OUR 115th Year
April 1, 2022
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
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SEASIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Safe Routes
program presents
$1.5 million school
transportation plan
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
A state program aims
to make getting to school
safer for students.
The Safe Routes to
School plan calls for
more than $1.5 million
in safety upgrades on
Spruce Drive leading to
the Seaside School Dis-
trict campus, roadways
at the elementary, mid-
dle and high schools and
on streets throughout the
neighborhood.
First on the list is safety
at the intersection of
Spruce and Alder Drive,
about halfway up the hill
to the campus, according
to a report pprepared by
the Oregon Department
of Transportation, NW
Transportation Options,
the city and the school dis-
trict working with the Port-
land-based Alta Planning +
Design.
“The crossing at Alder
and Spruce is a highly
traveled area during school
commute hours, but facili-
ties are inadequate for safe
travel for all active modes,”
the planners wrote.
Costs for that crossing
alone are estimated at just
under $214,000.
Sidewalk
replace-
ment on Spruce east of
Alder is estimated at about
$85,000.
Crossing improvements
at Wahanna Road and
Broadway are penciled in
at about $46,000 to install
high-visibility crosswalks
and curb ramps on all four
legs of the intersection.
See Safe Routes, Page A6
Complaint says
campaign sign is
too large, defenders
say it’s free speech
City attorney says
sign is protected
political speech
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Some residents want to
bring down a campaign sign
on private property at the
corner of Pacifi c Way and
North Cottage. They say
the sign, which advocates
a “yes” vote for Measure
4-213, is too big and vio-
lates the city’s zoning code.
They also say that the law
is being exercised unfairly,
as in the past, the city has
required the removal of
oversized campaign signs.
Mayor Paulina Cockrum,
a proponent of the measure
that would issue a $14.5
million bond for a new fi re-
house and police station off
of Highlands, said she put
up the sign with permis-
sion of the property owner.
“I was assisted in putting it
up by a family member, a
City of Seaside
Map of Seaside’s siren locations. The school administration siren has been removed. Two more sirens are in
Gearhart, at Little Beach and the 10th Street beach access.
SEASIDE ASSESSES
TSUNAMI WARNING SYSTEM
Sirens eff ective in distant tsunami
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
easide resident Jennifer North didn’t hear
the city’s tsunami test sirens in Janu-
ary, and she didn’t hear them in Febru-
ary either, despite alerts to her phone that tests
would be underway.
She said she remembered when the sirens
were tested monthly, and could be heard clearly
throughout the city.
When she received an alert of a siren test in
early March, she listened for the sirens. When
she didn’t hear them go off , she wondered if the
system was working.
“I think maybe we should go back to that
S
See Sirens, Page A3
Tsunami siren in north Seaside.
R.J. Marx
See Signs, Page A5
Killer whales off the Pacifi c Coast
“Transient Killer Whales of
Central and Northern Cal-
ifornia and Oregon: A Cat-
alog of Photo-Identifi ed
Individuals.”
By KATHERINE LACAZE
Seaside Signal
Marine mammal scien-
tist Josh McInnes has spent
nearly 15 years studying
transient killer whales that
inhabit the waters off the
Pacifi c Coast from Alaska to
California.
During this time, he has
gained insight into their ecol-
ogy, abundance, distribu-
tion, and community struc-
ture, which he shared last
month for Friends of Hay-
stack Rock’s World of Hay-
stack Rock Library Series.
McInnes’ presentation
on killer whales, or orcas,
titled “Ecological Aspects
of Transient Killer Whales
off the California and Ore-
gon Coast,” was especially
timely as Pacifi c Coast
whales participate in their
spring migration.
“The open ocean is a very
interesting ecosystem that is
probably the least-known of
all the marine ecosystems
on our planet — or marine
biome,” said McInnes, a
graduate student at the Uni-
because things get rusty around here,” North
said. “It’s mechanical. It needs to be tested more
often. I am honestly concerned for our commu-
nity that is the only reason I have been trying to
bring this to the attention of our city leaders and
the residents of Seaside.”
Geologist Tom Horning, a Seaside city coun-
cilor, acknowledged that he hadn’t been hearing
Seaside’s sirens during scheduled drills either,
but whether that would make a diff erence in the
“big one” — a Cascadia Subduction Zone earth-
quake and tsunami — was questionable.
The likelihood of the use of the sirens in
an event close to the Oregon Coast is slim, as
it will be preceded by a three- to fi ve-minute
earthquake that no one will miss.
“I’m not sure we needed the sirens in the
fi rst place,” Horning said. “I felt when we were
Behaviors and traits
NOAA
Killer whales, as described in “Ecological aspect of killer
whales off Oregon and California,” by Josh McInnes.
versity of British Colum-
bia’s Institute for the Oceans
and Fisheries Marine Mam-
mal Research Unit.
He has focused on tran-
sient killer whales — an
important apex predator in
the marine ecosystems along
the Pacifi c Coast — for his
thesis work, conducted in
partnership with multiple
other groups, including the
National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration Fish-
eries, Transient Killer Whale
Project, Marine Life Stud-
ies, Oregon State University
Marine Mammal Institute
and others.
McInnes also has relied
on speaking to locals and
tracking their whale sight-
ings to augment his research.
Individuals can report their
sightings on Facebook
groups such as the Ore-
gon Coast Killers Sighting
Group.
McInnes’ research, and
that of partners and commu-
nity scientists, has contrib-
uted to signifi cant advances
in knowledge regarding tran-
sient killer whales and cul-
minated into the creation of
a digital catalogue that syn-
thesizes about 13 years of
detailed data. This landmark
publication, which came
out in June 2021, is titled
Although stationed in
British Columbia, McInnes
also spends time traveling
down the western coast and
doing fi eld work in Monte-
rey Bay to gather data.
During the presentation,
he shared that there are three
distinguishable North Pacifi c
killer whale ecotypes: res-
ident killer whales; coastal
transient killer whales; and
off shore killer whales. Each
creature has enough identi-
fying features—including
distinct patterns on their dor-
sal fi ns or scars — that sci-
entists can even identify and
track them individually.
McInnes’ work has pri-
marily focused on transient
killer whales, which can be
further broken into diff erent
groups. The Pacifi c Coast
transient group is the one
that people are most likely
to see off the Oregon Coast,
although McInnes said the
academic community is
starting to believe there are
See Whales, Page A3
Seaside is fi ned by DEQ
for wastewater discharges
R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Seaside received a
nearly $13,000 civil pen-
alty in February for water
quality violations associ-
ated with your wastewater
treatment facilities. Specif-
ically, the state Department
of Environmental Quality
cited the city for fi ve sep-
arate occurrences of dis-
charging untreated sewage
into the Neawanna River
during 2021.
According
to
the
DEQ, the city discharged
untreated sewage into the
Neawanna River and adja-
cent wetlands fi ve times in
2021, with spills ranging
from 900 gallons on Jan. 4
to more than 10,000 gallons
on Nov. 15. DEQ assessed
a $9,750 civil penalty for
the violations.
DEQ assessed an addi-
tional $3,150 civil pen-
alty for sewage overfl ows
on Avenue D and on Pine
Street, both violations on
Jan. 12, 2021.
DEQ also said the city
did not provide a writ-
ten report regarding the
overfl ows.
The DEQ issued the
penalty because the dis-
charge of untreated sewage
to waters of the state pres-
ents a risk to public health
and the environment, they
said in their notice of civil
penalty and assessment and
order.
Direct human contact
with sewage or with insects
that have been in contact
with sewage may spread
disease.
The DEQ may allow the
city to resolve part of the
penalty through the com-
pletion of a supplemental
environmental project, an
environmental improve-
ment undertaken in lieu of
a penalty.
Included in the notice
is an order requiring the
city to submit to DEQ
and put a plan in place to
investigate the capacity of
the collection system and
See Fine, Page A6