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2024
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Tillamook Beekeepers is hosting Bee Days 2024 featuring raffles, honey products, plants for pollinators plus educational workshops
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Tuesday, March 26, 2024 | Vol. 136, Issue 13
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Rockaway
Council caps STRs
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
A
fter updating the ordinance governing short-term rental properties in Rockaway Beach in February, the city council approved a cap of 420 licenses for those properties on March 13. However, with no mechanism in place to phase out current licenses, the city will rely on attrition to eventually reach that goal, with 517 licenses currently in use. “I don’t want to turn the clock back on the current STR businesses,” said Mayor Charles McNeilly. “What I want the council to do and that’s what I think it’s doing tonight is to communicate to our community, our residents, our voters that we get the cost and impacts of STR businesses to our community, to our neighborhoods, that we don’t want to unnecessarily hollow out our neighborhoods.” In addition to the cap, the council approved a $95 administrative fee for property owners to join the waitlist for new short-term rental (STR) licenses. The update to the STR ordinance was triggered by a surge in the number of licenses sought in recent years and a desire to maintain a balance between the city’s tourist economy and livability for full-time residents. The updated ordinance gave the council the ability to set a cap on licenses through a resolution, which they exercised in March. Discussion on the number of licenses to be allowed under the cap occurred at the work session preceding the council’s meeting. Councilors considered a range of possible caps between 420 licenses, representing around 20% of available dwellings in the city, and 530 licenses, or 25% of the housing stock. McNeilly said that residents had told him that there had been a noticeable decline in the number of neighbors they had, with those residences being replaced by STRs populated by a rotating cast of strangers. “No one moved to Rockaway Beach to have businesses dropped next door and down the street in areas zoned See ROCKAWAY, Page A8
Senator Ron Wyden (center) is introduced at the Port of Tillamook Bay’s Officers Mess Hall by Port General Manager Michele Bradley (left) and Tillamook County Commissioner Mary Faith Bell (right).
Wyden focuses on healthcare issues in Tillamook Town Hall WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
H
osting his 1,075th town hall at the Port of Tillamook Bay Officer’s Mess on March 18, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden devoted much of his time to addressing rural healthcare concerns. The senator also responded to questions about the breakdown of bipartisan compromise in Washington, economic challenges facing timberland counties as state forest harvests are set to be slashed and the need for billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes. “It has been a huge honor, a huge honor, to represent Tillamook in the United States Senate, to come to this community and have you all educate me on these kinds of issues,” Wyden said at the end of the meeting. “I just want you to know that as long as I have the honor to represent you in the United States Senate, this is the way we will do it.” Wyden was introduced by Port of Tillamook Bay General Manager Michele Bradley and
Tillamook County Commissioner Mary Faith Bell. Bradley thanked Wyden and his staff for help on a recent upgrade to the airport’s automated weather system, while Bell expressed her gratitude for the $1 million Three Rivers Broadband Project and $62 million south jetty rehabilitation. Wyden came out hot, taking U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to task over recent service disruptions on the Oregon Coast. Wyden said that he had received numerous complaints that mail sent from the coast to coastal recipients was being routed to the Willamette Valley for processing after a recent facility review, delaying deliveries. “Let me tell you something, Commissioner DeJoy may not be interested in delivering for you, but I am,” Wyden said, pledging that his staff would be in contact with postal officials about reversing course on the decision. “We’re gonna make sure the mail gets delivered here quickly. We’re gonna follow up quickly, period, full stop.” In response to a question
Another questioner asked about the economic impacts of a recently passed habitat conservation plan that is set to lower harvest levels in state forests. Wyden responded that he was committed to growing economic opportunities across the state. He mentioned focusing on the semiconductor industry in urban areas and on healthcare and continuing to expand broadband access in rural areas to facilitate small business activity. “We’re at the point now where we’re all in on all of the above,” Wyden said, “I don’t think there’s one central path to take care of it but we’re definitely gonna use technology as our anchor in the state of Oregon for our kids and grandkids.” Several patients from the recently shuttered U.S. Renal Care dialysis center in Tillamook were at the meeting and raised their concerns about the center’s closing and struggles accessing care. Wyden expressed deep concern
about the breakdown in bipartisan compromise on capitol hill, Wyden discussed his work to expand the child tax credit, which has run into opposition from senate Republicans. Wyden started by praising Missouri Republican Representative Jason Smith, chairman of the house ways and means committee, with whom he has been working on the legislation. Wyden said that he and Smith had worked hard to craft a proposal that would appeal to both sides of the aisle, including funding for low-income housing, and research and development credits from businesses, in addition to the expanded tax credit. But after passing the House of Representatives with a comfortable majority, the proposal has run into opposition from Republican senators. Wyden said that his Republican colleagues had offered no substantive criticism of the legislation and that he agreed with media speculation that the opposition sprung from wanting to deny President Joe Biden credit for the legislation.
See WYDEN, Page A8
Emergency radio system poll results unveiled WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
R
esults from a January poll gauging public support for a bond to support the construction of
a new emergency radio system for Tillamook County were revealed on March 20. The survey showed that half of respondents supported the bond, with that number increasing as more information was shared
commissioners gave the approval to move ahead with marketing and preparing the bond question. Tillamook County Chief of Staff Rachel Hagerty led the presentation and has been spearheading
Tillamook Beekeepers Assoc. is featuring
Headlight Herald
Cosponsored by Tillamook County Solid Waste
with respondents. According to Ben Patinkin, whose company Patinkin Research Strategies conducted the survey, those represent encouraging numbers and the board of county
Bee Days 2024
• Honey products & plants for pollinators for sale • Educational workshops • Enter to win a Bee Hive
the initiative to replace the aging system since 2019. Hagerty said that the current system was installed between 2001 and 2003, relying on See RADIO, Page A9
s ndor e V New affles R Food d o Go ts Plan
Citizen • Food by Pacific Restaurant April 20-21, Sat 9-4 & Sun 11-4 Still booking vendors! FREE ADMISSION • Monkey Business 101: Lots of berry plants & fruit trees, FREE ADMISSION & PARKING Bee Day 2022 503-842-7535 monkey puzzle trees Tillamook County Fairgrounds • Garden Witch Goods: Plant starts including decorative flowers to veggies headlightads@countrymedia.net Spring into Home & Garden Savings at the annual Home & Garden Show 20% off new & renewing subscriptions of the Headlight Herald North Coast
Saturday, April 30 9 am to 4 pm
Sunday, May 1 11 am to 4 pm
Tillamook Beekeepers Association is Presenting
at Tillamook County Fairgrounds
•
IN THIS ISSUE News A2-4 Opinion A5-6 Obituaries A7 Announcements A9-10 Classifieds A11-16
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