Friday, December 20, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
‘The Sea’ coming to South Roosevelt Drive
Dining at location
of former West
Lake Restaurant
Lounge
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Pattaporn Lovwatchara-
sophon returned to the Sea-
side City Council for the
second time in six months,
seeking a liquor license for
a new restaurant, The Sea,
at 1480 S. Roosevelt Dr., the
site of the former West Lake
Restaurant.
In July, Lovwatchara-
R.J. Marx
Pattaporn Lovwatcharasophon appears before City Council
seeking a liquor license for The Sea, at 1480 S. Roosevelt Dr.
sophon asked and won a
beer and wine sales permit
at Thai Me Up, across the
street at 1575 S. Roosevelt
Drive.
The Sea will serve Cajun-
style seafood, the owner said
to members of the council
on Monday, Dec. 9.
She said the restaurant
will open in the beginning
of 2020.
“There are still a cou-
ple things to get done in the
building,” she said, includ-
ing interior updates and
equipment set-up.
Det. Sgt. Guy Knight of
the Seaside Police Depart-
ment reviewed the appli-
cation, and did not find
any disqualifying informa-
tion or reason to deny the
application.
The
liquor
license
received unanimous council
approval.
Helping Hands considers Wapato for housing center
By MEERAH POWELL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Helping
Hands
announced Friday, Dec.
13, that it is looking to turn
north Portland’s never-used
Wapato Jail into a mixed-
use facility for people expe-
riencing homelessness.
Helping Hands Reen-
try Outreach Centers oper-
ates emergency shelters and
reentry program facilities in
Clatsop, Tillamook, Yamhill
and Lincoln counties. It’s
hoping to do something sim-
ilar with Wapato.
Wapato owner Jordan
Schnitzer purchased the
facility from Multnomah
County last year, envision-
ing it as a homeless shelter.
He announced in October
that he planned to demolish
the building unless he could
find funding to support that
vision.
“We decided that it would
be a shame if this was torn
down,” Alan Evans, founder
and CEO of Helping Hands,
said at a press conference
Friday.
Evans, who experienced
homelessness and addic-
tion for more than 25 years
before founding Helping
Hands, wants to turn the for-
mer prison into the Bybee
Lakes Hope Center — a
facility that would offer sup-
port services from outside
partners, an emergency shel-
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Alan Evans of Helping Hands Re-Entry Outreach Centers.
ter and a transitional housing
program.
“I’ve been in a couple
prisons in my life and this
is not one of them,” Evans
said. “This is a building.
This is an opportunity, and
we believe that we can make
a difference here.”
Helping Hands’ case
statement on Bybee Lakes
Hope Center estimates oper-
ating expenses for the facil-
ity would be about $1.4
million.
Schnitzer said he esti-
mates the nonprofit will
need $3 million to $4 mil-
lion in donations to get the
project off the ground. He
said he’d be willing to com-
mit $1 million.
“You need some big
contributions
initially,”
Schnitzer said.
Although
Helping
Hands’ current operations
near the coast do not rely on
any state or federal funds,
Schnitzer
acknowledged
that Wapato is a large facil-
ity. He said his hope would
be for community leaders
to recognize the project’s
potential once it begins to
gain donations.
“Here’s a chance for
them to rise to the occasion
and to reach out to Alan
(Evans) and say, ‘Gee, we
didn’t think this thing could
work, but by gosh, if you
have an organization that’s
proven itself and thinks
it can, we want to help,’”
Schnitzer said. “(Mult-
nomah County Chair) Deb-
orah Kafoury, (Portland)
Mayor Ted Wheeler, county
commission, Metro council,
whoever it is — reach out
and see if we can make this
dream into reality.”
Oregon State Sens. Betsy
Johnson and Lew Frederick
also attended Friday’s press
conference and spoke in
support of the project.
Schnitzer
specifically
said that no deals were final
yet.
“This is just an interim
announcement about a
new program that has high
hopes, high risk, but it’s
going to take a lot of steps
and a lot of things need to
go right,” he said.
Schnitzer said he will
reevaluate the project —
and Wapato’s fate — in the
next few months.
Evans said Helping
Hands will begin to accept
donations for the project
through
its website immediately.
He said the nonprofit will
have a specific website for
Bybee Lake Hope Center up
in a few days.
“We’re asking business
owners who are worried
about the people sleeping in
their doorways to join our
team,” Evans said. “We’re
asking politicians. We’re
asking other people to join
together to see if we can
make a difference together
as a team.”
Cannon Beach names Reckmann fire chief
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
Marc Reckmann, the division
chief at the Cannon Beach
Rural Fire Protection District,
will take over as fire chief.
Reckmann, 40, of Forest
Grove, will replace Matthew
Benedict, who retires at the
end of December.
Reckmann stepped in
as acting chief when Bene-
dict took a leave of absence
in May. Benedict announced
his plans to retire in October,
saying 30 years of fire ser-
vice has taken a toll on him
physically and mentally. He
is using the rest of his vaca-
tion and sick leave through
the end of the year.
Reckmann will serve as
interim chief until assuming
the role full time.
Reckmann has worked for
the fire district part time since
2017. He works full time as
a shift captain for the Corne-
lius Fire Department, where
he has served for the past 18
years.
“I love what I do, but I’m
ready for the next stage of my
life. I’m ready to come off
that engine working 24-hour
shifts ... and have a different
challenge,” Reckmann said.
“I’m looking forward to chal-
lenge. There’s a lot of chal-
lenges here.”
The fire district’s board
put together two panels for
input made up of volunteer
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firefighters
and South
County offi-
cials, includ-
ing Seaside
Fire Chief
Joey Dan-
iels, Cannon
Beach Emer-
gency Man-
ager Rick Hudson and Can-
non Beach Police Chief Jason
Schermerhorn.
Both panels shared their
recommendations prior to
the board’s vote. The pan-
els agreed changes need to
be made to support the next
chief, and communication
between the board, chief and
volunteers needs to improve.
Both panels recommended
the board hire Reckmann.
“However, it is concern-
ing to the committee that
the common denominator of
burnout and retiring or resig-
nation between the last three
fire chiefs has been centered
around their relationship with
the district board,” Jorden
Spencer said in a statement
on behalf of the volunteer
firefighters panel.
Good report
card for city
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
“Good report card.
Congratulations.”
Rick Proulx of Kern
and Thompson, LLC,
delivered the news of this
year’s audit report to the
city.
“I’m happy to report
that our audit opinion is
a clean opinion,” Proulx
said at the Monday, Dec.
9, City Council meeting.
The city is in a strong
financial position, he
added.
According to the anal-
ysis, covering the fiscal
year ended June 30, the
city’s 2019 budget was a
little more than $45 mil-
lion, with cash and invest-
ments of about $26 mil-
lion. Business activities
net position increased
$678,000 and the General
Fund’s balance stood at
$5.2 million.
The opinion confirms
that the city’s financial
statements for the fiscal
year ending June 30 are
fairly stated in accordance
with generally accepted
accounting principles and
government and stan-
dards, Proulx said.
“The numbers are
accurate and reported cor-
rectly,” he said at Mon-
day’s meeting. “There
were no deficiencies or
abnormalities to report.”
Holiday
Worship
Calvary Episcopal
Church
DECEMBER 24
8:30 pm - Carol Sing
9 pm - Holy Eucharist
DECEMBER 25
10 am - Holy Eucharist
503 N. Holladay, Dr. • Seaside, OR
O UR S AVIOUR ’ S L UTHERAN C HURCH
Sunday, December 22
8:00 & 10:00am
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Tuesday, December 24
7:00pm
Family Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service
320 1 st Avenue (across from the Seaside Convention Center)
www.oslc-seaside.org
All are Welcome
Christmas Eve
Candlelighting Service at 7 pm
Special music provided by
Members of
the Congregation
Sermon:
“O Holy Night”
New Clinic
Coming to
Seaside Soon!
Bringing 50 years of
service this state of the art
outpatient clinic provides
medication-assisted
treatment for adults with
opiate use disorders. We
are building a high energy
team of professionals
dedicated to treating the
individual, wiping away
stigma and helping to
rebuild the health and
life of the people they
serve. Competitive wages
and exceptionally strong
benefits package for
employees working at least
20 hours per week. Contact
us today and you can make
a difference in one of the
following positions:
Seaside United
Methodist Church
241 N. Holladay Dr. • Seaside • 503-738-7562
Site Medical Director
MD or DO with experience managing
medication assisted treatments for
substance use disorders and board
certification by a member board
of the American Board of Medical
Specialties (ABMS)
Medical Operations Manager
RN with strong leadership experience
and supervision skills
Senior Clinical Manager
Masters Degree from nationally
accredited school in human services.
Requires licensure and/or CADC, or in
process of obtaining either.
Nurse Practitioner
Experience treating patients with
substance use disorders. Data
Waivered.
We are very excited to bring these excellent opportunities
to members of the community.
Contract Recruiter Patrice Cavins PatriceCavins@codainc.org
2245 N Wahanna Rd, Seaside
503.738.7453 | ncffchurch.org | office@ncff.info