From the Editor’s Desk
Published 7:30 pm Sunday, May 14, 2023
- The 2023 Gearhart Firefighters Ball takes place May 27 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the fire hall on Pacific Way. The event includes a fundraiser with blackjack tables, a live band, dancing, beer garden and Gearhart Fire merchandise. Tickets are $15.
Welcome to the Seaside Signal, your destination for local news.
‘Patching the hole’
Seaside residents are bracing for increases in their sewer and water bills Without a sewer rate change, revenues would fall short of total operating expenses by $115,000.
On May 10, the Seaside budget committee voted to recommend a budget that contains $3.7 million in water revenue, based on rate increases. How those rate changes are distributed will be decided by the City Council. They can choose how to distribute the increases between base rates and consumption rates and between different meter sizes.
The committee voted to recommend changing the rates over a two-year period. The increase will add about $7.50 per month for the average customer,.
Read more here.
Camping ordinance
The Gearhart City Council moved to address homelessness. They unanimously adopted an ordinance to regulate camping activities on public property in response to homelessness.
Peter Watts, the city attorney, said the focus was to meet goals of “compassion, empathy and public safety for all people.”
The ordinance covers where people cannot camp, such as residential zones, Watts said. Individuals experiencing homelessness may camp on public property from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., subject to the terms of the ordinance.
Under a law approved in 2021, cities were given until July to review and update local ordinances and rules that regulate sitting, lying, sleeping, or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property.
Our daily bread
For residents of the Avenue U area of Seaside, Hamilton Market provided a lifeline to the community, opening at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and weathering it throughout.
Natasha Montero and Mike Hamilton, who have operated Hamilton Market since 2019, are leaving Seaside for Olympia, Washington. The couple brought a natural food selection, fine wines and craft local brews — along with the staples. Their family is selling the property to Mahadev Bahadur Sapkota, of Gita Inc. The business will be renamed the Seaside Market.
“We always wanted to own a mom-and-pop shop, but in this economy it’s just not sustainable,” Montero said.
The story is here.
