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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2016)
4A February 5, 2016 Seaside Signal seasidesignal.com SignalViewpoints When clam diJJers stepped in to save the Necanicum Estuary Scholarship set up in memory of Wendy Richardson Student who demonstrates excellent community service will be awarded By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal NEAL MAINE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL Rocks hauled in during the 1960s remain littering the estuary. S easide’s Neal Maine still remem- bers the battle over development in SEEN FROM SEASIDE Sunset Cove in Seaside. He sees the R.J. MARX results of it every day. A sand berm built by developers is ¿ nally breaNinJ doZn. 5oFNs and debris dumped in the estuary almost a half-Fentury aJo Fontinue to litter tion from the Army Corps of EnJineers the shoreline. ³:e’re still livinJ Zith the roFN that 2reJon Attorney *eneral Robert 7horn- Zas put there in ´ Maine said. ton charJed seven heavy eTuipment oper- ³:e’re still livinJ Zith it and it’s basiFally ators and the project superintendent Zith FontaminatinJ the estuary for the rest of “Zanton Zaste of ra]or clams.´ time.´ “Some old codJer remembered some- 7he -aFre site Zas purFhased from Zhere in the ¿ sh and Jame laZs that it Zas the Fity in and by faFed the re- aJainst the laZ to drive on clam beds´ vieZ proFess. ,t Falled for homes Zith Maine said. “7he ¿ sh and Jame Zardens streets seZers and underJround ZirinJ on Zrote the driver up.´ a sand spit above the Necanicum Estuary NeiJhbors and clam diJJers demanded over *earhart. /ots ranJed from a mini- that the ¿ ll be removed and the ¿ rm forced mum of to sTuare feet. to pay a penalty of for “Zanton 7he proMect had some inÀ uential propo- damaJe to the clam beds.´ nents includinJ 5ep. :illiam Holmstrom ,n a district court demanded the of *earhart 3resident of the Sunset Cove removal of the construction rocN hoZ- Corporation and a member of the 2reJon ever a federal appeals judJe modi¿ ed House of Representatives. the decision to “re- Despite ob- Tuire the removal of as jections from much of the riprap as neiJhbors en- Zill permit nature « vironmentalists to taNe its course.´ and the Army %y nature Corps of EnJi- had already taNen neers a Clatsop its course. EiJht County Circuit property oZners in Court judJe 2.ed north Seaside faced a mininJ permit to losinJ their homes move sand from after the estuary’s the estuary and re- diverted Zaters place it Zith rocN. beJan eatinJ aZay 7here Zas a dif- The plan made headlines in 1968. at their homes. The ferent mind-set bacN homeoZners Zere then Maine said ³,f it maNes another reTuired to add additional rocN retaininJ bucN then do it.´ Zalls to protect their properties. Construction creZs Zent to ZorN Despite the rulinJs and damaJe to the brinJinJ in rocN and ¿ ll as Sunset Cove nearby homes the developer returned to e[cavated the channel and built a rocN re- the planninJ table this time Zith an - taininJ Zall alonJ a sand spit at the mouth home plan for the estuary. of the Necanicum River. An island of rocN The Army Corps of EnJineers Zas and sand Zas created betZeen November joined by )riends of 2reJon the and -anuary . Necanicum River 3rotective Association ³7hey Jot a mininJ permit to scrape the and members of the Seaside 3lanninJ sand off the beach to Neep ¿ llinJ ¿ llinJ Commission all of Zhom opposed the ¿ llinJ´ Maine said. ³3eople Zere out- developer’s plan to build homes on an ac- raJed by it. ,t Zas totally boJus. tive foredune in violation of state land use ³7hen they started armorinJ the rocN´ Juidelines. Maine in opposinJ the project he added. ³7hey brouJht in enouJh rocN at the time told Clatsop County planninJ to raise a Zall -feet deep.´ commissioners in the proposal Zas 8ltimately the developers piled up still “basically bad.´ cubic yards of sand on the - %y that time land use rules Zere in acre site to build it up from the beach. effect and there Zas Jreater ecoloJical :hen a storm Zashed some of that aZareness. Maine and others recoJni]ed aZay the builders put riprap on the ocean the value of the estuaries to man and Zild- side to prevent further erosion. life and natural beauty of the land. “Within really just months it started Sunset Cove ,nc. brouJht their case to ZipinJ out the entire banN of *earhart´ the 8.S. Court of Appeals Zhich demand- Maine said. ed an after-the-fact permit from the build- A Jroup of clam diJJers Zas able to ers for unauthori]ed ¿ ll. accomplish Zhat opponents Zeren’t stop The ne[t sprinJ the appeals court af- the ’do]ers in their tracNs. With interven- ¿ rmed that the Sunset Cove area Zas pro- tected as “naviJable Zaters´ and the proj- ect stalled after the U.S. Supreme Court failed to hear the developers’ appeal. Lessons learned? As a berm created by ¿ ll from the ’s crumbles in the estuary’s Zaters Ze are ZatchinJ “the last little pieces of this histo- ry´ Maine said. “,’m not interested in relivinJ it´ Maine said this month. “, thinN the story is hoZ important the decision-maNinJ process is because there are leJacies that are unfore- seen. <ou have to have a process.´ <et he mourns the ineradicable chanJ- es to the inlet Zhere rocN Zill remain and channels Zere chanJed forever. “This cov- ered over tidelands Zhich are the most pro- Can rock be turned to profit? While nature will break up the island of i ll in the estuary, thousands of pounds of rock dropped as i ll in the 1960s remains. “Rock put there in the ’60s and ’70s — we’re still living with it and it’s basically contaminating the estuary for the rest of time,” Neal Maine said. “We did talk to some folks about recovery, because the value of rock is high enough.” Bulldozers and dump trucks could re- move the rock, he suggested. “You could just sell it, and that would get it out of there.” ductive in the Zorld´ Maine said. ,f the developers had never started the process Maine said “,t Zould have been the estuary that it has been for the past years. ,t Zould have just done its thinJ every year. The ¿ sh Zould have come in and Jone out. “The estuary is one of only on the 2r- eJon Coast´ he continued. “,t’s a JateZay to hundreds of thousands acres of Zater- shed.´ Maine maNes a connection betZeen then and noZ and issues a call to action. “, hear the natural Jas discussion in War- renton but , don’t really hear the Warrenton people talNinJ about a revieZ process´ he said. “<ou have to Juarantee to the ne[t tZo or three Jenerations that these resources are JoinJ to be there. There has to be an identi- ¿ able revieZ process so years later Ze don’t say µMy *od Zhat did Ze do"’ “, don’t thinN this Zould happen today but other thinJs could´ he added. “NoZ 2reJon has a very speci¿ c Juidelines for estuaries. The land use planninJ process Zas just JettinJ started then. %ut here Ze are JettinJ involved Zith the Columbia River estuary Zith /N*.´ Seaside Scholarships ,nc. is manaJinJ a neZ scholarship created in memory of lo- cal resident Wendy Richardson Zho died in December. The Wen- dy Richard- son Memorial Scholarship is the brain- child of sev- eral Zomen Zho NneZ Richardson and Zhose sons par- ticipated in sports Zith Richardson’s son NicN noZ . The S e a s i d e JEFF TER HAR/FOR CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Wendy Richardson Scholarships board aJreed to manaJe the memorial scholarship. The scholarship Zill be aZarded to a student based on the criterion of excellent community service a characteristic associ- ated Zith Richardson accordinJ to board member Sally LaCoste. “That is hoZ everyone thinNs of Wendy hoZ involved she Zas in the community´ LaCoste said. The monetary amount aZarded for the scholarship is unNnoZn at this time she said. ,t Zill depend on the hoZ much is contributed by the community for the scholarship. Seaside Scholarships is a nonpro¿ t or- Jani]ation that raises money used for its oZn achievement scholarships and also manaJes numerous memorial and other scholarships for local businesses and in- dividuals. The objective is to maNe it easy for Seaside HiJh School seniors to submit a sinJle application that Zill be considered for all TualifyinJ scholarships. The Wendy Richardson Memorial Scholarship Zill be aZarded startinJ Zith the hiJh school’s class of . To maNe a tax deductible donation send a checN or money order to Seaside Schol- arships ,nc. 3.O. %ox Seaside OR or visit the orJani]ation’s Zebsite at ZZZ.seasidescholarships.comdonate. PUBLIC MEETINGS Monday, Feb. 8 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Friday, Feb. 12 Seaside Convention Center meeting, 5 p.m., Convention Center, 415 First. Ave. Monday, Feb. 16 Seaside School District, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin St. Monday, Feb. 22 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Tuesday, March 1 Seaside Planning Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Monday, March 14 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. DEATHS Jan. 21, 2016 WESTERHOLM *erald Ray of *earhart died in Seaside. HuJhes-Ransom Mortuary in Seaside is in charJe of the ar- ranJements. Jan. 24, 2016 %ADER William LoJan of Sea- side died in Hammond. HuJhes-Ransom Mortuary is in charJe of the arranJements. Saying farewell to an old friend at the Elks Lodge n -an. , attended the funer- al service for -ohn %eneNe at the Seaside ElNs /odJe. ,t Zas almost standinJ room only. HavinJ been out of circulation for a Zhile there Zere perhaps a cou- ple do]en present of those , actual- ly NneZ. , had a conversation Zith Russ Earl alZays a friend a feZ Zords Zith .y Weed -enninJs my publisher and À eetinJ contact Zith -ohn Morris -oan %eneNe and some others. ,’m so Jlad , Zent. -erry /ounsbury E[alted Ruler led the ElNs ritual of the ¿ rst part of the service. This Zas folloZed by treasurer and past Exalted Ruler -an -acNson Zith her revelatory and affectionate euloJy of -ohn. ,t Zas Tuite lonJ but Zas done so smooth- ly and Zith such attention to detail O SCENE & HEARD CLAIRE LOVELL that , Zas sorry , didn’t NnoZ -ohn better as an adult. He evidently had a Jreat sense of humor alZays a plus. A toast Jiven by -ohn’s son- in-laZ Simon 3estridJe folloZed -an’s encouraJement of recol- lections. His remarNs Zere also lenJthy full of humor and fondness for his Zife’s father. One could eas- ily tell he enjoyed beinJ part of the family. /ast Saturday the biJ neZs Zas for excessive snoZfall in the east and south. After a ZalN , Zas pret- ty much Zorn out Zhen someone NnocNed at the door. %y the time , made it to ansZer he Zas already Jone. , had seen him approach the porch and had tried to hurry. Out- side , noticed a business card on the bench. ,t Zas and old callinJ card for %ill Hoffhines a late Meth- odist minister at Seaside Methodist Community Church in the s. , Zondered if it miJht have been Ed- die %ill’s second son. ,’m so sorry , missed him. His mother Darlene and , ZorNed toJether for a Zhile. There Zere at least tZo cats and a Deere on Holladay betZeen th and nd Avenues Zhen , tooN my ZalN. They had duJ biJ holes in the street set in huJe round and sTuare containers and Zith the bacN up noise of the eTuipment there Zere a confusion of activity. The aTua pipes Zere almost too pretty to bury ha. ,f your neiJhbor told you he Zas JoinJ to “hone in´ on somethinJ to correct him Zould be rude. HoZev- er if tZo neZspapers let the expres- sion Jo by repeatedly it’s time for a vocabulary lesson! To hone is to sharpen. When one centers on some particular thinJ he “homes´ in on it ² as a hominJ piJeon does deliv- erinJ his notes. NoZ Ze all NnoZ better ² and certainly , feel better. , hope this doesn’t become another “%roadZay Street´ episode. SprinJ comes early at the sea- shore. )or the ¿ rst time , ZalNed on the east sideZalN south of Safe- Zay. Where the earlier Jardens Zere planted many of the plants are beinJ encroached by blacNber- ry JroZth. , should thinN someone could beJin to cut them out of the À oZerinJ red and blue hedJe plants before they taNe over everythinJ. Many camellias are in bloom about toZn as Zell. Laugh Lines: A couple called *eorJe and Mary Zere sittinJ on their front porch and saZ a man and Zoman come out of the house across the street. As they Zatched the man turned and Jave the Zoman a re- soundinJ Niss. “Oh *eorJe´ said Mary Zist- fully to her husband. “Why don’t you do that"´ “Why honey´ replied *eorJe “, don’t even NnoZ that lady!´