Home & Garden Show TILLAMOOK COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS • SAT. 10-5, SUN. 11-4
Headlight Herald TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM • APRIL 3, 2013
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Garibaldi gets $3.08 million for new wharf
Flood insurance premiums will rise
BY JOE WRABEK jwrabek@countrymedia.net
BY JOE WRABEK
The Port of Garibaldi has been awarded $3.08 million toward the rebuilding of its Commercial Street wharf. The grant money is coming from the Federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), whose grants are tied to job creation. In the Port of Garibaldi’s case, 282 jobs would be either retained or created, the EDA said. That number represents 250 jobs retained and 32 new jobs created, according to Port of Garibaldi manager Kevin Greenwood. Coupled with $1.7 million already awarded last year by the state of Oregon in the form of a “Connect Oregon” grant, the port now has all the money thought to be necessary to rebuild the 1940s-vintage wharf. “I’m as happy as a clam at high tide,” port commission president Val Folkema said. “Great work done, great decisions made,” she said. “We were very well prepared.” “They (EDA) said we were ‘beyond shovel-ready,’” Greenwood told the Headlight Herald. All necessary permits have been obtained, Greenwood said, and design work has been done – those items paid for with a state port planning grant and state timber receipts the port received last year. “We just needed that last dime,” he said. Some work could start as early as late summer, Greenwood said. Much of the work will have to be done during an “in-water work period” set by state and Federal regulatory agencies that lasts from Nov. 1 to Feb. 15.
jwrabek@countrymedia.net
Easter egg hunting happiness
See WHARF, Page A3
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BY MARY FAITH BELL mfbell@countrymedia.net
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Hundreds of happy children and their parents enjoyed Easter eggs hunts under sunny skies Saturday March 30. From Cloverdale to Manzanita and several points in between there were half a dozen Easter egg hunts countywide to choose from. At Hidden Acres an estimated 175 kids and adults waited patiently in the parking lot for the tiniest egg hunters toddling about with baskets to get the first crack at finding eggs hidden in the picturesque garden and scattered about the green houses. Young Maggie Mulder, 18 months, dressed in an adorable flowered dress, was toddling about with a pintsized Easter basket for her first Easter
egg hunt, proudly showing off her three eggs. She was far more delighted with the other kids than she was focused on the eggs, but when the big kids ran off she had a moment alone to open her eggs on a stone bench and peer at their contents in wonder. When the littlest kids had all found some eggs, their older siblings were invited in to finish the job. The Easter bunny was on hand, posing with kids, receiving hugs and giving high-fives. Then it was off to the third annual Blue Heron Easter egg hunt, where hundreds waited in glorious, unseasonably warm weather for the gates to open to a large grassy field where Blue Heron staff had hidden 5000 eggs before the kids arrived. Toddlers were safely apart for their own egg hunt in the arbor garden
near the store's entrance, so it was no holds barred and every child for him- or herself when the gate opened at 11 a.m. and excited kids flowed in like rushing water. It was all over within 15 minutes, every corner of the field scoured, kids counting their loot in huddles in the grass as their parents visited, and then families wandered over to the store to visit the animals in the petting zoo and meet the Easter bunny in person. On Easter morning 50 kids gathered in Garibaldi’s Lumbermen’s Park for an Easter egg hunt organized by the Garibaldi Lions Club. “The park was filled with people,” Garibaldi Lions Club’s John Foulk told the Headlight Herald. The Lions hid 70 dozen eggs in the small park.
Changes are coming to the Federal government’s flood insurance program – unpleasant ones. Specifically, rates are going up. A lot. “Basically, FEMA is broke,” county commission chair Mark Labhart said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the nationwide flood insurance program, has had to pay out a reported $27 billion in claims in recent years, first from Hurricane Katrina and now from Hurricane Sandy. That prompted Congress to pass the Biggert-Waters Act in 2012, ending a presumed Federal subsidy of flood insurance rates. Flood insurance premiums on some residences in flood zones will go up 25 percent this year, Christine Shirley told the Headlight Herald. Shirley is National Flood Insurance Program coordinator for the state Department of Land Conservation and Development. Owners of some second homes already saw their premiums rise Jan. 1; for some primary residences and businesses, the rate hike will happen Oct. 1. Premiums are supposed to go up 25 percent per year “until rates reflect true risk,” FEMA said on their Website. The new rates won’t apply to everyone, Shirley cautioned. According to FEMA, it’s owners of secondary residences and business properties in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) that will see the increases, along with properties that have had severe or repeated flooding. Owners of primary residences in SFHAs will get to keep their subsidized rates until the property is sold or the policy lapses. FEMA’s regulations implementing the new law are expected to provide more details; those were expected to be released at the beginning of April. Shirley will be appearing before the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners to explain the new regulations – and to offer some possible advice – at the commissioners’ regular meeting Wednesday, April 10 at 10 a.m. at the Tillamook County Courthouse. The meeting is open to the public, and will be videotaped for re-broadcast by Jane Scott Productions. “If you live in a flood zone,” Labhart said, “you’ll want to hear this information.” “I’ve been scouring sources,” Shirley told the Headlight Herald. “I’ll be presenting some ideas how to reduce costs. I do have some suggestions people might want to talk about with their insurance agent,” she said. “I want to help people prepare for these changes.”
Tillamook Air Museum moving to Madras? BY JOE WRABEK jwrabek@countrymedia.net
They’re not talking about it in Tillamook, but the Tillamook Air Museum is apparently moving to central Oregon. It is big news in Madras, where the Air Museum is reportedly going to be moving. The local newspaper in Madras, the Madras Pioneer, reported March 23 that the Madras city council had approved (on March 12) a lease of three acres at the city-owned Madras Air-
port to the “Tillamook Naval Air Station Museum.” The Erickson Group plans to build a 64,000-square foot facility there, which will provide space for the air museum, the paper reported. Jack Erickson owns the fleet of vintage aircraft at the Tillamook Air Museum. The new facility will “possibly” include a restaurant and gift shop – the same amenities offered at the Air Museum’s current location at the blimp
PHOTO BY JOE WRABEK
base. The Madras paper also reported the Air Museum had
been “searching for a new home” at least since 2011 – which is why Madras airport
manager Rob Berg had contacted the Air Museum’s owners. Staff at the Air Museum advised the Headlight Herald they were aware of the news from Madras, but had been directed to refer all inquiries to Mike Oliver, the Air Museum’s manager. Oliver, for his part, was noncommittal. “I can’t tell you anything yet,” Oliver said. “Later this week, we’ll have a press release.” Right now, “it’s business as usual,” Oliver said.
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