A6 • Friday, February 11, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Bond vote: Firehouse project called ‘a multigenerational investment’
Continued from Page A1
BOUNDARY SWAP ALSO REMAINS
assessed at $300,000, the
estimated property tax
increase would be $364 per
year; at $500,000, just over
$600 per year.
The Gearhart Volunteer
Fire Department provides
fi re protection and emer-
gency medical services to
nearly 28 square miles, the
city wrote in a staff report.
The station at 670 Pacifi c
Way, built in 1958 and
added onto in 1966, is con-
crete block construction.
The building has one toilet
and lacks showers, hanging
areas and storage space.
At an elevation of 27 feet,
the Oregon Department of
Geology and Mineral Indus-
tries has provided estimates
that the building will be
inundated in all but a small-
or medium-sized tsunami.
If the May vote is
approved, the bond would
be used for capital construc-
tion costs to construct, equip
and furnish the estimated
13,000-square-foot station,
compliant with seismic and
safety standards.
Jonas Biery, an invest-
ment banker with D.A.
Davidson & Co., manages
the fi nancing team.
The bond vote comes after a multiyear process, including
recommendations from a fi rehouse committee, public
surveys on preferred sites and open houses. Last Septem-
ber, the city made a contingent land transfer agreement
with the property owner and developer, The Cottages at
Gearhart LLC, to bring 34 acres into the city’s urban growth
boundary.
The city must receive approval from the Department of
Land Conservation and Development to bring the site into
the city’s urban growth boundary. As terms of the agree-
ment, two lots part of the parcel — a 2.14-acre lot for the
fi re station and 2.4-acre lot for park property — would be
transferred to the city. Developers of The Cottages at Gear-
hart LLC, would benefi t from rezoning at a higher residential
density.
City of Gearhart
Gearhart fi re station at the time of its completion in 1958.
debt service.
While infl ation and cost
of waiting did increase the
bond from what was pro-
posed last fall, Biery said it
is “a very, very, very favor-
able” time to borrow.
“We’re back to kind of
where we were maybe two
years ago when rates were
still really low,” Biery said.
“It’s really great that we
happen to get the refi nanc-
ing of the city done at just
about the perfect time.”
Federal grants may be
available for the project, City
Attorney Peter Watts added,
because the diff erence in
elevation between the cur-
rent fi re station and the new
site meets tsunami resiliency
criteria recognized by the
The city must exchange the same amount of similarly zoned
land. The city has more than 70 acres west of the state’s no-
build line that are inside the city’s urban growth boundary
and zoned residential. There are two areas available for
the swap including about 50 acres of oceanfront land with
setback rules prohibiting development. The idea would be
to carve off a 34-acre piece to make up for the 34 acres in
the north for the fi rehouse.
Budgeted last fall at $13
million, this year’s $14.5
million bond fi gure allows
for costs that come along
with the “fi nancial fi tting” of
the 20-year bond, Biery said.
“We know rates are going
to change,” he said. “The
one thing I can guarantee
you for you today is that
they won’t be exactly what
they are at this point in time.
So we typically want to err
on the side of caution.”
The city will pursue any
outside funding that comes
available, according to the
bond proposal. In the current
market, the project is antic-
ipated to generate a bond
premium, lowering the total
bond par amount and total
federal government.
“We’re going to do our
best in order to spend as lit-
tle as possible,” Watts said.
“But we also need to make
sure that there’s suffi cient
funds in the event that we
don’t get those things.”
Councilor Brent Warren
asked if consultants would
classify the project as “being
oversized, unneeded or
opulent.”
Larry Banks of PIVOT
Architecture said he was
aware that some public proj-
ects can be viewed “as kind
of Taj Mahal or excessive.”
“In our experience, you
have really essential func-
tions here to provide the ser-
vice and the training that you
need to have, and the abil-
ity to endure for another 50
years,” Banks said. “This is
a multigenerational invest-
ment that you are making in
your public safety. I would
add that we also are build-
ing a facility that will be of
incredible utility when you
do experience a tsunami
incident and its associated
seismic activity. It’s a facil-
ity that will serve the com-
munity well if that horrible
happenstance does occur.”
Mayor Paulina Cock-
rum, and councilors Warren,
Reita Fackerell, Kerry Smith
and Austin Tomlinson voted
to bring the bond measure to
a vote in May.
To meet fi ling deadlines,
the City Council must sub-
mit the bond measure to the
elections offi cial no later
than Feb. 25. If the 20-year
bond is approved by vot-
ers, the fi rehouse could see
a four- to six-month design
process in 2022 with con-
struction starting in 2023.
“This is our best oppor-
tunity to do something that
will last for some time,”
Sweet said. “It’s not huge.
It’s not really the biggest fi re
station in the county. But we
think it’s going to be an ade-
quate enough space to meet
future needs.”
Gearhart: Tomlinson named to City Council
Continued from Page A1
managing forest and estuary
restoration projects, as well
as maintaining and monitor-
ing the ecological integrity of
Columbia Land Trust’s lands,”
he said after the meeting.
The appointment to fi ll
the remainder of the Posi-
tion 4 term was unanimously
approved by Cockrum and
councilors Reita Fackerell,
Brent Warren and Kerry Smith.
Tomlinson thanked the
council for the appointment.
“I look forward to work-
ing with all you guys on our
agenda and fi lling Dan Jes-
se’s position,” he said.
Business Directory
R.J. Marx
Cat-lovers and exhibitors at the Cat Fanciers’ Association Cat
Show.
Cats: Event draws crowd
Continued from Page A1
People are glad to be
back, he said. “Oh my good-
ness, yes. They’re having a
good time. Today, we’ve had
more spectators here than
we’ve had in years.”
This year’s show was
titled “Cats, Koalas and
Kangaroos,” Heidt said.
“There are no kangaroo or
koalas here, obviously, but
the ribbons that we have in
the rings refl ect that theme.”
Deana Zittel of Seat-
tle brought “Miss Fortune,”
a Cornish Rex, a breed
of domesticated cat that
emerged from Cornwall in
the United Kingdom, noted
for its marcel wave crest
coat.
“They’re very refi ned,”
Zittel said. “They have long
legs. She has an egg-shaped
head and a double Roman
nose, with oval paws and
oval eyes. Ears high up on
the head. The curl actually
even goes to their whiskers.”
Clatsop Animal volun-
teers were on-hand to pres-
ent adoptable cats from the
Clatsop County Animal
Shelter. Not a dog was to be
seen.
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R.J. Marx
Artist Keri Rosebraugh works with a team to raise her statue
at the Sweet Shop in 2020.
Trantler: Sculpture moved
Continued from Page A1
together, Rosebraugh said at
its opening.
“It’s specifi c to Gearhart,
because of honoring trees
and timber industry as well
as taking note of the dia-
logue of the elk in the area,”
she said. “The life of wood
is totally diff erent from the
life of bronze, but yet they
can live together harmoni-
ously in the same world and
it works out.”
The Sweet Shop legally
agreed to host the piece for
10 years, Williams said. The
contract stated that if the
business sold and the new
owners didn’t want it, or if
there was another need for
the space, the Trantler sculp-
ture could be removed by the
artist.
Last October Williams
sold the property to Pen Pen
Industries LLC, of Port-
land, which lists Grammy
Award winner Anjos as the
registered agent. The Port-
land-based musician, known
by his stage name, RAC,
won a Grammy in 2017 for
his remix of Bob Moses’
“Tearing Me Up.”
Rosebraugh said she is
working with the Oregon
Coast Visitors Association
to re-home the piece.
Several sites, includ-
ing public land in Gearhart,
have been considered for the
sculpture’s relocation, but
nothing formally decided.
Meanwhile,
Anjos
and Baldwin have yet to
announce plans for the store.
“We’re still shooting for
a late spring/early summer
reopen,” Anjos said. “But
we’re still very much in the
design phase. We’re very
eager to get things going but
we just want to make sure
it’s great.”
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