WEEKEND EDITION
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020
SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1879 • WWW.TRIPLICATE.COM
DNUSD closes facilities By DAVID HAYES The Triplicate
Distance learning will be done at home To remove an element of the unknown, the Del Norte Unified School District trustees voted April 9 to close all district facilities through the end of the school year.
Superintendent Jeff Harris said the move would give teachers and families more certainty when planning for the long-term, the eight weeks after spring break. He added surrounding counties are taking similar measures, including Humboldt County, which also recommended full closure until the end of the year. A lot of other counties and school districts got together and also decided to just close schools
for the rest of the year, Harris told the board members. “This is what we were thinking about, just closing until a certain point and then revisiting it again. In a lot of our conversations, this makes it difficult to plan distance learning, plan for implementation, plan for training,” Harris explained. “So, if the board takes action right now to close schools from now to end of the year, but then if the
stay at home order is lifted, or social distancing lifted, and the recommendation is to go back to school, then we can restart schools. That’s the easiest thing to do instead of keeping people on a two-week cycle of I don’t know, I don’t know.” “We need to really emphasize,” Trustee Angela Greenough added, “this is not ending the school year. This is closing the facilities while education is still
Easter Bunny delivers even during pandemic
happening.” Trustees also voted to close Castle Rock Charter School and Del Norte Community School as part of their additional duties as the Del Norte County Board of Education. The two facilities had been closed since March 16 along with the rest of the DNUSD campuses. However, since no official action had been taken to Please see Facilities, Page A6
Council wants consistent RV ordinance By DAVID HAYES The Triplicate
David Hayes, The Triplicate
Crescent City Jaycees volunteers help the Easter Bunny distribute 600 bags of goodies to families Sunday, April 12, in a social distancing safe Easter Drive Through at the Del Norte County Fair Grounds. Cars lined up by the hundreds along U.S. Highway 101 to the only event in town not canceled by the state’s COVID-19 shelter-in-place guidelines.
School board approves initial improvements to auditorium By DAVID HAYES The Triplicate
Crescent Elk Auditorium has hosted performances, from plays to music recitals for both educational and community groups since 1929. Del Norte Unified School District officials know, unfortunately, the auditorium shows its age as much of the interior and equipment have outlived its life cycle expectancy. DNUSD trustees authorized April 9 to spend $50,000 to combine with a match from the Nick and Lisa Rail Foundation to partially restore the facility. The Rails, who recently donated more than $70,000 in instruments to the school district, pledged another $50,000 for new stage lighting. The district’s contribution will come from its Measure A Go Bond Funding to install fiber-reinforced laminate (FRL) panels for the deteriorating lower walls. In a report to trustees, Steve Morgan, district director of facilities and construction, began with the fact the entirety of the renovation needed to restore the auditorium would easily top $1 million. “To do what we all want to do, walk in there and make it look like we want it to, it would take at least $1 million to have the acoustic tiles changed, the upper wall, the curtains, the ceiling, the flooring, painting of the stage face,” Morgan said. “With new lights, nice FRL on the lower walls, it will look much better
INDEX Crosswords..............................................A4 Crossword Answers..................................B5 Classifieds................................................B3 Weather....................................................A8
Contributed
Del Norte Unified School District trustees authorized April 9 to spend $50,000 to combine with a match from the Nick and Lisa Rail Foundation to partially restore the Crescent Elk Auditorium. Work is expected to begin in the summer. than what’s there now, but it’s not going to be new auditorium by any stretch of the imagination.” The project proposal kicked off in January when Nick Rail proposed to Superintendent Jeff Harris donating up to $50,000 for new stage lighting if the district would paint or install wainscoting on the lower walls and fill in missing seating in the front rows. A design team was assembled, including Nick and Lisa Rail, teachers, parents and leaders
from community arts groups Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness (DNACA) and Wild Rivers Community Foundation. Matt Fearing from Northridge Electric and Gary Gery from PBK Architects filled out the team. Morgan said at their March 9 meeting Fearing pledged to donate $20,000 of his time and expertise to the project, taking care of the entire electrical installation of the new stage lighting and other additional electrical repairs.
Morgan clarified the recommendation to install FRL wainscoting versus fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). “The FRP is what you would see in home kitchens and bathrooms. The FRL is used in museums. It’s a long-lasting surface material that can be purchased to look like stone, wood or solid patterns,” Morgan explained. “As we move forward, we’d work with the architect and the working group to develop color Please see Auditorium, Page A6
Crescent City Councilors, seeking consistency and clarity, asked staff to create regulations for long-term RV living, that would cover granny flats, backyard cottages and other accessory-dwelling units at their April 6 regular meeting via Zoom. City Public Works Director Jon Olson offered a look at shortterm and long-term permits governing RV parking in residential areas. Both cases require the RVs to have a five-foot clearance on all sides, Olson said. An over-the-counter permit is necessary for RVs parked on private residential property for less than 90 days, Olson said. Owner requirements would include: • Use the right size electrical cord. • Dispose of their sewage properly. • Ensure the vehicle has clean water. • Site inspections would not be necessary unless a nuisance complaint is filed. Olson said greater scrutiny would go to RVs parked on residential property for more than 90 days. The owner requirement would change to: • Have permanently installed water, sewer and electricity. • Undergo architectural and a site plan review. • Park the vehicle on gravel, concrete or another hard surface. • Obtain a building permit and a use permit. City Manager Eric Wier said connecting an RV to water and sewer would cost around $3,300, or about a third of the cost for a residential home. Water and sewer connection fees are set by ordinance with most residential developers paying $9,682 for sewer and $2,700 for water, he said. Olson added that with use and building permit fees, a resident could spend $10,000 to house someone in an RV on their property for more than 90 days and the use permit would have to be renewed after a year. Olson said the water and sewer connection costs were initial fees and that monthly fees for those services would depend on usage. Councilors were concerned with the high price of the fees, especially with $3,300 just in connection fees. Mayor Blake Inscore said property owners should be required to obtain the appropriate permits and do improvements to make sure their vehicle is properly connected to water, sewer and electricity. However, he added, unless someone was looking to rent the property out, he didn’t think the connection fee was appropriate. “I think that part of what we’re doing with this is we’re really beginning to weigh in on the accessory dwelling unit discussion, Please see Ordinance, Page A6
FORECAST TIDES
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
58 46
57 48
SUNDAY
56 46
HIGH LOW HIGH LOW
Friday Saturday Sunday 8:56 AM 9:59 AM 10:50 AM 3:21 AM 4:17 AM 5:01 AM 10:22 PM 10:57 PM 11:27 PM 3:43 PM 4:30 PM 5:09 PM
$1.50