June 24, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Time to get our heads out from under the sand
Existing city bridges
I
as well as Highway 101
recently attended the disaster
preparedness meeting conducted by
State of Oregon that was sponsored
by the City of Astoria. This meeting
was well attended and was covered
by the Seaside Signal. The potential
Cascadia 9.0 earthquake and 80 foot
tsunami with a 40 percent chance of
happening in the next 50 years was,
understandably, the subject of most
audience’s interest.
Because it is not directly on the
coast, Astoria is more concerned about
the impact of the earthquake than the
tsunami. Residents were shocked to
hear that the impact of the earthquake
alone is likely to generate landslides,
which will cut off any road access to
the entire north coast for months. It is
also expected that power transmission
lines servicing the North Coast will be
downed for at least a year and that lo-
cal water, sewer and road bridges will
be nonfunctional for many months.
North Coast beach communities
could suffer these same impacts plus
the devastating impacts of a tsunami.
Based on geological research, major
GUEST COLUMN
JOHN DUNZER
tsunamis have occurred 41 times in
Seaside with an average occurrence
every 300 years. Our last seaside
tsunami occurred over 300 years ago
as documented by records kept by the
Japanese. The 15 minutes between
a Cascadia fault earthquake and the
arrival of a tsunami will allow many
Seasiders and visitors to reach high
ground on foot (any motorized escape
is unlikely because of gridlock and
bridge failures). If you are south of Av-
enue I, you can probably reach a safe
height on Sunset Drive on Tillamook
Head by a quick walk. If you are east
of Neawanna Creek, you can reach
high ground by a quick walk going
east on Cooper, Broadway or Lewis
and Clark.
If you are north of Avenue I and
west of the creek, your escape will
involve crossing either the creek or
the river or both. Existing city bridges
as well as Highway 101 bridges are
not presently designed to survive a
strong earthquake like Cascadia. It is
unlikely that earthquake victims in the
major portion of Seaside can reach
safety regardless of what the city or
state evacuation route map presently
describes because these escape routes
and the siren system were designed
to work with a distant tsunami from
Hawaii or Alaska. For the majority of
Seaside residents and visitors in a local
Cascadia earthquake and tsunami,
these routes are nothing more than a
pipe dream. What is required is a ver-
tical escape parking structure next to
the convention center, but this has been
deleted by the City of Seaside.
The school district will propose
again that property owners pony up
$100 million to acquire land, develop
new infrastructure and rebuild schools
above the tsunami inundation zone.
But students only spend a small por-
tion of their time in school and most
actually live in homes that are within
the tsunami inundation area. Is this the
bridges are not presently
designed to survive
a strong earthquake
like Cascadia.
best use for scarce resources to provide
safety? With half the investment the
new safe schools could be built above
Seaside Heights Elementary School
parking lot, but the school board has
deleted this alternative.
The City of Seaside is going to
spend millions to rebuild the Avenue
U Bridge across the river. A quick
look at a city map will illustrate that
the Avenue U Bridge is totally useless
in a Cascadia tsunami evacuation.
Anyone west of the bridge would be
much closer to safety by proceeding to
Sunset Blvd., up to Tillamook Head. Is
this the best use for scarce resources?
Wouldn’t a better use of this money
be to make our other existing bridges,
which are essential for the safety of
residents and visitors, to survive a
major earthquake?
The City of Seaside may expand
the Seaside Civic and Convention Cen-
ter without any additional parking or
without any consideration of state law
that requires design features to mitigate
tsunami impacts. The City of Seaside
has spent countless public hearings and
consultant fees to expand the boundar-
ies of the city to handle future growth,
but all the population data for the last
six to seven years shows that there has
been no growth at all in population;
and other than pot shops and thrift
shops, most local commercial needs
are being met by the expansion of the
regional shopping complex in Warren-
ton. The list can go on and on. Do you,
the voters and taxpayers, really want
this type of local government or do you
just want to keep your heads buried in
the sand?
John Dunzer is a candidate for
Clatsop County Board of Commission-
ers, District 2.
OBITUARIES
Steven Lee Wucherpfennig
Prentice L. ‘Bill’ Wallace
Mary Doty Anderson
Dec. 10, 1948 — June 8, 2016
Nov. 6, 1925 — Feb. 7, 2016
May 6, 1931 — June 3, 2016
It is with great sadness
that the family of Steve
Wucherpfennig announces
his passing on the morning
on June 8, 2016, at the age of
67. He spent his last earthly
days enjoying a bowl of pop-
corn, a Diet Coke, and had
his family at his side.
Steve will be lovingly
remembered by the love of
his life and wife of almost
40 years, Sharon, whom he
met in Fairbanks, and was
married at the Santa Claus
House in North Pole, Alas-
ka. He will also be great-
ly missed by his children,
Christy Wucherpfennig and
Leesa Wright, and son-in-
law Jim Wright. Papa will
also be remembered fondly
for his jokes and silly nature
by his grandchildren, Mia
and EJ Wright. Steve is also
survived by his brothers and
sisters, Dave, Chuck, Ann,
Theresa, Julie and Pat.
Steve started his journey
to become a long-standing
and well-loved member of
the Seaside community when
he moved here in 1983 to
manage the Sprouse Ritz
store. From there he worked
in various roles and was in-
volved in the Elks Club, as
well as the American Legion.
Steven Wucherpfennig
He always had a smile, sar-
castic joke, and/or laugh for
anyone who crossed his path.
Steve is a spirit that will be
truly missed by all of his fam-
ily and friends. He worked
hard to provide and care for
his family, and loved them
all the way through to his last
breath and beyond. However,
his love and jokes will be car-
ried on by his family, friends,
and everyone who was bless-
ed to know him.
His family will be hold-
ing a celebration of life from
2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, July
17, at the Seaside American
Legion.
Hughes-Ransom Mortu-
ary in Seaside is in charge
of the arrangements. Go to
www.hughes-ransom.com to
share memories and sign the
guest book.
Prentice L. “Bill” Wal-
lace was born on Nov. 6,
1925, in Portland, Oregon.
He passed away on Feb. 7,
2016, in Seaside, Oregon.
Bill spent many years in
the service of the U.S. Navy,
attaining the rank of com-
mander. He was extremely
proud of his military ser-
vice.
After retiring from a
long career in public educa-
tion, Bill and his wife, Don-
na, owned and operated an
oceanfront motel in Cannon
Beach, Oregon. Many of
their guests became lifelong
friends. After again retiring
in 1980, Bill and Donna
enjoyed many travel adven-
tures in the U.S. and abroad.
Bill was an avid golfer
who took pride in his golf
trophy collection and the
hole-in-one he got on his
69th birthday. He enjoyed
woodworking
projects,
making a number of furni-
ture pieces for the family.
We remember with some
humor how his little red
rowboat — so carefully
constructed in the basement
— barely made it up the
narrow stairway to enjoy the
light of day.
Bill is survived by
The Bob Chisholm Com-
munity Center in Seaside
is in the process of raising
$80,000 for the Main Hall
Refresh Project.
The building is an es-
sential part of our commu-
nity and we are keeping the
beautiful glulam beams, as
well as the tongue in groove
ceiling. This old girl desper-
ately needs updated lighting,
flooring, wall coverings and
window treatments so she
will be able to accommo-
date the next generation of
events, meetings, classes,
parties and weddings — big
or small.
We are reaching out to
our generous community for
their help. Your donation is
tax-deductible and checks
can be made payable to Sun-
set Park & Recreation Foun-
dation, PO Box 514, Seaside,
Oregon 97138. Donors of
$500 or more will have their
name engraved on a bronze
leaf of the Donor Recogni-
tion Tree that will be perma-
nently displayed in the main
hall after the renovation.
daughters Cathy Wallace,
Sandra Iovanne and Wen-
dy Intiso; sons-in-law Tom
Iovanne and Patrick Intiso;
six grandchildren; and four
great-grandsons. He was
preceded in death by his
wife, Donna, in 2006.
Interment for both Bill
and Donna will be at Willa-
mette National Cemetery in
Portland, Oregon, on Sept.
16, 2016, at 11 a.m.
Memorials in honor of
Bill’s life may be made to
Lower Columbia Hospice,
2111 Exchange St., Astoria,
OR 97103, or to a charity of
your choice.
Caldwell’s Luce-Layton
Mortuary in Astoria is in
charge of the arrangements.
And online guest book may
be signed at www.cald-
wellsmortuary.com
Mary Anderson
Doty; and two grandchildren,
Daniel Doty and Katy Doty.
BUSINESS
DIRECTORY
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L ANDSCAPING
LETTERS
Chisolm Center
refresh is worth
supporting
Prentice “Bill” Wallace
Mary Doty Anderson was
the daughter of Marion Bar-
ney Sr. and Ruth Barney,
and sister of Marion Barney
Jr. and Robert Barney. Both
brothers preceded Mary in
death.
Mary loved books and was
an avid reader. She is the only
daughter of one of the irst
pioneer families in Oregon,
and she is listed in the book
“Who’s Who in Oregon.”
Mary is survived by her
husband, Jack; two sons,
Richard Doty and Steven
ROBERT CAIN LD,
I have had the privilege
of serving on the nine-mem-
ber Community Center com-
mission since 1991 with our
last update to the building
in 1995. This building de-
serves to be a compliment to
our community and the sur-
rounding rental facilities.
Please stop by today and
see what is in store for this
grand old building and thank
you in advance for being a
part of such an exciting proj-
ect.
Piper O’Brien
Seaside
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BUSINESS
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