A4 • Friday, December 11, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Encampments, trash pile up at Mill Ponds
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
The entrance to Mill Ponds is only a few
feet from U.S. Highway 101 in south Sea-
side, but a few steps in, the sidewalk ends
and low reeds bristle along the water.
Wide paths provide entry into a dark
and deeply wooded world. Blinding sun
suddenly blazes through the gaps between
leaves before you return to the trail. You
would only expect night birds, the running
of fi sh, the slap of a beaver’s tail.
As the path grows deeper, bicycle tires,
old shoes and twisted rags dot the paths. A
dump site holds an old crate, ripped plastic,
headless dolls. Suddenly you are stepping
into damp pillows, fractured crates, hypo-
dermic needles and crusty coffee cans.
In February, 32 volunteers inspired by
Seaside’s Jesse Anderson’s cleanup efforts
collected tires, bikes, buckets and needles.
The Public Works Department hauled 50
yards — about 26 tons of garbage — using
the city dump truck, two dump boxes, a
backhoe and mini-excavator.
That was February and the next month
the coronavirus pandemic paused their
efforts. In the time since trash at Mill Ponds
and other natural areas throughout Seaside
have increased.
Seaside Community Cleanup found-
ers Brady Chandler and Anderson hope to
bring attention back to cleaning up. I took a
tour of the area with Chandler on Saturday
and talked about his cleanup efforts and
homelessness in the area.
Q: How many encampments are here?
Chandler: I can think of at least fi ve.
There are a lot of abandoned sites. Maybe
because of the weather. Maybe because
certain people got busted, or just broke
up camp. Maybe because I was stomping
around through here. Maybe they moved
out or because of our interaction with them.
Q: What kind of interaction?
Chandler: I want them to clean up their
trash. I get a whole roll of garbage bags
from The Home Depot or Costco. We give
them out to whoever wants them. Thirty
bags in a roll. It’s to whoever wants them.
Q: You buy them with your own money?
Chandler: My own money.
Q: Do people use the bags?
Chandler: Some do. We say, we’re not
trying to be the bad guy here. We’re not try-
ing to force you out. We just want you to
keep your site clean.
Q: Do the police come out here?
Chandler: I keep calling the police and
reporting this to them. The police know my
name now. They show up and take pictures
and document it. They issue fi nes. The fi nes
never get resolved. The fi ne is $500 and it
costs us thousands. Police only come when
people report stolen goods.
The fi re department only comes when
there’s big black smoke and someone com-
plains from the area. Usually then it’s a
big fi re and they cite them for nuisance
burning.
(A transient) used to have a camp that
they scraped out in February. Now he’s
back over there (pointing). We know for
a fact that he makes litter everywhere he
goes.
I fi led a complaint with the police and
the police say to me, where do you want us
to put him? “We can’t make him move. We
can’t put them anywhere. We can’t put him
in jail for littering.”
The issue is unless there is some place
designated for them to stay, they can’t offi -
cially move them. They don’t have an area
that is developed enough so that they could
sustain people with bathrooms, garbage
receptacles, showers.
Q: Why would someone choose this
lifestyle over an indoor shelter?
Chandler: People don’t want to live in
a shelter because they want the freedom:
“I’m living out here and not having any
rules,” or anything, honestly.
Q: Do other areas in Seaside face the
same issues?
Chandler: I grew up in the woods by
the Cove riding my bicycle. Now there
are tents set up and people threatening
you with axes. A woman actually pulled a
machete on me.
Q: What should the city do?
Chandler: They (transients) shouldn’t be
here. They should have an area that’s des-
ignated for them.
Trash collects at a park site.
Bike tires, tarps and other material at an encampment.
Inside of a recently abandoned tent.
Elements of outdoor living. “This is one of the cleaner sites,” volunteer Brady
Chandler of Seaside Community Cleanup said.
“They fl oat on a boat to get out here,” Brady Chandler said of
this encampment.
Needle found on the ground at Mill Ponds.
Brady Chandler leads a tour through the Mill Ponds.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for
latest meeting information
and attendance guidelines.
MONDAY, DEC. 14
Seaside City Council,
7 p.m., 989 Broadway,
http://www.cityofseaside.us.
TUESDAY, DEC. 15
United Health District of
Clatsop County, 8 a.m.,
Seaside Civic and Conven-
tion Center, 415 First Ave.
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District Board
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
of Directors, 5:15 p.m.,
1225 Avenue A.
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside School District,
6 p.m., www.seaside.k12.
or.us/meetings.
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., work session,
THURSDAY, DEC. 17
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Darren Gooch
Joshua Heineman
Rain Jordan
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 16
Seaside Transportation
Advisory Commission,
3 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broad-
way.
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District, 7 p.m.,
webinar on Broadway
Middle School purchase,
sunsetempire.com.
TUESDAY, DEC. 29
Gearhart City Council,
6 p.m., work session, 670
Pacific Way.
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