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Wednesday, July 24, 2024
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Lincoln County, Oregon
Newport approves rec center child care lease agreement STEVE CARD Lincoln County Leader
The city of Newport has been heavily subsidizing the cost of child care offered through its recreation center, and the city council, acting in its capacity as the local contract review board
during a July 15 meeting, approved a lease agreement with a nonprofit agency to take over responsibility for providing those services. Mike Cavanaugh, parks and recreation director, said last year the parks and rec department did a fee analysis for all of the
programs it offers. “One area that was operating in the red that was definitely being heavily subsidized was our child care program,” he said. “That program consisted of our after-school program during the fall, winter and See CHILD, page A6
The Newport City Council recently approved a lease agreement with the Lincoln County Youth Development Coalition to provide child care services at the Newport Rec Center. (File photo)
Crabbing on Yaquina Bay
FEMA floodplain development restriction updates accelerated WILL CHAPPELL Country Media, Inc.
It looked like an excellent catch for this Newport man as he hauled up his crab ring Thursday afternoon, July 18, from the public fishing pier on Yaquina Bay. Unfortunately, not one of the crabs he caught was a keeper. But because the man was done for the day, he removed the bait from the trap, and it was a win for nearby gulls that were waiting for a handout — at least it was for the gull that won the tug-of-war. (Photos by Steve Card)
In a July 15 letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), it was announced that Oregon governments will be required to update floodplain development ordinances by the end of the year. Work on updating the requirements for participation in FEMA’s flood insurance program has been ongoing since a 2009 lawsuit by the Audubon Society, which claimed that the program was harming coho salmon in Oregon in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). FEMA commissioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to investigate the claim, and in 2016, the fisheries service released a report saying that the flood insurance plan was causing a take of coho and other salmonids that would lead to their eventual extinction. This meant FEMA needed to update the requirements of partner governments in the flood insurance plan to comply with federal statute.
But that work was delayed, first by a 2016 suit against FEMA by Oregonians for Floodplain Protection and then by a 2018 congressional delay of three years passed by former Congressman Peter Defazio. When the implementation stay expired in 2021, progress resumed on updating the program, with a proposal for updates released in 2023. The biological opinion called for the program to update the ordinances for building in floodplains to achieve zero net loss in three areas of floodplain functionality that help preserve fish habitat: flood storage, water quality and riparian vegetation. Under the new rules, any projects proposed in the 100year floodplain would have to include mitigation efforts that would lead to no loss in any of the three fish habitat functions to receive building permits. The new regulations would allow agricultural, forestry and fishing activities in the floodplain but would make obtaining permits to place fill, add water See FEMA, page A7
County updates wildfire protection plan Lighthouse to get facelift STEVE CARD Lincoln County Leader
A proposed update to Lincoln County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan was recently presented to the county commissioners by Emergency Manager Samantha Buckley. Buckley said this protection plan was originally done in 200910 through the Lincoln County Fire Defense Board. It was then updated in 2017 through a collaborative process with a variety of community partners. This most recent iteration of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan was completed through a contract with the University of Oregon’s Institute for Policy Research and Engagement. “They spearheaded the project effort … to make sure
we had the most updated information in this plan,” Buckley told the county commissioners. “Within that process they did do some substantial community outreach and partner interviews. With the community outreach they did some survey and in-person workshops, so they were really able to get feedback from our community members.” Buckley said developing this type of plan “helps a community clarify and refine its priorities for the protection of life, property, and critical infrastructure in the wildland-urban interface on both public and private land. It also can lead community members through valuable discussions regarding management options and
implications for the surrounding land base.” Through the collaborative process, the planning committee discusses potential solutions, funding opportunities, and regulatory concerns, and then documents their resulting recommendations in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Buckley said, “Public involvement in the development of the document not only facilitates public input and recommendations, but also provides an educational opportunity through interaction of local wildfire specialists and an interested public.” Buckley told commissioners that the plan update was completed See PLAN, page A6
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is seeking bids for major renovation work on the exterior of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse in Newport. A total of $1.4 million has been allocated for the project, which will include the repair of roof framing, chimneys, brick foundation, lantern, siding, doors, and windows with the installation of a new roof and complete exterior paint coatings. Bids for the project will be opened Aug. 15, with a deadline of June 30, 2025, for completion of the project. (Photo by Steve Card)
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