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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2018)
6A • December 7, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com School district, city to partner on water tank City to finance tank, to receive 3 acres By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal R.J. MARX Seaside City Manager points to a map showing the potential 3-acre site for a storage tank on the new Seaside schools campus. City councilors and school district officials may say “let’s make a deal” to bring a nearly $6 million, 2-million-gallon water storage tank for the new campus and neighboring com- munities. The city would foot the bill for the storage tank, located on land donated by Weyer- haeuser Co. to the school dis- trict in 2016. In exchange, the school district would deed the 3-acre reservoir site to the city for $1. A likely location for the tank on the property has been identified, City Manager Mark Winstanley said at a Monday City Council work session. But city engineers want a more in-depth analysis of the site before moving ahead. “There’s quite a bit of ground cover, and we don’t have enough information to know what the ground looks like at this point,” Winstan- ley said. “We’re not going to acquire the property until we know we have the right site.” If the site is determined suitable and negotiations be- tween the school district and city complete, the city could start begin design and con- struction of the storage tank. Once the reservoir is built, older pump stations currently serving the area — includ- ing nearby communities like Sunset Hills and Whispering Pines — will be decommis- sioned. “We’ll be able to pro- vide fire flow to all those lo- cations,” Winstanley said. “There are huge advantages to us as far as this land.” The city will spend some money to determine if the site is suitable for the stor- age tank, Winstanley said, opening a bid process for the clearing work. An initial es- timate from a school district subcontractor was considered too high, coming in at more than $100,000. “I’m not at all comfortable with the price tag we have,” Winstanley said. “Hopefully, we will get better proposals. We do believe we have the right site. But we have more work to do.” Along with the tank, the city will seek easements across school district property in the Southeast Hills where infrastructure may be needed for future development. Seaside School District board chairman Steve Phil- lips praised the city and school district’s collabora- tive efforts. “It gets back into working together for the good of the community,” he said. “It’s not just the water tank, but you’re also looking for easements north and south of the property to deliver water to new properties. We see the value of that for the commu- nity and we want to work in that partnership.” Seaside considers annexation plan Forty-five lots could be affected By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal R.J. MARX Some property owners in unincorporated areas south of Seaside may have the option of annexation into the city, assistant city manager, Jon Rahl said at the Nov. 26 City Council meeting. Property owners who are paying up to double for water and other essen- tial services may consider it to their advantage to join the city, which could pro- vide more efficient public safety, Rahl said. Rural law enforcement and fire district taxes would also be eliminated. But those gains could be offset by other costs, including higher city tax- es and rezoning. Annexation is required before land can be devel- oped at urban density with city zoning, or to hook up to city water and other services. Property owners would be required to pay the cost of water and sew- er extensions. The annexation plan, which covers properties on Avenue U to Avenue S, was established as one of the City Council’s goals for the next few years, Rahl said. Boundaries comprise 45 lots, with about two- thirds on the east side. In October, the city “reached out via snail mail to these 45 tax lots,” Rahl said. “Some are strongly for it, some are against it.” Annexation will be de- cided by the City Council, Rahl said, and does not require a majority vote by property owners. “The City Council and city want to hear from every property owner — and we are continuing to work on that effort — but the de- cision whether to annex or not is one that will be made by the City Council at a later date,” he said af- ter the meeting. The city will await more responses from property owners before taking next steps, Rahl said. Intersection at U.S. Highway 101 and Avenue N, near the proposed Grocery Outlet. Grocery Outlet faces costly decision Grocery from Page 1A Construction of a turn lane, originally proposed as part of a state highway upgrade scheduled for 2020, was de- layed indefinitely because of a lack of state funds. Developers would need to come up with the $3 million estimated to add the turn lane. The new store is a permit- ted use under the city’s zon- ing, but the city’s highway overlay requires a Planning Commission review of any project that will generate a significant number of vehicle trips. With an estimated 1,300 daily trips, commissioners were wary of adding to al- ready long traffic backups without the southbound left- turn lane. Jeff Hazen, executive di- rector of the Sunset Empire Transportation District, asked the commission to consider the impacts of the store on the surrounding area. “My concern is bus de- lays, especially in the summer months,” Hazen said. “We just want to make sure you take that into consideration and the board recommend that the conditional approval of a left-hand turn lane be put on the applicant.” Sunset Rec officials, board consider next step for the district Bond from Page 1A The measure called for construction of a recreation center featuring gym space, tracks and fitness rooms, with parking and site improve- ments. The estimated tax rate for the 20-year bonds was es- timated at 70 cents per $1,000 property value, or $140 an- nually for a home with an as- sessed value of $200,000. On the heels of the Seaside School District’s $99.7 mil- lion expansion in 2016 and a strong plea from the county for a new jail, board members recognized the stress on tax- payers. “Timing is everything,” Mills said. “We shot ourselves in the foot with that.” Archibald said staff will be revisiting expansion “down the road.” “If we could somehow need less money or find some other mechanism to fund it, I’m convinced this would be a great improvement to the community,” Hinton added. Indoor recreation space will still be a need going for- ward, he said. Board member Veronica Russell didn’t rule out expan- sion. “Let’s put it on pause for a little bit and move forward later.” Board chairman Alan Ev- ans asked board members not to lose focus on the need to expand. “Planning according- ly well ahead of time is a good idea for us,” he said. Michael Ard, an engineer representing Main & Main Capital, argued that the turn lane “was not essential.” The multimillion-dollar cost to extend the turn lane is “a burden well beyond what Grocery Outlet can handle.” Ard said the city could ap- prove the project “even absent that turn lane, and that’s what we’re requesting tonight.” Commissioner Bill Car- penter gave developers an- other option, proposing a right-turn in, right-turn out configuration with a barrier to allow traffic to flow through the intersection. That propos- al would also require state approval, Planning Director Kevin Cupples said. “I don’t know what ODOT would say to that but they’d have to ap- prove anything done in the roadway,” he said. Chris Hoth, the commis- sion chairman, and Commis- sioners Carpenter, Teri Car- penter, Lou Neubecker and David Posalski unanimously approved the request, with the conditions of a turn lane or right turns only out of Avenue N. “If they don’t like the con- ditions of the proposal, they can appeal it, or come back to us,” Posalski said before the vote. YOU DID MAKE SURE WE KEEP OUR MAYOR DINING on the NORTH COAST Great Restaurants in: GEARHART • SEASIDE CANNON BEACH Excellence in family dining found from a family that has been serving the North Coast for the past 52 years Great Great Great Homemade Breakfast, lunch and pasta, Clam but that’s dinner steaks & Chowder, not all... menu,too! seafood! Salads! Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days) Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily) Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144 MAZATLAN M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T Phone 503-738-9678 1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO? Jay Barber, Seaside Mayor • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner BEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN! • Lighter appetite menu • Junior Something for Everyone menu Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight All Oregon Lottery products available 1104 S Holladay • 503-738-9701 • Open Daily at 8am