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Gardeners unite

An unexpected casualty of a new softball field at Broadway Park could be the community gardens. They’ve been there since 2007, when the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District traded land across the street to the city as a site for the public library. Today they host gardens for residents and students, who use them for nutrition and curriculum.

“We’re going to lose exclusive rights to that property, allowing the Herche Training facilities to be moved into that area,” board member Mike Hinton said. “If we’re going to lose that property, will the city give us an exclusive right to some other property?”

Read more here.

Street sweeper

Seaside’s public works director Dale McDowell runs a pretty clean shop, and the city streets are no exception. McDowell introduced the debut of the The Ravo 5 iSeries Sweeper arrived Nov. 10, McDowell said. The sweeper is powered by a 4-cylinder diesel engine, with a vacuum system to pick up debris. Some say it looks like a UFO or a robot, and it always stops traffic.

What do you think?

Personnel-y speaking

McDowell, who announced his retirement in November, is one of a number of Seaside positions in flux.

The city announced a new consultant to revitalize the library director search, and announced the selection of a new building official, Jerry Wade.

With Wade’s hiring, the city will combine the building department and planning department into the community development department.

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