March 17, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 9A
Gearhart looks at three potential sites for new fi rehouse
Firehouse from Page 1A
safety building to 12,760
square feet.
Estimated costs for the
building and construction run
to nearly $5 million, Sweet
said, with an additional $2.7
million in interest.
Potential property tax in-
creases were estimated at $.78
per $1,000 of assessed value.
For a $300,000 home, that
would fi gure $234 a year. A
$500,000 home would see tax-
es increase about $390 per year.
Rating properties
Each of the proposed sites
is either owned by the city or
would be available to the city
at a minimal cost.
Gearhart Park offers com-
pacted sand for advantageous
foundation and a higher eleva-
tion, geologist Tom Horning
said. “The park site is a good
site,” he said. “High enough,
and it’s near enough town to
provide great services.”
Disadvantages include loss
of parkland and effects on
neighboring homes.
A public safety building
would take up “about half the
park,” Sweet said.
“There’s obviously an aes-
thetic aspect that would be
negative,” Speakman said.
The Trail’s End location
offers a central location and
the city already owns some of
the land.
But low elevation and con-
cerns from neighbors who
hope to preserve that property
could be downsides.
The current fi rehouse site,
while built “fairly stoutly,”
according to Horning, is like-
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Co-chairwoman Sue Lorain speaks. From left, Building Offi -
cial Mark Brien, Tom Horning and Jay Speakman.
‘The time has come to upgrade
our capabilities here so we can
maintain a fi rst-grade fi re brigade.
The need is not going away.’
Firehouse committee co-chairman Jay Speakman
ly to fl ood even in a moderate
tsunami.
“If you’re going to relocate
here, you’ll have upwards of
that even though this is going
to be a costly venture, the time
has come to upgrade our capa-
bilities here so we can main-
tain a fi rst-grade fi re brigade.
The need is not going away.”
Fire Chief Bill Eddy made
an appeal for Gearhart’s vol-
unteer fi refi ghters.
“Everybody talks about
the equipment in here,” Eddy
said. “The biggest asset we
have are the fi refi ghters in
our department. The amount
of money that each one of
these fi refi ghters is worth
dwarfs what these apparatus
are worth. Part of the station
is for them. They’re the ones
that have to come here to drill,
to respond. To have a facility
that’s current and up-to-date
when it comes to training and
all the other aspects of it —
it’s needed.”
20 feet of water,” Horning
said. “You can’t do anything
with the equipment because it
will be inundated by the wa-
ter. After the town is fl ooded
there will be fi res. They will
break out, in a fi replace, natu-
ral gas line that sparks — and
if you can’t use the local wa-
ter to pump onto the fi re, how
will you put it out?”
Community need
Tuesday’s meeting ended
without resolution, but the is-
sue will now head to the City
Council for discussion.
“The ultimate decision
about this will be up to the
council,” Speakman said.
“We have a new mayor, Matt
Brown, who’s very passionate
about this, and we all feel very
confi dent that hopefully we
can convince the population
Foster, Snow to be saluted
at Liberty Theatre event
Program is more than a beauty contest
Princess from Page 1A
ASTORIA — Prominent
Astorians Michael Foster
and Hal Snow died in late
2016. To honor them and
their legacies, the Liberty
Theatre will host A Gather-
ing of Gratitude at 1 p.m.
Sunday, March 19.
At the event, which is
free and open to the public,
people will talk about the
roles that Snow and Foster
played in the
lives of many
area nonprofi t
organizations.
“Hal and
Michael did
so much to
Hal
make
the
Snow
Liberty’s res-
toration hap-
pen,” said former Liberty
president, Steve Forrester.
“Our board feels obliged to
honor them publicly.
“Hal Snow was corpo-
rate secretary from the mid-
1990s until about 2006,”
Forrester added. “Michael
Foster was a board member
from the moment we began
to envision a new perform-
ing space, at the Liberty or
somewhere else in Astoria.”
Through the Snow Fam-
ily Foundation, Snow made
a succession of gifts to the
theater — for the chandelier
restoration, the canopy man-
ufacture and the box offi ce
restoration.
“Hal would sit back qui-
etly observing, and then,
when he spoke up or gently
planted ideas for other to act
upon, everyone listened,”
said Cheri Folk, previous
and current theater board
member. “I loved hearing
him tell of his mother work-
More than beauty
Scholarship funds
Along with recognizing the talent of
the county’s young women, Miss Clatsop
County Scholarship program distributed
thousands of dollars in scholarship funds.
“I think the experience of interviewing
with a panel of judges for 10 minutes is
invaluable,” Newman said. “You have
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Hannah Garhofer walks the runway after her crowning as Miss Clatsop County 2017.
no idea what questions they are going to
ask. They are applying for a job of Miss
Clatsop County. Potentially Miss Oregon,
potentially Miss America.”
Contestants gain self-confi dence and
skills in interviewing and public speak-
ing, Newman added. “Some of these girls
have been competing as teens and now
onstage today. In fact, all four Misses
competed as teens. Seeing them grow is
just amazing.”
Next up for competitors: the Miss Ore-
gon and Oregon’s Outstanding Teen com-
petition in Seaside at the end of June.
“I will be going to Miss Oregon at the
end of June,” Garhofer said as she en-
joyed congratulations from organizers,
family and friends. “I am so thankful for
this opportunity! And I cannot wait to rep-
resent Clatsop County!”
Fundraiser to support
library reading outreach
The Libraries Reading
Outreach in Clatsop County
program will be holding its
second annual fundraiser on
Thursdsay, March 23, at the
Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center in Seaside.
As part of the fundrais-
er there will be a Little Free
Libraries live auction. Little
Free Libraries are a free ex-
change community library
that people may place in
their yards or businesses.
Libraries Reading Outreach
in Clatsop County is accept-
ing donations of little free
libraries built by community
members and businesses. For
more details on building and
donating a little library, con-
tact your local library.
The ticket price of $15 in-
cludes light desserts, refresh-
ments, and a silent and live
auction.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Miss Teen Peyton Sims is crowned by
Miss Clatsop County Teen 2016 Caitlin
Hillman. Taryn Miller, Miss Columbia-Pa-
cifi c’s Outstanding Teen 2016, at right.
A look back at Seaside’s past with local author
Delve into the history of
Seaside on Saturday, March
25, at 1 p.m. with local author
Gloria Linkey as she discuss-
es her new book, “A Town
Called Seaside.” The event,
sponsored by the Friends of
the Seaside Library, eatures
book sales and signings.
The town of Seaside isn’t
very big. It boasts 6,500 full-
time residents but gains an
enormous boost in population
every summer. Thousands
fl ock to its beaches, restau-
rants, and art galleries.
P LACE Y OUR
In “A Town
Called Seaside,”
author and histori-
an Gloria Linkey
will be tour guide
as she takes the
audience through
Seaside’s origins
as a summer resort
town in the 1940s
to the thriving
tourist attraction
the town has become today.
Linkey’s research con-
jures up beautiful images
of pre-World War II bygone
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W E G ET R ESULTS !
While Linkey preserves
Seaside’s past, she also
demonstrates how the town
has grown and changed for
the better. She shows how city
government and the chamber
of commerce changed the
town’s status from strictly a
summer destination to a year
round resort.
Seaside Library is located
at 1131 Broadway. The event
takes place in the community
room. For more information
call 503-738-6742 or visit
www.seasidelibrary.org.
WHERE STYLE MEETS SUSTAINABILITY
Schedule your
M
A DS N OW !
days, where peo-
ple walked the
Prom in fi ne at-
tire, and went to
the state-of-the-art
aquarium. Fam-
ilies could also
spend an afternoon
watching
Lone
Ranger serials at
one of Seaside’s
two movie houses
as well as partici-
pating in a variety of events
that befi tted a summer desti-
nation.
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The annual scholarship program —
celebrating its 67th year — is far more
than a beauty contest.
Program director Sandy Newman said
judges evaluate the “overall package,”
with winners serving as ambassadors for
the county at parades, charitable and spe-
cial events.
Judges seek “somebody who’s likable,
can go with the fl ow,” Newman said.
“Great speaking skills are very import-
ant.”
Garhofer entered her fi rst contest while
an eighth-grader at Broadway Middle
School in Seaside. She was named Miss
Clatsop County Teen in 2013.
“Over the past six years I’ve evolved
into the woman I am,” she said onstage
after the show. “I am so thankful for this
organization.”
She was chosen among four Miss Clat-
sop County contestants, joined by Anna
Kaim, Hayliehe Bell and Kayla Warwood.
Garhofer is a student at Northwest
Christian University. During her winning
talent display, she tap-danced to “Emer-
gency” by Icona Pop and described her
platform as “Live Your Dash — Leave
Your Legacy.”
Garhofer also won service above self,
fi tness and congeniality awards.
Outstanding teen Sims wowed judges
with an emotional rendition of compos-
er Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” while
Ramsdell’s performance of J.P. Cooper’s
“We Were Raised Under Gray Skies,” and
a platform of promoting school and com-
munity music programs contributed to her
success.
ing in the ticket booth as a
young girl.”
Foster brought gold from
his foreign travels to gild the
theater’s plaster ornamen-
tation. “Michael was our
dreamer,” said Folk. He also
fl oated the idea of creating
the second-fl oor reception
area that later become the
McTavish Room, underwrit-
ten by Shawn Teevin.”
“Michael
was patient
in helping the
board fi nd a
chandelier for
the McTavish
Room,” said
Michael
Forrester. Jer-
Foster
ry Gustafson
underwrote
the purchase in honor of his
wife, Marilyn.
According to Forrester,
“Without the contributions
of Michael and Hal — fi -
nancial, emotional, and in-
tellectual — the restoration
would have been much dif-
ferent.”
Other organizations that
will speak are the Astoria
High School Scholarships
Fund, Lower Columbia
Youth Soccer Association,
Friends of Astoria Column,
Clatsop County Histori-
cal Society and the Oregon
Community Foundation.
Following the 3 p.m. fi n-
ish of the event, there will
be refreshments and con-
versation in the McTavish
Room. The theater is locat-
ed at 1203 Commercial St.
Those wanting to speak
should notify Liberty The-
ater
Director
Jennifer
Crockett by calling 503-
325-5922, ext. 33.
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