OUR 115th Year
January 21, 2022 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
CITY MANAGER
Seaside
enlists
consultant
for search
Officials look
for lessons
from tsunami
advisory
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The city wants to fill its lead staff role
by June 30, when City Manager Mark
Winstanley steps down.
The city manager, who started with
Seaside as finance director in Septem-
ber 1985, was named city manager in
November 2001.
After announcing the opening inter-
nally, Seaside received one internal can-
didate for the position in December.
To expand that search, the City Coun-
cil has voted to expand the recruitment
and search to the hiring of consultants
Jensen Strategies.
“I’m recommending that we retain Jen-
sen and his team,” Mayor Jay Barber said
at last Monday’s meeting. “They are very
competent. They’ve done searches in War-
renton. They’ve done searches in Cannon
Beach. They are just winding up one in
one of the suburbs east of Portland, one of
the suburbs. Based on the references that
I’ve checked, they are very competent and
will do an excellent search.”
According to the city’s website, the
responsibilities of the city manager
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
A tsunami advisory was issued for Oregon, Washington state and
California on Saturday morning after a volcanic eruption in Tonga.
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
See City manager, Page A6
L
GEARHART
City landscaping
restrictions
dropped from
parks master plan
Gearhart planners reject
city park landscaping policy
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
A policy regulating city landscaping
sent the Gearhart Parks Master Plan back
for changes last Thursday night.
“I don’t want to throw cold water on
anything but I’m not going to be able to
support this as written as it contains pol-
icy No. 19,” Planning Commissioner
Terry Graff said. “In my opinion, the
issues addressed in policy 19 are already
addressed in the existing tree and vegeta-
tion standards and the new language in 19
appears to me to be in direct contrast with
that existing policy.”
ocal leaders who oversee emer-
gency response on the North
Coast looked for lessons from a
tsunami advisory over the weekend.
The advisory was issued early Sat-
urday after an underwater volcanic
eruption near Tonga.
The National Weather Service
first issued a statement about 4 a.m.
announcing the eruption was being
evaluated for a tsunami.
Initial tsunami advisories are not
uncommon when a distant earthquake
has occurred, Clatsop County Emer-
gency Manager Tiffany Brown said.
Wave arrival takes some time, so local
governments sit tight after the alert to
see what comes out next.
“Generally speaking, we are sup-
posed to hear something 30 minutes
later, when they brief the state, then
every hour thereafter,” Brown said.
“What’s happening during that time
is that the earthquake warning center
in Alaska is analyzing buoy and other
data to anticipate whether a tsunami is
expected.”
More often than not, the advisory
is canceled within two to four hours of
being issued, Brown said.
But with confirmation from the
warning system at 5:20 a.m., Oregon,
along with Hawaii, California, Wash-
ington state and Alaska, asked that peo-
ple move out of the water, off the beach
and away from harbors.
INITIAL TSUNAMI ADVISORIES ARE NOT
UNCOMMON WHEN A DISTANT EARTHQUAKE
HAS OCCURRED, CLATSOP COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGER TIFFANY BROWN SAID.
WAVE ARRIVAL TAKES SOME TIME, SO LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS SIT TIGHT AFTER THE ALERT
TO SEE WHAT COMES OUT NEXT.
In hours to come, local, county and
state resources were involved in the
response.
“For my part, we began early with
the public messaging on our depart-
ment Facebook page to make sure
everyone was getting the same mes-
sage,” Brown said.
Both Cannon Beach and Seaside
activated emergency operations cen-
ters and state, city and county agencies
coordinated beach closures from the
Seaside operations center, Brown said.
Seaside
Seaside Public Works Director Dale
McDowell said he received an initial
call from Seaside dispatch at 6:29 a.m.
“When the call was completed, I
telephoned our wastewater foreman,
water foreman and street department,”
McDowell said. “The calls were com-
pleted by 6:36 a.m.”
McDowell telephoned employees
that the coastline might be impacted
by high water and asked them to reach
out to their surfer friends to let them
know, as a good-sized group meets at
the Cove every morning.
Seaside police first sent notice of a
tsunami advisory in effect for Seaside
beach at 7:39 a.m., with public safety
monitoring the event.
Mayor Jay Barber said he was noti-
fied by the city manager shortly after
8 a.m.
The emergency management team
was already assembled, including all of
the emergency management agencies
in the county.
“It was determined from the infor-
mation coming in from the report-
ing agencies that Seaside was likely
to see about a 3-foot wave at about
8:55 a.m.,” Barber said. “I agreed
that, with that information, it would be
best not to sound the tsunami warning
sirens, rather to warn residents to get
off the beach and as a precaution, close
Sunset Boulevard in the Cove. Fire
See Tsunami, Page A5
See Parks, Page A6
Polar plunge coming to Coffenbury Lake
Cemetery plots see purchase price hike
Event for Special
Olympics Oregon
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Even with a $250 price
hike, the city’s Evergreen
Cemetery remains a bar-
gain, Public Works Direc-
tor Dale McDowell told the
City Council last week.
Councilors
approved
the hike from $500 to $750
per plot. Nearby cemeteries
average almost $1,750 per
plot, while the state aver-
age exceeds $4,000.
“That is a real bargain at
that price,” Mayor Jay Bar-
ber said.
The cemetery is over-
seen by the city’s Public
Works Department. The
earliest marked grave was
placed in 1909.
The city obtained the
property in 1981. The cem-
etery has two sections, the
old section and first sec-
Ready to brave the
40-degree temperature of
Coffenbury Lake?
Special Olympics Ore-
gon hosts the Polar Plunge
on Jan. 29, a tradition of
plunging into frigid waters
with the goal to raise aware-
ness for Special Olympics
Oregon.
Scott Friesen, director of
fundraising and signature
events, and Madison Kuther,
director of partnerships,
joined the Seaside Chamber
See Plunge, Page A5
R.J. Marx
Scott Friesen, director of fundraising and signature events with
Special Olympics Oregon; Madison Kuther, director of partnerships;
and Brian Owen, CEO of the Seaside Chamber of Commerce.
R.J. Marx
Entrance to Evergreen Cemetery on Beerman Creek Road.
tion. Total acreage is 21.31
acres, with a population of
1,331.
In 2016, the City Coun-
cil raised the plot fee from
$250 to $500. “Over the
last five years, significant
maintenance improvements
have been made to our
cemetery, and we are look-
ing to expand the ceme-
tery grounds, to accom-
modate our residents,”
McDowell said. “I have
See Cemetery, Page A6