DOWNTOWN TRICK-OR-TREAT
3-5 p.m. Oct. 31. Stop by the Headlight Herald and get your picture taken for the paper. Only $5 to get your childâs color photo in next weekâs edition.
Headlight Herald
TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM ⢠OCTOBER 30, 2013
LONGEST-RUNNING BUSINESS IN TILLAMOOK COUNTY ⢠SINCE 1888
Blimp hangar on the ropes With the air museum planning to relocate to Madras, the Port of Tillamook Bay might ask the local community for financial support of the giant wooden structure By Sayde Moser
smoser@countrymedia.net
What if your water tastes like rotten food?
Itâs been an icon in Tillamook since World War II â the massive wooden hangar used to house blimps in the 1940s. Dubbed Hangar B, the structure measures 1,072 feet long, 296 feet wide and 175 feet high. It includes 10,349,500 board feet of lumber.
Itâs one of the largest wooden clear-span buildings in the entire world. Similar hangars once were built across the U.S. to house the nationâs blimps. A few of those buildings still stand, being used for a variety of purposes. In 1973, the U.S. Navy vacated
See HANGAR, Page A2
Courtesy photo
The WWII blimp hangar that sits on Port of Tillamook Bay property was deeded to the port in 1973. Now, the port canât afford the cost of repairing the mostly-wooden structure.
Living by Grace
By Joe Wrabek
jwrabek@countrymedia.net
Whatâs orange and smells bad? Decayed oranges, rotten pumpkins â and, apparently, Barviewâs water. The little WatsecoBarview Water District, located west of Garibaldi, âhas failed water tests for years,â said Gary Albright, a member of the water districtâs board of directors. âAnd the waterâs getting worse, not better,â he said. Watseco-Barviewâs problems arenât unique. The water for its 205 customers comes from a well ⌠and most groundwater in the Coast Range is of poor quality. The district has explored a number of options over the years, Albright said, but it now has âdefaultedâ to purchasing water from neighboring, larger water districts. âOriginally, we were joining up with Rockaway [Beach],â Albright said.
See WATER, Page A3
INDEX Classified Ads...............B5-8 Crossword Puzzle............ B2 Fenceposts....................B3-4 Letters.............................. A4 Obituaries......................... A6 Opinions........................... A4 Sports.........................A8-10
1908 2nd St. 503-842-7535 www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
VOL. 124, NO. 44 $1.00
Baertlein: administering lodging tax wonât be costly By Joe Wrabek
jwrabek@countrymedia.net
Photo by Sayde Moser
Peggy Walstead (center, with dog) sits with some of the women who have lived in the House of Grace after being released from jail. In the back row, from left, are Lynda Belcher, Alicia Krowell and Suzanne Greaves. In the front row, from left, are Brittany Wilks, Bethany Rush, Walstead and Christine Fleming.
The House of Grace in Tillamook is giving women recently released from jail a chance to rebuild their lives By Sayde Moser
smoser@countrymedia.net
Christine Fleming was back in jail. And contemplating suicide. âIâd think, maybe Iâll do it tomorrow morning,â she says. âMaybe Iâll wait and do it in the afternoon.â Bethany Rush had just been re-arrested. This time, they had taken away her son. âI just cried and cried for days,â said Rush. Alicia Krowell was
only 19 the last time she landed in jail, but it already was a familiar place. âI couldnât believe I was there a second time,â she said. âI was lost.â ⢠All three were in and out of jail regularly. ⢠All three had lost their children. ⢠All three were living a life of drugs, theft and crime. Now, all three are living at the House of Grace in Tillamook.
The House of Grace was created two years ago in a large, two-story structure on Sixth Avenue that was indebted to the Tillamook Christian Center. The pastor there had approached Peggy Walstead about turning the building into a home for women. The House of Grace was born as a Christianbased living center complete with rules and regulations to follow. Thereâs no smoking, no
dating. The women must pay rent, go to church, do their chores and obey all the house rules. âItâs a foundation for learning how to live again,â said Lynda Belcher, a house member. âYou have to want to be here. Itâs not court-ordered, so it takes a willingness to change.â Without the home, said Belcher, 43, she wouldnât
See GRACE, Page A5
Tillamook County Public Works finishes paving for the year By Sayde Moser
smoser@countrymedia.net
The first $2.2 million of a $15 million road bond passed in May by Tillamook Countyâs voters has been spent, with more than 20 roads partially paved. âMy strategy this first year was just to hold the [road] system together,â said Tillamook County Public Works Director Liane Welch. That said, crews were unable to get to every road on her list this first year before the paving season ended Oct. 28. Since the countyâs current fiscal year ends July 1, 2014, Welch said her crews would finish patching the rest of the roads before June 30, then begin phase two of the 10-year bond plan. Phase two, while not yet approved by the countyâs roads advisory committee, involves paving just four roads in fiscal 2014-15. Two of those would improve traffic flow during projects involving the Oregon Department of Transportation. In 2015, ODOT will be widening
Photo by Joe Wrabek
Tillamook County Public Work crews partially paved more than 20 roads over the summer, using money from a road bond passed by voters in May. The agency will continue paving in June 2014. Main and Pacific avenues in downtown Tillamook, and reconfiguring the intersection at U.S. Highway 101 and Oregon Highway 6. Welch said sheâs planning to provide motorists
with suitable alternate routes during those projects. For now, drivers can enjoy
See ROADS, Page A2
Whatâs it going to cost to administer Tillamook Countyâs new transient lodging tax â if itâs approved by the voters next week? Not much, said County Commissioner Bill Baertlein. Baertlein, an accountant, took on the job of finding out what it costs other jurisdictions to administer their transient lodging tax programs. And how, or even if, they allocate the costs of doing so. Some work already had been done to set up the transient lodging tax collection system in Tillamook County, said Baertlein. âWeâve got a good database set up right now,â he said, âand letters to go out if [the lodging tax] passes.â He said the State of Oregon has a database of those collecting the stateâs transient occupancy tax, which is paid at all hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfast establishments, RV parks and campgrounds. âEverywhere but short-term rentals,â said Baertlein. The stateâs transient occupancy tax isnât collected from vacation rentals, he said. Creating the Tillamook Countyâs database was done in-house, he emphasized, âjust to be prepared. If it passes, weâve got to be ready to roll Jan. 1.â Information services director Michael Soots, County Assessor Denise Vandecoevering, County Treasurer Debbie Clark and community development director John Boyd all have been involved in putting the local system together, Baertlein said. âIâve checked with other counties,â he added, to determine what running a countywide transient lodging tax program costs. And itâs relatively cheap, said Baertlein. Clackamas County charges its administrative costs for running and collecting the tax to the room tax fund, he reported, âbut itâs 2 percent.â The state charges its room tax fund 2 percent as well for the cost of administering and collecting Oregonâs âtransient occupancy tax.â In Lane County, officials even collect the room taxes for the cities âand they donât charge anything,â he said. The most-expensive room tax administration, said Baertlein, is in eastern Oregonâs Wallowa County, where, âThey charge a maximum of 5 percent.â As for here on the coast, the Lincoln County treasurerâs office administers the countywide room tax there. âTheyâre already collecting all the other taxes,â Baertle-
See TLT, Page A3