Friday, July 15, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Cannon Beach plans
increase in water rates
the contingency and subse-
quently the wastewater fund
balance.
St. Denis said the city is
starting to repay loans on
wastewater improvements
and does not recommend
using the general fund in lieu
of rate increases.
Mayor Sam Steidel advo-
cated for using the general
fund to keep rates down for
people who are on fi xed
incomes and are already
experiencing cost increases
in other areas.
“That’s
where
this
becomes a challenging issue
right at this moment,” Steidel
said. “It’s possible we could
look at it in September (and
it) be totally diff erent — we
don’t know where the econ-
omy is going to be. But my
guess is that at least within
the next year, two months,
it’s going to be tight. So, can
we save somebody a few
bucks, maybe we can.”
Others, including City
Councilor Mike Bene-
fi eld, argued that without
rate increases the city would
move backward.
“We haven’t really had
a gradual increase in rates.
We didn’t increase the rates,”
Benefi eld said. “And now we
really need to increase rates
and it’s a cause for concern.
And if we continue to put
that off , the cause for concern
will grow and grow until
pretty soon we’re back to the
old way, and that is using the
general fund to pay for the
services that we provide in
our utilities.”
Based on discussion
with the City Council, St.
Denis told The Astorian that
city staff plans to propose
that water rates increase by
3% and wastewater rates
increase by 6%. The diff er-
ence between 6% and the
original 9% increase pro-
posed for wastewater rates
could come from the general
fund on a one-time basis.
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The Cannon Beach Bakery. Food tax collection began throughout Cannon Beach this month.
Food tax collection begins in Cannon Beach
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The collection of a con-
troversial food tax began
this month as business own-
ers prepared for a busy
Fourth of July holiday
weekend.
The 5% tax, which was
narrowly approved by vot-
ers last November, applies
to prepared food sold at
restaurants and similar
businesses. It is estimated
to generate $1.7 million
annually, which will be split
between the city and Can-
non Beach Rural Fire Pro-
tection District for emer-
gency services and city
infrastructure.
The tax measure survived
a recount after opponents
questioned the integrity of
the election. An election
contest that was fi led in
Circuit Court by restaurant
owners in December was
dismissed in February.
Over the past several
months, the city has worked
with business owners to
communicate the changes
and make adjustments when
needed. The city off ered
businesses grants of up
to $5,000 to help with the
costs associated with modi-
fying point of sales systems
to collect the tax.
While there has been
resistance to the tax, City
Manager Bruce St. Denis
said it has been quiet leading
up to the implementation.
St. Denis said all busi-
nesses have reportedly
modifi ed their systems,
and a handful utilized the
grant funding. He said more
applied for the grants, but
businesses that took the
opportunity to buy new
systems instead of upgrad-
ing were not approved for
funding.
St. Denis said the city
also had to work through
a variety of diff erent situa-
tions to determine when the
tax would apply.
“We spent a lot of time
with people because they
all have certain situations,”
he said.
In April, Bob Neroni,
an owner of EVOO, a rec-
reational cooking school
and restaurant, told the City
Council that his business
is unique in that it charges
$225 per person for a culi-
nary experience. Neroni
attributed $93.75 to the
food.
The City Council agreed
the situation was unique
and in May unanimously
approved an administrative
order to tax the food portion
alone. The city will conduct
an audit each year to deter-
mine the taxable amount for
the upcoming year.
During a City Council
meeting in June, Deanna
Hammond, of Cannon
Beach Bakery, took issue
with what she called a
special consideration for
EVOO.
Hammond asked that her
bakery be given fair consid-
eration and be taxed only on
the hot items they sell and
deli items, but not baked
goods.
Mayor Sam Steidel said
it will take time to clearly
identify and address bumps
in the road.
“I think we’re going
to have to — because of
where we’re at with every-
body else — is we’re going
to have to move forward
the way it is and then start
tweaking it when we fi g-
ure out there are a bunch of
other problems,” he said.
“Because there will be.
And I think we’re defi nitely
going to have to get to a
point where we’re going to
have to tweak it here and
there.
“And I would say, let’s
plan for that to happen in
the fall so we can have a
couple of months under our
belt knowing how it’s work-
ing or not working.”
CANNON BEACH
City partners with fi re district to add lifeguards
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
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E
RIL Y’
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CANNON BEACH —
After noticing more water
rescues before and after the
typical lifeguard season, the
city and the Cannon Beach
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict have partnered to pro-
vide additional coverage
during the summer.
City lifeguards have typi-
cally started in mid-June and
supervise the beach through
Labor Day weekend.
Police Chief Jason Scher-
merhorn said the city usu-
ally has about 10 lifeguards
each year, but most are
teachers or students, who
are forced to start later in
the season. They also have
to return to school toward
the end of summer, creating
another gap.
An
intergovernmental
agreement approved by the
City Council in May allows
fi re district staff and volun-
teers to bookend the typi-
cal lifeguard season. It also
allows the fi re district’s fi ve
lifeguards to fi ll shifts during
the summer when needed.
Schermerhorn said there
are usually two to four life-
guards on the beach seven
days a week. Fire district
personnel will be reim-
bursed an hourly rate for
lifeguard services by the
city.
“It’s really just a win-win
because water rescue ulti-
mately falls under the fi re
department, so it’s some-
thing that is good to include
them on,” he said. “I think
we’ll continue to build the
team and work together,
making it stronger, because
it’s not as easy to get any
employees anymore.”
Fire Chief Marc Reck-
mann said that after continu-
ing to see emergencies in the
water earlier in the season
year after year, they decided
to pursue a partnership with
the city to try to prevent
more incidents.
With improvement proj-
ects underway and infl ated
costs, the City Council is
evaluating how much to
increase utility rates to keep
up with water and wastewa-
ter needs.
The initial recommen-
dations by city staff were to
increase water rates by 15%
and wastewater rates by 9%
in order to raise the con-
tingencies to the water and
wastewater reserve funds,
but the city will likely pursue
smaller rate hikes.
During a special June
City Council meeting, city
staff presented other options
to reduce the burden on rate-
payers while also keep-
ing the city on track to pay
for improvements and other
expenses.
“We’re doing a lot of
stuff ,” City Manager Bruce
St. Denis said. “And we’re
taking care of things that have
been wrong for a long time,
like the generators, controls
and some other things. And
so we’re using contingency
because that was the only
funding source available.”
St. Denis said that in the
case of water, most of the
work is based on loans, so
the need for contingency is
less because the loan can be
adjusted if issues arise. That
means the city could avoid
water rate increases for the
fi scal year starting in July.
However, water rates have
not increased in a few years,
and without an increase, St.
Denis said it is harder for
the city to move forward in a
prudent manner.
As far as wastewater, the
City Council approved sev-
eral transfers to deal with
emergency situations such as
replacement generators and
check valves that had a sig-
nifi cantly negative impact on
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A lifeguard uses binoculars to keep watch over the shore.
In early June, fi re district
personnel rescued someone
who was stranded on a rock
in the water.
In June 2021, an 11-year-
old Portland girl died after
being swept out to sea off
Cannon Beach. In June
2020, a fi re district rescue
swimmer saved a 19-year-
old woman from the water.
The fi re district has spent
the past several years work-
ing to rebuild the water res-
cue program.
Reckmann said the dis-
trict has typically relied on
mutual aid from more devel-
oped water rescue teams at
Seaside and Nehalem Bay.
Now, he said, the fi re district
can take the lead instead of
providing a support role.
Reckmann said the inci-
dent last month on the rock
was the fi rst time they could
lead a rescue.
“That felt really good
that we’re getting that direc-
tion,” he said. “That’s how
it’s supposed to work.”
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