By Mayor Charles McNeilly
Welcome to the City of Rockaway Beach Monthly Update for April.
Recreational Immunity was reestablished for Rockaway Beach and all of the “No Access” beach signs have been removed.
A concerned citizen contacted ODOT and city staff about the challenges of safely entering and leaving the parking lot of the Old Growth Nature Preserve. As a result, ODOT will be installing no parking signs near the Boardwalk entrance to keep parked cars from blocking the sight lines of those entering and exiting the parking lot. Parking along Hwy 101 will still be allowed, just not near the entrance to the parking lot.
The City is accepting nominations for the Volunteer of the Year and the 4th of July Parade Grand Marshal, just click the graphic below to make your nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3 and can be made on the City’s website. The Council will vote on the nominations at the June 12th meeting.
City Hall
Work on building a Source Water Protection Plan continues …
- The City Manager submitted a letter of interest to the Oregon Health Authority to pursue funding for:
- Forest Stewardship Planning
- Timberland Appraisal
- Timberland Inventory
- Other due diligence expenses
- The City of Rockaway Beach hired GSI Water Solutions to help our city create a Sourcewater Protection Plan. This is a critical step in assuring Rockaway Beach has an abundant source of clean water going forward. We held the kick off meeting for the Sourcewater Protection Plan Development Advisory Committee, our citizen committee, yesterday. We had about twenty people in the audience with 10 speaking during Public Comment. Our consultant tells us that they have never seen a City involve the community so openly and so early in the process. The next meeting will be in June; watch for the announced date.
Melissa Thompson, our City Recorder, completed Portland State University’s 12 week Building Cyber Resilience Professional Certificate Program and earned her certification. In a time of increasing cybersecurity threats, particularly to municipalities, this brings a needed set of skills and knowledge to our City Hall staff.
The City of Rockaway Beach maintains an interactive GIS land use map accessible on the City website home page. The City is adding the following layers:
- Identification of City vs County Roads.
- Updated FEMA Flood map.
- Updated Tillamook County Assessor’s Link allowing users to access county-maintained property information with one click.
- Adding a layer identifying Short Term Rentals, however this will take more time than the aforementioned updates.
Fire Department
An Oregon Emergency Management Resiliency Grant was submitted as a regional grant with the City of Rockaway Beach’s share totaling $55,917 for emergency supplies including food, water, water purification, first aid supplies, hygiene supplies, solar generator, and storage container.
Tillamook County Fire Departments have been visiting the high schools in the county discussing career education to advisory classes. The Rockaway Beach Fire Department was assigned to Tillamook High School; providing career education to three classes over the last three weeks. The Rockaway Beach Fire Department will be at Neah Kah Nie High School for the next three weeks. What an awesome opportunity to provide information to students on the challenges and rewards of a firefighting career.
Emergency preparedness activities include:
- Tests of the Emergency Preparedness groups notification systems as well as practical exercises for each group.
- The CERT group met at the Fire Station to practice Triage.
- The Radio Group continues to test the Radio system each Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m.
The City received the Wildfire Season Grant which will fully fund two additional firefighters during the busiest time of year for our Fire Department and City. Kudos to Chief Hesse.
The Rockaway Beach Fire and Rescue Department partnered with Tillamook Bay Community College to provide EMT training. A total of 6 graduates from the program are now serving fulltime in Tillamook County’s ambulance service. My hat’s off to Captain Grace for spearheading this.
The Fire Chiefs from each Fire District in Tillamook County make up the members of the Tillamook County Fire Defense Board. This Board is best known for implementing the burn ban each year but perform many other County-wide functions. Our Fire Chief, Todd Hesse, is currently serving as Chief of the Tillamook County Fire Defense Board. Congratulations Chief Hesse!
Planning Department
It’s time to join with other cities in adopting the Tillamook County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. FEMA and OEM update the plan every five years. Although non-binding, being a signatory to the plan makes the city eligible for state and federal grants. We don’t want to miss this opportunity. This will be an agenda item at our May regular City Council meeting. You can find the 383 page TCNHMP document here.
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department approved our permit for the Wayside Beach Access Project which will provide enhanced beach access with new sidewalks, a ramp and stairs to the beach at the Wayside. The project will kick off in the fall.
City staff met with consulting firm, Cascadia Partners, for the first Project Management Team meeting to kick-off the middle housing code update project. This housing code update is in response to Senate Bill 406 which was signed into law last year and requires that communities within Tillamook County to “make room” for middle housing through zoning reform and corresponding updates to the Comprehensive Plan. This work is funded through a grant that the City was awarded by DLCD.
City staff also met with representatives consulting firm, Alta, and ODOT staff for the initial kick-off meeting for the Rockaway Beach portion of the Salmonberry Trail. This was our first on-site meeting with our consulting team and ODOT, who are assisting the City with the first-leg of the project. This work is funded through a grant that the City was awarded by ODOT and will be implemented through a phased approach for the planning and initial design of the Trail.
In addition to these projects, staff have also been meeting with Short-Term Rental software companies, who have the technology to assist the City in streamlining and improving its STR program. These companies would allow the City to bring an improved platform for applications, renewals, payments and much more for our hosting community; while also providing the public with a streamlined complaint process, which would benefit our residents as well as our local hosts.
In April, the City’s Planning Department approved zoning applications for 2 new dwelling units. This brings the City’s yearly total (so far) of new dwelling units to 15.
Planning Commission
At their April meeting, the Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider Variance #24-01 to increase the maximum allowable size of an accessory dwelling unit to be constructed in a pre-existing general-purpose building located at 911 South Coral Street.
The Planning Commission listened to a staff presentation on the Zoning Ordinance, Section 4.050, Sign Requirements. Staff outlined administrative issues with this code section and provided suggested updates for consideration. Public comment was received encouraging additional consideration for “dark skies” language to be incorporated into the ordinance update.
The Planning Commission was also tasked with making improvements to the City’s grant programs. Staff made a presentation on the City’s grant programs, outlining the three grants currently offered by the City and eligible projects for each. City Manager Shepard shared some of the challenges that applicants and the City Council currently face with the grant programs. The Planning Commission will start their review with Community Grant program, as it will open to the public first.
At their upcoming meeting in May, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider Variance #24-20 to decrease the number of required off-street parking spaces for a new mix-use building to be constructed at 101 South Miller Street. The Planning Commission will also review draft changes to Zoning Ordinance, Section 4.050, Sign Requirements.
Public Works
Public Works worked closely with affected businesses that receive sewer service off of South 2nd Avenue due to an infrastructure emergency. Public Works initially attempted to make sewer main repairs to an inaccessible mainline that runs through an easement behind several of our restaurants and businesses. It was discovered that planned mainline repairs are not possible due to the poor condition of the pipe. Public Works maintained services to the affected businesses as best as possible while securing a specialized contractor to perform emergency repairs. Hats off to Superintendent Dan Emerson and our hardworking Public Works Department for their efforts and persistence.
Public Works assisted the Neah Kah Nie School District with the delivery of sand for an environmental learning activity; and the offloading of a new scissor lift for the High School.
City Council
At the April Council Meeting we …
- Approved a Proclamation declaring April 2024 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
- Approved a Resolution re-establishing recreational immunity for Rockaway Beach.
- Adopted a Streets Capital Improvement Plan.
- Approved a proposal to update our Water & Wastewater Capital Improvement Plan and conduct a system development charge study.
- Authorized abatement by the City of nuisances at 933 South Island Street.
- Approved additional awards for the 2023-2024 Community Grant Program.
- And more!
Our next Coffee with Manager and Mayor will be Thursday, May 30th at 9 a.m. at City Hall in the 2nd floor conference room.
If you haven’t already, you can add your email address to the City’s email listserv (through the City’s website); you will receive Council Workshop and Council Meeting Agendas and materials about one week in advance of the meetings; the same time the Mayor and Councilors receive the Agendas and materials. In addition, you will receive the Planning Commission Agenda and materials; and the Sourcewater Protection Plan Development Advisory Committee Agenda and materials; as well as other communication of interest from the City.
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!
Mayor Charles McNeilly