YACHATS — The Yachats city council has authorized the city manager to pursue acquisition of land next to the water treatment plant.
Purchase of the 8-acre parcel on Yachats River Road has been discussed for years. During the council’s March 3 meeting, water treatment plant operator Rick McClung delivered a report on water security that included developing the site as a tank farm for water storage, among other recommendations.
The city currently has a 500,000 gallon tank between the property and the water plant, and McClung estimates the 8-acre plot to the west could support an additional 1.5 million gallons in two reservoirs. These would be built near the location of existing structures on the property.
Geotechnical studies would be required to determine exactly what kind of construction the terrain could sustain. Some of the property is susceptible to landslides.
McClung also says the addition of storage capacity would only be a temporary fix, and the city would need a new supply source to not only supplement the lean late summer months but support the area’s future growth. The council has also authorized city manager Heide Lambert to negotiate with Southwest Lincoln County Water People’s Utility District to purchase water by the gallon. The city already has an agreement and system connection allowing Yachats to buy water from the district during emergencies. Regularly piping in supplemental supply will likely require millions in upgrades to both systems.
Lambert has recommended councilors still consider purchasing the property and decide on its use later, suggesting a storage building for heavy equipment to be moved out of the tsunami zone as another possibility. She scheduled an executive session Wednesday to discuss the matter.
Following that closed session, the council briefly resumed the public meeting, and mayor Craig Berdie, who was chairing the meeting from home via Zoom after testing positive for Covid, took a roll call vote. All four councilors present voted yes. Councilor Greg Scott was absent.
County records show the property was last sold in 1997 to Richard and Judy Edmunds for $110,000.
In other public business arising from the executive session, the council voted to authorize Lambert to end a interim city manager/planner contract with Katherine Guenther, who is the city’s planner but has been performing those duties under a more expensive contract as interim city manager. Guenther stepped in as interim manager and also served as planner in May 2021 in the midst of an eight-month search to replace former city manager Shannon Beaucaire.When Lambert was hired in January 2022, council kept Guenther on in that interim capacity to aid the transition. Lambert will now negotiate a planning contract with Guenther.
— Kenneth Lipp/YachatsNews
