April 28, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
Proposed district budget jumps 9 ½ percent
Budget from Page 1A
manager, geotechnical engi-
neering, site work, civil en-
gineers and surveying firms,
among other expenses.
The bond’s capital fund
balance will reach almost $90
million by June 2018, Hill
said.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Pension costs
Seaside School District Jus-
tine Hill presents the 2017-
18 proposed budget.
Proposed increases in dis-
trict expenditures comes with
new hires, software licensing
fees and employee benefits.
All employee groups are
scheduled to receive 2.5 per-
cent salary increases with
regular step increases when
applicable.
Public Employee Retire-
ment System rates will see an
increase July 1 with a need
for additional higher contri-
butions. Under the proposed
budget, the district’s contri-
bution rate will increase from
11.76 percent to 16.64 percent
for Tier 1 and Tier II members
— about a 4.88 percent year-
to-year increase.
The district’s contribution
to employees participating in
the state’s public retirement
plan will increase from 7.07
to 11.31 percent.
“Our budgeted PERS rate
increases, including the cost
of both those funds, are slat-
ed to cost the district about
$473,000,” Hill said.
ALEKS, a math software
program, will cost the district
$20,000, Hill said.
Total costs for Microsoft
licenses for students could
reach $6,000, she added.
The district allocated
$250,000 to the new Can-
non Beach Academy, which
requires an enrollment of 34
students to open in Septem-
ber.
While enrollment is “pick-
ing up,” Roley said, numbers
must be determined by May 1.
Savings, revenue
Savings under the pro-
posed document come from
lower maintenance costs at
older school buildings —
Broadway Middle School,
Gearhart Elementary School
and Seaside High School —
as the district transitions to
the new campus adjacent to
Seaside Heights Elementary
School.
Reductions will also come
with lower budgeted mainte-
nance costs at Seaside High
School, Gearhart Elemen-
tary and Broadway Middle
School.
Potential revenue from the
sale of the older buildings is
not included in this year’s
budget package.
The district received $1.8
million in timber revenues in
2015-16, with $1.5 million
expected this year, Hill said.
The lowered estimate
comes as a result of fluctu-
ations in the industry and
changing harvest timelines,
she added.
On May 16, the budget re-
turns before the committee,
with an opportunity for addi-
tional public input.
“Now there’s a 30-day
period in which committee
members can take this back,
study it, ask questions either
of me or of Justine, and we’ll
try to get all of their questions
answered,” Roley said after
the meeting.
A budget must be deliv-
ered by June 30.
“Sometimes the committee
is ready to adopt at the May
meeting, sometimes at the
June meeting,” she said.
Council waits
on proposed
zone change
Council from Page 1A
But a conceptual plan for a
high-density zone change
to allow 40 units on 2 acres
at 2145 N. Wahanna Road
has met with resistance. The
plan indicates the type of
development that might be
possible if the zone change
is approved.
The Planning Commis-
sion, over the objections of
residents, advised the City
Council to approve the zone
change in March after hold-
ing a public hearing.
Opponents returned to
City Hall Monday night.
“Please consider the im-
pact this will have on the
surrounding environment
and homeowners,” resident
Susan McDonald wrote
councilors.
McDonald, along with
other residents, said the
proposed change could lead
to greater traffic and safety
concerns. The project could
also fail to meet the need for
affordable homes for the la-
bor force.
“This is a huge project,”
Seaside resident Dawn Mill-
er said. “I’m not against
change, but this is a little bit
too much,”
Five buildings
The 3.75-acre property,
of which 2.5 acres is build-
able, is located between
North Wahanna Road and
the wetlands along Stan-
ley Lake. The property is
bounded to the north by the
North Coast Family Fellow-
ship and to the south by a
single-family home.
Owner James Folk seeks
to create two parcels — one
west of North Wahanna
Road and the other east of
the road. Upon completion
of the zone change, Folk’s
Sierra Partners IV intends
to construct an apartment
complex consisting of five
buildings, each containing
eight units, with a total of 40
one- to three-bedroom units.
At a February Planning
Commission meeting, Folk
said units would rent for
between $800 and $1,300 a
month.
Folk said he anticipates a
total of 104 residents could
live in the five-building
complex.
Monday, Donna Lyons of
Warrenton expressed con-
cerns about congestion, traf-
fic and affordability.
“Forty units on less than
2 acres is ridiculous,” she
said. “Wahanna Road is an
extremely busy road.”
Lyons said those earning
minimum wage would be
unlikely to afford the rents
asked.
Like other opponents of
the plan, Lyons urged a low-
er density zoning designa-
tion for the property.
“The traffic is a big con-
cern now,” neighboring
property owner Billie Win-
sor said. “It doesn’t work for
me.”
Rents questioned
Lyons, Winsor and oth-
ers said the proposed rents
SUBMITTED PHOTO/AT THE WATER’S GATE
Seaside High School senior Marysol Alcantar feeds coins into a machine at the Laundromat in Seaside for a client during a
Laundry Love event on April 8. Alcantar is helping with the local Laundry Love program for her Pacifica Project.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jennifer Bunch of Wicki-
up Consulting speaks on
behalf of owner James Folk
at Monday’s City Council
meeting in Seaside.
‘We’ve heard
a lot of
legitimate
concerns,
but those
concerns
are not
addressing
specific
criteria
relevant to
the zone
change.’
— Jennifer Bunch,
of Astoria’s Wickiup
Consulting
were still too high for those
earning minimum wage or
slightly above, and would
fail to address the city’s
housing needs.
Jennifer Bunch of As-
toria’s Wickiup Consulting
responded on behalf of the
owner. “We’ve heard a lot
of legitimate concerns, but
those concerns are not ad-
dressing specific criteria rel-
evant to the zone change,”
Bunch said.
Sewers would be im-
proved prior to construction,
Bunch said, and public fa-
cilities would be installed
at the owner’s expense.
The proposed development
would have no greater im-
pact on traffic than a condi-
tional use under the current
zoning designation.
A lower zoning density
proposal would likely be un-
profitable for the owner, she
added.
City councilors tabled
the discussion until the
council’s May 8 meeting.
If the zone change is
granted, the land would
then be annexed into the
city for police, fire and wa-
ter. The annexation would
also need City Council ap-
proval.
Students step up for Laundry Love
Laundry from Page 1A
p ronounced as some of the
Laundry Love attendees bring
their school-aged children.
Alcantar discovered that “for
them to struggle not to be able
to have clothes or wash them
as often, they could get bul-
lied at school for it,” she said.
Prendergast’s paper ex-
plored the idea of gender
equality in the workforce.
During her time assisting with
Laundry Love, she came to
find most of the other vol-
unteers also were women. A
question she addressed in her
paper was whether socially
reinforced stereotypes about
compassion or nurturing be-
ing feminine qualities played
a role in that outcome.
“I discovered it’s mostly
society that stereotypes gen-
ders into thinking they have
to do things,” she said, adding
these stereotypes then often
perpetuate themselves.
A change of
perspective
Both students expressed
how their experiences have led
to greater insight into concepts
of homelessness, gratitude and
service.
“You always know not ev-
erybody has everything you
have, but it’s more realistic
once you’re there and see peo-
ple struggling,” Prendergast
said. “You realize how good
you actually have it. It makes
you want to appreciate the
things you have, even a thing
as simple as being able to wash
your clothes at home.”
Going forward, she wants
to continue to target her do-
nated time toward organiza-
tions or service projects that
benefit homeless individuals,
such as food banks, building
homeless shelters or programs
like Laundry Love. Alcantar
agreed that was a population
that is underserved.
“People don’t really take
them into consideration, and
they don’t get as much help as
they should,” she said.
There is even a tendency for
people of privilege to dehuman-
ize those struggling with home-
lessness, Prendergast added.
“They just kind of see them
as not helping themselves, so
we shouldn’t help them,” she
said. “They don’t realize that
some people need a little bit
of help before they can help
themselves.”
The next Laundry Love
will be held May 13. Alcantar
recommends people interest-
ed in the program attend, even
just to watch the process.
“You will see the differ-
ence that it makes in [peo-
ple’s] lives, just by giving
them three quarters to put
into the machine,” she said,
adding no matter how many
times a person hears about the
benefits of the program, “you
won’t really realize it until
you’re there helping.”
A final farewell for a fallen hero
Farewell from Page 1A
Ferry into custody on a war-
rant tied to an earlier assault
on a police officer. Ferry fired
one shot at Goodding, a 13-
year Seaside police veteran,
before Goodding’s partner,
David Davidson, returned fire.
Goodding died later Friday at
Providence Seaside Hospital.
Goodding is survived by
his wife Amy and two daugh-
ters, Joslyn and Jayden.
Goodding’s name was re-
cently etched into the memo-
rial in Salem under the vigil of
law enforcement honor guard
members.
The memorial honors 183
fallen Oregon law enforce-
ment officers who have died
in the line of duty since the
1880s. Among them are of-
ficers from law enforcement
officers, corrections officers,
and parole and probation of-
ficers.
Most of Seaside’s police
staff and fire department will
be attending the Tuesday,
May 2, ceremony at the Ore-
gon Public Safety Academy,
Ham said. The memorial is
open to the public.
Ham, who attended last
year’s ceremony, said an area
will be reserved for the Good-
ding family and other families
of officers who have fallen
before.
He advises attendees to
arrive promptly for the 1 p.m.
event and be prepared for
outdoor weather. A shuttle
service will be available for
parking.
For now, Ham is preparing
to deliver a speech for the mil-
itary-style event.
“There’s been so much
said over the last year,” he
said. “I think there’s going to
be a period of thank-you’s to
everybody who’s been part of
the support, not only for our
department but the city.”
A candlelight vigil during
National Police Week start-
ing May 13 at the National
Mall in Washington, D.C.,
will conclude the year of
remembrances, Ham said.
At that event, officers and
families nationwide attend a
formal dedication of the en-
graved memorial to officers
who have fallen nationwide.
Goodding’s name will be add-
ed to that wall.
“Not that he will ever be
forgotten or it will be a closed
case,” Ham said. “There have
been so many things that
came out of this: Whether it
be the scholarship in his name
in Sherwood, the foundation,
the remembrances, the memo-
rials — that will be his legacy.
Everything Jason would have
been absolutely proud of.”
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Seaside Police Chief Dave
Ham said he sees the Oregon
Fallen Badge Ceremony as
an opportunity to achieve
closure for the loss of a
friend and colleague.
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