Friday, February 12, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Duncan’s Crossing: Ridge Path project gets new push from volunteers
Continued from Page A1
by the original plat of Gear-
hart Park, as laid out and
recorded by M.J. Kinney in
1890.
The
path
deviated
through the years as houses
sold and lot lines shifted,
but the trail retained its
magic and became an iconic
symbol of Gearhart.
In 1985, the city’s mas-
ter plan called for the city
to preserve and enhance
the Ridge Path as a recre-
ational asset for the city and
a segment of the Oregon
Coast Trail by establish-
ing connections to the path,
allowing public access and
maintenance.
The city procured an
easement for an extended
path from 10th Street to
Gearhart Loop Road, Russ
Taggard, a planning com-
missioner and Ridge Path
volunteer, said, with the
vision of a “seamless path to
follow the founders’ lead.”
Duncan’s Crossing
At the request of his
widow and with the interest
of volunteers, the city set up
a memorial fund in honor of
Duncan, the proceeds to be
used to complete Duncan’s
Crossing, with the goal of
wooden walkways to span
wetlands along the path
between Eighth and 10th
streets, along with exten-
sions north to Gearhart
Steve Urman
Randall Sullivan and Vicki Romm were among volunteers
along the Ridge Path.
Steve Urman
Gearhart public works employees Gage McFadden and
Stephen Petersen place a rail onto a concrete base.
Loop Road.
Duncan’s unfi nished plan
was revised by Widdop, but
met with state and federal
regulatory hurdles.
In 2019, the city hired
consultant Austin Tomlin-
son to work through the pro-
cess and write the applica-
tion to extend the walking
path through the wetlands.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, in conjunc-
tion with local tribes, also
required an archaeological
survey to make sure there
wasn’t anything of histori-
cal signifi cance in the area.
Survey and wetlands
maps were updated and the
Army Corps and Oregon
Department of State Lands
approved the joint permit
application in March.
Part-time resident Steve
Urman and his wife were
walking along Gearhart
Loop Road last June when
they saw a small sign for the
Ridge Path. “We had never
seen this part,” he said. “It’s
beautiful.”
He contacted the city and
asked City Administrator
Chad Sweet for an update.
“Chad said, ‘Oh my gosh
we’ve been waiting for
someone to come out and
get this thing back to life
again.’”
Urman, a physician based
in Portland, got involved.
He sent letters to resi-
dents, set up meetings and
gathered new groups of
volunteers. Work parties
resumed in August.
Keith Keranen Excavat-
ing donated time and labor
to dig in the stream and lay
the 18 supporting beams.
Mark McFadden, of the
city’s public works staff,
brought city staff to help
put in the supporting beams,
railing support and decking.
With $12,000 raised
from donors and an addi-
tional $12,000 budgeted
from the parks budget, the
city hopes to meet or exceed
the anticipated $25,000 to
$30,000 project cost. The
city has also applied for a
grant through the Pacifi c
Power Foundation.
In September, Urman
began additional fundraising
to meet a rise in the cost of
materials.
Teams are now install-
ing railing support and will
complete the bridge with
decking.
“The current status is we
are working with the vol-
unteers, public works and
appropriate weather to com-
plete the beam installation,”
said Taggard, who plans to
work on the project through
completion. “This stage
requires young muscle to
pack the beams from 10th to
the concrete piers. Once the
beams are set with the help
of public works, the rest of
the project is all volunteer.”
New signs
New signs will be placed
all along the trail. In the
spring, maintenance is
expected, especially at the
north end of the trail.
“We have a great group of
volunteers and public works
staff pulling together to get
this job done,” Sweet said.
“Building the Ridge Path
extension and the bridge
crossing has been a wonder-
ful experience.
Sandy Duncan said she’s
happy the work is proceed-
ing. “Very happy. We’re
anxious to be able to walk
on it, be able to push our
baby carriages and ride our
bicycles,” she said.
It is the wide participa-
tion of longtime and more
recent residents that Dun-
can would have appreciated
most, Widdop said.
“Although he would
probably be shocked by the
delay and expense of get-
ting the federal approval for
the work between Ninth and
10th, I think he would be
more pleased that a main-
tenance work party fi ve
years later drew mostly new
and longtime residents who
hadn’t been involved previ-
ously and that the fi nal work
to 10th Street has signifi cant
volunteer input,” he said.
Volunteers will be out
again on Feb. 16, Sweet
said. “It’s nice to see people
pulling together to accom-
plish something positive
that will be used by many. I
imagine John Duncan would
approve.”
Warming: ‘This is an important service we could provide’
Continued from Page A1
R.J. Marx
Homeless often seek shelter at the public restrooms on the
former Broadway Middle School property.
those services to people who
reside in the Seaside area.
Opinions among board
members were diverse on
the warming center.
The
former
middle
school lends itself well to
a temporary shelter, board
member Mike Hinton said,
with the capability to sepa-
rate parts of the building to
control access. “I would like
to see this as a super-duper
opportunity for the home-
less to get warm,” he said.
Hinton said the pro-
gram could provide lifestyle
improvements for those in
need.
The park district pur-
chased the former school
for $2.15 million in Janu-
ary. The middle school was
among Seaside School Dis-
trict properties relocated to
the new Spruce Drive loca-
tion outside of the tsunami
inundation zone.
The former school, used
for emergency child care but
otherwise closed to park dis-
trict programs, is managed
by about fi ve or six staff,
Archibald said. “This is an
important service we could
provide,” he said.
Archibald to look into using
other buildings, like the Bob
Chisholm Community Cen-
ter or the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center, to meet
the need.
“There are commercial
spaces all over Seaside,”
Bodner said. “We’re not
the best people to solve this
problem.”
“I reached out to the
other agencies involved
and shared that news this
morning,” Archibald said
on Wednesday. “I did not
feel comfortable proceed-
ing with the warming cen-
ter unless the board was in
full support. Hence the con-
versation and discussion last
night.”
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and when temperatures dip
below 32 degrees.
Cots would be spaced
at least 6 feet apart in two
classrooms, with an esti-
mated capacity of 10 to 20
people. The cots and sleep-
ing bags have already been
purchased by Clatsop Com-
munity Action” after “pur-
chased, Skyler Archibald,
the executive director of the
park district, said.
The program, if imple-
mented, would have been
operated by Clatsop Com-
munity Action and staffed
by volunteers. The program
would run from 6 p.m. to
7 a.m. Additional liability
costs would be funded by
Clatsop Community Action,
which said it has money to
support the program through
the winter.
Viviana Matthews, the
executive director of Clat-
sop Community Action,
declined to comment on the
potential changes.
The proposed warm-
ing center came as Seaside
and Clatsop County grap-
ple with homelessness. Last
year, Clatsop Community
Action provided more than
600 services to the home-
less population in Clatsop
County, with about 25% of
The meeting ended with-
out a clear path to operation
of the warming center.
“I’m afraid for the prec-
edent we’re setting in our
community, and the rever-
beration we might get from
the very people we need to
get behind the Broadway
project,” Bodner said. “I’m
worried about that. I don’t
think the project itself is a
match for our mission.
“There may be a way to
do it, but I don’t think we
can fi gure it out in three
days,” Bodner contin-
ued. “I think this pressure
of coming up with a solu-
tion in this short amount of
time is problematic. I pro-
pose that we all as individ-
uals get behind supporting
the homeless problem in our
community, but I feel very
worried about taking on this
project at this really import-
ant moment when we’ve
got a huge hill planning for
Broadway Middle School.”
Board members asked
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Chief: ‘An interesting ride’
Continued from Page A1
times and to Santa Rosa,
California, in 2017.
Eddy spent many years
advocating for a replace-
ment to the fi rehouse build-
ing, constructed in 1958 and
considered vulnerable in an
earthquake and tsunami.
Gearhart voters turned
down a request for a fi re sta-
tion in 2006 when the city
wanted to construct a munic-
ipal building that combined
the fi rehouse with City Hall.
A new proposal at the High
Point site on North Marion
is undergoing review.
While Eddy said he is
saddened that a new fi re-
house has yet to be built, he
has hopes his successor will
be able to fulfi ll that goal.
His successor will be
chosen by a committee, with
input from Eddy.
The City Council will
discuss next steps before
their regular March meeting.
“It’s been an interest-
ing ride, I can tell you that,”
Eddy said. “I’ve seen a lot
of things changed in the fi re
service, a lot of things for
the good, some of the things
not for the good.
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“Volunteerism is not what
it used to be, that’s probably
not one of the good things.
But as far as the quality of
volunteers that we have
now across the county, vol-
unteers are a lot more edu-
cated and trained than we
were when I fi rst started, not
only for fi re but for the EMS
(Emergency Medical Ser-
vices) side.”
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hometown without worry about who can access his
care. When Dr. Harper isn’t treating patients, he’s off
exploring his new home town, hiking, and spending
time with his family.
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