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north coast Volume 20, No. 26
northcoastcitizen.com
December 24, 2015
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Santa Sighting
County Housing Task Force receives $90K in grants By Laura Swanson
lswanson@countrymedia.net
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n December 14th at the second meeting of the Tillamook County Housing Task Force, organizer/facilitator Erin Skaar announced that the effort had received two grants, totaling $90,000 – from Tillamook County Creamery Association and Meyer Memorial Trust housing advocacy. These funds will provide a budget for the task force’s efforts to address a myriad of housing issues in Tillamook County, the primary concern being the lack of “affordable” housing. During the initial meeting, the task force set its intentions to address two tracks in regards to housing: long-term planning and “low-hanging-fruit” as Skaar labels it, local short-term solutions. “This involves some creative planning, less red tape,” explained Skaar. “There is the possibility of a project here, so we are determining what that looks like, to identify the appropriate dirt, location, area, What does it look like? We need to get the word out about our needs.” The task force focus is one three main areas including a housing assessment, project funding, and community listening. “It is important that the process be a county wide, that we hear from everyone,” Skaar said. “All geographic areas, listen to developers, landlords, tenants and we need to hear all the voices, not just the loudest ones.” She continued, “We will be very thoughtful about how to spend the money to determine the most impactful solutions.” The discussion turned toward the term “affordable” housing, and Mike Cohen, director of Tillamook County Economic Development and Small Business Development Center com-
n See,Housing A3
NORTH COUNTY NEWS ONLINE
Storms bring turtles to North Coast beaches O
live Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles are beginning to show up on North Coast beaches. Here is a possible scenario that may unfold during a wintery beachcombing expedition on the Oregon Coast: While perusing the beach for treasures, you might suddenly come across something large that you don’t quite recognize. A rock, perhaps? Then it hits you; this “large rock” is actually a 50 pound sea turtle! Unbeknownst to most, during the winter, cold-shocked sea turtles can become stranded on our beaches. Reports of stranded turtles can begin as early as mid-October and can continue through January. Essentially, sea turtles forage for food in an offshore, warm water current. Weather conditions (such as a long, constant string of southsouthwesterly winds) can drive the warm water current (and therefore
Four Paws on the Beach New Owners Celebrate Christmas with Annual Santa Photos with Pets – from left, Matt, Montana, Meghan and puppy Tilly, Ruona.
the turtles) further north and closer to shore than normal. When the weather conditions suddenly change, the warm waters quickly dissipate and the turtles find themselves trapped in the colder waters of the natural currents running along the Oregon and Washington Coasts. When this happens, their bodies slow down and they become hypothermic. Those that can make it to shore ‘haul’ out to get out of the cold water, but the winter conditions on the beach are rarely more hospitable. When found on the beach, it can be difficult to determine if a sea turtle is dead or alive. A turtle suffering from extreme hypothermia can be unresponsive to touch and have a heartbeat so slow and weak that it is difficult to detect. Most sea turtles found on Oregon and Washington shores do not survive, even if found and recovered quickly.
By Laura Swanson lswanson@countrymedia.net
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he City of Wheeler was particularly hard hit by the December storms. The extraordinary amount of rain caused landslides, flooding of the town’s post office, stormwater runoff and drainage in many downtown businesses. The combination of flooding and landslides comprised the City’s water system causing turbidity, and a boil water order was issued on December 10th. In addition, the slide and road closure just south of Wheeler on Hwy. 101 provided additional challenges to the community. “The City staff worked in concert with Wheeler residents/volunteers through-
n See TURTLES, Page A2
Santa visits Manzanita
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Wheeler hit hard by storms
Photo by Hal McMahan Santa and Mrs. Claus were at the Manzanita Fresh Foods on Saturday welcoming children of all ages.
n See, Wheeler Page A9
Commercial Dungeness crab season to begin F resh Oregon Dungeness crab is back on the menu after fishery managers determined the fishery is ready to open Jan. 4 along the entire Oregon coast. Fishery managers exercised an abundance of caution in opening the crab season this year due to unusual levels of domoic acid found in crabs along Oregon’s southern coast. The month-long delay in opening the season allowed for additional testing for domoic acid in order to provide confidence that crab harvested from Oregon waters are safe to consume and of excellent quality. “Along with the state agencies, the Oregon commercial Dungeness crab industry has taken a very proactive and precautionary approach to the opening of this crab season in
the interest of public safety,” says Caren Braby, ODFW Marine Resources Program Manager. Testing of crab in recent weeks show the elevated levels of domoic acid in the southern half of the state have decreased and are all below U.S. Food and Drug Administration alert levels for three sample periods in a row. Based on these results and consultations with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon commercial crab industry and Washington and California Departments of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is opening the ocean commercial Dungeness crab season
n See CRAB, Page A2
Rockaway Beach businesses rebounding after floods By Brad Mosher bmosher@countrymedia.net 7
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he residents and businesses of Rockaway Beach, after being battered for weeks by record rains, high tides and gale force winds, may be slowly recovering. For many in the business district, flood damage was minor along Highway 101 in town. According to Herman Doty, his Washed Away store at 320 South Highway 101 didn’t live up to its name. The arts and crafts store suffered only minor damage in the first wave of heavy rains that hit the community Dec. 9. “We only had a little water,” he said shortly after the first flooding problem occurred in the beach community more than a week ago. “If anything, it has been more the wind. It’s torn down some things out front,” he said Monday. “In fact, it is trying to do it again right now,” he added with a chuckle. Business is back after Highway 101 was closed both to the north and south, isolating the community for several days, he said. “We’ve survived.” It was the landslides and road closures on Highway 101 that
had the biggest impact for the local bakery. Matt Martin and his wife closed down their Beach Bakeshop in downtown Rockaway Beach for several days, even though the bakery escaped any real flood damage caused by the
Costco, so we reduced our hours. We were closed that Friday and Monday, instead of being open. When the roads were closed, we had fewer customers anyway.” Now, Martin is getting ready for a family vacation in Hawaii and the business will be taking
storms. “We had almost no real impact here from the rain other than when they closed the roads, we got a lot less customers coming in from the north,” he said. “We weren’t able to go north to go shopping at Cash & Carry and
the entire month of January off. “We’ll be opening the first weekend in February,” he said. Grumpy’s becomes food island At one point during the recent flooding in Rockaway Beach,
Grumpy’s restaurant was a virtual island. The water in nearby Seaview Lake had overflowed its banks and covered most of Highway 101. The road to Wheeler was cut off by road damage and to the south, Highway 101 was cut off by high water and a series of landslides. Grumpy’s stayed open. It was hurt by the constant rain, but it was a leak problem from above. The road blockages cut off the community from the outside world, but the restaurant was able to serve people. Scott Higgs lives in Rockaway Beach and works at Grumpy’s on the wait staff. “I was fortunate, but my garage and storage area didn’t (escape the flooding). I was surrounded by mud and it turned my road into a river.” He was in better shape at the restaurant. A leak by one of the windows caused some problems in the ceiling. “It was fortunate we sit up high enough here that when we flooded out here, it didn’t get that high. We were
n See FLOODS, Page A3