Friday, December 28, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazetee | CannonBeachGazette.com • A1
VOL. 42, ISSUE 26
CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
December 28, 2018
High winds brought big waves to
the Tillamook Lighthouse, caught
by visiting photographer James W.
Young a retired NASA astronomer.
James W. Young/For Cannon Beach Gazette
FISHERMAN RECALLS VISIT TO
TERRIBLE TILLY
By BRENNA VISSER
Cannon Beach Gazette
S
cott Rekate remembers a lot about visiting the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. It was dark. Even a little
spooky. But perhaps what was most memorable was the smell. “It’s a popular rest place for
birds. The guano there ... the ammonia there would gag you,” he said. “To start out to the top you’d
have to take a deep breath and then run up the stairs.”
See Tilly, Page A7
Steep costs at South Wind Academy faces a
funding shortfall
City Hall estimates
could reach $27M
By BRENNA VISSER
Cannon Beach Gazette
By BRENNA VISSER
Cannon Beach Gazette
Geotechnical fi ndings are rais-
ing new questions about develop-
ing South Wind, a 55-acre, city-
owned property which for years
has been considered the long-
term solution to moving critical
services out of tsunami danger.
SRG, a Portland-based archi-
tecture fi rm, submitted a report to
the City Council last week detail-
ing the benefi ts, downsides and
costs of building a new City Hall
and police station.
Across the board, the project
is estimated to be more expensive
than the city anticipated, rang-
ing from $14.5 million to almost
$28 million, depending on the
location.
A one-story building along
Hemlock Street would cost about
$14.5 million and would not be
tsunami resistant. A two-story
building south and to the east of
the existing City Hall on Gower
Colin MurpheyThe Daily Astorian
The South Wind property in Cannon Beach.
Street would be resistant to a
medium-size tsunami and cost
about $16 million.
At South Wind, however,
the estimates jump to between
$27.2 million and $27.7 million,
depending on whether the city
chooses to build out utilities for
the benefi t of future projects. The
high price tag is largely because
of the signifi cant work engineers
believe will need to be done to
offset landslide risks.
The full geotechnical analy-
sis is still underway and won’t
be completed until January, but
preliminary fi ndings suggest that
addressing landslide risks could
be more complicated and expen-
sive than previously understood,
See South Wind, Page A7
The Cannon Beach Academy
could close before the end of the
school year if a $75,000 shortfall
is not addressed in the next few
months.
The public charter school’s
fi nancial situation is due to low-
er-than-expected enrollment and
uncollected pledges.
“The board of directors is com-
mitted to keeping Cannon Beach
Academy operating. We will make
a concentrated effort to secure our
pledges and, if necessary, to con-
duct fundraising activities,” Kel-
lye Dewey, the school board presi-
dent, and Barb Knop, the treasurer,
wrote in a joint statement. “The
board sincerely hopes that our
donors who have pledged their
fi nancial support of the school
through pledges are able to honor
their commitments to the Cannon
Beach Academy.”
As of last week, the charter
school had received only about
$35,000 of the expected $100,000
pledged for the school year, leav-
ing more than two-thirds of
pledged money outstanding. Addi-
tionally, about $10,000 outside of
pledges will need to be raised to
close the gap.
“I don’t know how to impress
upon the board the importance of
getting our pledges,” Amy Fred-
rickson, the academy director, said
at a December board meeting. “I
don’t know if people truly under-
stand how urgent it is that we need
their money.”
Close by April
Without the money, the school
likely will be unable to pay its staff
through the end of the school year
and would have to close its doors
by April.
What that would mean for stu-
dents or for teacher contracts is
unclear.
“I do not have answers for you,”
Fredrickson said in an email. “I am
See Academy, Page A7
Looking back on the year in review
Bunnies, city hall,
new staff make
the news
By BRENNA VISSER
Cannon Beach Gazette
As the chapter of 2018
comes to a close, the Can-
non Beach Gazette takes a
look back at the stories that
made this year’s headlines.
Water quality issues
and solutions
This summer, after
high bacteria readings
at Cannon Beach storm
outfalls at Gower Street
and Chisana Creek, the
city revived a water test-
ing program in search of
a solution. According to
the Surfrider Foundation,
which has tested outfalls
around Cannon Beach for
10 years, 25 to 50 percent
of readings have exceeded
state standards, depend-
ing on the year. For years
the cause has stumped city
offi cials, who have been
unable to identify a pattern
or any relationship with
cross-connections with the
sewer system. This year an
answer could be in sight.
The city hired an engineer-
ing fi rm to explore ways to
redesign the Gower Street
and Chisana Creek outfalls
to reduce bacteria readings
in the water. With DNA
testing showing bacteria
is not coming from human
waste, the city believes
bacteria from animal waste
and fungi are building up
inside the pipes, a majority
of which are underground.
Engineers are looking
at installing ultraviolet
light fi lters at the outfalls,
which would kill the bac-
teria before it goes out to
the beach.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
See Review, Page A10
Rabbits gather near a resident’s garden in Cannon Beach.