Friday, October 29, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Water: Family seeks options after well went dry
Continued from Page A1
“It’s problematic because
the creek has limited water
supply during the driest part
of the year,” Pogue said.
After being advised to
drill a new well, they found
a location.
“The result of drilling
down 204 feet was 1 gallon
per minute of salt water and
basically a dry hole at the
cost of $12,000,” the Pogues
wrote in a letter to the city.
The Pogues, commercial
landlords, own fi ve build-
ings in Seaside. Filling water
tanks from those hookups
proved unwieldy and slow,
taking hours to fi ll the two
275-gallon tanks they used to
transport water to their home.
When informed by city
staff that they could draw
water from the Public Works
Department, they now fi ll up
two tanks a trip, which they
pay a monthly fee for. To
carry 4,000 to 5,000 gallons of
water from the Public Works
Department to their home off
the highway requires eight to
10 round trips.
Without a water source,
they have been hauling water
from town for their house-
hold use for the past several
months.
After conversations with
city offi cials, they were told
upgrades to their system
would be at least 10 years in
the future.
But the city has concerns
that the raw water destined
for processing is not potable,
and the water main may not
always have enough water in
‘IF WE’RE NOT
PART OF THE
COMMUNITY,
WHY ARE
PEOPLE WHO
ARE 1,700
FEET AWAY
CONSIDERED
PART OF THE
COMMUNITY
AND BEING
SERVED?’
Homeowner Brian Pogue
Brian Pogue
The Pogues fi ll up at their home off of U.S. Highway 26.
it to allow water to be taken.
The hydraulics make the
gravity fl ow of this supply
problematic and possibly not
feasible for year-round use,
Public Works Director Dale
McDowell said, while a lack
of reliable year-round fl ow
creates another potential lia-
bility issue for the city. The
length of piping — 1,700
feet of service line — could
lead to cracks, broken piping
or other causes for leaking
and water loss.
“It sounds to me like at
this point maybe the best
thing that the council could
do would be not to take
action,” City Manager Mark
Winstanley said. “I know
Mike (Dimmick, the water
foreman) is very interested
in trying to help the Pogues.
It sounds like the council’s
interested in doing it. It’s just
a matter of practicality.
“We do have to protect
our ability to deliver water to
our 3,800 other customers.
That certainly has to be the
primary concern. But we cer-
tainly would be interested in
exploring any avenue that’s
available, and it sounds to
me like there needs to be
some more exploring before
making a decision.”
The Pogues say they are
actually part of those 3,800
other customers because
of their commercial build-
ings with water accounts and
their home is in the Seaside
fi re district.
“The issue is whether I
treat it myself, or if I have
to take a truck to fi ll it up,”
Pogue said. “It’s a pain in the
butt. If we’re not part of the
community, why are peo-
ple who are 1,700 feet away
considered part of the com-
munity and being served?
We love the community of
Seaside. It’s been our home
since 1976. The city of Sea-
side has always been really
good to us, and we have the
greatest respect for them.”
Mayor Jay Barber said
the City Council has strug-
gled with the request. “We’d
love to be able to do it but
the state is telling us some-
thing diff erent. ... I’m going
to ask the council to table
your requests, and continue
to work on potential options
and alternatives,” he said.
Most school staff in county vaccinated by deadline
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Most school staff in Clat-
sop County got vaccinated
against the coronavirus by
the state deadline.
Gov.
Kate
Brown
ordered teachers and other
school staff to be vaccinated
by Oct. 18 in an attempt to
keep schools open during
the pandemic.
At a news conference last
week, school district super-
intendents said the losses of
staff due to the state man-
date were minimal.
Astoria Superintendent
Craig Hoppes said 94% of
his staff got vaccinated. The
school district lost three
employees. The remaining
unvaccinated
employees
received medical or reli-
gious exemptions.
“It had no impact on
the day-to-day working of
kids coming to school and
Schools: Seasonal events
return to elementary school
Continued from Page A1
“There are things hap-
pening that students haven’t
had access to for quite some
time, which is really starting
to make things feel a little bit
more normal,” Roberts said.
The elementary school is
also reintroducing seasonal
events, such as a Pumpkin
Run on Nov. 2 and a Tur-
key Trot on Nov. 23, while
the Cannon Beach Academy
is starting after-school activ-
ities — such as the Oregon
Battle of the Books team and
Dungeons & Dragons club
—and holding a Trunk or
Treat at the school on Friday.
Across Clatsop County,
COVID-19 cases are on the
decline.
At the meeting, Superin-
tendent Susan Penrod also
presented the offi cial enroll-
ment report for the 2021-22
school year. The total enroll-
ment across the four schools
in the district is 1,527, with
615 students at Pacifi c
Ridge Elementary School,
including the pre-k pro-
gram; 48 at Cannon Beach
Academy; 386 at Seaside
Middle School; and 478 at
Seaside High School. Ryan
Hull, interim director at the
academy, said they added
another student that day to
bring enrollment to 49.
Sixth-graders form the larg-
est class at 143 students, fol-
lowed by the ninth-grade class
‘THERE ARE THINGS HAPPENING
THAT STUDENTS HAVEN’T HAD
ACCESS TO FOR QUITE SOME TIME,
WHICH IS REALLY STARTING TO
MAKE THINGS FEEL A LITTLE BIT
MORE NORMAL.’
Jeff Roberts, Seaside High School and Middle School Principal
at 140. Roberts said they are the
largest classes he’s seen during
his tenure with the district.
The report also breaks
down average class sizes
across the district. At the
elementary school, average
class sizes range from 15.4
for kindergarten to 20.1 for
third grade. At the secondary
level, the average class size
is 22.5 at the middle school
and 19.3 at the high school.
According to Penrod,
“putting the average class
size has been recommended
by the Oregon Department
of Education,” to demon-
strate the district is keeping
class sizes low and follow-
ing safety protocols during
COVID.
Chris Corder was sworn
in as the newest school
board member.
The board approved two
gifts to Pacifi c Ridge Ele-
mentary School: Approxi-
mately $2,700 from Rack
Room Shoes to purchase
shoes for in-need students
and $2,000 from Mo’s Sea-
side for physical education
equipment and supplies.
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being educated,” Hoppes
said. “We were able to plan
appropriately for that.”
Superintendent
Tom
Rogozinski, of Warren-
ton, and Superintendent
Susan Penrod, of Seaside,
said 93% of their staff s
got vaccinated, while los-
ing one employee each. The
remaining
unvaccinated
employees received medi-
cal or religious exemptions,
they said.
Knappa
Superinten-
dent Bill Fritz said 95%
of his staff got vaccinated.
One employee was placed
on leave, he said, but the
school district did not ter-
minate anybody.
Jewell Superintendent
Steve Phillips said staff in
his district reached a vac-
cination rate just shy of
90%, but they lost just one
employee.
“It’s no fun, but it didn’t
really aff ect kids,” Phillips
said.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Work at high school coming to close
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The to-do list at Sea-
side High School and
Middle School continues
to get smaller.
Five years since a $99.7
million bond was approved
by voters for a new cam-
pus in the city’s southeast
hills, track drainage per-
formed well in rain and
temporary gym vestibules
are in place and work-
ing well, project manager
Brian Hardebeck said at
last week’s school district
board meeting. The fi nal
vestibule design has been
fi nalized and is now in the
permitting phase.
“We’ll also be look-
ing for some revegetation
replanting down in the
R.J. Marx
The track area has seen drainage issues.
ponds about midway up
to the high school, middle
school.”
Landscape
crews
replaced “elk candy,”
replacing some of the
plant varieties “to be a lit-
tle less desirable to our
animal neighbors.”
The project budget is
$131 million and is almost
“dead on track” with the
anticipated performance,
Hardebeck said. Bonds
from the vote, with favor-
able bond rates, inter-
est, grants and revenues,
supplemented the orig-
inal $99.7 million bond
approved by voters.