up in
force now. Research into what they eat
and what it means to have them in the
ecosystem is ongoing.
Pyrosomes have been seen in Ore-
gon and Washington state waters be-
fore but never in such large numbers.
This spring, there were enough floating
in the water column to clog up fishing
gear on commercial shrimp boats.
The colonial animals — a single
tube contains hundreds, possibly thou-
sands of individuals — have been re-
corded as far north as Alaska, where
they have never been seen before.
Fishermen first saw them in their
fishing gear in February. At the end of
October, researchers with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center
were still encountering them in acous-
tic, surface and bottom trawl surveys
all the way from Kodiak to waters off
southeastern Alaska.
According to NOAA, pyrosome num-
bers in the Northern California Current —
which encompasses Northern California,
Oregon and Washington state — went up
in 2015 and spiked again in 2016.
“As far as scientists know, however,
their abundance this year is unprece-
dented,” NOAA spokesman Michael
Milstein wrote in June.
Dunzer challenges
UGB expansion
By R.J. Marx
Cannon Beach Gazette
The Seaside School Dis-
trict rammed through plans for
a new school campus without
adequately considering alterna-
tive proposals, a resident said
in a legal challenge submitted
to the state Land Use Board of
Appeals.
Money saved from an al-
ternate plan could be used to
provide upgrades to the city’s
bridges, John Dunzer said.
“I’d like to see the money that
would be saved for the schools
would be spent building bridg-
es so the kids could be safe for
the 71 percent of the time that
they are not in school.”
In November, the county
Board of Commissioners ad-
opted an ordinance amending
the county’s comprehensive
plan expanding Seaside’s urban
growth boundary to accommo-
date a new campus. At that meet-
ing, the commission declined to
accept Dunzer’s submission as
the record was closed.
A longtime critic of the plan
to relocate Seaside’s endan-
gered schools out of the tsu-
nami inundation zone, Dunzer
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Mysterious creatures known as
pyrosomes have been washing
up on local beaches recently and
have been showing up in fishing
nets.
Pyrosomes dot the landscape near Cannon Beach as research into their impact on ecosystems continues.
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
said county approval of the
school district’s plan violates
state planning rules requiring
local government to look at
all options within the existing
boundaries before expansion of
those boundaries.
Tom Bennett, the county’s
community relations coordi-
nator, said the county had not
received the appeal.
Two sites proposed
By voting to recommend
approval of the school dis-
trict’s request for an expansion
of the urban growth boundary,
the county paved the way for
rezoning 40 acres of the prop-
erty and annexing an additional
49-acre portion of the property
located at Seaside Heights Ele-
mentary School.
Dunzer said he thinks the
relocation — at a cost of more
than $100 million, to be paid by
voters after passage of a 2015
bond — is unnecessary.
“They did not look at ex-
panding the school on two sites
instead of just one,” Dunzer
said. “When you do that, you
have the potential of saving al-
most over $50 million for the
price of the schools. Because it
is possible and quite feasible to
build a junior high school right
above Seaside Heights Elemen-
tary School.”
Linda Beck-Sweeney to leave fire district board after 18 years
Business owner
to continue local
volunteer efforts
‘I need to make
some changes in
my personal life.…
It has nothing to
do with the board.’
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Linda Beck-Sweeney
Cannon Beach Rural Fire
Protection District board
member Linda Beck-Sweeney
resigned Monday night, citing
“personal reasons.”
Beck-Sweeney, who has
served on the board since
1999, was one of three board
members who prevailed in a
recall vote last year organized
by residents who criticized the
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Cannon Beach Rural Fire
Protection District board
member Linda Beck- Sweeney
resigned Monday night.
board’s handling of former Fire
Chief Mike Balzer’s firing.
Beck-Sweeney did not
indicate whether or not the
experience played a role in
her decision, but said after
34 years of volunteer work
in Cannon Beach she needed
to focus more on her personal
life.
“I’ve been doing this since
March of 1999. I love it, but
I need to make some chang-
es in my personal life, and I
feel like it’s time to step away
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from the board for awhile,”
she said. “It has nothing to do
with the board.”
Mark Morgans of Green-
wood Resources was recom-
mended by Beck-Sweeney
and appointed by the board
to fill her position until the
seat is up for election in May
2019. Morgans served as a
volunteer firefighter at the
district for more than 17 years
before stepping down as a
captain in 2016.
“It was the right time to re-
tire then, but when you make
this kind of commitment it
becomes a part of your life-
style,” Morgan said. “I missed
the camaraderie and the ser-
vice to the community, so
when Linda asked me I saw
it as an opportunity to get in-
volved again.”
Morgans said he hopes to
bring his dual perspectives as
a firefighter and as a business-
man to the table to help the
district achieve its goals.
“With my background, I
am concerned with the needs
of firefighters and the taxpay-
ers of Cannon Beach,” Mor-
gans said.
Beck-Sweeney, who is
the owner of Cannon Beach
Vacation Rentals, said that
while she is resigning from
the board she “isn’t going
anywhere.” She plans to still
volunteer at fundraising func-
tions and host barbecues at
her business across the street
from the district.
Board members thanked
Beck-Sweeney for her work.
“You are going to be
missed. Thank you so much
for your time and efforts,”
said board member Garry
Smith.
Haystack Holidays
CANNON BEACH
Holiday Foods Around The World
Celebration… Coming to you on:
Tuesday, Dec. 26 th thru Friday Dec. 29 th , 2017
International Festival of foods from 9 different countries!
Special menus for just one night only each, you will
want to dine out all week for this extravaganza!
Tuesday, December 26 th
Pelican Pub and Brewhouse – India
1371 S. Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 908-3377
Wednesday, December 27 th
The Trail Band Concert Night
AFFORDABLE (FURNISHED) CONDOMINIUM
CANNON BEACH OCEANVIEW LOT
$279,000
$485,000
Newman’s at 988 – France
988 S Hemlock St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-1151
Bill’s Tavern and Brewhouse – Mexico
188 N Hemlock St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-2202
Thursday, December 28 th
SALE
PENDING
CANNON BEACH OCEANVIEW CONDO
SUPER CUTE CANNON BEACH COTTAGE
$489,000
$495,000
Cannon Beach Hardware – Japan
1235 S Hemlock St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-4086
The Bistro – Spain
263 N Hemlock St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-2661
Friday, December 29 th
75’ WIDE
LOT
2.3
ACRES
ARCH CAPE OCEANFRONT
LAKE FRONT ESTATE/CULLABY LAKE
$1,099,000
$1,350,000
The Wayfarer Restaurant – Argentina
1190 Pacifi c Drive, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-1108
Public Coast – Germany
264 E 3rd St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-0285
Sweet Basil’s – British Isles
271 N Hemlock St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-1539
Season’s Cafe – Thailand
255 N Hemlock St, Cannon Beach • Call (503) 436-1159
Call the restaurant or go to cannonbeach.org for menu details
www.cannonbeach.org/events/Main-Events/Holiday-Foods-Around-the-World-Haystack-Holidays
Holiday Concert with
CANNON BEACH OCEANFRONT
CLASSIC OCEAN FRONT BEACH HOUSE
$1,695,000
$1,799,000
THE
Trail Band
December 27 th
at the
100’ Wide
Lot!
CANNON BEACH CUSTOM OCEAN FRONT
PREMIER CANNON BEACH OCEANFRONT
$1,895,000
$2,950,000
296 N. Spruce St. • PO Box 924 • Cannon Beach, Oregon 97110
(503) 436-0451 • (503) 436-2913 FAX
www.duanejohnson.com
Coaster Theatre
Limited Seating
Tickets Only $ 39
Purchase online at:
www.cannonbeach.org