By Mayor Charles McNeilly
Welcome to my City of Rockaway Beach Monthly Update with a look back at the month of August 2024.
I delivered my annual State of the City Message at the August City Council Meeting The last fiscal year was one for the record books but don’t take my word for it; read the State of the City Message for yourself.
Many of the city’s 2024 Façade Improvement Grant projects have been completed or are underway. Check out Joe’s Snacks and Beer, the Beach Bakeshop, the Sand Dollar Restaurant, and Rockaway Mercantile. It’s great to see these investments in our business community taking shape.
City Hall
We welcomed our new Administrative Assistant Elizabeth Avila. Please drop by and say hello. It’s wonderful to have City Hall fully staffed again.
Daniel Wear (Forest Program Manager, Sustainable Northwest) and City Manager Shepard presented the City’s Forestry Legacy grant application to the Oregon Department of Forestry earlier this month. If awarded, the funds will be available for the purchase of the lower half of the Jetty Creek watershed in 2026. This week, Daniel Wear and City Planner Johnson presented the project application to the Tillamook County Commissioners at the Commissioners Board briefing seeking a letter of support. As is usually the case with Johnson and Wear, they were successful. The Tillamook County Commissioners will officially vote to approve a letter of support for the City Forest Legacy application at their business meeting next week. Nice work team! We’ll submit our final funding application in mid-September.
After much work behind the scenes, the City is scheduled to roll out the Short-Term Rental Management Platform through Granicus by September 13th. This new program will elevate short-term rental management in Rockaway Beach and greatly enhance the resident, owner, management, and administrative experience.
Finance Director Marni Johnston, City Engineer Matt Del Moro, and City Manager Luke Shepard presented the Nedonna Beach watermain replacement project to the State’s Infrastructure Finance Authority Board. We are very happy to announce the board unanimously moved to finance our project. Not only was the city offered a low interest rate, but the financing package also includes nearly $1.5 million of forgivable principle. I’d like to thank our incredible staff that put this package together. The estimated annual repayment and interest rate are dramatically lower than those anticipated in the city’s adopted budget. This is another great example of our high caliber employees securing significant and competitive outside funding for our city. The Council has final authority to authorize the loan. Biz Oregon is preparing the final loan package.
Fire Department and Emergency Preparation
Chief Hesse and Captain Grace are wrapping up planning for this year’s Great Oregon ShakeOut Earthquake Drill. This year’s event will see substantial expansion on previous events. The City’s residents, CERT team, Emergency Prep Team, Radio Group, Emergency Operations Center, and the Middle School will all have a role to play. Chief Hesse will provide more info in the coming weeks. Mark your calendars for October 17th at 10:17am
Our Fire Department, along with other local fire personnel, staffed a booth at the Tillamook County Fair. They also stationed a team ready to provide EMS and/or fire response at the demolition derby.
Captain Grace led a training on High Performance CPR at the Garibaldi firehouse. Conventional CPR survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest are only around 10-14%. It has been shown that with a focus on the quality of the CPR delivered, the survival rate can be increased dramatically. Our Fire Department’s focus on high quality emergency medical response can and does impact the lives our residents and visitors. Thank you, Captain Grace!
Our Fire Department successfully extinguished a beachgrass fire west of the Manhattan Beach Park. The wildfire’s active front measured approximately 25 feet in width, and was wind driven. Fire personnel led by Assistant Chief Don Kiser, managed to contain the fire utilizing the department’s brush vehicles. Luckily, the vehicles carried sufficient water to get the job done. Nice work Don!
The Fire Department is the proud recipient of a free self-contained, portable, Solar powered, Ham/GMSR station. This new device will allow for communication even during prolonged power outages.
Planning Department
I am excited to share some great news on the Salmonberry Trail project. On August 23rd, the first Public Advisory Committee meeting was held to discuss the design team’s proposed trail alignment. This alignment was the result of months of technical work by the engineering and design firm ALTA Planning Inc. Alta Planning will now quickly work to complete a 10% design draft and an initial cost estimate in time for our funding application deadline. This work will be uploaded to our website as soon as it’s complete. More importantly, City Planner Johnson updated the Tillamook County Commissioners at their board meeting this week about the Salmonberry Project in Rockaway Beach. The Commissioners expressed that they were excited to hear about the progress made, and stated they would write a letter supporting the City’s application for nearly six million in construction funds through the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Community Paths program. Wonderful work City Planner Johnson!
The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) has offered to provide the City with funding and technical assistance related to state planning goals 17 and 18. These state planning goals regulate land use on beach dunes and public beach access. With DLCD’s assistance, the city will look to update its comprehensive plan and land use codes around these topics. Work on this would begin in early 2025 if greenlit by the City Council in 2024.
The crew from the Oregon Marine Board (OMB) has completed their in-water survey for Lake Lytle Park. Additionally, OMB is utilizing the city’s previous engagement work and the results of the technical survey to design the amenities of the park such as docks, boat and kayak launches, etc. Our next meeting with OMB is slated for the week of September 9th. We hope to have plans to share soon. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has also visited the site. Permitting work on the new restrooms is underway, and an initial archaeological survey will be performed soon.
Planning Commission
A notice of decision was released on the Planning Commission’s partial and conditional approval of application PUD 24-1 Nedonna Wave Phase 2. The Planning Commission and our City Planner should be commended for all their work on this one. These types of land use decisions are often legally complex, divisive, and can carry significant financial implications for all parties. I am continually impressed by our legal team, City Planner Johnson, and the Planning Commission members, for their hard work and professionalism. We truly have a great team!
Public Works
Public Works now has surveillance cameras installed at the Boardwalk parking lot, Phyllis Baker Park, and the new Anchor St. Park. It’s great to see this type of proactive approach to security and safety at our public facilities. Nice job Public Works Superintendent Dan Emerson!
The Notice to Proceed was issued to Advanced Excavation for the Wayside Access Project. Construction will begin in late September, and we should see it substantially completed by the end of October. This project will include new concrete stair and ramp beach access, new ADA parking for the restrooms, electrical and sidewalk upgrades, new foot washing stations and water fountain, and a new bronze plaque recognizing the contributors to the wayside rebuild in 2012. Another great capital project in the works!
When Rockaway Beach improved the Wayside in 2012, folks could donate to the project and have something of their choice inscribed on a brick. Unfortunately the coast weather was not kind to the inscriptions and they faded away. Public Works installed a sign at the entrance to the Wayside with all of the inscriptions listed. Please check out the sign next time you are downtown.
Multiple sources reported that visitors were often unaware that the west side of the new Wayside Restrooms also had restrooms. Lines of visitors would sometimes form in front of the doors on north and east of the building, while the restrooms on the west side remained open and available. Public Works installed a sign that will give visitors a visual cue about these additional and often overlooked restrooms.
Some of the work Public Works performed on your behalf last month:
- applied over 25 gallons of paint to the recently rehabbed 3rd Avenue water reservoir. A second coat will be applied next week.
- responded to and repaired a mainline water break in the 1000 block of S. Island Street.
- repaired the infrastructure that maintains water pressure for residents in Pacific View Estates. Given the nature of the infrastructure, residents did not experience a reduction in pressure.
- installed around 100 feet of new stormwater culvert near the Nehalem Ave. and Juniper St. intersection. These storm drain improvements will help to mitigate persistent ponding in the area.
City Council
We had residents express their frustration with the sound quality at City Council Workshops and Meetings. City Council directed City Manager Shepard to have our AV Specialist, Joshua Gandy, look into changes we could make to enhance the likelihood everyone will understand what is said. He has submitted proposals to solve the audio issues in both the workshop and regular City Council meeting rooms. City Council will consider a resolution budget for the project at our September meeting.
At our August City Council Workshop:
- Council received Quasi-Judicial Training in anticipation of an appeal of a Planning Commission land use decision.
- Council moved Ordinance 2024-04 Amending Code Chapter 31 Related to the Planning Commission to a Council meeting for consideration.
- Council moved Ordinance 2024-07 Providing Authority and Procedures for Administrative Warrants and Creating a New Code Chapter 92 to a Council meeting for consideration.
At our August City Council meeting Council considered and approved:
- Signing a five-year lease for the Tennis Court Property on the backside of Neah-Kah-Nie School District Office. Our one-year lease ends in September, so this continues our partnership for an asset that is well used for tennis and pickleball.
- Moving forward on executing a contract for the Wayside Beach Access Improvement Project. Rockaway Beach is adding a ramp and stairs plus other amenities to the Wayside.
- Signing a memo of understanding with David’s Chair Outdoor Mobility Systems to provide an electric all-terrain track chair to Rockaway Beach to be housed at St Mary’s Catholic Church for use by residents and visitors who reserve their usage through a website managed by David’s Chair. Our Rockaway Beach Volunteers will handle check in and check out duties. We will provide more information when the chair is made available.
Tillamook Coast Visitors Association
Our official visitor web site (visitrockawaybeach.org) had 15,693 users in August 2024 which was a 116% increase over August 2023. Our visitor web site had 8,902 direct to site sessions (50% of all sessions) … the QR code is being used!
Tillamook Coast Visitors Association will be rolling out our next generation of Rockaway Beach Shopping Bags – small and larger versions. The bags reflect the graphics on our next generation garbage cans and includes QR Code access to our official visitor website, (visitrockawaybeach.org).
SMALL BAG
12 3/4”H x 10”W x 5”D
LARGE BAG
16”H x 113/4”W x 6”D
Key Dates in September for Community Discussions
Plans are nearly finalized for the city’s first Sourcewater Protection Plan Town Hall on September 12th at 5:30pm in City Hall. GSI Water Solutions will update attendees on the plan’s progress, discuss the draft Risk Assessment, take public comments and hold a Q&A. It’s great to see steady community engagement and progress with this one!
The strategic plan survey has now been closed, and the response from our community has been amazing. We received an unprecedented 1,313 survey submissions, 100+ social media comments, and 111 requests to join our city email listserv. The results of these engagements will be showcased at our first Strategic Plan Open House on September 18th from 5:30 to 7:00pm at City Hall.
Please stay informed and engaged!
The most efficient way to keep up to date on your City government is to add your email address to the City’s email list through the City’s website, at the bottom of landing page.
If you have ideas to share; questions or concerns about what is going on in the City of Rockaway Beach, please email me at charlesforrockawaybeachmayor@gmail.com.
I am still listening!
