Friday, September 6, 2024 | Vol. 48, Issue 9
www.cannonbeachgazette.com
Earth, Ocean, Arts Festival PIERCE BAUGH V for the Gazette
Cottage Tour to focus on vintage homes
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CANNON BEACH HISTORY CENTER & MUSEUM
PIERCE BAUGH V
book to detail the history of the city’s century-old cottages.
Returning for its 21st year on September 14, this year’s Cannon Beach Cottage Tour is set to focus on houses built more than 80 years ago in downtown Cannon Beach.
For just one day, people will be able to walk through Cannon Beach’s historical cottages, with one on the tour coming in at just 300 square feet. That day is Saturday, September 14th from noon to 5 p.m. Tickets cost $45 per person in advance and $50 per person on the day of the
for the Gazette
Inspired by Jill Grady’s book, “Cannon Beach Cottages,” the tour is hosted by the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum, which commissioned the
It only comes every two years; the Earth & Ocean Festival will return to Cannon Beach September 20-22. Proceeds from the festival will support five local environmental groups: the North Coast Land Conservancy, the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, Friends of Haystack Rock, See Turtles Forever and Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve. Representatives from the organizations will be at booths on Saturday to talk about the work their groups are doing. The participating galleries are House of Orange, Dragon Fire Gallery, Shearwater Gallery, Jeffrey Hull Gallery, Images of the West, Cannon Beach Arts Association + Gallery, Northwest by Northwest Gallery, Bronze Coast Gallery and White Bird Gallery. Some galleries will be holding raffles for pieces, while others will be contributing in other ways, like donating a portion of the weekend’s proceeds to the environmental groups. Joe Clayton, owner of the Bronze Coast Gallery, is on the Earth and Ocean Festival Committee and likes that the festival provides the opportunity to bring artists into the area. “I’ll bring artists in from different areas to bring in new art as a way to support the environmental nonprofits,” Clayton said. “It helps promote the city while also helping businesses.”
See COTTAGE TOUR, Page A3
See ARTS FESTIVAL, Page A4
Walk the Coast for fundraising event PIERCE BAUGH V for the Gazette
They’re coming. From north, south, east (not west—can’t get more west than Cannon Beach) they’re coming to walk the coast. The North Coast Land Conservancy will be hosting its CoastWalk Oregon 2024 from September 20-22. People from all over the country will flock to Cannon Beach to walk the north section of the Oregon Coast Trail for three days. The north coast section of the trail is 120 miles long, and each year CoastWalk walks a 30-mile portion of it. The walk is a fundraising event with $42,000 raised last year to support the protection of important land and water in the north coast. The event has attracted people from Washington, California, Montana and even Texas in the past. This will be CoastWalk Oregon’s
eighth year, though 2020 was skipped due to the pandemic. The route changes every year, with this year’s running between Ecola State Park and Nehalem Bay State Park, walking roughly ten miles a day. It’s led by experts—the main leader being a retired geologist who has done six expeditions to Antarctica— including naturalists and other experts of the Oregon Coast who give participants an in-depth knowledge of the coast. Eleven volunteers have been working since November to organize this year’s event. All the planning comes in handy in case of unexpected variables, like last year’s wildfires that resulted in the CoastWalk having to make changes to its route. The walk also includes volunteer nurses and doctors as well as radio operators since part of the trail does not have cellular coverage. CoastWalk is organized
around the tides. So instead of doing a straight walk from Ecola State Park to Nehalem Bay State Park, or vice versa, participants will be walking in segments that best account for the tide. The hiking will be done in the morning, giving participants the afternoon and evening to explore Cannon
Beach, which will be hosting the Earth & Ocean Art Festival at the same time. Visitors are amazed by the wildlife of the Oregon Coast.” It’s always great to see wildlife along the route, whether it’s shorebirds or the majestic elk,” said Kassia Nye, Development Director for the North Coast Land
Conservancy. “For visitors, they are always so impressed with these charismatic megafauna.” A lot goes into planning the CoastWalk. Nye is grateful to the Cannon Beach Tourism and Arts Commission and Chamber of Commerce for their support, as well as the support of the
event’s sponsors which can be seen at coastwalkoregon. org. “We are really grateful because they help. It’s the tiniest little details of the event that make it so special,” said Nye. The mastermind behind the CoastWalk Oregon is Bonnie Henderson, a former North Coast Land Conservancy staff member who has authored books on hiking the Oregon Coast. “She loves this trail, and she loves this area, and she said, ‘Hey, why don’t we put on a fundraiser to raise money and promote awareness of this incredible place,’” said Nye. And years later, the CoastWalk is going strong. “It builds this really lovely community of conservationist people who want to protect this important ecological habitat,” said Nye. CoastWalk oregon costs $410 per person, and people can register at nclctrust.org or at coastwalkoregon.org.
Council refers elementary financing to voters WILL CHAPPELL Gazette Editor
Cannon Beach City Council unanimously voted to refer a question about the manner of financing for the Cannon Beach Elementary rejuvenation project to voters at a special meeting on August 16. The decision was precipitated by a lawsuit challenging the financing decision, brought by Hannah Buschert, which will now be dismissed as part of a settlement agreement predicated on the referral. “I find it very unfortunate where we find ourselves today, you know that some
members of our community are just willing to drive up these costs like this,” said Councilor Gary Hayes. “I guess I see this settlement as a way to move forward with the most crucial public projects that are vital to our city and emergency preparedness.” Council originally approved a bond to finance the elementary project as well as the city’s new police station and city hall on April 16 of this year, amid considerable controversy over the projects’ budgets. The police station and city hall, slated to be built at two sites will cost $10.25 million and $15.3
million respectively, while the elementary project has a budget of $12.4 million, although $4.6 million of that was previously funded, leaving $7.8 to be supported by the bond. By late April, a political action committee calling itself “Cannon Beach Together” was formed and paid the costs for Buschert to file a lawsuit asking for an injunction to force the city to put the question of the project’s financing before voters. In June, Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Beau Peterson dismissed the case, finding that the city had the authority to finance projects
without voter approval. Buschert immediately appealed the decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. With the appeals process playing out slowly and the specter of a further appeal looming, attorneys for the city began looking for ways to bring the case to a resolution. In addition to the legal fees being accrued by the city, City Manager Bruce St. Denis estimated that each month the project was delayed translated into $150,000 in price escalations. Further, the litigation and pending appeal had “put a cloud over the financing and would likely increase
the cost of the financing,” according to Paul Trinchero, the attorney representing the city in the matter. Those factors brought attorneys to the bargaining table, where they hammered out a settlement agreement based on four criteria. On the city’s side, the council would refer the financing for the elementary project to voters at the November election and pass an updated resolution to approve financing for the city hall and police station projects without the elementary project. In exchange, Buschert agreed to dismiss the pending appeal and Buschert and
leading members of Cannon Beach Together agreed not to file litigation challenging the updated city hall and police station funding resolution. St. Denis said that with the settlement it would be possible to secure bond financing for the projects by November. Councilors expressed frustration at the series of events and project delays but voted unanimously to refer the question to voters, citing the necessity of the new police station and city hall. They also approved an updated ordinance to fund the city hall and police station projects.