June 9, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
Gearhart will reconsider video
poker machines at brew pub
City Council had
voted against
gambling
By Katie Frankowicz
Seaside Signal
The Gearhart City Council
will take a second look at its
decision to deny a permit that
would have allowed video
poker machines at a new brew
pub in a neighborhood down
the road from City Hall.
At an emergency meeting
Wednesday night, the council
voted unanimously to recon-
sider its denial of a permit ap-
plication submitted by Terry
Lowenberg, owner of Gear-
hart Crossing.
The Planning Commission
denied the permit in January
and the council upheld the
denial in April, citing con-
cerns about maintaining the
neighborhood character and
saying there was no proven
need for the machines at the
pub. Lowenberg, who had ap-
pealed the Planning Commis-
sion’s decision, appealed the
council’s decision to the state
Land Use Board of Appeals.
The city then had the op-
tion to let the appeal go for-
ward or to bring the applica-
tion back for reconsideration.
City Attorney Peter Watts
recommended the council
reconsider the permit appli-
cation. While the council and
the Planning Commission
came to the same conclusion
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
The new look at the Gearhart Crossing Pub & Deli.
to not allow
video pok-
er machines
at Gearhart
Crossing,
city coun-
cilors
had
slightly dif-
Terry
ferent reasons
Lowenberg
for their “no”
votes, Watts said. Currently,
the findings the state would
see only reflect the Planning
Commission’s reasoning. If
the council brought the permit
back, this would give them a
chance to make sure the offi-
cial findings represented the
opinions and conclusions of
both groups.
In reconsidering the per-
mit, “obviously the City
Council could come to a dif-
ferent conclusion (about the
permit),” Watts said. “They
could come to the same con-
clusion. I’m not sure what
will happen. It would be a
reconsideration but whatever
conclusion the City Council
comes to we would make sure
that the findings (reflect) that
conclusion.”
“I still question why we’re
expending so much political
capital, if you will, fighting
this,” said City Councilor Dan
Jesse. He was the only one to
vote in the permit’s favor in
April.
“Well I think the good news
is it’s for reconsideration,”
Mayor Matt Brown said. “So
we have a lot of choices de-
pending on what happens in
the reconsideration.”
The five councilors voted
unanimously to bring the per-
mit back and review it a sec-
ond time.
The city is now required to
hold another public hearing,
something it plans to do as
soon as possible — likely in
late June or early July. Any-
one who testified at the pre-
vious hearing, whether for or
against the lottery machines,
can speak again.
Lowenberg and his law-
yers believe the city’s denial
of the permit ignores state law
and that Lowenberg does not
need the city’s approval to in-
stall the lottery machines.
“The denial does not ap-
pear to be based on any rele-
vant fact, but rather on a prej-
udice against gaming and the
people that participate gam-
ing,” Lowenberg wrote in his
appeal.
At this shop, ‘all fish stories are welcome’
Fishy from Page 1A
Customers for his lures are
fishing for salmon and steel-
head, Brien said. The best
fishing, he said, is behind the
water treatment plant up to the
Avenue G Bridge.
“You have to walk the riv-
er find the fish,” he said. “You
have to learn how to cast.”
Fishermen, he said, are se-
cretive. They don’t want any-
body to know their best spots.
“I’d just as soon lose the fish
than let another fisherman
know where I caught it,”
Brien said with a laugh.
Lightning Strike Lures are
immensely colorful. Why is
that? Aren’t fish color blind?
“People will tell you they
can’t see colors,” Brien said.
“But that’s not my experi-
ence.” He said they always
seem to notice something red
on the line. Which is probably
why his “Shark Attack” lure
is one of his most popular. It
really does look like a spray
of blood, but in an attractive
way. He said Chinook salm-
on favor lures that are green,
while Coho tend to like pink.
“The #5 Hula Girl lure is
one of my top sellers, too,”
Photos from Page 1A
she could see herself being
a photographer some day,
though if given the option
to take a picture of anything
world would still “take more
photos of the beach.”
The idea for this exhibit
came out of an idea Paino had
when she needed a project to
get her Masters degree. The
focus of her degree was in
the arts, and at the time, she
thought photography would
be easier to teach young chil-
dren than more than painting
or cut-and-paste type proj-
ects.
“I was wrong,” she
laughed. “I forgot we had to
mat these things!”
While cutting and past-
ing couldn’t be avoided, she
found teaching kids photog-
raphy helped teach a multi-
tude of other skills, like look-
ing at things from a different
angles and perspectives. So
Paino applied for a $500
grant to pay for the cameras,
and recreated the project for
Seaside kids.
EVE MARX/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jim Brien in front of his new bait and tackle shop on Avenue S.
Brien said. C’mon. Who or
what wouldn’t be lured by a
hula girl?
Brien acknowledges there
is an art to fly tying. And
knowing what works best for
a particular species of fish
and knowing which lure is the
right one to troll.
He also sells salmon and
steelhead fish bait, which
means night crawlers, salmon
eggs, and sand shrimp. “I also
sell crab bait,” he said, wrin-
kling his nose. Crab bait is
stinky. Not his favorite smell.
Jim Brien’s Bait & Tackle is
open Thursday, Friday, and Sat-
Novel brings
history of World
War II to life
By Rebecca Herren
Seaside Signal
SUBMITTED PHOTO/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Local author Brian Ratty
signs books for fans and
history enthusiasts.
bold characters and powerful
story lines,” he said, adding
that he believes “good his-
torical fiction entertains and
enlightens.” He says the char-
acters within the story — real
or imagined — are the glue
that holds the storyline togeth-
er, moving the plot forward;
whereas it is the role of the
events to tie the story together
and provide an exciting, mem-
orable read of history.
“This method of writing is
not a genre, but a technique
of storytelling that dates back
to the earliest forms of verbal
and written communications,”
says Ratty, noting that native
petroglyphs were a way of
documenting some of the ear-
liest historical fiction.
Ratty imagines his readers
being surrounded by adven-
ture; being whisked “away to
another time, another place
and another frame of mind,”
resulting in an exciting jour-
ney through history.
“Voyage of Atonement”
is compiled of three stories.
When Ratty decided to write
the book, he wanted to chal-
lenge himself. “I wanted to try
to write three stories all taking
place at the same time: one in
1963, one in 1944 and one in
1945,” he says.
Ratty is a retired media
executive and a graduate of
Brooks Institute of Photogra-
phy. He lives on the Oregon
coast with his wife Tess and
when he is not writing, he is
out exploring and photograph-
ing the region.
He served in the Oregon
International Guard as an ae-
rial photo recon airman. Some
of this experience can be read
about in his upcoming book
“Over the Next Horizon” due
out this fall. It is filled with
personal adventures, little tid-
bits and short stories.
urday. The location is 766 Ave-
nue S, just a short way east of
Highway 101. It’ll be on your
left. Super neat little building.
You can’t miss it. The hours of
operation are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The phone is 503-738-2983.
“All fish stories are wel-
come,” he said.
BRENNA VISSER/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Suri Morales stands by her
work in the photography
exhibit constructed by Sea-
side Heights’ third-grade
students.
“You cannot believe
these were taken with dis-
posable camera,” Paino said.
“I like this project because it
also get parents involved. A
lot of them took kids out to
the water and the forest, and
a lot of the pictures include
family.”
School district takes bids
Schools from Page 1A
The target budget is ex-
pected to exceed $112.5
million, of which more than
$82 million is expected to
fund construction. Of the
total cost, an additional $8.2
million is targeted for design
costs and engineering ser-
vices.
Bids were requested
April 10 and three proposals
received on May 9.
Hoffman Construction,
which built the Portland
State University Research
and Teaching Center and
the Sandy High School, had
“an excellent written pro-
posal and presentation and
we were really impressed
by their qualifications,” Ro-
ley said. “They have built
some excellent schools al-
ready in the state of Oregon
and they have a lot of coast
experience. Overall, we feel
they’re a great team to go
with the team we already
have going.”
Logging underway
Author shares ‘Voyage of Atonement’
When history meets fic-
tion, you get Brian Ratty. He
is an award-winning author
who writes adventure stories
surrounded with historical
backdrops.
“Voyage of Atonement”
is Ratty’s latest book and one
of the subjects during his pre-
sentation at the Seaside Public
Library on June 1. He began
with background of his early
life, explained why he writes
and discussed the process of
historical fiction.
Ratty refers to his books as
“powerful stories of our past
that gave birth to our future.”
He writes 90 percent histori-
cal and 10 percent fiction, and
considers himself a storyteller,
following the example of his
favorite writer Jack London.
“I write what I like to read
— historical fiction rich with
Photo project teaches
children many skills
In a letter last week, Su-
perintendent-emeritus Doug
Dougherty said Weyerhae-
user Co. will start on the
far east end of the South-
east Hill property and move
west. After tree and stump
removal, site development
will begin.
Logging at the top of the
hill began this week, Ro-
ley said, with material go-
ing through main logging
roads. Logging will not be-
gin in the vicinity of Seaside
Heights Elementary School
until after the school year.
Weyerhaeuser, which do-
nated 80 acres to the district
to house the campus, will
receive profits from the har-
vest of the wood, part of the
agreement’s terms.
Architect, project manag-
er and construction manage-
ment teams plan to meet next
week at the district office,
Roley said.
Concurrently, the dis-
trict will appear before the
city seeking an expansion
of the urban growth bound-
ary, she said, referring to the
process of linking school
property to city services.
Along with the Weyerhae-
user timber removal, the
district plans to contract out
logging of an additional 12
acres adjacent to Seaside
Heights, part of a 19-acre
parcel, Roley said. AKS En-
gineering and Forestry is the
logging contractor.
The district anticipates
paying out $22.5 million
next year toward the proj-
ect, endorsed by voters in
approval of a $99.7 million
construction bond last No-
vember, Business Manager
Justine Hill said in April.
The budget number
swelled with the addition of
$4 million from the state,
along with favorable bond
sales and rates, Hill said.
According to the district’s
project timeline, heavy site
work is scheduled to begin in
the first and second quarters
of 2018.
“We are right where we
want to be,” Roley said. “We
don’t anticipate any actual
construction until the sum-
mer of 2018 but we will be
very busy with the prepara-
tion up until that time.”
Completion of campus
construction and opening for
classes is anticipated by fall
2020.
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