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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?
It’s been an icon in Tillamook since World War II – 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.
It’s one of the largest wooden clear-span buildings in the entire world. Similar hangars once were built across the U.S. to house the nation’s 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 can’t afford the cost of repairing the mostly-wooden structure.
Living by Grace
By Joe Wrabek
jwrabek@countrymedia.net
What’s orange and smells bad? Decayed oranges, rotten pumpkins – and, apparently, Barview’s water. The little WatsecoBarview Water District, located west of Garibaldi, “has failed water tests for years,” said Gary Albright, a member of the water district’s board of directors. “And the water’s getting worse, not better,” he said. Watseco-Barview’s problems aren’t 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 “defaulted” to purchasing water from neighboring, larger water districts. “Originally, we were joining up with Rockaway [Beach],” 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
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VOL. 124, NO. 44 $1.00
Baertlein: administering lodging tax won’t 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. “I’d think, maybe I’ll do it tomorrow morning,” she says. “Maybe I’ll wait and do it in the afternoon.” Bethany Rush had just been re-arrested. This time, they had taken away her son. “I just cried and cried for days,” said Rush. Alicia Krowell was
only 19 the last time she landed in jail, but it already was a familiar place. “I couldn’t believe I was there a second time,” she said. “I was lost.” • 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. There’s no smoking, no
dating. The women must pay rent, go to church, do their chores and obey all the house rules. “It’s a foundation for learning how to live again,” said Lynda Belcher, a house member. “You have to want to be here. It’s not court-ordered, so it takes a willingness to change.” Without the home, said Belcher, 43, she wouldn’t
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 County’s voters has been spent, with more than 20 roads partially paved. “My strategy this first year was just to hold the [road] system together,” 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 county’s 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 county’s 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 she’s planning to provide motorists
with suitable alternate routes during those projects. For now, drivers can enjoy
See ROADS, Page A2
What’s it going to cost to administer Tillamook County’s new transient lodging tax – if it’s 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. “We’ve got a good database set up right now,” he said, “and letters to go out if [the lodging tax] passes.” He said the State of Oregon has a database of those collecting the state’s transient occupancy tax, which is paid at all hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfast establishments, RV parks and campgrounds. “Everywhere but short-term rentals,” said Baertlein. The state’s transient occupancy tax isn’t collected from vacation rentals, he said. Creating the Tillamook County’s database was done in-house, he emphasized, “just to be prepared. If it passes, we’ve got to be ready to roll Jan. 1.” 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. “I’ve checked with other counties,” he added, to determine what running a countywide transient lodging tax program costs. And it’s relatively cheap, said Baertlein. Clackamas County charges its administrative costs for running and collecting the tax to the room tax fund, he reported, “but it’s 2 percent.” The state charges its room tax fund 2 percent as well for the cost of administering and collecting Oregon’s “transient occupancy tax.” In Lane County, officials even collect the room taxes for the cities “and they don’t charge anything,” he said. The most-expensive room tax administration, said Baertlein, is in eastern Oregon’s Wallowa County, where, “They charge a maximum of 5 percent.” As for here on the coast, the Lincoln County treasurer’s office administers the countywide room tax there. “They’re already collecting all the other taxes,” Baertle-
See TLT, Page A3