OUR 114th Year
July 2, 2021
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
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Park district
authorizes lease
at rec center
Education group
will use a portion
of the building
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The
Northwest
Regional Education Ser-
vice District will lease
almost 7,400 square feet
in the Sunset Recreation
Center in Seaside.
The Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation Dis-
trict Board voted unan-
imously to give exec-
utive director Skyler
Archibald authorization
to sign the deal. The park
district acquired the for-
mer Broadway Middle
School in January.
“Things have moved
right along with working
with Northwest Regional
since our last meeting and
discussion,” Archibald
said at last Tuesday’s
park district meeting. “I
think we’re in a really
good place, having nego-
tiated some of the finer
details of the agreement,
as well as the timing
and cost per square foot.
From the staff’s perspec-
tive, we feel very com-
fortable moving forward
and working with this
organization. It seems
that our common mis-
sions and service district
status are a good fit.”
The service district is
in the process of selling
their 29,000-square-foot
Clatsop Service Center
location in Astoria. The
space the service district
has requested is not being
used by the park district,
Archibald said.
The lease begins Aug.
1 and runs until July 31,
2023. The annual rent is
$73,840, payable in quar-
terly installments. After
the first year of the agree-
ment, the annual rental
income will increase by
1.5% from the previ-
ous year’s amount. The
lease agreement includes
a cost per square foot
and a stipulation for the
service district to cover
their portion of utilities.
The lease agreement
includes exclusive use
of the counseling offices,
three classrooms and the
computer lab as well as
See Rec center, Page A3
Seaside Fire Department
Seaside, Gearhart, and Cannon Beach fire agencies wrapped up a joint rescue watercraft operator class last
Thursday. Last weekend’s surge of visitors during the heat wave brought many calls for assistance.
City lifts virus restrictions
ahead of holiday weekend
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Gearhart seeks
resident input
on firehouse site
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Gearhart wants to know
what residents think of a
new firehouse location off
Highlands Lane.
“An opportunity now
exists for the city to accept
a land donation in a desir-
able location,” city staff
wrote in a letter to home-
owners accompanying the
survey.
The survey comes as
Gearhart faces cost and
legal obstacles at the pre-
viously preferred site at
North Marion.
The
online
sur-
vey, powered by Survey
Monkey, seeks a name;
whether the respondent is
a renter, business owner or
homeowner; and to con-
firm local voting eligibil-
ity. Respondents are asked
if they agree with the
city’s plan to build the fire
station on The Cottages at
Gearhart dune near High-
lands Lane and U.S. High-
way 101.
The final survey ques-
tion asks if respondents
would
support
bond
financing in November to
pay for the project.
Along with the online
survey, 1,600 surveys are
expected to be mailed this
week, City Administrator
Chad Sweet said.
The survey deadline is
Aug. 1.
“As the city prepared
to finalize the written pur-
chase agreement and have
a vote to finance the pur-
chase/construction
at
High Point, we received
an email from one of the
property owners stat-
ing the family is no lon-
ger interested in selling
See Survey, Page A2
With the Fourth of July weekend coming, the Sea-
side City Council voted Monday to lift the city’s state
of emergency virus restrictions because of the pan-
demic. The state has also lifted the virus emergency.
With a heat dome hovering over the region last
weekend, thousands of tourists jammed local beaches
and streets seeking relief from extreme heat in the Wil-
lamette Valley and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Temperatures peaked at 101 degrees in Seaside on
Sunday.
“The beach was packed Saturday like a busy Fourth
of July weekend,” Fire Chief Joey Daniels said. “We
did add additional staffing to assist the lifeguards on
the beach and calls in the city.”
Last Friday, Seaside, Gearhart and Cannon Beach
Fire agencies wrapped up a joint rescue watercraft
operator class.
Fire season began in Clatsop County in June, requir-
ing permits for burn barrels and restrictions on recre-
ational fires. Illegal fireworks, which eject balls of fire,
fly into the air or travel more than 6 feet on the ground
or 12 feet in the air, are prohibited. Tents are prohibited
and could bring a $700 fine. Deep pits, which can con-
tain pallets with nails and other sharp metal objects,
See Responders, Page A2
Owners mull uses of former Gearhart school
Housing, art space
and health center
considered
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
R.J. Marx
The garden of Timi Morey at the former Gearhart Elementary
School.
At the north entrance of
the former Gearhart Ele-
mentary School, the curi-
ous can peer through a fence
to see a flowering garden
with raised planters filled
with perennials, roses and
vegetables.
“A primary goal has been
to save it so it’s a pretty
entrance to town,” said Rob-
ert Morey, who with his wife,
Timi, purchased the build-
ing from the Seaside School
District in November.
The garden includes
96 roses planted in honor
of Morey’s wife’s mother,
Nadine Clark, an avid gar-
dener who died at 96.
The Moreys have yet to
decide on how to use the
main school building, which
was originally constructed
in 1948 and added on to in
1968.
See School, Page A3
A pandemic boom for PNW Cabinets
The designer saw
demand amid
supply chain issues
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
Two weeks after Debbie
Sandersen signed a lease on
a showroom for PNW Cab-
inets along U.S. Highway
101 in Gearhart, Clatsop
County, like the rest of the
world, went into shutdown
mode amid the pandemic.
Sandersen said the expe-
rience was nerve-wracking
— “wondering how it’s all
going to go, and would you
get enough of a customer
base and everything to keep
going” — but she neverthe-
less plunged forward with
her business plan.
Initially, she took solace,
believing it would give
her more time to set up
her showroom in Gear-
hart. Instead, however, the
pandemic had the oppo-
site effect, and Sandersen
has experienced a nonstop
stream of business for cab-
inets, countertops, window
coverings and tiles.
“We’ve been so busy that
there’s not really been much
down time at all, which has
been fun, because you’ve
always got a project to work
on,” she said.
While cultivating cli-
ents hasn’t been a prob-
lem, the pandemic brought
other challenges. Not only
have raw materials gone up
in price over the past year,
but shipping costs have also
escalated
exponentially.
Meanwhile, a global short-
age of shipping containers
has emerged, leading to fur-
ther inflation. There are also
long lead times on acquir-
ing certain materials and
products.
An important part of
dealing with these external
Katherine Lacaze
See Cabinetry, Page A3
Seaside resident Debbie Sandersen, owner and operator of PNW Cabinets.