North Coast
Citizen Serving North Tillamook County since 1996
Thursday, January 22, 2026 | Vol. 33, Issue 2
$2.00
www.northcoastcitizen.com
Move ins begin at Alder Creek Commons Merkley
focuses on Trump in Tillamook town hall
WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
Following a $2.5-million renovation, the former Nehalem Bay House assisted living facility has reopened as Alder Creek Commons, with 24 affordable apartments for residents 55 and over. Daryn Murphy, the project’s lead developer from North Development Group, recently gave the Headlight Herald a tour of the newly updated facility, which had welcomed one resident and received another dozen plus applications. Alder Creek Commons is located on the west side of Nehalem, near Bayside Gardens, and was originally built in 1997 as a 34-room, assisted-living facility. It operated under that model until 2022, when economic pressures forced its closure and it fell into the ownership of CareOregon. For several years, CareOregon officials searched for a partner to reopen the facility, but following three or four efforts that fell through, they reached out to Murphy, who has worked with the organization before, about renovating the facility. Murphy, who had also led development at the nearby Bayside Commons apartment complex, agreed to become involved and secured a Local Innovation and Fast Track zero-interest loan from the state government for $4.3 million and a grant from CareOregon for $500,000. Those funds allowed Murphy to purchase the building and begin renovations to convert the building from an assisted-care to independent-living facility. That entailed reducing the number of units from 34 to 24 to allow room for kitchenettes to be expanded into kitchens, as well as a complete upgrade to all interior and exterior finishes, including siding, roofing, flooring and wall painting. With the renovation complete, the building now has six studio, 16 one-bedroom and two twobedroom apartments, as well as a community room and communal laundry room. The apartments are open to those 55 years of age or older and earning less than 50% of the area’s median income, and
Alder Creek Commons’s renovation included new roofing and siding, as well as updated landscaping and the addition of parking spots.
See ALDER CREEK, Page A3
The common room in the new building will be open for residents to have events and feature artwork from local artists.
WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
United States Senator Jeff Merkley largely focused on his resistance to the Trump administration’s policies and actions at a town hall at Tillamook High School on January 17. Merkley voiced strong opposition to the recent military operation removing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the United States and discussed a list he recently compiled of ten strategies used in recent decades to undermine democracy as a basis to continue his fight to prevent Trump from doing the same in America. “We know that we have to fiercely hold our elected leaders accountable, all of us, even me,” Merkley said, “but maybe you’re making me think about what else I can do, because when I go to town halls and people say, ‘Jeff Merkley, you haven’t done enough.’ I’m thinking, what else can I do?” At the town hall, Tillamook County Commissioner Paul Fournier introduced Merkley, who presented a flag flown over the United States Capitol to members of the Nehalem Bay Health District’s board of directors in recognition of their recently completed pharmacy and clinic project. Merkley then addressed the crowd, sounding the alarm about the dwindling Social Security Trust Fund, which is set to reach a zero balance within seven years, causing a cut of 25% to social security payments. Merkley said that he was using his role on the budget committee to agitate for a solution ahead of the problem becoming an emergency for millions of retirees. “Why do we have to wait See MERKLEY, Page A5
Port commissioners Trask River Apartments fire kills one weigh Hangar B repair options WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor
At a special meeting on January 5, the Port of Tillamook Bay’s board of commissioners discussed bids for repairs to a 200-foot hole in the roof of Hangar B caused by a December windstorm. Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution affirming their desire to repair the structure, but with repairs for the recent damage estimated to cost in excess of $2 million, numerous other structural concerns existing in the building and relatively small revenue generation, all agreed it would be challenging to do so. The meeting began with Board Chair Jack Mulder addressing the large in-person and online audience, telling them off the bat that the port
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does not have the money to repair the hangar, but introducing the resolution as an aspirational statement that was made with an understanding of that reality. Mulder continued that while it was the port’s responsibility to maintain the building, the financial reality of the structure’s complexity, age and relative lack of revenue generation potential made it difficult to achieve that task. While repairing the roof is estimated to cost at least $2.45 million, Mulder said that the port could spend that money only for the same damage to occur in another section of the roof during the next storm. Mulder said that a comprehensive repair would cost ten times the amount for fixing the hole and noted that port commissioners had been trying to find a way to achieve those larger repairs since at least the 1980s, without success. Mulder said that the issue was that there were four or five different elements of the building, from the box beams See HANGAR B, Page A3
A midday fire on Sunday, January 11, at Trask River Apartments on Fifth Street in Tillamook left one dead and twelve displaced after three apartments were completely consumed. Firefighters from the Tillamook Fire District and Bay City Fire Department, as well as local law enforcement agencies, responded to the conflagration, the causes of which are still under investigation, according to Tillamook Fire District Operations Chief Alan Christensen. Tillamook 911 received calls about the fire and a trapped individual just after noon on Sunday, and when fire crews arrived, they found multiple units on fire and heavy smoke engulfing the scene. While officers from the Tillamook City Police and deputies from the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office evacuated residents from nearby apartments, crews battled the blaze, containing it within a few minutes of arrival and removed a victim from outside the apartment, who was taken by ambulance
See FIRE, Page A3 The aftermath of the January 11 fire at Trask River Apartments in Tillamook.