The Umpqua Post
Weekly news from the Heart of the Dunes AN EDITION OF
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 | Serving the Reedsport area since 1996 | theworldlink.com/reedsport | $1.00
Reedsport schools get new interim superintendent BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
Photos by Alysha Beck, The World
The Half Moon Bay is one of five vessels currently being worked on at Fred Wahl Marine Construction Inc. in Reedsport.
Wahl Marine keeps waterfront humming BY STEVE LINDSLEY The Umpqua Post
A view to the east from the Umpqua River Bridge nets a view of boats on the river ... boats constructed or revamped at Fred Wahl Marine Construction. At any one time, the industrial business may be constructing, repairing or refurbishing many boats at the same time. Wahl said his business employs 77 people on Reedsport’s waterfront. A check of the company’s website shows they’re taking applications for carpenters, welders, electricians, pipe fitters/plumbers, machinist, general laborers fabricators and mechanics. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean there are openings in all those categories. Wahl said he’s had as many as 88 people working at one time in the early 2000s. Wahl has been in the business since 1976 and has been at the Reedsport location for 23 years. “We build new boats here all the time,” he said. “We repair boats from Alaska and all over the place.” You can see some of the Wahlbuilt boats in Winchester Bay and other ports up and down the West Coast. The public could see some of the new products in an open house in May of last year. Three new boats were displayed, including “The Victory,” a 115-foot king
Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson has resigned the seat he’s held for 33 years on July 31. He has decided to resign for personal and family reasons. It will be up the remaining commissioners, Joe Laurence and Susan Morgan, to name an interim replacement for Robertson until a November election can determine who will fill the remaining two years of his term. Commissioners, at their regular meeting Wednesday, agreed the interim should not be a person who plans to run for the seat in November. County counsel Paul Meyer spelled out the terms by which commissioners could choose an interim. “The law contemplates that the, what’s referred to as the appointing
SEE INTERIM, PAGE A6
Workers at Fred Wahl Marine Construction, Inc. wait as a hydraulic flushing unit is lowered onto the Half Moon Bay, currently under repair.
Part of an ongoing series highlighting business successes on the South Coast. Read more online at theworldlink.com/SCstrong
crab boat and the “Loui M,” a 58foot boat. Wahl said they get most of their business when contacted by potential boat owners and said he has plenty of competition on the West Coast, including Charleston,
Toledo and Astoria. Wahl said it’s disconcerting that he appears also to be in competition with the state of Oregon. “One of our worst competitions right now is our own government in the last 10 or 12 years,” he said. He said taxpayers are funding a 300-ton “travel lift” at the Port of Toledo, where Wahl used to own a facility. “They’re going after the same dollars that we are,” Wahl said, “but they’re funded by the government. There was one put in Astoria, to the tune of $10 million to $12 million. That was about 10 or 12 years ago.
SEE WAHL, PAGE A6
Robertson to end his long July 4 activities in service as commissioner Douglas County THE UMPQUA POST
Reedsport schools now have a new, interim, part-time superintendent. Dennis Friedrich just spent four years as the superintendent of the Fern Ridge School District, west of Eugene. Friedrich (pronounced fred-rick) says he is going to enjoy his stay in Reedsport. “I like little coastal towns,” he said. “I’ve always kind of enjoyed it out there. I’ve never lived in one. I retired from this current position. That one came up as a one-year interim. It sounded like a great opportunity, so I thought, ‘I’ll throw my name in the hat and let’s see.’” He said he doesn’t plan to stay past the year. “My intent would be to stay one year,” he said. “Help them get a new superintendent in there, or whatever they’re thinking. If something else worked out down the road, and things were working fine, I don’t know. I guess I would talk to them.” Friedrich, 65, was chosen in a second round of hiring by the Reedsport school board. The first attempt was to hire a permanent superintendent to replace Jim Thomas, whose contract expired on June 30.
Thomas began his new job in the McKenzie School District on Tuesday. Friedrich, who has a doctorate in educational administration from Washington State University, went to Fern Ridge after superintendent positions in Rainier, Wash., where he spent six years and Waterville, Wash., where he spent five years. He also spent 15 years as an elementary and high school principal in Wenatchee. He said he wants to wait and see how he will help direct the district. “Obviously, that’s more of a Dennis Friedrich conversation once I get there,” he said. “I know we talked about some curriculum things they’d like me to work on. I have an assessment and curriculum background.” He also said the conversation will focus on what can be accomplished in one year. “I know communication with the community was part of it,” Friedrich said. The Reedsport board was
authority,” he said “may begin the process to fill the vacancy and may select a successor, prior to the effective date of the resignation.” Commissioners must fill the vacancy. “It’s not really an option to just leave it vacant,” Meyer said. “It’s not specified on how soon the appointment needs to be made, but contemplates you should make an appointment within a reasonable amount of time after the effective date of the resignation.” He said it will be up to Morgan and Laurance to make the appointment. “Your typical process for filling vacancies on other boards and commissions is probably fine,” Meyer explained. “If it’s the pleasure of the
Winchester Bay: There will be a fireworks show at dusk sponsored by the Winchester Bay Merchants Association. The invite people to come to Winchester Bay early to shop and grab a spot for the fireworks show. Gardiner: Annual Fourth of July Potluck Picnic. Noon to 2 p.m. Bring a favorite picnic dish, salad or dessert to share. The even will include a water balloon toss, the snail race (bring your own snail) and egg toss. The event is up the hill on Jewett Lane to Frontage Road. Gardiner will also be having their annual fireworks show this year. For information call 541-662-1516 or email to kathleenbrowning@hotmail.com.
SEE ROBERTSON, PAGE A6
By Alysha Beck, The World
A cyclist crosses U.S. Highway 101, stopping traffic going both ways at the 21st Street crosswalk in Reedsport on Friday morning.
Traffic and pedestrian study on 101 underway THE UMPQUA POST A traffic and pedestrian study is currently underway that may change the way U.S. Highway 101 makes its way through Reedsport. Scott Mansur of DKS Associates, a transportation planning and engineering firm, with offices in Portland and Salem, is conducting the study for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Drivers may have seen sensors on the roadway on Highway 101 near problem areas near 20th and 21st Avenue. “That was just collecting traffic counts and pedestrian counts,” Mansur said in a phone interview from his Salem office. The study will be to see if the highway needs to be changed to allow for pedestrian safety at the problem crosswalks near 7-11 and a block down at 21st, which feeds Lions Park and the skate and bike facility there. “Review of the last ten (10) years of traffic crash data shows that were
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six (6) pedestrian- and bicyclerelated crashes along US 101 within the limit of the study area,” Mansur wrote in a June 23 email to the city of Reedsport. “Five (5) of them were injury crashes and one (1) was a fatal crash.” He said there were no recorded pedestrian- and bicycle-related crashes along state Highway 38 through downtown Reedsport. The study will also take in parts of that highway “to identify possible safety improvements for pedestrian crossings.” Mansur’s email also spelled out how much traffic travels the highways. “The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) count along US 101 for this segment ranges from 9,500 to 12,800,” Mansur wrote, “and along OR 38 the ADT ranges from 4,000 to 5,000.”
SEE SAFETY, PAGE A6