Yachats council votes 3-2 to seek general contractor for 501 Building remodel

March 16, 2020

By CHERYL ROMANO and QUINTON SMITH/YachtsNews.com The Yachats City Council is moving ahead to seek a general contractor to provide estimates to renovate the vacant 501 Building for city offices. After a long and contentious work session and meeting on the topic Friday, the council voted 3-2 to authorize City Manager Shannon Beaucaire to seek proposals from general

Yachats closes Commons building, city offices, library and Little Log Church

March 15, 2020

The city of Yachats, which had attempted to keep its buildings open in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, announced Monday it was closing city offices, the library and the Little Log Church to the public. On Tuesday the city said the Commons would follow suit and close to all activity. The outbreak and advice for people to keep their

Yachats library commission selects consultant for community study, expansion plan

March 10, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats Library Commission has found the consultant to help it find out what the community wants, what an expanded library might look like, how its various constituencies might be organized – and then hopefully find more money to do all that. The short-handed commission voted 3-0 last week to negotiate a contract with consultant Penny Hummel

Yachats council selects O’Shaughnessey for three-year term on 3-1 vote Thursday

March 5, 2020

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council voted 3-1 Thursday to appoint Planning Commission member Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey to the council, immediately swearing her in to join them for the next three years. O’Shaughnessy replaces James Kerti, who served one year on the council before resigning in January. Mayor John Moore and councilors Leslie Vaaler and Jim Tooke voted for O’Shaughnessey. Max Glenn voted for

Yachats contracts with Newport security company for code enforcement

March 5, 2020

The city of Yachats has hired a Newport security company to provide code enforcement services, initially working two days a week. The contract, agreed on in late February, will pay TCB Management Group $32 an hour. The company provides a range of services ranging from security patrols for businesses and homeowners, crowd control at events, to municipal code enforcement. It

Archeologist’s tests gets Ocean View Drive reconstruction project moving again

March 4, 2020

Lincoln County’s plans to finish work on Ocean View Drive and turn it over to the city of Yachats are finally moving forward again. The reconstruction project has been stalled since Ocean View Drive was paved last fall while the county waited for a state-approved archeologist to examine portions of the road’s shoulders for Native American artifacts. Areas along

City commission wants to look at 2011 parks plan before going much further with dog park idea

February 24, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com A city of Yachats committee that oversees use and changes to city property has again given its cautious approval for a group to keep gathering information on building a dog park somewhere in town. Mary Aebi and Carita Edson sketched out their initial plans to the Yachats Parks and Commons Commission on Thursday, Feb. 20. They had

Yachats’ technology contractor advising changes after short but successful e-mail hack

February 23, 2020

An outside agency that oversees the city of Yachats’ internet technology system is recommending that all city email accounts go to a two-factor sign-on authentication following a short-lived but successful hack into a city email account. Facilities manager Heather Hoen email account was compromised about noon Feb. 4 and then used to begin a “lateral phishing attack” of contacts in

Amidst issues and complaints, Yachats contractors defend work on conversion to new financial system

February 20, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com An Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments official on Wednesday defended the agency’s handling of the city of Yachats’ financial system but asked for more time to complete a transition started last July and to fix lingering problems. “It feels like I’m in front of a firing squad,” Sue Forty told a hastily called and little

Yachats council vacancy draws interest from ex-member, planning commissioner and newcomer

February 18, 2020

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com A former three-term council member, a Planning Commissioner member and a newcomer to Yachats have applied for the vacancy on the City Council. Greg Scott, Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey and Ariana Carlson are seeking appointment to fill the position vacated last month by James Kerti. Kerti took office in January 2019 and resigned in frustration with council direction