SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 111th YEAR • July 21, 2017
CAUTION
Elk charges beachgoers
Wanted:
Long-term
rentals in
Seaside
Seaside could develop
downtown buildings for
workforce housing
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Members of the Planning Commission
and City Council agree there is a short-
age of long-term and workforce rentals in
the city. They convened Tuesday night in
a joint workshop to discuss ways to make
rentals more available.
“The scarcity is driving people who
want a two-bedroom into a one-bedroom,
and people into a one-bedroom into a hotel
room,” Planning Commissioner David Pos-
alski said. “It’s people in all areas from pro-
fessionals to minimum wage workers who
can’t fi nd a place to live.”
Planning Commission Vice Chairman
Bill Carpenter suggested modifi cations to
See Council, Page 7A
Wildlife agents tranquilize
elk cow and calf
Seaside center
reaches its
fund goals
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
A
n elk cow protecting its calf appar-
ently charged a bicyclist on Monday
in Gearhart and was tranquilized and
brought to safety by police, fi refi ght-
ers and offi cials from the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife .
But aggression remains as calving season
creates risks for beachgoers and passers-by.
“I’m not sure if we have an elk issue or a
people issue at this point,” City Administrator
Chad Sweet said. “It’s defi nitely the wildlife
and people coming together creating this is-
sue.”
A ggressive elk were reported to Gearhart
Police late last week.
On Thursday, elk were reported chasing a
family near the Highlands Golf Course.
“We haven’t had anything on the golf
course itself,” said Mayor Matt Brown, who is
also the golf professional at Highlands . “But
apparently some folks got chased on the beach
near the Highlands and ran up into the neigh-
borhood to the course.”
In another incident, children on Little Beach
encountered an aggressive female elk. “They
dropped their skim boards, towels, equipment
and ran,” Sweet said.
The elk blocked the children from retriev-
ing their boards for several hours, he said.
Later Friday, a woman and four dogs —
three of them off -leash — were also menaced
by the elk before she and another person were
able to get the dogs under control. Reports of
aggressive elk were also reported in the Gear-
hart communities of Surf Pines and Pinehurst,
Sweet said.
Community building to
get upgrades
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
The city’s Bob Chisholm Community
Center moved closer to renovation, meeting
funding goals for the three-stage building
refresh.
Construction could begin in the fall.
“Several years ago, we had a dream,”
Lou Neubecker, chairman of the Communi-
ty Center and Senior Commission, told the
City Council Monday.
Now, the dream is a reality, he said.
Through fundraising efforts, the com-
mission raised more than $51,000. “Since
the original project was estimated at
$175,000 combined with the city’s project
budget of $200,000, we have enough to
start the funds and start going out for bids,”
Neubecker said.
Honoring volunteer
A police offi cer cradles an
elk calf after it has been
tranquilized. The calf was
reunited with its mother.
See Elk, Page 7A
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Camp builds students’ STEM skills
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
Science, technology, engineering and
mathematics are more than just classroom
subjects. They are areas of study, primarily
rooted in problem-solving, that pervade ev-
eryday life.
For some young students, however,
those naturally interconnected disciplines,
especially engineering, can be intimidating,
dull or inaccessible. That’s why the Oregon
Coast STEM Hub and Oregon State Uni-
versity approach them through a series of
mobile science and engineering summer
camps, offered to middle schoolers along
the coast.
The Seaside School District played host
to one such day camp, held July 12 and 13 at
The Heights Elementary School. More than
a dozen local students who are entering sixth
to ninth grade this fall explored science and
engineering through several hands-on activ-
ities, such as developing water infi ltration
See Camp, Page 3A
KATHERINE LACAZE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Sixth-grader Desi Ramirez (left) and eighth-grader Kolyn Lachica
work on creating a water infi ltration system during a free two-
day STEM-related summer camp held at the Heights Elementary
School in Seaside on July 12 and 13. The camp was one in a
series along the coast put on by Oregon State University in part-
nership with the Oregon Coast STEM Hub and local site hosts.
The Bob Chisholm Community Center
at 1225 Avenue A was originally property
of the Catholic Church before acquisition
of the building by the city as a community
rental space.
In the mid-1990s, under the direction of
then-Public Works Director Chisholm, the
building underwent a major renovation,
adding a front offi ce and two large meeting
rooms to the north end of the building. The
main hall was converted from a gymnasium
into a large gathering space.
Chisholm, a volunteer fi refi ghter, died in
1997 attempting to save a man drowning in
the surf just off the beach. The building was
subsequently named in his honor.
The project
The refresh project was conceived in
2015 by the city and the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District. A pledge
drive launched last spring.
In the fi rst week of May, the commission
got approval from the city to meet with RE-
SOLVE Architecture and Planning, the fi rm
that initially designed the renovation, and
start preparing the bid process to select a
general contractor.
Refurbishing the main hall is the fi rst of
three phases.
“Window treatments, the fl ooring, wall
covering, and lighting are the main parts
of it,” Darren Gooch, marketing and infor-
mation technology manager for the district,
said after the meeting. “But all of that is go-
ing to work together to dampen the sound a
little bit and put it in a little better acoustic
environment. Right now if you have a hear-
ing aid, you can’t hear what’s going on.”
Renovations to the center’s entryway
and the classrooms will follow.
Gooch said the commission will now
solicit architects for bids, which will then
be presented to the City Council for review.
See Center, Page 7A