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Jeffrey Hull to release new work at the Spring Unveiling Arts Festival, pg 9
Our Time • 2015 • 1
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Our Time 55+
Special Section
Pat Patterson celebrates his 100th Birthday, pg 7 Photo by Lion Daniel Phelps of Tillamook Lions Club
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Citizen
2024
Serving North Tillamook County since 1996
Stay active this spring with Community Events, pgs 3-4. Photo by Katherine Mace Headlight Herald
Storytelling in Cannon Beach with historian Peter Lindsey, pg 9
Citizen North Coast
Thursday, February 22, 2024 | Vol. 31, Issue 4
$1.50
www.northcoastcitizen.com
NBHD clinic plans progress in Wheeler WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
After winning voter approval for a $10.25 million bond issue in the May 2023 elections, the Nehalem Bay Health District is on track for a planned July groundbreaking for its new, $12.2 million clinic and pharmacy in Wheeler. The new clinic and pharmacy facility in Wheeler is the largest element of a $15.5 million overhaul of the district’s facilities that is being supported in large part by the bond and will help to secure its future operations. “It’s really a testament to the community and the support they gave the bond measure and we really want to honor that by doing a great job with all of these projects and producing a lot of value for the people here,” said Nehalem Bay Health District (NBHD) Board of Directors Chair Marc Johnson. The new, two-story clinic facility in Wheeler will be around 16,000 square feet and contain medical and dental clinics, as well as a pharmacy, and is being designed by Scott Edwards Architects. The medical clinic will represent a major upgrade over the district’s current accommodations in Manzanita, which were built in the 1980s. Currently, the district has just half a dozen exam rooms, whereas the new facility will contain 14, allowing doctors to see
The most recent renderings of the new Nehalem Bay Health District clinic in Wheeler. many more patients. “It just allows a much more efficient use of the building in terms of providers being able to move room to room and having patients ready to be seen,” Johnson said. Patients will also enjoy an enhanced pharmacy experience at the new clinic, as the pharmacy will be accessible from the building’s entryway, unlike the current pharmacy that requires patients to navigate
through NBHD’s clinic. The pharmacy will also be substantially larger, occupying 1,400 square feet, compared to the current pharmacy, which Johnson said is “about the size of a modest walk-in closet.” The clinic’s second level will be about half the size of its first and will contain the dental suite, administrative offices, an X-ray room and a meeting room with kitchen. Johnson said that the
district plans to hire a dentist to staff the dental suite. He said that it would be “a pretty big upgrade in the community in terms of having the dental facility,” noting that residents in the district must now travel to Tillamook, Seaside or further afield for dental care. The new clinic’s meeting room will offer sweeping views over Nehalem Bay and Neahkahnie mountain to the north and be available for community meet-
Rockaway Council updates STR ordinance WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
Rockaway Beach’s city council approved an update to the city’s ordinance regulating short-term rental properties at their February 14 meeting. The new ordinance gives the council the opportunity to limit the number of those properties in the city and will allow licenses to be transferred upon sale. The council also approved almost $103,000 in façade improvement grants for businesses in the city and lent support to a grant application for more than $20 million for the Salmonberry Trail section through the city. The short-term rental (STR) ordinance update was designed to address livability concerns in the city, where the properties have proliferated in recent years. While the ordinance update does not limit the number of properties in the city, it does give the council the ability to set a limit through a resolution, which they will discuss at future meetings. More than a dozen public commenters appeared at the meeting to share their feelings on the ordinance update, with a majority voicing their opposition to the ordinance. Those opposing the ordinance said that they were concerned about the loss of optionality that would be represented by a cap on the number of licenses available in the city, saying that they pre-
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ferred having the ability to realize cash flow from their property should they so choose. Those speaking in favor of the ordinance said that it was important for the city to balance livability concerns raised by STRs and noted that Rockaway Beach is the only city on the coast without a cap on the number of STRs. Councilor Mary McGinnis said that the concerns about a constriction of license availability were unfounded and that the new ordinance would not impact the number of STRs. Mayor Charles McNeilly said that the ordinance was necessary as water usage and calls for service to the sheriff’s department, which serves Rockaway Beach, have increased nearly 20% in recent years. McNeilly said that those increases were not coming from residents but that it would be the responsibility of residents to pay to bolster services. Councilors approved two amendments to the proposed ordinance before passing it, allowing for licenses to be transferred with properties upon their sale and exempting houses that are currently transacting from any cap that is approved. Seven businesses were awarded façade improvement grants in the first year of a new program aiming to use transient room tax revenue to help reinvigorate downtown Rockaway Beach. Funds from the grant will be used to improve the exteriors of buildings, refreshing or upgrading windows, awnings, lights and walls, or to increase businesses’ accessibility to those with disabilities. The Beach Bakeshop and Rockaway Mercantile/SAI Design Building were each awarded the maximum of $20,000, the Sand Dollar Restaurant $19,680, the Lakeside Hideaway $17,500,
Rockaway Snack Shack $14,950, Trash and Treasure $7,500 and Upper Crust Pizza $3,321. Michael Neunzert from the Salmonberry Trail Intergovernmental Agency gave a presentation about the county’s plan to apply for a federal grant to help construct a section of the trail through Rockaway Beach. The proposed section of trail that would run between Beach and Washington Streets in Rockaway Beach has already received multiple grants from the state government and begun its design process. A $60,000 grant was used last summer to contract Destination Management Advisors to gather public feedback on the trail and develop a design memorandum for the path, which was adopted by the council in August 2023. Another $750,000 was awarded in a grant in 2022 by the Oregon Department of Transportation as part of its community paths program to help with construction of the path. However, those funds are not sufficient to construct the trail as envisioned and have since been converted to allow them to pay for design of the path, according to Neunzert. Neunzert said that while the community paths program had raised its award limit to $5 million, Rockaway Beach’s project would require four or five funding cycles at the maximum award to pay for construction. A better option to move the project forward and potentially secure the needed funding for the entire section of trail in Rockaway Beach is the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program. Approved as part of the Biden adSee ROCKAWAY, Page A6
ings when not in use by district staff. Bremik Construction was hired to be the construction manager general contractor for the property, following a competitive building process. Johnson said that in addition to submitting the low bid, Bremik also has experience building both healthcare facilities and on the coast and has worked with the project’s architects previously. The City of Wheeler’s
planning commission approved the design for the clinic in December 2023, after the proposal received unanimous support from public commenters. The project’s architects are now working to complete construction documents to submit to the county for review in April to obtain building permits. If all goes to plan, Johnson said that groundbreaking on See CLINIC, Page A3
Manzanita Council appoints new member WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
Manzanita’s city council appointed Thomas Campbell to fill the council position recently vacated by Kathryn Stock upon her assumption of the mayoralty at its February 8 meeting. The council also approved budgetary modifications necessary to fund the new city hall and police station project, the criteria for a public advisory steering committee for the city’s new comprehensive plan and a $42,855 contract for geotechnical services on the new city hall. Campbell is a retired trial attorney who has lived in Manzanita for more than nine years and previously served on the board of the Green River Community College in Washington. Campbell said that he would focus on problem solving and maintaining livability in the community by trying to promote workforce housing and a balance between the needs of Manzanita residents, visitors and workers. Campbell was one of two applicants for the open position but the other, Constance Anne Burton, removed herself from consideration following the interview process. Burton said that she believed Campbell would be a good fit on the council and that she hoped to find other opportunities to volunteer her time to help Manzanita. The budgetary moves were necessitated by recently approved financing models for the new city hall project and the looming groundbreaking, expected sometime in April. The council unanimously approved accepting $3 million in debt from the state’s special public works fund into the city’s general fund and a transfer of that amount plus $147,000 in
covid relief funding to the city hall fund. City Manager Leila Aman explained that at the time of last year’s budget process, the council had still not decided on a funding mechanism for the city hall project, making the supplemental budget necessary. The Comprehensive Plan Public Advisory Steering Committee will be involved in guiding the public feedback process and serving as a bridge between the community and staff, project team members and councilors as the city develops a new comprehensive plan. The volunteer committee members will help to lead public events to gather feedback before offering feedback and comments to the team writing the plan. According to Aman, the comprehensive plan process will take between a year and a year and a half. Residents of Manzanita and its urban growth boundary are eligible to participate on the committee and the city council said that they would seek to represent a diverse range of viewpoints with its membership. The committee will consist of a city councilor, a planning commission member, representatives of the business community, a nonprofit and city employee and at least 4 at-large community members, with council reserving the right to increase that number. Applications are being accepted through March 1. The contract for geotechnical services with Rhino One Geotechnical will see that company inspect geotechnical work that takes place during the development of the new city hall and police station. The company previously inspected the site and consulted on plans for the buildings’ foundations.