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Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2023
VOL. 135, NO. 26 • $1.50
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
Rodeo kicks off STAFF REPORT
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he 36th Annual Tillamook Rodeo kicked off its two-night stop at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds on June 23. Cowboys and cowgirls competed in bronc and bull riding, down roping, breakaway roping and barrel racing as part of the Northwest Professional Rodeo Association circuit. Clint Rutherford took the lead in the bareback riding competition with a score of 80 points. Logan Siebert completed the tie-down
roping competition in 12.4 seconds, the best mark on the evening. Dylan Hart notched 67 points in the novice bareback competition, while Adrienne Steffen completed her breakaway roping run in 2.6 seconds. Kdyn Cooper held the lead in the saddle bronc riding, with a score of 76, Wyatt McDaniel and Colton Gow led the team roping competition with a run of 12.4 seconds and Adrienne Steffen also led the barrel race with a time of 17.73.
McCall aims to maintain momentum as Bay City city manager
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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fter nearly three decades working in solid waste, David McCall has accepted a new role as the city manager of Bay City, where he has served as mayor since 2021. McCall hopes to preserve the positive momentum that has been building under retiring City Manager Liane Welch and keep Bay City moving forward as an attractive community for residents, developers
and businesses. “The City of Bay City is in the foreground, pushing forward on things, making the systems work better for people who want to build homes and live in a working community,” McCall said. “We can keep that momentum going and build on that momentum going forward.” McCall has called Bay City home for more than a decade, after moving to the city in 2012 to begin working as the county’s solid waste program director after spending the first 20 years of his career in Hungary. He crackles with enthusiasm when talking about solid waste, touting the accomplishments of Tillamook County’s program, especially the amount of hazardous waste the county handles. During McCall’s tenure, the hazardous waste program has grown to accept over 100,000 pounds annually, with the more interesting artifacts ranging from a pre-1964 sprayable laminate to an antique fire extinguisher, containing nothing but baking soda. The county’s recycling program has also grown under McCall’s
leadership, recycling 16,000 tons annually, up from 10,600 when he arrived, and in the face of market turmoil after China’s 2017 import ban. The department also started a composting program that now returns 2,000 pounds of yard waste to local soils annually. McCall will be replaced by Justin Weiss on an interim basis. Despite his passion for solid waste, when Welch announced her intention to retire, McCall was attracted to the job, driven by his enthusiasm for Bay City and the exciting projects happening there. “I’ve lived Bay City for 10 years now, I love Bay City and I have a lot of respect for it,” McCall said. McCall repeatedly pointed to the list of projects the city is undertaking as the other main factor in his decision to change jobs. He cited the forthcoming upgrade to the city’s aging lift station, the first step in the Patterson Creek project that will help secure the city’s water supply, construction of a new lift station to enable development in a new area of the city, the conversion of Al Grif-
fin Memorial Park into a hiker and biker campground, new wayfinding signs coming to the city and others as exerting a strong pull. “Liane (Welch) has been critical bringing that all together and bringing it to council and making it happen,” McCall said, one of the many times he praised the work of his retiring predecessor. He also said that since his election as mayor in 2020 his job has been “pretty easy” thanks to Welch’s strong performance. Other than shepherding those projects to their finish, McCall hopes to increase fire awareness in the city and continue improving the government’s processes and functioning to allow it to keep offering dependable, affordable services to residents. Throughout his career McCall said he has always focused on remaining up to date with the latest technological innovations. “I’ve always been attracted to new and innovative solutions,” McCall said, continuing that he planned to continuously review systems for possible newer, better alternatives. “I want to make sure we’re able
to serve our citizens really well without it costing them an arm and a leg,” McCall said. McCall was born in South Dakota and attended Georgetown University before beginning his career in Hungary in the 1990s. He achieved success there, helping to start the curbside recycling program in the capital city of Budapest, before leaving in 2012 after a change in the government. In addition to Welch, McCall credited the larger group working in Bay City, saying “we’ve assembled a great team of people both volunteering with and working for the city.” McCall will assume the role of city manager on July 1, and said that he is looking forward to an interesting transition and grateful to have found an opportunity to continue his career on the Oregon Coast. “I’m really happy to have gained the trust of the committee and the community and I’m really excited to move forward with this and glad I was able to find a good match here locally,” McCall said.
Commissioners approve budget, extend STR license pause WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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illamook County’s Board of Commissioners extended the pause on short-term rental license issuance by 60 days at their June 21 meeting and started a waitlist for certain property owners interested in getting a license once the pause is lifted. They also approved the county’s $119 million budget for fiscal year 2024 and approved a workforce housing grant of $250,000 for the Kingfisher Apartments in Pacific City. The 60-day extension of the pause on short-term rental (STR) license application processing was agreed upon after the commissioners had discussed it at their previous meeting. With the pause enacted by commissioners set to expire on July 1, and work remaining on updates to Ordinance 84, which governs STRs in the county, the commissioners agreed that the extension was necessary. After agreeing in principle to extend the pause, the commissioners asked Community Development Director Sarah Absher and attorney Jeffrey Kearns to present them options to address property owners who had been building a home at the time of the pause and received a certificate of occupancy since. Commissioners felt that to be fair to those property owners, they should
receive priority for licenses issued once the new ordinance is adopted and the pause is lifted. Commissioners said that they would prefer not to see more licenses issued under the existing Ordinance 84, as those license holders will be allowed to transfer their license one time, a practice that the commissioners want to limit. They also said that they were concerned about the impact of recently completed homes on the license issuance cap that they plan to introduce with the new ordinance. They expressed concern that those properties could meet or exceed the one percent per community raise recommended by the STR advisory committee. Absher and Kearns presented two different options to preference property owners who had a building license as of July 1, 2022, and a certificate of occupancy as of June 21, 2023, for STR licenses to the commissioners. The first would allow those property owners to apply for licenses during a three-week win-
dow, to be issued under the terms of whichever ordinance was in effect on the date of that application. The second would allow those property owners to contact the county and register their intent to apply for a license when the pause was lifted, granting them priority. Commissioners quickly gravitated away from the first option and towards the second but were concerned about how to best incorporate the data generated by the list into their license cap decision making. Both Kearns and County Counsel Bill Sargent told the commissioners that the waitlist option would leave the commissioners discretion in deciding on license limits. Commissioner Mary Faith Bell said that she was concerned by language in the amendment that suggested that all those on the waitlist might not receive licenses, saying that she thought it was fair that all interested parties should receive licenses. The other commissioners agreed
on this and all voted unanimously to approve the pause extension and formation of a waitlist. Interested property owners who held a building permit prior to July 1, 2022, and a certificate of occupancy by June 21, 2023, have until July 12 to contact the county’s department of community development for inclusion on the list. Commissioners will meet on July 6 at a public hearing to further discuss the proposed updates to Ordinance 84. They said that they may delay the final decision on the cap percentage increase until the waitlist is complete and either incorporate those on it in the existing license total for cap calculation or increase the percentage increase allowed for new licenses. The $250,000 forgivable loan to the Kingfisher Apartments in Pacific City will be funded from the STR rental operator license fee, of which 75% is dedicated to promoting workforce housing. The project will comprise of a total of 23 apartments, split between studio and one-
and two-bedroom floorplans. To qualify for the loan, the project’s developer agreed to offer those apartments at rental rates affordable to residents making between 80% and 120% of the area’s median annual income for a decade. The approved $119 million budget included funding for all positions requested by departments but was also running a $2 million deficit. County Treasurer Shawn Blanchard said that shortfall might be covered by timber revenues depending on harvest levels but was currently slated to come from county reserves. Commissioners said that residents should take note of this and consider its implications for future budgetary cycles. Commissioners also accepted a mobile morgue trailer from the Oregon Health Authority, which will be stored at the public works department, unless in use, in which case it will be at the sheriff’s office.
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