Construction on Lincoln City’s back up water main from the water plant to Highway 101 is going extremely well, according to City Manager David Hawker who told his city council Monday night that the project may be functionally finished in the next ten working days. That would put it across the finish line perhaps as early as Monday, June 6th.

The council and many townspeople are justifiably concerned about the safety of Lincoln City’s water supply system since the only main line they have sits astraddle Schooner Creek Road that has a nasty slump that could break the pipe. But that danger has been diminishing by the day as the coast settles into the drier part of the year. The back-up line being installed along Drift Creek Road will provide the town a much needed cushion of redundancy and comfort.

Schooner Creek Road

Meanwhile Schooner Creek Road remains open to one lane only through the slump area with signal lights at each end to regulate alternating traffic. At last word the county, which controls the road, is exploring methods of shoring up the slide in what is hoped will be a long-term fix. Geologists have been studying it, trying to figure out the best way forward. No firm date for the start of the repair has been set.

Out with the old, in with the new at the Driftwood Library

Driftwood Library Director Sue Jenkins asked the city council for its permission to allow the library to join a developing new organization that will offer patron access to an expanding array of books and other materials more easily and efficiently starting in about a year. In so doing, the library would be severing ties to the consortium of small libraries and large, from Tillamook to Waldport, that overcome their smallness and remoteness from “where the books are.” Jenkins says the current resource sharing system based in Tillamook is computer based but it doesn’t talk to Androids, iPhones and Blackberrys, technologies that are being used by a growing number of library patrons. So the council gave Jenkins their blessing to have Driftwood withdraw from the Coastal Resources Sharing Network run by Tillamook’s library system by June of next year, so that by then, the Driftwood Library will be able to contract with the new and improved Tillamook Library System. Same folks, but upgraded technology.

Jenkins said a similar request by the Newport Library will be given to their city council soon in order to enjoy higher tech access the new system will offer.

Jenkins expressed concern about the county’s smaller libraries like Siletz, Toledo, and Waldport but expessed cautious optimism that they might form their own consortium or find a way to benefit from the new Tillamook system. So now it’s up to Tillamook, Lincoln City and Newport libraries to figure out how it’s all going to work and at what cost. Jenkins said those costs are expected to be substantially less than what they’re paying now.

…Now about those new jobs we want to create…

City Manager David Hawker told his council that the ground floor of City Hall, dedicated to incubating new businesses and jobs for Lincoln City, will soon be vacated by its current tenant, a software testing concern, probably within a few months. Hawker asked the council how they want to handle the vacancy. Should the city recruit another incubating company or should something else be done with the space? Mayor Dick Anderson said he doesn’t know much about the incubation of new businesses that grow in size and manpower while hold up in the bottom of city hall but he’d like to learn about it. Hawker agreed that a major presentation on economic incubators, theoretical origins and practical implications for job creation (as is done nationwide), is something that should be covered in detail at an upcoming city council. Meanwhile, the current incubator tenant, a software testing firm said, it plans to move out within a few months. Hawker hinted to the council that the endeavor wound up being less successful than planned.

Del Calbrick, Photographer

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but 36 pictures at Lincoln City City Hall are worth a thousand dollars

Actually, a thousand eighty dollars. That’s the price the city council agreed to pay for 36 beautiful photographs of wildlife that inhabits the Lincoln City area as pictured by well known local photographer Del Calbrick. Calbrick works at the Driftwood Library but will soon retire. So he’s offering 36 of his works-of-camera for display stretching along the long hallway that separates the city council chambers from the administrative offices. The plan would be to hang the photos, as they are today, in what has been a public art gallery of sorts. When another exhibition enters, Calbrick’s photos would be transferred to some other public viewing space. When councilor Henry Quandt wondered whether keeping the photos maintained would put an extra burden on the janitorial staff, City Manager Dave Hawker suggested it should not be a major problem. Quandt then made the motion to buy the photos for one-thousand eighty dollars. The vote was unanimous. The purchase was initially considered, evaluated and recommended to the council by the city’s Public Arts Committee.

Smoother driving coming up in a number of Lincoln City neighborhoods

New pavement replacing old bumpy stuff will be arriving in up to ten Lincoln City neighborhoods over the next year. However, the city council stopped short of agreeing to paving any new gravel roads without determining whether local neighborhoods should be tapped to help pay the bill or some other method of covering the cost is found. But the lucky residents who will be enjoying silky smooth driving include those who live on:

* Devils Lake Boulevard from Highway 101 to the Villages entrance,
* NW Inlet from NW 12th to NW 1st,
* NW Mast from NW Mast Place to NW 22nd
* SW Harbor from SW 19th to SW 14th
* SW Harbor from SW 12th for 600′
* SE 32nd from Highway 101 to SE Fleet

The two gravel to pavement projects that were dropped from the list by the council were:

* SE Neptune from SE 3rd for 250′
* SE Inlet from SE 9th to SE 3rd
Again, a question of money and policy clarity stopped them for now.

Additional work is planned to fortify a slump-prone area along SE High School Drive, where a big water line runs along it.
Also a new waterline for SW 11th, a road fix up for SW Fleet and a new sidewalk for the US Post Office driveway on SE 12th.

The council looked over the projects and told the public works director to go ahead and design the work and be prepared to put them out to bid starting July 1st. The exact sequence of which jobs are highest on the list will shake out over the weeks ahead. The council indicated they want top priority to be given to the SE High School slump area and SW Fleet repair.

If it’s 6 o’clock, they’re pledging allegiance on the third floor of city hall

And finally, hoping to stop long fatiguing city council meetings that drag on until 11pm, the city council decided they will begin their meetings at 6pm, instead of 7pm, starting June 27th. So even if the council or the public, or both, get long winded, at least they’ll get out of there before 10. They hope.

Share on Facebook