SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
OUR 112th YEAR • May 11, 2018
DON FRANK PHOTOGRAPHY
Let the games begin at Coast Color Dash in Gearhart on Saturday, April 28.
A DASH OF COLORS
School event raises money for
student activities
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
I
f you didn’t want to end up painted and powdered, you
needed to step lively in Gearhart on Saturday, April 28.
Hundreds of elementary and middle-school stu-
dents and their families shared color spraying, fun cos-
tumes, games and a barbecue, all to benefit the Gearhart
and Seaside Heights elementary schools and Broadway
Middle School, according to Gearhart PTO president Erin
Jackson.
The Coast Color Dash, inspired by similar events in 35
countries and now in its second year in Gearhart, brought
families to Gearhart Park for fun and games. Last year’s
event raised more than $18,000.
Gearhart PTO member Stephanie Keranen enjoyed her
second event as the sun held steady, amid delighted chil-
dren and rainbows of dust.
“It’s a good fundraiser, Keranen said. “Kids just love to
get dirty and full of color, spraying it on each other, run-
ning around and spraying it on themselves. As they run
through stations, people are spraying color on them trying
to get as much color as possible.”
What makes it so much fun?
“I like getting colored!” fourth-grader Kylie Keranen
said without hesitation.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Charlotte Rose Jorgensen and Maple at the Coast Color Dash.
Seaside budget rises nearly 19 percent Cost-cutting
But who will pay
for school district
water costs?
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
“We are busy,” City Manager
Mark Winstanley wrote in his an-
nual budget message.
With construction projects un-
derway, the city’s budget jumped
nearly 19 percent from 2017-18,
with increases fueled by Seaside
Civic and Convention Center reno-
vation and citywide reconstruction
projects. Members of the budget
committee and City Council held
their first meeting April 4 and
passed the road district and urban
renewal portions of the budget.
But conversations await about
funding for infrastructure at the
new Seaside School District cam-
pus. A water plant budgeted $6
million comprises the bulk of the
budget increase, but how it will be
funded remains unclear.
“Many of these costs for these
services will be borne by the city,
but were not financed by the vot-
er-approved bond issue for the
school,” Winstanley wrote in deliv-
ering his annual budget message.
“We will be discussing these proj-
ects and future financing needs.”
Big numbers jump
The city released a draft of its
2018-19 budget on Tuesday, May
1, a 150-page document showing
a total of all funds surpassing $44
million, a 19 percent increase from
the 2017-18 budget.
“This year the budget is more
about the message and less about
the finances,” he wrote. “Occa-
sionally we decide to take a dif-
ferent route either by choice or
necessity.”
The different path of this year’s
budget, he said, “will lead to new
tasks and different outcomes than
we may have planned.”
The general fund, which covers
the business office, library, com-
munity center and nondepartmental
expenses, will surpass $2 million, a
5.7 percent increase from last year.
Public safety, including police,
fire, court and lifeguards, presents
the largest departmental budget of
$6.57 million.
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
eration who has seen women riding
motorcycles as a perfectly accept-
able thing to do.”
Beard was a keynote speaker
at the second annual “Flock to the
Rock,” an event centered around
See Flock, Page 7A
See Campus, Page 6A
See Budget, Page 6A
About 100 women
gather for annual
motorcycle
conference
By Brenna Visser
Seaside Signal
BRENNA VISSER/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Motorcycles lined up at “Flock to the Rock.”
cades later, Beard not only has been
recognized, but has written a book,
“Lone Rider,” chronicling her ad-
ventures, and is traveling to places
like Seaside to share her story.
“It’s still a male world, and it
takes a long time for that to change,”
Beard said. “But now there’s a gen-
School district
revises new campus
architectural plans
The Seaside School District scaled
back architectural plans for the new cam-
pus in the Southeast Hills, officials said
at a meeting of the district’s construction
oversight committee Tuesday. Architects
have reduced the building footprint, square
footage and added a third-floor to the mid-
dle- and high-school building to reduce
foundation costs.
“Retaining walls are expensive,” district
superintendent Sheila Roley said.
Renovation plans for additions to Sea-
side Heights Elementary School are unal-
tered.
Students from schools relocating from
within the tsunami inundation zone are ex-
pected to start classes in new facilities by
September 2020.
“It’s been quite an interesting process to
take advantages of the site in the best way
possible and stay true to the district’s ed-
ucational goals as well as the goals of the
community,” Dan Hess of BRIC Architec-
ture said at the meeting. “They really want-
ed something special, not just a concrete
bunker.”
When early bids came in architects de-
cided to modify plans to add a third story
for the middle- and high-school building
to provide stability on the hillside site.
The modification eliminated about 15,000
square feet from the building.
“It’s more expensive than a normal
foundation,” Hess said. “By making it
smaller and taller, that was a cost-saving
effort.”
Flock to the Rock rides into Seaside
A lot has changed since Elspeth
Beard rode her motorcycle around
the world 36 years ago.
When a 23-year-old Beard be-
came the first British woman to
accomplish the feat, almost no one
took notice. She did most of her
trip in gear that didn’t fit her, since
companies had yet to make things
like boots and jackets for women
motorcyclists yet. It wasn’t until
almost 20 years later a motorcycle
magazine took interest in her two-
year journey across 20 countries
and four continents.
But now, three-and-a-half de-
measures