June 8, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Bond could add value for Sunset Rec users
R
ecently I had the opportunity
to visit with colleagues from
the Chehalem Park and
Recreation District, headquartered in
Newberg. I was particularly excited
to learn from the many successes
and positive outcomes that they’ve
experienced with the passing of a
bond measure for the renovation of
their Chehalem Aquatic and Fitness
Center.
Their experiences could serve as a
litmus test for the board and residents
of the Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District as they move forward
with their own proposed expansion.
Chehalem Park and Rec was
formed at roughly the same time
as SEPRD in 1965 and operated.
Newberg and Seaside featured a very
similar population at the time of the
formation of both districts, although
the Newberg area has grown signifi-
cantly since that time to a population
of close to 23,000 today.
Chehalem Park and Recreation
operated well during those first few
years and featured a wide array of
programs and facilities. Recognizing
the need for more indoor recreation
space and a desire to improve their
aquatic center, the residents of the
district approved a $19.9 million
bond to renovate their Aquatic and
Fitness Center in 2014. The voters
SKY BOX
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
favored the bond 62 percent to 38
percent, a strong margin.
On my visit to their new facility,
which is slated to open on June 7, I
was thoroughly impressed with the
project scope and design. The bond
funds went to the development and
construction of a completely new
aquatic center featuring components
for every age group and every type
of potential user.
Once the new aquatic center is
opened, the old one — still in use
until that June 7 date — will close
and be converted into a fitness center.
That fitness center is slated to feature
many of the same amenities as those
that were deemed “high priority”
by district residents here in Clatsop
County: indoor walking track, gym-
nasium space, group fitness studio
and enlarged fitness room space.
I was particularly impressed
with the design of the aquatic
center and its goals of serving their
district residents as well as the large
groundswell of support that they
received both before and after the
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
Chehalem Park Recreation Center and Pool.
bond passed.
It’s clear that there is significant
positive momentum in that area and
that residents had a strong desire
to improve the fitness and wellness
opportunities for current and future
residents.
It’s no secret that the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation District
is preparing to ask voters to con-
sider supporting a bond to expand
facilities and provide more indoor
recreation space for our residents and
guests.
While I’m not at liberty to deliver
anything outside of neutral informa-
tion about the proposed expansion, I
can deliver some of the facts regard-
ing this project.
Fact: There is a shortage of indoor
recreation space in our community.
That includes gym space that is
available for community use, fitness
space and a controlled climate
environment for walking and running
during those wet months. Those are
facilities that are either completely or
partially unavailable currently.
Fact: While the projected cost of
the expansion will likely be $16-18
million, and that’s nothing to sneeze
at, similar or larger bonds have
passed in other Districts throughout
the state including: Springfield Bend,
Beaverton, Newberg (mentioned
above), Madras, Boardman, The
Dalles, Hood River and others. Some
cities (not special districts) have
successfully passed bonds specifical-
ly for Park and Recreation facilities
including Eugene and Portland.
Fact: While it’s unclear how
much the expansion project will
affect the taxing rate of district resi-
dents, we expect the annual tax rate
to be somewhere in between $.45 to
$.78 per $1,000 of assessed property
value.
If the bond plays out on the lower
end of the range presented, that
would be an increase of $90 annually
for a home with an assessed value of
$200,000, or $7 monthly.
That investment would play
significant dividends to the resi-
dents and guests of the districts and
provide increased indoor recreation
space for all the community to enjoy.
I’m impressed by the leadership
and forward thinking displayed by
the residents of the Chehalem Park
and Recreation District and encour-
age each of our district residents to
consider the impact that expanded
community recreation space might
have for this region.
Skyler Archibald is executive
director of the Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District.
Training your dog to be well-behaved at the beach
A
t last, it’s safe to sport your
favorite pair of shorts! Your
dog’s excited too, and sans
his winter onesie, he’s bounded
from the car wearing nothing but his
walking harness. He’s ankle deep in
sand when you note his eyes locked
on to the ocean, and for a moment
you panic. It’s not the water you fear,
it’s the whir of rubber and its metal
tonnage. As you grab the leash, a car
horn sounds in the distance, and a
woman’s voice, screaming her dog’s
name.
Those who live in Clatsop County
and wish to enjoy beach fun with
their dogs have choices, but also
challenges. Gearhart and Warrenton
residents must share their entire
beach strand, 24/7/365, with automo-
biles. Luckily, modern dog training
offers survival skills to help protect
your dog.
“Touch” and “loose leash” behav-
iors can be trained quickly and built
CANINE CORNER
RAIN JORDAN
& DAHLIA
on over time. To prepare for training,
cut one cup of unseasoned, unheated
turkey hot dogs and hard cheese into
pea-sized cubes and place in a non-
breakable bowl. Find a private, quiet
room in your home, with no other
animals in or near the space.
Sit on the floor, in a chair, or on a
bed. Place the bowl of food near your
hand but out of your dog’s reach and
view. Have the scent of food on the
palm of the hand with which you
will be training — that is helpful for
the first several touches. Here are the
steps for teaching touch:
1. Gently place and hold your
open palm in front of dog’s nose,
about one inch away.
Medicare special
enrollment event
Those losing their Fami-
lyCare Medicare Advantage
Plan will be offered a re-
view of Medicare supple-
ment insurance options to
replace FamilyCare Medi-
care Advantage Plan that
is being canceled July 1.
Counselors and local agents
will be available to answer
questions. The enrollment
event takes place in Sea-
side on Wednesday, June 13,
from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the
Bob Chisholm Communi-
ty Center, 1225 Avenue A,
Seaside.
Registration preferred,
call 503-861-4200; drop-ins
welcome.
NORTH COAST LAND CONSERVANCY
Policeman’s helmet growing along the Necanicum River,
below Tillamook Head.
Volunteers sought to
fight invasive species
It’s year two of the collab-
orative assault on the weed
known as policeman’s helmet
in the Necanicum River water-
shed, and volunteers are being
sought for a day of weeding
at Circle Creek Conservation
Center in Seaside Wednesday,
June 13, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Policeman’s helmet (Im-
patiens glandulifera), a high-
ly invasive non-native plant,
has taken hold throughout the
Necanicum River watershed,
choking out native plants and
reducing plant and animal di-
versity while increasing the
risk of stream-bank erosion.
North Coast Land Conservan-
cy and the Necanicum Wa-
tershed Council are working
together to try to rid the wa-
tershed of this invader. Four
summer stewardship interns
have been hired to pull police-
man’s helmet for two months
this summer, and volunteers
will be helping them on June
13 and again on July 21. The
plant is easy to pull; the next
step is to pile uprooted plants
and stomp on them to crush
the stems and prevent the
seed pods from developing
or maturing. Get details on
the June 13 stewardship day
at NCLCtrust.org/pull-police-
mans-helmet.
Public engagement is key
to getting rid of this weed.
Wherever you live in Clatsop
or Tillamook counties, keep
an eye out for policeman’s hel-
met on your property. As soon
as you see it, pull, pile, and
stomp the plants so they can’t
reproduce. Visit NCLCtrust.
org/pull-pile-stomp for more
details and to report suspected
sightings of the plant.
RAIN JORDAN
Rain Jordan of Elevate demon-
strates the “Touch” method with a
formerly feral dog.
2. Wait until dog touches palm
with nose, then immediately say yes!
and retract your hand.
3. Immediately after saying yes,
take one tiny piece of food from bowl
and deliver to dog’s mouth from your
hand, then retract hand. Once dog has
eaten it, repeat the first three steps
three times. Repeat three more times,
but now placing your palm 3 inches
farther from dog’s nose.
4. Once your dog is comfortably
executing the touch behavior, add
the word “touch” as you present
your palm. As your dog gains confi-
dence with touch, continue increas-
ing the distance of your palm several
inches at a time, always adding the
word “touch” as well. Eventually,
this Touch palm cue will become a
short-distance recall behavior.
The steps for teaching “loose
leash” are as follows:
1. Dog is on walking harness and
leash; your leash end is against your
stomach with one hand; food is in or
accessible by your other hand.
2. Walking a slow or normal
pace, for every one to two steps your
dog does not pull on the leash, say
Yes!, then deliver one tiny piece of
food as you walk. Repeat as many
times as needed depending on your
dog. (If the dog begins checking in
with you — looking back at you
—while walking, that’s a plus! Re-
inforce that with a yes! and delivery
of food.)
3. Increase goal to three or four
steps with leash slack, then five or
six, etc. Your dream goal: An entire
walk with the leash remaining slack.
Rule: No punishments or “correc-
tions” as these can negate learning,
trust, and confidence.
How do these skills help your
car-beach challenge? Touch-recall
increases off and on-lead, visual,
and voice guidance while Loose
Leash training creates a habit and
mindset that reduces the risk of your
dog yanking the leash away and
ending up in front of a car. Teaching,
combining, and positively reinforc-
ing these good behaviors will keep
your dog safer and provide you with
greater peace of mind.
Rain Jordan of Elevate Dog
Training & Behavior is a certified
professional dog trainer and behav-
ior specialist in Gearhart.
Tools to address public health crisis
First responders carry
naloxone for opioid
overdoses
By Susan Cody
For Seaside Signal
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has declared
that the opioid epidemic is a public health
crisis. “The ripple effects of addiction
devastate families, preventing thousands
of Oregonians across the state from living
healthy, productive lives,” she said in a
statement.
Opioids include heroin, oxycodone,
codeine, hydrocodone and fentanyl.
Clatsop County is among the com-
munities facing this crisis. In 2016, there
were five accidental or undetermined
drug overdose deaths in Clatsop County,
according to the Oregon Health Authority.
Warrenton Police Chief Matthew
Workman says, “I am saddened by the
young people in our county who have
died.”
Opioid prescriptions can lead to addic-
tion and misuse of drugs.
Workman says many illicit opioid
users have families where a child might
get into the drugs and overdose on only
a small amount. Prescribed medication
can be a hazard to children if not proper-
ly stored. Additionally, many people who
accidentally overdose on opioids are pa-
tients using the medications appropriately
for pain management.
Because of this, first responders in
Clatsop County carry naloxone, also
known as Narcan, a drug that can restore
normal breathing to someone whose
breathing has slowed or stopped from an
opioid overdose. Naloxone comes in mul-
tiple forms, including an injectable form
typically used by first responders and na-
sal spray called Nasal Narcan.
“By administering naloxone to some-
one who overdoses, we can perhaps help
them out and get them on the way to re-
covery,” says Workman. Due to the rural
nature of Clatsop County, first response
can take much longer to arrive at the
scene of an overdose, which is why living
in a rural location carries a much higher
risk of overdose death. Police and laypeo-
ple carrying naloxone can save precious
minutes and restore breathing while wait-
ing for first responders to arrive.
What is the level of need?
OHA statistics show in 2016 there
were 78 medical calls in which nalox-
one was administered in Clatsop County.
From January to September 2017, 43 calls
included using naloxone. Those reports
are voluntary and do not include laypeo-
ple using naloxone.
Knappa’s Kerry Strickland does not
want to see another family suffer as she
did after her son died of a heroin over-
dose. She started Jordan’s Hope for Re-
covery as a way to reach out to people
and their families who are dealing with
addiction.
Oregon allows private citizens to carry
and administer naloxone. It is available
from pharmacists and medical profession-
als. Jordan’s Hope for Recovery received
a grant from a drug company to distribute
Naloxone for free.
Fresh Oregon Hood
sTRAWBERRIES
Available Now!
During Clatsop County’s needle ex-
change in Astoria, Seaside and Warren-
ton, Jordan’s Hope for Recovery offers
auto-injectable naloxone and training.
Along with the drug, Strickland adds
a little bag with a bottle of water, some
snack bars and a bracelet with the Jor-
dan’s Hope for Recovery website on it.
The website lists recovery meetings and
links to services throughout Clatsop, Til-
lamook, Columbia and Pacific (Washing-
ton) counties.
At the needle exchange, people have
returned for a naloxone refill, so lives
have been saved, Strickland says. The
needle exchange, education and training
have been a success. More than 30,000
needles have been exchanged in Clatsop
County.
“We are here saving lives, giving peo-
ple another opportunity to recover from
addiction,” Strickland says.
Clatsop County first responders, in-
cluding Medix Ambulance Service and
local fire departments carry Narcan to
revive patients who have overdosed and
as a precaution to protect responders in
case of accidental exposure. Warrenton
and Gearhart police also carry Narcan be-
cause they may be the first on scene.
Workman says, “Narcan can be used
for those who purposely overdose and for
those who accidentally overdose. Offi-
cers, could be exposed to drugs such as
carfentanyl, which is a powder, and can
get in the air and absorbed by the skin. It
is extremely dangerous.”
The Way to Wellville and its sponsor,
Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Or-
ganization, support healthy activities and
community safety.
powered by
Monday - Saturday
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Watch for us at the corner of
Marlin & 101 in Warrenton at
the Putman Pro-Lube Center
Call 503-359-5204 for more info.
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