Ron Wojtowi
cz
of Photo courtesy Living Five Rivers Prestige Senior
2023
SALUTE TO VETERANS INSIDE
d Tom Blanchar
of Photo courtesy Living Five Rivers Prestige Senior
Headlight Herald d Headlight Heral
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2023
VOL. 135, NO. 45 • $1.50
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
Tillamook veterans’ memorial breaks ground WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
T
illamook City Councilor Doug Henson has secured more than $200,000 in donations and in-kind contributions to construct a memorial to Tillamook County veterans in downtown Tillamook. Work on concrete footings began last week and Henson, who served in the Vietnam War, said that the generosity of local contractors had been critical to the project. “That’s the part that just absolutely amazed me was that every contractor I approached, once I told them what I was doing and why I was doing they said they would do it and they wouldn’t charge me a dime,” Henson said. The idea for a memorial was planted in Henson’s mind when visiting with the parents of a high school friend who died in the Vietnam War. His friends’ parents remarked that during their travels they had seen many memorials to veterans and asked Henson why Tillamook did not have one. Henson said that he had no answer for the question and once he investigated the matter further, found that the only
Early site preparation work for on the downtown Tillamook property that will be home to a veterans’ memorial. commemorations honoring veterans in the city are two plaques, at the post office and courthouse. “That’s all that’s ever been done for Tillamook County in honoring
our vets,” Henson said. “To me, that was not adequate.” At that point, Henson decided that he would take on the project of expanding Tillamook’s
An early rendering of the memorial as envisioned by Henson, who said that the plinth will not have the metallic appearance shown here in its final construction. memorialization of veterans. The first step was identifying a site and developing a plan for the memorial. Henson quickly settled on the
disused, triangular lot in between First Street and Pacific and Main Avenues that previously housed a SEE VETERANS’ MEMORIAL PAGE A5
Burris settles suit With lateral sewer line ordinance enforcement set to resume with fire district Tillamook hosts outreach event WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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illamook Mayor Aaron Burris has reached a settlement in his lawsuit against the Tillamook Fire District surrounding allegations of wrongful termination, accepting a $5,000 payout in return for dismissing the suit with prejudice. Burris, who originally sought $480,000 in damages from the district, also agreed to resign from the fire district’s board, which he was elected to in May, and is expected to sign the settlement shortly. “This was the best option to move forward with the district,” said Tillamook Fire District Board of Directors Chair Brian Cameron. The settlement ends a saga that began in early 2023, when Burris was dismissed from his position as a volunteer firefighter with the district. The dismissal followed investigations by Tillamook Police and an independent investigator into allegations that Burris had shown an explicit video of a former firefighter captured in the firehouse to various members of the district and public. The investigations were unable to conclusively determine whether Burris had shared an explicit version of the video and then-Tillamook District Attorney William Porter declined to press charges when the case was referred to him. However, Burris’s attorney, Randy Harvey, admitted that Burris had shared a shortened, non-explicit version of the video, which the independent investigator determined had violated department policy. Burris’s volunteer status with the district was terminated late last year by then-Chief Daron Bement, a decision that was upheld by the board in December. In March of this year, Burris and
Charles Spittles, whose camera had captured the video, filed suit against the district and Bement, claiming violations of their first and fourteenth amendment rights and alleging that they were retaliated against for whistleblowing when they shared the video. In a surprising move, Burris entered the uncontested election for a district board seat in May, assuming the position in July, before absenting himself from meetings in August, September and October. According to a statement from the fire district, a mediation session was held between the parties on September 7, with retired Judge Jean Maurer serving as mediator. That session did not yield a settlement, but in the weeks following it negotiations continued, and an agreement was reached in early October, before being approved by the district board at a special meeting on October 16. In addition to the $5,000, which will be paid by the district’s insurer, SDIS, Burris agreed to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, precluding a refiling, and immediately resign from the district board. The district admitted no liability in the settlement agreement and both parties agreed not to disparage one another. Cameron signed the agreement on behalf of the district at the October 16 meeting and Bement SEE BURRIS PAGE A14
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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he City of Tillamook hosted an event to educate citizens about the extensive inflow and infiltration problems affecting the city’s wastewater collection system and a warranty program covering the issue on October 30. The issue is set to come to the fore, as city staff will again begin enforcing an ordinance requiring property owners to repair the lateral connections to their properties in December. Staff will also be sending letters soon informing homeowners of the results of a smoke test conducted on the system last year. Background Assistant Public Works Director Kyle Fetzer started the meeting with a presentation about the inflow and infiltration problem. Fetzer said that recent studies have estimated that the city is using around half of its wastewater processing capacity to treat stormwater that ends up in the pipes. The average proportion of rainwater being treated in city systems is around 40%, according to Fetzer, who estimated that the city is spending $1.4 million annually on treating stormwater. A wastewater system study completed by Consor North America, Inc.
showed that over 90% of the city’s system is failing and in serious need of repair, with half of the inflow and infiltration occurring in lateral connections. Inflow and infiltration problems have several causes, including roots breaking a pipe, although most of Tillamook’s issues are related to aging pipes, according to Fetzer. He said that the majority of pipes in Tillamook are made of concrete, with clay pipes coming in a close second, and that cracked lines, missing segments, and cracked or missing gaskets were more common causes of infiltration in Tillamook. A wastewater study conducted in 2022 estimated that around half of the problem was being caused by issues with the city’s main transmission lines, whereas the other half comes from lateral lines serving individual properties. Property owners are responsible for the maintenance of their own lateral lines, with repairs often costing thousands of dollars. According to Fetzer, properties located east of Miller Avenue are the most affected, with the situation being exacerbated by maximum capacity at the 12th Street lift station serving the east side of town. That lift station has been operating at capacity since 2005 and during large rain events it is overloaded, causing the system to overflow. Fetzer said that those issues were limiting the ability for new
developments on the east side of town, with the city having had to turn down several applications already. Not only is the issue hampering growth and running up wastewater processing costs, but it also puts the city afoul of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regulations. DEQ has mandated that the city address the issue, with the completed wastewater study representing the first step towards compliance and the forthcoming resumption of the lateral connection ordinance the second. Lateral connection ordinance An ordinance assigning responsibility for lateral connections to property owners and instituting fines has been on the books in Tillamook since the 1970s, but enforcement has varied and in recent years the ordinance has gone unenforced. With the approaching need to enforce the ordinance, Tillamook’s city council began considering updates to the ordinance at their last meeting on October 16. The proposed updates would extend the timeframe for homeowners to address issues from the current 60 days to 180 days, allow for a further 180-day SEE SEWER LINE PAGE A5
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