THE OCEANSIDER: House on the Hill Property Back on Market; Three Week Closure Hwy. 131 starts Feb. 12th; Final Hearing on TLT Increase Feb. 12th

As reported in last week’s Oceansider, the consortium led by Portland entrepreneur Nile Hagen let the county deadline pass without completing its application to build a new hotel at the former House on the Hill site. In response to an inquiry from The Oceansider, local realtor Dusty Trost has now confirmed that “the sellers [the Pastega family] recently elected to terminate the transaction with Mr. Hagen and are now engaging with other interested buyers.” He said that “the property is back on the market” with an asking price of just under $3 million. Here is a link to the House on the Hill Listing , which also includes an option for two adjacent lots. When reached for comment, Nile Hagen indicated that he appreciated how the Oceanside community had been “open to hearing our vision” and was disappointed “things had not aligned to make it happen, at least for now.”

ODOT will soon begin repairs to the section of Highway 131 that was damaged during the heavy rainstorms in December. The road will be closed from 8 am to 5:30 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, commencing this Wednesday, February 12. At other times, one lane of the road will continue to be open with the automated signal that is currently in place. ODOT announced that its “goal” is to complete the repairs and reopen the road within three weeks.  During the closure, traffic will be detoured over Cape Meares Loop Road and Bayocean Road. Should weather conditions prompt a closure of that route, ODOT will reopen one lane of Highway 131 at the construction site and reschedule its work. Here is a link to ODOT’s OR 131 Closure Notice with additional information.

According to the U.S. Census, 43% of Oceanside’s residents are over 65 years of age. With that in mind, Oceansider Marilyn Roossinck is exploring interest in establishing a local “Aging with Grace” program modeled after that already in place in Cape Meares. This will be a community effort to find out the best ways we can age in place, if we choose not to join a retirement community.  Roossinck is a trained “death doula”.  She will attend meetings with the Cape Meares group, which recently hosted an informational program by Margo Lalich, co-founder of the North Coast End of Life Collective. Roossinck is willing to help organize a similar effort in our community. Those interested in more information may email her at mjr25@psu.edu.