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Fourth graders from across Tillamook County descended on Twin Rock Friends Camp on March 19, for the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership’s 23rd annual Clean Water Festival.

The 223 students were joined by representatives from 25 organizations up and down the coast, who helped to educate the kids about the importance of clean water. Volunteers traveled from as far as Coos Bay and Astoria to participate in the event, representing organizations as diverse as the Oregon Department of Forestry, the Columbia River Maritime Museum and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Throughout the day, students spent half an hour at six different stations that focused on specific themes relating to clean water. Topics at the stations included macroinvertebrates, marine debris, estuary birds, the water cycle, tidepool animals and salmon migration.

Many stations offered activities to bring the subjects to life, ranging from building models of macroinvertebrates with clay to learning how to plant a tree seedling to dissecting an owl pellet. The owl pellet dissection was offered bilingually, as were games simulating salmon migration and the impacts of marine debris on

businesses

our community,

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 shortterm 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

Tillamook Headlight Herald Home & Garden Show coming April 20-21

The Tillamook Headlight Herald Home & Garden show is set to take over the Tillamook County Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 21. The show is being cosponsored by Tillamook County Solid Waste and will be held in conjunction with the seventh annual Tillamook Beekeepers Association Bee Days. A wide selection of vendors will be at the show to help residents prepare for the spring and summer gardening season and update their home and garden décor.

For Bee Days, the beekeepers’ association will be selling bee-friendly plants and raw and unfiltered honey to raise funds for the organization and showing off a demonstration hive. They will also host a series of classes to educate showgoers about honeybees. Classes will last between 15 and 20 minutes, starting at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Satur day and 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The beekeepers will also be hosting a fundrais ing raffle, with the grand prize being a Tillamook cheese block themed hive created by Rick Stelzig. A $200 gift certificate for the Tillamook Creamery will be the second-place prize, third place will receive a

The Tillamook Beekeepers showed off their demonstration hive at last year’s show, while the Oregon Department of Forestry handed out seedlings to showgoers, which they will do again in 2024. Show cosponsors Tillamook Solid Waste will also be informing community members about their programs while a cheese block themed hive will be up for raffle by the beekeepers.

PHOTO BY VENTURING VOWS

Lovelin focuses on economic development, homelessness, balanced budget in campaign for commissioner

WILL CHAPPELL CITIZEN EDITOR

In his campaign for position number one on the Tillamook Board of County Commissioners, Bruce Lovelin is prioritizing developing the county’s economy and rightsizing the response to the homelessness epidemic sweeping the area.

The longtime owner of Happy Camp Hideaway in Netarts recently sat down with the Headlight Herald to discuss his background and vision for the county.

“We’ve got to decide what kind of a county we want to become and I want to really focus more on the economic development side,” Lovelin said. “I want to make Tillamook an easier place to develop businesses and build homes.”

Born and raised in Portland, Lovelin has history in Tillamook County dating back to the 1960s, when his father purchased a property in Netarts at which the family would spend weekends.

After graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in electrical engineering, Lovelin worked in the utility industry, eventually ending up at the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland.

In the early 1990s, thenSenator Mark Hatfield tapped Lovelin to serve as a repre-

sentative of natural resource industries on the Salmon Summit. This eventually led to his appointment as the executive director of Northwest Irrigation Utilities, where he served for eight years, and the Columbia River Alliance, where he served for seven.

In those roles, Lovelin advocated for the interests of natural resource industries as the impacts of dams on the Snake and Columbia Rivers on Coho Salmon were evaluated and mitigation planned.

During those years, Lovelin said that he gained invaluable experience communicating with the media and members of the state and federal governments but eventually became jaded about the processes.

“I got a little bit of a jaun-

nesses in residential zones that do not allow for commercial businesses,” McGinnis said.

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 for residences,”

McNeilly said. “This is why we need to pick a cap that meets the need for enough STR businesses to support a vibrant overnight tourist trade but not one more.”

McNeilly stressed that he fully supported the tourism economy but said that historic crowd levels during last year’s Fourth of July week had proven capable of supporting it. Therefore, McNeilly said that he favored setting a cap near the 410 properties that had been operating during that week and letting the number of licenses decrease to that level through attrition.

Councilor Mary McGinnis noted that in four recent cases surrounding STRs in Oregon, including one in neighboring Lincoln County, judges had ruled that the properties were not private residences but businesses.

“My concerns are we have allowed commercial busi-

McGinnis said that she favored taking a moderate approach and instituting a cap given those concerns while appeals to those rulings are heard by the Oregon Supreme Court. In that way, the city government would minimize corrective work needed to account for a ruling that might require rezoning or other action.

“I am thinking a cap that sincerely protects our business industry and our tourist lodging for those businesses but doesn’t add more nonconforming uses in more places where they’re not supposed to be,” McGinnis said.

Councilor Alesia Franken said that the addition of more than 100 licenses in the last year was alarming to her and that she also favored a cap close to the number of licenses in 2023.

City Manager Luke Shepard noted that while there were 517 licenses outstanding, a recent survey showed that only 465 rentals were actively listed for rent, suggesting that some number of licenses may have been obtained in anticipation of the new regulations.

McNeilly said that it was also important to consider the impact of STRs on longterm rental rates and availability, with other councilors agreeing.

As the conversation progressed, consensus emerged around the 420-license cap and the councilors agreed that they would vote to formalize that number in the ensuing meeting.

During the meeting, the councilors voted 5-0 in favor of the cap, with Councilor Kristine Hayes recusing herself from the vote. The new ordinance also included a provision that the cap will be reevaluated annually and amended as necessary, with the first review set to come in October 2025.

diced view about the whole thing and that was that the winners, the winners in this whole process, all this strife and all this money and attorneys and science and stuff, were not the environmental groups, not the species, not the economic interests, but the people that prospered from it were the federal and state agencies,” Lovelin said.

Returning to his roots in the utility industry, Lovelin took a job with the Tillamook Peoples’ Utility District (TPUD) in 2000, at which point he and his wife also purchased the Happy Camp Hideaway. In his four years at TPUD, Lovelin designed and oversaw the building of the Wilson River substation, before moving on to Central Lincoln Peoples’ Utility District in Newport. Lovelin worked there for seven years while commuting weekly from Netarts, before working for an electric utility supply company until 2020, when he turned to running Happy Camp full time. After retiring and beginning to pay more attention to the county’s government, Lovelin found himself concerned about the county’s leadership and resolved to run for commissioner.

“I don’t like the direction that we’re going right now and the more I delve into it, I’m kind of troubled about where we’re at for a variety

Neah-Kah-Nie Update

During the meeting the council also received updates from Neah-Kah-Nie School District Superintendent Tyler Reed, Daniel Wear from Sustainable Northwest and Matt Del Moro from HBH engineering.

Reed briefed the council on his first year serving as the district superintendent and ongoing work to the district’s strategic plan. The district is currently gathering feedback from community members via an online survey and will host two listening sessions in April to help inform the plan’s development, before completing the planning process in the May and June.

Reed said that the plan will replace one that expired last spring and run for five years, helping to guide the district’s operations in accordance with the wishes of students, families, staff and business and community partners. Reed explained that the district’s board had hired an outside firm to guide the process to eliminate the possibility for bias and that there was a special focus on soliciting input from Spanish speaking and LGBTQIA+ community members.

Jetty Creek Work Group moves ahead

Wear updated the council on ongoing work in the Jetty Creek Working Group, of which Sustainable Northwest and the city are both members. The working group also includes Nuveen Natural Capital, one of the two forestry companies that own the land comprising the Jetty Creek watershed that provides drinking water to Rockaway Beach. The working group was

of reasons, the financial issues, kind of the way we are and we’re not getting represented and I’ve got some ideas about how to change that,” Lovelin said. “So, I just felt it was if not now it would be never, so I thought I’m going to go for it.”

Lovelin said that one of his top priorities would be moving the county away from operating at deficits in annual budgets to stop depleting reserve funds. Lovelin said that he would pay attention to the upcoming budgeting process and look for opportunities to reduce county expenditures, with staffing being an area for potential savings.

“I’d hate to have it come back down on employees,” Lovelin said, “but at the same time they are the major expense and maybe there’s some ways of consolidating, of merging some tasks.” Lovelin said that he didn’t see new taxes as a realistic possibility in Tillamook but said that he thought focusing on economic development was the long-term answer to questions about revenue.

Easing the process for prospective developers would be a major thrust of Lovelin’s agenda to promote development. Lovelin said he would favor empowering the county’s community development director to give simple yes or no answers to

originally formed in 2020 to examine ways to protect the quality and quantity of the water available in the watershed in response to concerns over the impacts of timber harvesting.

Since 2020, Nuveen Capital, which owns 550 acres in the lower watershed, has stopped spraying pesticides. Officials from the company have also said that it is open to selling the land to the city or the North Coast Land Conservancy, another working group member, for protection under a conservation easement.

Wear said that Stimson Lumber, which owns the remaining 700+ acres of the watershed has also been participating in informal conversations about the watershed’s management.

Wear said that the next step for the working group and city is to develop a forest management plan for the wa-

most development proposals and give a quick referral to the planning commission if necessary. Lovelin also said that he would favor supporting farmers or other landowners in unincorporated Tillamook County who wanted to build housing. “We’ve got to look outside the box a little bit at zoning issues and try to accommodate these builders and so I’m much more in favor of that than I’m in favor of subsidies,” Lovelin said, “because again, if vacancy is so low, builders will come in and build.”

Homelessness was another priority that Lovelin mentioned, saying that he had noticed a marked change in the situation, especially in the City of Tillamook in recent years and that he did not agree with the county’s current approach to the situation.

Lovelin said that he felt too many resources were being devoted to those experiencing homelessness to the detriment of other residents.

“I think the focus is overly focused on the homelessness and addiction,” Lovelin said. “It’s good someone’s doing that but the county commission has a broader responsibility and it’s to all 27,000 people in the county.” Lovelin said that he opposed the recent decision to locate a homeless shelter in

tershed, which can be funded through an Oregon Health Authority grant. That plan would lay the groundwork to apply for other grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service to acquire or place the watershed into a conservation easement.

Streets Capital Improvement Plan approved

Del Moro gave a final presentation on the streets capital improvement plan that HBH Engineering has been helping the city to develop over the last year.

During that plan’s development, consultants constructed a street database and a prioritized

downtown Tillamook near the courthouse and favored a stricter ordinance regulating sheltering on county property. Lovelin also voiced his support for increasing the emphasis on public safety, including increasing “boots on the ground,” and opposition to the implementation of the short-term rental ordinance update passed last summer by commissioners.

In addition to his professional experience, Lovelin brings a background in public service to the race, having served on the boards of the Netarts-Oceanside Sanitary District and Friends of Tillamook Air Museum, as well as the Tillamook County Planning Commission. Lovelin also touts his listening skills and experience in management as strengths that would serve him well should he be elected.

“In my time working, I’ve managed a lot of people either directly or indirectly from associations and things like that but I would say that one of my strengths or the things I like to do is I like to get people together and talk through issues,” Lovelin said. “I’ve got just the one head and if I get five heads in a room it’s a much better way of trying to approach issues because again, I don’t have the answers and I don’t have all the answers here either.”

list of projects for the city to focus on over the next three years.

Del Moro said that his firm’s review had showed that the streets in the city were aging with many in need of repair as salt deposits from the ocean air caused excessive wear and tear.

The new improvement plan places a focus on rehabilitating asphalt roads that are in the poorest condition and upgrading gravel roads that are in a good condition and can easily be paved. The top priority will be repaving North Pacific Street, for which the city has received a $250,000 allotment from the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The council unanimously approved the plan and comments will be accepted through April.

The City of Manzanita is looking for a full time Operations Manager to join our team!

The Operations Manager will organize, schedule, assign and supervise the operations and maintenance activities of Public Works Field operations. Such services include the areas of water, parks, transportation, storm water and vehicle and equipment and facility maintenance. Identifies work and reviews work of subordinates and contractors by inspecting for compliance with City/state standards for production and quality of City water.

Minimum requirements include a High School Diploma, or equivalent OR any satisfactory equivalent combination of education and experience which ensures the ability to perform the essential functions of the position. An Oregon Water Distribution 2 & Treatment 1 certification must be obtained within 24 months of hire. Applicant must live within 20 minutes of the Public Works office located at 1090 Oak St. in Manzanita, for one week per month.

Salary Range for the position is currently $5,280 - $6,418 monthly depending on experience, plus excellent benefits. For more information, please visit ci.manzanita.or.us

Please send cover letter, resume, and completed application form to:

Manzanita Public Works PO Box 129 Manzanita, OR 97130 H23430

Bruce Lovelin

Groundbreaking ceremony for Manzanita City Hall on April 6th

Can you Dig it? Groundbreaking ceremony for

City Hall on Saturday, April 6th at 11 a.m. on the corner of Manzanita and Division. All are invited. For well over three decades, the City of Manzanita has been discussing the need to upgrade and build a new City Hall. Thanks to the community’s input, a committed City Council and an experienced City Manager, the city has worked with a great team to come up with a final design. We’re ready to break ground.

The project team, led by Chris Keane of Bearing Architects, worked with our community and staff to come up with a design that met the needs of the city and is within budget. Jessie Steiger from Klosh Group coordinated the project development. Jason Stegner, of Cove Built Construction, a locally owned business, is the contractor. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place Saturday, April 6th at 11. The site is one block off Hwy 101 at the corner of Manzanita and Division.

Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration. Music and refreshments will be available. Kathryn Stock, Mayor of Manzanita recently commented, “We’re looking forward to celebrating this important groundbreaking with our community! We plan to update the community regularly as the construction begins and progress is made. And we look forward to another celebration in 2025 when we begin serving the community in a new building.”

Water Festival

From Page A1

plover nests. Tillamook Estuaries Partnership focused on increasing accessibility for this year’s festival, providing more information in advance of the festival to help teachers plan. On the day of the festival a quiet space cabin and sensory backpacks with weighted blankets, noise canceling headphones, fidget items and different textured items were made available to facilitate relaxation.

Since 2002, the annual springtime festival has welcomed more than 6,300 fourth grade students from across the county to learn how to be responsible stewards of estuaries.

• Premium Obituary: Often used by families who wish to include multiple photos with a longer announcement, or who wish to run a thank-you. Cost varies based on the length of the announcement.

All obituary announcements are placed on the North Coast Citizen website at no cost.

Emergency radio system poll results

Results 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 with respondents.

According to Ben Patinkin, whose company Patinkin Research Strategies conducted the survey, those represent encouraging numbers and the board of county 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 the initiative to replace the aging system since 2019. Hagerty said that the current system was installed between 2001 and 2003, relying on a property tax levy approved in 2001, and consists of very high frequency radios.

For the past 20 years, there has been no dedicated funding source for maintaining or replacing the system, leaving county staff to piece together a maintenance budget from the general fund.

The replacement process began in 2019, with the goal of creating a unified and reliable system with coverage across the entire county. The first step in that process was conducting a countywide system assessment, which showed that upgrading to a digital system was the appropriate approach and that all partner agencies using the system concurred.

An initial design for the

system was completed, giving a budget estimate of $27 million for the project and putting the county in position to request proposals for a final design and construction once funding is secured. So far, the county has secured $2 million via a federal appropriation to support the project. Hagerty said that county staff are in contact with state and federal legislators and exploring grants to support the project, but that it had become apparent those funding sources alone would not suffice.

That leaves a general obligation bond, requiring voter approval, as the only option to fund the project and late last year, commissioners greenlit moving towards a November 2024 bond question. Investigation by Hagerty has shown that a bond of 35 cents per one thousand dollars of assessed property value will be necessary to support the project’s budget.

As a next step towards the bond ask, commissioners asked Hagerty to commission a public opinion survey to determine the level of support for and how best to promote the bond. Patinkin Research Strategies conducted the poll between January 7 and 10, and sampled 400 likely voters from across the county, with results weighted to reflect the likely electorate in this November’s election.

Results showed that 50% of respondents would vote yes to support a bond for a new radio system based solely on the proposed language of the bond, while 28% would vote no and 22% were undecided.

According to Patinkin, the biggest challenge facing the

county was a generally positive perception of the current system, which 46% of respondents believe is meeting the community’s needs. Among that group, 68% would vote no on a bond, while only 28% would vote yes.

However, support among respondents increased as additional information was provided, with a further 4% supporting the bond with slightly more information than the bond language.

That number went up even further, to 58%, when respondents were given a quick pitch saying that passing the bond measure will help save lives by ensuring emergency responders can rely on up-todate public safety communications systems anywhere in the county helping them to do their jobs to keep our communities safe.

The survey also gauged public perceptions of different groups who could help to promote the bond, showing that emergency medical technicians and firefighters enjoyed the highest trust, with law enforcement officers, sheriff’s deputies, local small businesses and chambers of commerce also having the community’s confidence.

According to the Patinkin, those groups could help to effectively spread the message about the need for a new system, given their strong standing in the community.

County Commissioners said that they were encouraged by the survey results and instructed Hagerty to proceed with preparing paperwork for the bond, which is due by August, and to put out a bid for a marketing firm to help promote the bond.

Cannon Beach to Nehalem Nehalem Nehalem Bay United Methodist Church 36050 10th Street, Nehalem, OR (503) 368-5612 Pastor Celeste Deveney + Sunday service 11 a.m. Food Pantry Open Friday, Saturday & Monday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

March - October 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. November - February noon to 4 p.m. Nehalem Senior Lunches Tuesday & Thursday served at noon email: nbumcnsl2020@gmail.com To feature your spiritual organization on this panel:

Robb Electric Trio at NCRD April 12

Gary played with The Stan Kenton Orchestra from 1975 through 1977 and has performed with Randy Brecker, Bud Shank, Anita O’Day Terry Gibbs, The New York Voices, The Woody Herman Orchestra and many others. He’s played Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Wolf Trap and the Kennedy Center, as well as festivals and clubs all over the world.

Gary is very active in Jazz Education, teaching at the University of Oregon and doing clinics, concerts and jazz camps.

Bassist

Hobbs

native of

Pacific Northwest and lives in Vancouver, WA. He has played professionally for over 4 decades and appears on over 60 recordings.

Dave Captein is an accomplished performer on both string bass and bass guitar, having worked as a professional musician for over 35 years in the Pacific Northwest. A Portland native, he is a music graduate of Western Washington Uni-

versity and the University of Washington. Dave has performed in a broad range of situations, from symphonic performances to studio and club work, as well as many jazz concerts and festivals around the country and in Europe. He is a favorite choice for the region’s many bandleaders and always in demand for his solid sound, time and feel, as well as his soloing abilities.

Gary Hobbs and Dave Captein will join Terry Robb for an evening of Electric Music – From Country and Blues to John Coltrane and Jimmy Hedrix! It’s a different side of Terry Robb!

You don’t want to miss this show! Friday, April 12, 7 p.m. at NCRD Performing Arts Center in Nehalem. Tickets are available at tickettomato.com.

Heroes on the Water visits Lake Lytle with outdoor program

The North Oregon Coast Heroes On the Water put on their first event of 2024 on Saturday, March 23, at Lake Lytle in Rockaway Beach. Building healing communities, Heroes on the Water provides free outdoor programs for U.S. active-duty military, veterans, law enforcement officers, first responders and their families. Volunteers brought more that 20 kayaks to Lake Lytle in Rockaway Beach Saturday morning to paddle, fish and heal. With very light breezes and a misty drizzle, everyone had a great experience.

Jeff Hope is the chapter coordinator and said

this was one of the most successful events here in Oregon. Chapter events are designed to create a welcoming and pressurefree environment and are proven to help reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. They provide a chance for participants to reconnect with themselves and others. Events are open to family members of veterans and first responders at no cost because they believe that the focus should be on the whole person, which includes family as well. Check out Heroes on the Water at https://heroesonthewater.org/

ODF foresters brief commissioners on HCP impacts

Four staff members from the Oregon Department of Forestry updated Tillamook’s county commissioners on the changes that the habitat conservation plan recently adopted by the Board of Forestry will cause in the county on March 27. The foresters said that after several years of lower harvests because of market conditions, they expect activity to be high in the immediate future before returning to a slightly lower level than in recent years.

Tillamook District Forester

Kate Skinner was joined by State Forests Division Chief Mike Wilson, Asset Manager for State Forests Kevin Boyd and Forest Grove District Forester Mike Caferata at the board meeting.

Wilson started the presentation by giving a brief overview of the recently passed habitat conservation plan (HCP) and its impacts on harvestable lands in Tillamook County. With the new

habitat and riparian conservation areas created by the plan, just over 150,000 acres in Tillamook County will be protected, with 114,000 available for harvest.

Boyd then gave a shortterm overview of the timber sales in Tillamook County for the remainder of this year and the next three years in comparison to recent years. Boyd said that over the last five years, 75.7 million board feet (mmbf) have been harvested on average in Tillamook County, but that the last two years have been significantly slower with 46.8 mmbf harvested in fiscal year 2022 and 65.6 mmbf harvested in rascal year 2023. Boyd said that these lower harvest levels had been caused by increased activity on private forest lands and in salvage efforts following the 2020 wildfires, leading to decreased activity on state forest lands.

However, the volume of sales of state forest timber has remained steady, and with a three-year contract to complete harvests, Tillamook

is poised to see increased activity in the coming years as 101 mmbf in contracts come due. Boyd shared figures that showed that these harvests would push total sales for 2024 to 76.7 mmbf, while that number would grow to 84.1 mmbf in 2025, 85.1 mmbf in 2026 and 94.58 mmbf in 2027. After the backlog has been cleared in that timeframe, Boyd said that the county could expect to see an average harvest level of 67.9 mmbf, yielding around $18.2 million in revenue for the county. That would mark a roughly $1 million increase in revenue over the average achieved over the past ten years, although Boyd acknowledged that the revenue figures would depend on market conditions.

County Commissioner Erin Skaar asked if the new plan would decrease the variability in harvest levels and discrepancies between projected and actual revenues, which complicate budgeting for the county. Boyd said that he expected revenues to be steadier and projections more accurate with the new HCP. Skaar asked if the department could share more granular detail about the harvest projections and Wilson said that they could. Wilson also gave a brief overview of challenges complicating operations in the Tillamook State Forest. The biggest of those is Swiss Needle Cast, a disease that hinders the growth of Douglas Fir and is widely present in the Tillamook State Forest. Another challenge is diseased “zombie” Alder, which are also in abundance in Tillamook. Wilson also said that the use of off-site seeds during the massive reforestation effort undertaken following the Tillamook Burn led to suboptimal tree yield across the landscape.

However, Wilson said that the HCP and resulting modeling had been developed to account for those issues as much as possible and that he believed the harvest targets could be met.

Terry Robb