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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2018)
6A • March 16, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com How arts pay off in the South County Arts council presentation in Seaside By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal CITY OF GEARHART Map of Heritage Dunes in Gearhart. A MATTER OF INCHES Gearhart, property owner to split the difference By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Water pipe diameter be- came a matter of dispute in Gearhart, ending in compro- mise at a City Council appeals hearing. The compromise comes after property owner Ray Romine appealed a Plan- ning Commission denial after the commission determined construction plans failed to meet the city’s water im- provement standards. Romine appealed that de- cision, arguing that the 8-inch pipe was unnecessarily large. In his appeal, Romine said a 3-inch pipe would be suffi- cient to supply water to two new homes, part of the Heri- tage Dunes subdivision on the east side of Highway 101 on Hillila Road in Gearhart. The city and property owner will share the cost of an 8-inch pipe, a city fire code requirement. “After we appealed, we be- gan discussing with the staff how we can reach an agree- ment, and we’ve been able to do that I think to the satisfac- tion of staff,” Hathaway said. The city will build an 8-inch line and Romine will pay for the cost of a 6-inch line. Romine estimated the cost of a 3-inch line at $2,250. En- gineering for an 8-inch line is estimated at $7,000. “The city’s going to end up with an 8-inch line and Mr. Romine’s going to end up with something more than a 3-inch line,” Hathaway said. “We think that’s a positive.” City Attorney Peter Watts recommended acceptance of the compromise agreement before councilors voted unan- imous approval. “In the end we believe the city will ben- efit,” Watts said. Campus traffic plans meet city’s goals Campus from Page 1A Winterbrook Planning as key elements of the proposal. “The district is making ma- jor contributions to the city,” he said, including system development charges for parks, transmission lines, and a 2-million-gallon water reser- voir and booster pump station. Booster pumps, located near Seaside Heights Elementary School, will serve existing neighborhoods. Traffic plans meet goals of the city’s transportation system plan, Winterowd said. “We’re not getting what we call signif- icant impacts at any streets or intersections,” he said. A right-turn lane from Spruce onto Wahanna Road will help ease some traffic flow, Winterowd said. He said he welcomed a second “peer review” of the study to get a second opinion on traffic impacts. “We are not generating im- pacts that require the district to pay for off-site improvements,” Winterowd said. “We feel we meet the criteria. We’ve done our work. If you look at the is- sues, we haven’t been idle.” Winterowd said the district would work with neighbors to make streets safer and slow traffic. District traffic consultant BRIC ARCHITECTURE Campus parking plan delivered to the Planning Commission for review. Will Farley said major collec- tors typically carry 7,000 cars per day. With the new campus there would be about 4,000 trips down Spruce Drive per day, “about half what you’d expect on a major connector” road. Farley studied five inter- sections as part of the traffic study. “Every one of them operat- ed acceptably through 2020,” he said. A right-hand turn lane at Wahanna is added “to have an acceptable level of service,” Farley said. District consultants are working with the Seaside Fire Department to provide safe access and traffic calming devices. The driveway from Seaside Heights Elementary to the middle and high School building will be 30-feet wide, with an 8-foot parallel park- ing lane, leaving 22 feet for fire trucks to reach the site. Staggered hours on the campus will also cut down on traffic. “We’re really doing Students advocate for ‘mutual respect’ Walkout from Page 1A Circling together in bands along the edge of the athletic field, students offered a mes- sage of mutual respect as they went one-by-one to the mi- crophone and expressed their thoughts in one-line comments: “I will respect my peers.” “I will stand up for others.” “I will show kindness and to everyone.” “I will not watch others be treated poorly.” “I will extend friendship to strangers.” “I will speak up when things aren’t right.” “I will be a voice for those who no longer have one.” Unlike many walkouts hap- pening around the country, stu- dent organizer Sequoia Shand said the goal of Wednesday’s presentation was focused on advocating for “mutual re- spect” for one another rather than stark emphasis on gun control. For 17 minutes, 17 differ- ent students presented call-to- actions every minute, on the minute, about how students BRENNA VISSER/EO MEDIA GROUP Seaside High School student Sequoia Shand, organizer of the event. can support one another. Every statement was sandwiched be- tween long moments of silence. Among the approximate- ly 150 visitors who joined the walkout were district superin- tendent Sheila Roley and prin- cipal Jeff Roberts. In the wake of recent shoot- ings, Seaside High School has taken some precaution by tightening lockdown protocols and choosing to lock every door except the front entrance throughout the day. Prelimi- nary designs for the new Sea- side school campus feature school shooting-specific lock- ing mechanisms that can lock down doors and passage ways in the school remotely. “My concerns are like ev- eryone’s in this national trend,” Roberts said. “We don’t expect this kind of thing here, but we’d be naive to think it couldn’t happen here. But I take solace in the ways we’ve taken pre- cautions.” “This is about the lives that were taken at Parkland High School,” student Jetta Ideue said. “This is for those people who were innocent that night.” our share,” he said. In addition to 339 campus parking spaces, 143 overflow parallel parking spaces along the new driveway and in the existing Wahanna Road park- ing lot will be used for special events. There was no public com- ment, either from proponents or opponents of the plan. Winterowd said the district hopes to be open by 2020. “We’re asking that you care- fully consider the application,” he said. Winterowd requested a continuance until March 20, at which a new traffic study could be delivered. The hear- ing would remain open until April 3. “That’s the big ask — we hope you’ll make a de- cision.” Cary Bubenik, operations manager for Hoffman Con- struction Co., said he hoped to break ground by June 1. “It’s aggressive, we know, but in the interest of getting it done in 27 months and open in 2020, that’s imperative.” The continuance was unan- imously endorsed by commis- sioners, including Chairman Chris Hoth, Teri Carpenter, Bill Carpenter, David Posals- ki and Richard Ridout. Com- missioner Lou Neubecker was absent. How much is art worth in the South County? Don Frank, a local pho- tographer and volunteer for the Arts Council of Clatsop County, came to Seaside in late February to share the group’s mission. “We’re trying to put numbers to this idea that art is a value to the community,” Frank said at a meeting of the Seaside Downtown Development Association. “As artists, we appreciate art. It has its own intrinsic value. But we also want to make sure it makes economic sense.” The Arts Council of Clat- sop County serves as an advisory body to the coun- ty commission, and was formed in 2014. The nine members of the council holds monthly meet- ings in Astoria, Warrenton, Cannon Beach and Sea- side, with representatives throughout Clatsop County. Tracy Abel represents Can- non Beach on the council; Seaside members include Seaside Downtown Devel- opment Association Execu- tive Director Sarah Dailey, Drea Frost, Katherine Laca- ze. Frank and Harold Gable are from Gearhart. County Commissioner Sarah Ne- beker, a Gearhart resident, is part of the council’s orga- nizational staff and Theresa Dursse is county liaison. The arts have grown not just in art or photography, but all forms, Frank said. A 2016 survey revealed de- mographics of art events attendees, with 800 attend- ees interviewed. Nonprof- it arts and cultural events bring in almost $14 million a year. The sector supports 359 full-time jobs. In com- R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Don Frank of the Clatsop County Arts Council. paring Clatsop County to similarly sized counties, the county was above average in attendees and revenue, he said. The arts comprise 5 percent of county revenues. In 2015, 87,000 residents attended arts events, and 73,000 nonresidents, spend- ing an average of $67 per attendee. Spending by nonprofit arts and cultural organiza- tions totaled $2.9 million in Clatsop County during 2015. A total of 1,233 volunteers donated a total of 80,328 hours to Clatsop County’s participating nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. Nationwide, the non- profit arts industry produces $1.663 billion in economic activity every year, resulting in $27.5 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues. In addition, it supports 4.6 million full-time equivalent jobs and generates $23.1 bil- lion in household income. Adding for-profit busi- nesses and the “multiplier” effect, arts contributions to the local economy are much higher. “It’s a huge impact when it comes to volunteerism,” Dailey said. “What this tells us is that arts is an investment, and you can get a return on your investment by spending money on the arts,” Frank said. How tsunamis helped shape Seaside’s spectacular coastline On Thursday, March 29, at 6 p.m., geologist Tom Horn- ing presents “The History of Clatsop Plains’ Geology” at Seaside Brewing Co. as part of the Seaside Museum and Historical Society’s History and Hops program. Horning will cover events from Co- lumbia River sands forming a storm-smashed delta to land- slides falling from Tillamook Head. He will explain how spectacular tsunami land- forms sculpted Seaside and influenced how the town was developed as well as why the Lewis and Clark Salt Works was sited near Avenue N. Horning has a master’s degree in geology from Ore- gon State University. After a career as an exploration geol- ogist, he returned to Seaside in 1994 and became a natu- ral hazards and geotechnical consultant doing business as Horning Geosciences. His volunteer work has included the North Coast Land Con- servancy, Seaside Tsunami Advisory Group, Seaside Planning Commission, Sea- side Parks Advisory Commit- tee, Seaside Native American Project and as a member of the Seaside City Council. History and Hops is a se- ries of local history discus- sions hosted by the Seaside Museum on the last Thurs- day of each month, Septem- ber through May, at Seaside Brewing Co., 861 Broadway; www.seasideoregonuseum. com.