Friday, October 25, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Gearhart Fire should consider elementary school location
T
hank you for inviting me
to comment on Gearhart’s
social media perspectives
regarding the future of Gearhart’s
elementary school. I’m sensitive
to Gearhart’s social media having
a deep and wide diversity of com-
ments from longtime citizens, suc-
cessful businessmen, engineers,
biologists, geologist, workers and
fi re supporters.
I have monitored this com-
mentary closely and at this point
in time the Gearhart school has
become, in my opinion, an increas-
ing catalyst dividing the commu-
nity between the proposed fi re
station and the school’s future.
While most of our community is
keenly aware of Gearhart’s leader-
ship’s well-funded efforts to build
a 13,000-square-foot fi re facil-
ity, many of us are perplexed. Per-
plexed with regards to the glaring
absence of either a formal posi-
tion or the void in effort to inves-
tigate our school as an alternative
to the proposed fi re station. While
the current sale of the school is
ignored, the city over the last three
years has deployed thousands of
dollars and copious amounts of
time of paid employees and unpaid
GUEST
COLUMN
JACK
ZIMMERMAN
volunteers promoting one of the
largest public works projects in
Gearhart’s history.
Some in our community are
frustrated. Many have expressed
the school was their fi rst oppor-
tunity as a child to launch their
young identities; to form relation-
ships and purpose; to have respon-
sibilities, to create art and music
and engage in life. Those who have
stayed and those who have left and
returned see generations of mem-
ories and do not want the school
left to the vicissitudes of for-profi t
ventures. Further they believe the
school has historically played a key
role in shaping Gearhart’s unique
culture. Many of our participants
see our school as a valid multifac-
eted and more economical alter-
native to the proposed fi re station
located on some of the most expen-
sive land in the Gearhart area. Frus-
trated, because they are aware some
city negotiators have dismissed the
school as a “million dollar tear-
down,” yet our community knows
that currently there has been no
effort to formally underwrite the
integrity or the lack of integrity of
the overall facility. We know there
seemingly is little interest or intent
to inspect the facility to rule out or
rule in the veracity of the facility
being a tear down candidate.
While city leaders are appar-
ently willing to spend multiples
of millions of dollars (some esti-
mates as high as $12 million to
$14 million), on the new fi re sta-
tion many believe the school could
be purchased for a fraction of
the rumored fi re station land cost
alone; and the repurposed construc-
tion costs of the school would be
substantially less than the fi re proj-
ect construction costs.
We understand the fi re stations
proposed location will be argued as
the city’s only location to survive a
major tsunami but once again our
members have provided multiple
models by independent agencies
that show as far as serving all areas
of Gearhart the proposed fi re sta-
tion faces similar challenges as the
school as a service center located
in a fl ood inundation zone.
the new fi re station proposal.
We understand very well the
city will argue for the current pro-
posal but, as stated earlier, many
of us have reached out to outside
agencies and found a divergence
of opinion regarding the ultimate
and fi nal outcomes from future cat-
astrophic events — the debate will
be ongoing. While many would
call this discussion obstruction-
ist, I would like to convey to those
interested that there are many who
are quietly trying to insure Gear-
hart’s historical culture is hon-
ored and that our residents are pro-
vided all possible alternatives such
that when our taxpayers vote there
vote will be placed with confi dence
that all options have truthfully been
exhausted.
As other North Coast commu-
nities have done, I respectfully
request our city offi cials not ignore
but give our school an equal oppor-
tunity in effort; positive thought;
and funding as they have unilat-
erally provided for the current fi re
station proposal, aka the High Point
station.
Jack Zimmerman is a moder-
ator and original founder of the
Pacifi c Way Facebook group.
Many see the school as a tre-
mendous opportunity to provide a
variety of services such as a center
for city police, fi re, administration
and emergency medical offi ces; a
large citizen assembly area; emer-
gency storage; a training center for
employees and volunteers; a con-
vention center to promote local
businesses, art and music events;
social functions; public gardens;
and community resiliency and com-
munication center and much more.
Cost savings can be transferred
to the refurbishment of the exist-
ing fi re and administration facilities
to house fi re engines and support
equipment.
Additionally a repurposed school
shows an actual commitment to the
city’s comprehensive plan by sup-
porting the goals and ordinances
regarding open spaces, land use,
and hazardous mitigation efforts.
Our participants believe a repur-
posed school in a fl ood zone can be
insured for catastrophic events and
from the savings in its acquisition
and construction costs can provide
Gearhart future incremental bor-
rowing capacity towards multiple
strategically placed evacuation stag-
ing areas which is in opposition to
When the surf gets high, make sure safety is your No. 1 priority
SEASIDE
AQUARIUM
WENDI
AGALZOFF
O
ctober has brought crisp
cool mornings and glit-
tering ocean conditions to
our Clatsop County Coast.
While sunny days and warmer
forecasts may draw people to the
beach, it is important to remem-
ber that sneaker waves can strike
at any time. Sneaker waves are
sudden unexpected waves that
reach higher onto land with-
out warning. These powerful
deadly surges are able to move
large amounts of sandy sediment,
rocks, knock over adults and roll
large logs with only a few inches
of water.
Different ocean conditions
can manufacture sneaker waves.
Coastal storm conditions are often
easier to identify as dangerous
with indicators such as rough surf
and high swells. Winter storms
can induce sneaker waves that run
up the beach over 150 feet, topple
over rocky outcrops, and desta-
bilize cliffsides. However, dan-
ger also awaits on calm days when
high-energy wave sets occur after
a long period of small surf with
smaller waves. Sneaker waves
are perhaps most dangerous when
people underestimate the risk they
are in, lulled into safety by seem-
ingly calm surf and sunshine it is
easy to become distracted with
recreational activities or assume
the high-water line is farther out.
According to the National
temperatures in the Northwest
also place any individual dragged
off the beach in immediate dan-
ger of cold-water paralysis. Cold
water will quickly drain energy
and inhibit an individual’s ability
to swim within minutes.
Local beaches are incredible
places to spend time and enjoy,
but be sure to remain cautious and
“play it safe” with a few guide-
lines for ocean safety:
1) Never turn your back on the
ocean.
2) Do not sit or play on logs or
large pieces of driftwood near the
tide line.
3) Visually note how far the
ocean has previously come by
spotting the divide between wet
and dry sand.
For additional guidance, be
sure to check out local weather
and surf advisories for your area!
ACCORDING TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE, ALONG THE
WEST COAST SNEAKER
WAVES KILL MORE
PEOPLE THAN ALL
OTHER WEATHER
HAZARDS COMBINED.
Tiff any Boothe/Seaside Aquarium
Weather Service, along the West
Coast sneaker waves kill more
people than all other weather haz-
ards combined. If an individ-
ual is knocked over, sand content
can weigh down already satu-
rated clothing and make escape
from an undertow current diffi -
cult or impossible. Logs and drift-
wood can come in with the wave,
be dragged back down towards the
ocean from the high-tide line and
potentially roll over individuals
caught in the surge. Cold ocean
October is sweepstakes month, and Seaside is the big winner
I
t’s been another busy
month on the adver-
tising front with new
print ads appearing in metro
publications like Portland
Monthly and even Ore-
gon Business, as well as in
Washington’s 1889 Maga-
zine and Seattle Met’s Octo-
ber issue and annual New-
comers Guide. Seaside is
also making an appearance
in email newsletters this
month for Travel Oregon,
Seattle Met, and Portland
Monthly, not to mention the
website-wide banner ads
and Instagram takeovers for
multiple publications on the
schedule.
We’ve also got a few
far-reaching sweepstakes in
the mix right now.
The Oregonian recently
wrapped a weeklong sweep-
stakes to encourage read-
DIRECTOR’S
CHAIR
JOSHUA
HEINEMAN
ers to visit our website,
order a visitor guide, sign
up for our monthly emails,
follow our Instagram, and
check out our Facebook
page and YouTube chan-
nel for a chance to win a
two-night stay in Seaside
with dinner, coffee, candy,
bike rides, and other fun
included. The promotion
reached 14,039 Facebook
accounts in the metro area
organically (there was no
paid boost for this item) and
resulted in 1,114 entries.
Thank you to Holiday Inn
Express & Suites, Seaside
Brewery, Seaside Coffee-
house, Phillips Candies,
Wheel Fun Rentals, and the
Seaside Aquarium for part-
nering with us to provide
goods and services for this
sweepstakes.
Entercom Radio is also
in the process of running
not one but two sweep-
stakes for Seaside. The
smaller, more-targeted con-
test is focused on support-
ing the Seaside Downtown
Development Associa-
tion’s upcoming Fall Wine
Walk on Nov. 9. We’ve cut
two radio spots promot-
ing the event and contest, as
well as an email blast and
social media paid post that
will push to a custom con-
test landing page. Addi-
tionally, we’re running a
three-month-long “Winter is
the New Summer” sweep-
stakes to encourage offsea-
son visitation from the sta-
tion’s listener base. Thank
you to Ebb-Tide Oceanfront
Inn, Holiday Inn Express &
Suites, everyone at SDDA,
End of the Trail Public
House, Finns Fish House,
Rascals, Brew 22, Seaside
Inverted Experience, Wheel
Fun Rental, and the Sea-
side Aquarium for partner-
ing with us on these two
sweepstakes.
The community partic-
ipation in these from local
businesses is so appreciated
as it helps us directly illu-
minate the attractions and
experiences available here
in Seaside in conjunction
with our advertising efforts.
Ken Heman, our senior vis-
itor information specialist at
the VB, does the heavy lift
in putting together compre-
hensive packages for con-
tests and sweepstakes. Get
in touch if you’d like to dis-
cuss being part of future
promotions.
using palettes that include
found and organic materials.
For more information go
online at trailsendart.org or
call us at 503-717-9458 or
send an email to trailsend-
artassociation@gmail.
com. Our winter hours are
Wednesday-Sunday from
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
the Cannon Beach Library,
131 N. Hemlock St., Can-
non Beach.
Oregon Film
Trail in Ecola
Fans of the “The
Goonies” and (especially)
“Point Break,” take note!
The burgeoning Oregon
Film Trail installed two
signs and a map panel at
Ecola State Park earlier this
month to commemorate
fi lming locations of those
now-classics (plus “Twi-
light” but no comment).
The signs can be found at
Indian Beach and the Ecola
State Recreation Site park-
ing lot just south of Seaside
and were a collaboration
between the Oregon Film
Offi ce, Ecola State Park,
Oregon State Parks, and
the Oregon Coast Visitors
Association.
If you’re wondering
whether people actually
come to the North Coast
looking for the iconic site
where Keanu Reeves fi nally
shackled rogue surfer/crim-
inal Patrick Swayze before
letting him go out to surf
his one last wave instead …
well, how do you think I got
here? I’m only half-kidding.
Got a tourism-related
comment or question? I’d
love to hear from you. Write
me at jheineman@cityof-
IN BRIEF
Providence Seaside
gives community grants
Providence Seaside Hos-
pital and its advisory council
members, support local char-
ities and organizations with
grants totaling $110,000.
Organizations receiving
grants include Clatsop Com-
munity Action Regional
Food Bank, Foster Club,
Helping Hands, Lower
Columbia Hispanic Council,
National Alliance on Men-
tal Illness Clubhouse Model
Project, Restoration House,
and The Harbor.
The community health
improvement plan seeks to
be responsive to the needs
of the poor and vulnerable,
with the goal of access to
preventive and primary care;
mental health and substance
use; chronic conditions and
disease management; oral
health; and basic needs.
Inaugural Arts Summit
coming on Nov. 12
The Arts Council of
Clatsop County presents
“The Business of Art: Art-
ists Teaching Artists,” 1 to
5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at
the Seaside Civic and Con-
vention Center. Doors open
at 12:30 p.m.
Participants can attend
two workshops from a selec-
tion of six that cover sev-
eral topics, including busi-
ness essentials, exploring
income streams, marketing,
and copyright issues. The
event will conclude with a
roundtable discussion, fol-
lowed by a free viewing of
Wes Anderson’s “Moon-
light Kingdom” at the Times
Theatre and Public House in
Seaside at 6 p.m.
For more information
or to register for the event,
email artscouncil@co.clat-
sop.or.us.
Gearhart November
ArtWalk
Trail’s End Art Associ-
ation has an exciting new
show opening on Satur-
day, Nov. 2, in their gallery
during the Gearhart Art-
Walk. The show features
our talented Kitty Paino, a
renown local painter, and is
entitled “Kissed by Wax.”
Tiff any Boothe
The tufted puffi n is the
subject of a lecture by Dr.
Scott Pearson at the Haystack
Rock Lecture Series.
All of the pieces demon-
strate different hot and cold
wax media. Everything from
hot wax encaustics and hot
wax on plaster to oil and
cold wax and wax over col-
lage are used to explore the
natural world on the coast of
Oregon. A reception in her
honor will be held from 2 to
5 p.m. The gallery is located
in Gearhart at 656 A St. in
Gearhart.
Paino lives in Astoria.
She is a retired community
college dean who also previ-
ously taught art on the sec-
ondary and post-secondary
level. Kitty paints in acryl-
ics, but utilizes mixed media
Tufted puff in topic of
first Haystack lecture
Friends of Haystack
Rock and the Cannon Beach
Library present the World of
Haystack Rock Library Lec-
ture Series 2019-20, recur-
ring lectures with different
speakers and topics on the
second Wednesday of every
month from November to
May.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13,
at 7 p.m., Dr. Scott Pearson
presents a lecture on the con-
servation status, population
trends, and natural history
of the tufted puffi n. Pearson
is a senior research scientist
at Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife where
he supervises the west-side
research team.
The lecture takes place at
Halloween
a n n ua l
D a n c e a n d C os tum e P a r ty
1 st Place
2 nd Place
$75 Gift Certificate
3 rd Place
$50 Gift Certificate
2 Honorable Mentions
$100 Gift Certificate
$10 Gift Certificate
Dance Music: “It Takes 2”
Oct 26th
Music starts
at 8pm
Killer Burgers anyway you want them with
onion Rings/Fries • Served 5pm-10pm
only
$6
Public Event at Seaside American Legion Post 99 • 1315 Broadway
Proceeds go to support our military Veterans