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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2017)
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY OUR 111th YEAR • November 24, 2017 $15M bonds will fund convention center upgrade Renovation will add 10,000 square feet to Seaside facility By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal In June, the city put the financial framework in place for renovation of the Seaside Civic and Conven- tion Center. Bonds for the conven- tion center renovation will be sold for $15 million, then transferred to construction funds. On Monday, Nov. 13, the City Council unanimously voted to au- thorize issuance of those bonds. The bonds will be paid back by an increase in the city’s lodging tax, approved last November. “This is the next big step in the project,” Mayor Jay Barber said. The project will add about 10,000 square feet to the 62,000-square- foot facility, and renovate more than 13,000 square feet of the space. “This signals to the financial market that you are going to be out there and issue those bonds,” City Manager Mark Winstanley said. “It also instructs staff to tell the public the council is looking to issue $15 million of bonds, and if they have questions they can refer those ques- tions to the council.” Earlier this year, the conven- tion center selected Portland-based Holst Architecture and Conver- COURTESY SEASIDE CIVIC AND CONVENTION CENTER Rendering of the renovated convention center. gence Design of Kansas City for the contract to design the renovation and expansion of the 45-year-old facility. This fall, the convention center added O’Brien and Co. Construc- tion to the project team. The renovation’s design phase could take six months and construc- tion up to two years. Work is expect- ed to be complete in the spring of 2019. “Thank you for the sale of the bonds,” Russ Vandenberg, general manager of the convention center, said Monday. “It’s very exciting to move forward with this project. It’s going along very nicely as we are en- tering the design phase.” Vandenberg plans to present an update on construction progress at the council’s Nov. 27 meeting. In addition to the renovation, he said, the convention center has up- dated its website at seasideconven- tion.com. “It’s refreshed. It’s interactive. It’s beautiful,” Vandenberg said. “It’s got many features the other site didn’t provide.” A salute to Hamlet Fire Chief Bill Boone Boone, 66, dies after battle with cancer By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal COURTESY NEAL MAINE Elk with netting in Gearhart. Elk harvested after shucking net Gearhart elk incidents draw response By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal R esidents were distressed after seeing elk encumbered by a tomato cage and a volleyball net over the past few weeks, enough so to contact Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife to find a remedy. A bull with a volleyball net on its horns and a cow with the metal cage were re- ported and photographed throughout the community. The elk with the tomato cage appears to have shucked it free, wildlife biologist Herman Biederbeck of the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife said Friday. “We can’t seem to find an elk with that thing on it anymore.” The bull with the volleyball net trans- ferred the remnants of the net to anoth- er bull, which was subsequently legally harvested by an elk hunter with a Saddle Mountain tag, the department reported. The bull that originally had the net in its antlers is now walking around free of any adornments. “It appears like we have no more is- sues,” Biederbeck said. ‘WE CAN’T SEEM TO FIND AN ELK WITH THAT THING ON IT ANYMORE.’ ODFW wildlife biologist Herman Biederbeck The firefighting com- munity is mourning the loss of Bill Boone, who served as Hamlet’s fire chief for many years. Boone, 66, died Nov. 4 after a battle with cancer. Hamlet Fire Chief Matt Hamlet Fire Verley remembered Boone as Chief Bill a chief, teacher, mentor and Boone friend. “Countless people are alive today be- cause of Bill’s efforts,” Verley said. “Even after decades on the department, Bill was often the first person to the station when the pager sounded at 2 a.m.” Boone spent most of his life in Hamlet, running his general contracting business and serving the Hamlet fire department for more than 30 years. He was the husband of state Rep. Deborah Boone, who represents House District 32. “It’s a huge loss for Hamlet community and the county,” Gearhart Fire Chief Bill Eddy said. “He did a lot for the communi- ty. I’ve known him for probably 15 to 20 years. He never got excited, took every- thing in stride, was proficient at what he did and if he had a question, he’d ask.” Seaside Fire Chief Joey Daniels battled many blazes alongside Boone. “He was a great man, and he was a men- tor to all of us, especially to all of us fire chiefs,” Daniels said. County Commission- er Lianne Thompson, who represents Ham- let, was a longtime friend. “Bill Boone was salt of the earth,” Thompson said. “Forty years with the Hamlet fire department, staunch supporter of Debby — he was a big man you could absolutely trust. He loved life and life loved him right back. He was just a fine person.” PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE Looking for adventure Gearhart resident celebrates 95th birthday By Rebecca Herren Seaside Signal REBECCA HERREN/SEASIDE SIGNAL Bob McEwan, who turned 95 Sunday, Nov. 12, celebrated his birthday with a gathering of fami- ly members and friends at the Sweet Shop in Gearhart. Bob McEwan turned 95 years old Sunday, Nov. 12. He celebrated his birthday at a gathering of fam- ily and friends. Among the chatter and well wishing, McEwan was relaxed, smiling often. Guests were treated to a display of meats, chees- es, fruits and vegetables, cupcakes galore and a caked baked by local resident Shannon Smith. Smith, along with a collective group of family members, neigh- bors and friends who met regularly for coffee, organized the birthday party at the Sweet Shop in Gear- hart. Recovering from back surgery in August, McEwan looked fit and happy, enjoying the company of 50 or so people from around Clatsop County who came to celebrate the birthday of their longtime friend, one of the oldest residents of Gear- hart. McEwan has lived in this oceanside town for more than half a century. Conversations centered, among other things, on McEwan and his much anticipated buggy rides in the Fourth of July parades, and the sight of him driving his bug- gy around town led by his trusting donkey Pancho and accompanied by his black lab Pearl who always rode shotgun. The sleigh bells tied to the bug- gy were a regular sound around Gearhart. Upon hearing them, resi- dents would often come to the edge of their yards and wave as the trio rode by, or if McEwan stopped, as he often did, they would excitedly approach McEwan for a chat and give Pancho a loving pat on the neck. After McEwan blew out his can- dles, he smiled thankfully and gra- ciously accepted a piece of cake — chocolate, of course — his favorite. Boone grew up in Portland and joined the fledgling Hamlet Rural Fire Depart- ment in 1975, a year after he moved to the area. He did not have prior firefighting expe- rience, but joined the department because he was a young man looking for adventure in his life. Boone stuck with it because he had “a personal conviction that everyone needs to give back to their community in some way or another,” he said in a 2015 interview with the Seaside Signal’s Katherine Laca- ze. “I volunteered with them at that point, and then I just stayed with it.” Boone was chairman of the Hamlet Rural Fire Protection District board in the 1980s, a position he relinquished when he was promoted to chief in 1991. During his time as chief, Boone over- saw the construction and remodeling of buildings, firefighter training, and the pur- chase of vehicles and equipment, among services to the community. “Under his guidance, the department saw tremendous growth in equipment, fa- cilities, and personnel,” Verley said. In 2008, he was among those recognized by the Clatsop County Board of Commis- sioners for his “significant contributions” See Boone, Page 5A