The City of Lincoln City invites the public to a meet-and- greet with the finalists for the Planning and Community Development Director position from 6-8 p.m. tonight in the council chambers at City Hall.
The appointee will replace Planning Director Richard Townsend upon his retirement in March.
North Lincoln Fire and Rescue and Pacific Power responded at approximately 12:45 a.m Tuesday to news that high winds had blown a tree down onto the roof of a home at 2095 NE Tide Ave. in Lincoln City.
Power lines to the house were down, and initial reports stated the tree was on fire. Responding crews found no fire and the occupants uninjured.
Two occupants, including one sleeping in an upstairs bedroom where the tree crashed onto the roof, were uninjured.
A tree (above) was also blown down at SW Coast Avenue and SW 25th Lane.
Another tree was downed at approximately 2 a.m. this morning (below) at NE 22nd Street.
This Holiday Season in the shadow of the disasters we’ve seen globally, our first wind storm of the season and the devastating wildland fires in California, I’m suggesting giving the “Gift of Preparedness” to shed some light on how your family, and our community can better prepare for calamities that may occur, with a gift, the Severe Event Training (SET) book.
Ask yourself, are you SET for the next winter storm, wildland fire, or earthquake and tsunami to hit the Oregon coast?
If not, this simple workbook can assist you in planning for what “mother nature” may have in store for us.
SET the “Severe Event Training” book (and program) was developed to assist the general public with information from the American Red Cross and scenarios in the workbook to start the dialogue on preparation, response and recovery after a severe event. SET was funded by local businesses and every edition has been supported by Chinook Winds Casino & Resort, providing funding and the cover graphics for the books. No Taxpayer’s dollars went to SET publications.
We currently are freely giving the fourth edition of SET books, to assist individuals in planning, and give our community a place to start thinking about what they could do to better protect themselves in case of any severe event and what they (in their particular situation) might need. North Lincoln Fire & Rescue and our surrounding partners in Fire and Life Safety actively continues our outreach to educate people about fire prevention, storm readiness, and earthquake and tsunami.
It may seem odd, but taking some time to talk with family and friends near and far about how to better prepare before and response after a disaster may be the best gift ever. Being prepared gives peace of mind, knowing what you need and do after an event helps not only you, but our community.
Locations with “free” SET books:
North Lincoln Fire & Rescue
Bob Everest Station, Oceanlake / Lincoln City
St. Clair Station, Taft / Lincoln City
Lincoln City, City Hall 3rd floor / Lincoln City
News-Guard / Lincoln City
Oregon Coast Community College / Lincoln City
Yaquina Bay Communications Radio Stations / Newport
Newport Fire Station
News-Times / Newport
Depoe Bay Fire & Rescue’s Stations
In January 2019, I’ll be again teaching the Oregon Coast Community College course “Disaster Preparedness in the Pacific Northwest”, on January 24th and 31st. The two part six hour course is free, and goes into detail how individuals and communities can prepare.
For more information and to register, visit the Oregon Coast Community College at www.oregoncoastcc.org .
Have a safe, informed and wonderful holiday season.
Jim Kusz
Public Information, Education & Safety Officer
North Lincoln Fire & Rescue
Wind gusts brought a small tree down across NE 22nd Street causing emergency crews to cordon off the area from Oceanlake Elementary to NE West Devil Lake Road around 2 a.m. Tuesday.
There were reports of other trees down in the city, keeping North Lincoln Fire & Rescue and Lincoln City Police busy.
The National Weather Service had issued a warning for wind gusts of 55 to 60 mph possible for beaches and coastal headlands late Monday evening into Tuesday morning.
Taft Hall will serve as an overnight warming shelter through the end of March after the City was empowered with emergency declaration powers at Monday’s regular session of the Lincoln City City Council.
Taft Hall owners Don and Debbie William’s property at 1206 SE 48th Place will continue to serve as an emergency shelter for the homeless in sub-40-degree weather on a one-time only basis.
In order to resume in its role as a shelter next winter, the applicants would have to submit zoning and conditional use permit applications and pay for a zone text change for the Taft Village Core Zone.
David Lon Humphrey, a former Lincoln City City Council member and longtime Lincoln County School District teacher, died on Thanksgiving Day at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton. He was 66.
According to court records, Humphrey was sentenced to 84 months in prison following his March 17, 2014, conviction for encouraging child sex abuse.
He was just two weeks away from his earliest release date of Dec. 9, but passed away while in the institution’s end-of-life care program, an Oregon Department of Corrections news release said.
The Oregon State Police have been notified and the medical examiner will determine cause of death.
Lincoln City Homepage is proud to announce that bidding is open on the sale of title sponsorship of advertising space for publication of the Taft High 7-12 winter sports schedule, with all proceeds benefiting the Taft Booster Club.
The highest bidder to sponsor the ad for the three-month 2018 winter sports season will be announced prior to Taft High’s opening basketball game, Friday, Nov. 30, at Westside Christian. The ad will appear daily and updated every Sunday with all Taft High sports events for the coming week.
The winning business will have its company’s logo and link to its website as the featured part of the daily advertisement on the website’s homepage through the conclusion of winter sports in March. At that time, Homepage will accept bids to become title sponsor of the school’s spring sports schedule, with all proceeds again benefiting the school’s athletic programs.
Want to bid? CONTACT US
The south Subway restaurant at 247 SW Highway 101 was vandalized early this morning when someone threw a rock and broke one of the highway-facing windows.
Lincoln City Mayor and store owner Don Williams said he never expected to come to his business Monday morning and find a gaping hole where his window used to be.
“I thought at first it was a truck that hit a rock into the window while driving by, but when I found a second rock near the window I realized that was not the case,” he said. “It had to be one of the rocks from across the street because they are the same kind of rocks.”
Lincoln City Police Officer James Hoydic responded to the incident and took a report but did not fingerprint the rocks, which remained in police custody, Williams said.
Using plastic and duct tape to secure the hole, Williams cleaned up the glass the best he could and contacted a local glass company to replace the window.
If you have any information about this incident, please contact the Lincoln City Police Department at 541-994-3636.
Discussion for adoption of the “Imagine Lincoln City Community Vision” plan was tabled Monday until the Dec. 10 meeting of the Lincoln City City Council.
Eighteen months of diligence involving a massive volume of input gathered through numerous events, meetings, surveys and social media could reshape the future of the Central Oregon Coast when the Lincoln City Planning Commission’s proposal is reviewed.
Adoption of a sign amendment ordinance affecting local businesses will also be evaluated at the Dec. 10 meeting.
Results of community outreach generated by a comprehensive team of City leaders representing a wide diversity of civic groups and residents were expected to be presented Monday at the Council’s regular session at City Hall, where approval of Taft Hall as a warming shelter site dominated the discussion.
Setting government interests aside, the mission of the expansive “Imagine” project has been to utilize public opinion to reveal the type of community Lincoln City residents desire their town to be 20 years from now.
Since May 2017, the Vision project team has gathered ideas for a three-stage development plan to present to the City Council to consider for the people who live, work and visit the coastal community they call home.
Through a variety of engagement techniques, representatives of local organizations and groups with diverse interests identified 10 focus areas and 212 ideas designed to outline the community’s overall intent of what they envision for the town’s future. Areas examined were: Sense of Place and Community Identity; Quality Community Services; Activities and Attractions for All Ages; Education and Learning; Economic Opportunity; Housing; Arts and Culture; Enhancing Mobility; Environmental Sustainability; and Community Health and Safety.
Several proposals were adopted in each category. For instance, under “Sense of Place and Community Identity,” it was suggested there be an effort to develop an incentive program for merchants to remodel and beautify storefronts, and for the installation of hanging flower baskets and holiday displays.
In the area of “Quality Community Services,” it was proposed to move utilities underground with greater reliability and aesthetics, and to improve cell service and other forms of communication.
Everything from traffic flow, safety signage, assisted living, animal welfare, recycling, beach access and creation of a central gathering place have been addressed.
Upon Council approval, government officials, in conjunction with community entities such as the Lincoln County School District, the North Lincoln Fire Protection District and the Devils Lake Water Improvement District, will utilize the findings as guidance to collaborate with service organizations, local business and individuals to achieve what the people have told them they believe is best for the community they live in.
Taft Hall is likely to resume its role as a warming shelter in severe-weather situations if a recommendation to enable the City to move forward with an emergency declaration is granted at Monday’s regular session of the Lincoln City City Council.
Approval of a request by Taft Hall owners Don Williams and wife Debbie to designate their property at 1206 SE 48th Place as an emergency overnight shelter by granting authority to City Manager Ron Chandler — as recommended by City staff and subject to Council ratification — would allow the facility to again provide shelter to the homeless and begin the land-use process of addressing its off-site impact.
Staff will recommend Monday that Council require the applicants to submit zoning and conditional use permit applications and pay for a zone text change for the Taft Village Core Zone and a conditional use application by 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, which would allow for its temporary use through March 31 of next year.
Taft Hall’s is located in the Taft Village Core and its use as a shelter is not permitted. Staff has encouraged the Williams family to apply for a zone change or a zoning text change to continue to utilize their property as a shelter, but they have yet to do so.
Support and opposition exist to the shelter remaining at Taft Hall, with opposition centering on off-site issues such as an increase in people sleeping in the area, alcohol and drug activity, trash, theft, panhandling, loitering and other safety concerns, particularly for children and seniors.
Other less-likely site options also exist, but an alternate plan to bus the homeless to Newport came to a screeching halt last week when Grace Wins Haven withdrew from an arrangement with Chandler to serve Lincoln City clients following a lack of support from the City and incoming Mayor Dean Sawyer and overwhelming social media outcry.
