Pacific City
SUN
Alder Creek restoration project promises help for aquatic wildlife
Shops at the Village to host trick-or-treat event on Oct. 29......................4 Senate, State Representative candidates make their case for your vote...........................4
6
Bear Creek Artichokes offers seasonal produce, unique clothing...........8
Dressed for the
Season
Trick-or-Treat the Dory Fleet offers Halloween fun for all on Saturday, Oct. 29 Difference makers honored at TCVA’s Tourism Excellence Awards
N-
for their continued support of locally sourced foods throughout the pandemic), Trailkeepers of Oregon (Outdoor Recreation Award for their upkeep of trails and trail safety), Tillamook Working Lands and Waters Cooperative (Stewardship Award for their work in protecting forests, farms and fisheries), J’Andy Oysters and Acres (Business Development Award for their expansion to the former Hidden Acres location), and Patrick Zweifel (Tourism Development Award for creating unique and successful visitor activities and infrastructure at Hydrangea Ranch). “The pandemic revealed the resilience of our tourism and hospitality leaders who kept their businesses and activities going despite frequent, serious challenges,” said
Nan Devlin, executive director of TCVA. “It took creativity, adaptability and hard work, and the admiration I feel for the people in our industry has grown even stronger.” In addition to Devlin, the TCVA team includes Amy Blackburn, deputy director; Julie Hurliman, community and industry programs manager; and Dan Haag, trails and outdoor recreation manager. TCVA is supported by 11 voting board members, one ex-officio member, and a county commissioner liaison, Mary Faith Bell. Board officers include Valerie Folkema, chair; Justin Aufdermauer, vice chair; Mike Bever, treasurer; and Claudine Rehn, secretary. For more information on TCVA, visit https://tillamookcoast.com/industry.
I T ’ S T I M E F O R A L I T T L E S PA R K L E , I N T R O D U C I N G
A LC O H O LI
A
R
K
AT
SP
ER
C
NO
Tillamook Coast Visitors Association, in its first tourism banquet since 2019, honored the work of individuals, nonprofits and businesses when it handed out Excellence Awards on Oct. 18 at Tillamook Creamery. The event was hailed as an opportunity to gather with members of the tourism and hospitality industry and share information about TCVA’s community, business, stewardship and destination management programs. Winners of 2022 awards include: Lisa Sears (Cultural Heritage Award for her work restoring historic headstones in the county’s pioneer cemeteries), Jake and Michelle Burden of Offshore Grill and Coffee House (Culinary Hospitality Award
LI
NG HOP
W
FREE – TAKE ONE
Vol. 16, No. 405 • October 21, 2022
NON-ALCOHOLIC SPARKLING FLAVORED WATER INFUSED WITH HOPS
Chip seal removed from Sand Lake Road; repaving scheduled for the spring By CHELSEA YARNELL for the Sun
I
n the summer of 2020, Sand Lake Road received an upgrade — new pavement, painted lines, and a sealant. But what was supposed to be a long-term fix turned into continual repairs on the road for nearly three years. Travelers recently experienced delays on Sand Lake Road as Tillamook County Public Works, and additional contractors, worked to grind down the road for its latest repair. “It’s an inch and a quarter ground down,” Tillamook County Public Works Director Chris Laity said. “The contractor finished last Monday (Oct. 10), Marion County striped the road for us, and it’s far smoother than it was before. We ground it a bit wider than it needed to be and have driven it a number of times at speed and didn’t find any concerns. We’ll be paving in the spring…as soon as the weather allows and the asphalt plant fires up.” Back in 2020, Tillamook County Public Works contracted part of the Sand Lake Road project out. “We had hired a contractor to do the seal coat on the project to get more life out of the road,” Laity said. “The product was used as advertised to improve traction on (the road). It was a unique product. Prior to that, I had asked a lot of other public works directors about the product, and no one had any issues with it.” After the seal coat was applied, Laity and his crew conducted some safety tests. “We had done some sliding tests to make sure it was okay,” Laity said. “The locations where we tested, we didn’t have a problem.” However, Public Works began to hear complaints from citizens of the slipperiness of the road. “It would occur during the first rain,” Laity said. “For whatever reason, the (product) didn’t work for us.” Tillamook County Public Works decided to act with extra caution. “We ground the product out of the road so it wasn’t too slippery,” Laity said. After the removal of the seal coat in the summer of 2021, Tillamook County Public Works hired a contractor to apply a chip seal (asphalt with fine aggregate) to the road. “We thought the chip seal would solve the problem, but it didn’t leave the road in good condition,” Laity said. “This past summer’s heat wave…caused some oil to rise up. We didn’t want to leave that oil there throughout the winter because it became a slippery issue.” Laity noted that this is a common problem with chip seal pavement. In hotter months, the oil is sticky on the roadway, but as it cools down it becomes slick. The original plan was to remove the chip seal, pave over it, and stripe the road this past see REPAVING, page 10