Yachats council changes direction on charter revisions

February 7, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council tossed out hours of work fine-tuning changes to the city charter Wednesday when it took the advice of its attorney to instead simply use a “model” language from the League of Oregon Cities. The council will use model charter language on how to operate with a city manager-council form of government and simplify

City Council works through long agenda Wednesday night

January 17, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The fine details of how even a small city is governed and operates were on full display Wednesday night during the second Yachats City Council meeting of the month. In a meeting that fell just short of three hours, the council waded through five reports and a housing presentation from Lincoln County, adopted changes to the city’s

Planning Commission adopts ‘clear vision’ standards

January 16, 2019

After several months of back-and-forth with its attorney, its planner and the community the Yachats Planning Commission on Tuesday approved “clear vision” standards for intersections and forwarded it to the City Council. The new standards set limits on the height of fences or hedges that could block sightlines at the intersection of a street and a driveway. Currently, the city’s

Yachats awards 3-year contract for web makeover

January 10, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The city of Yachats should have a new website by July. After almost a year of study and some controversy, the city of Yachats has signed a three-year contract with a Kansas company to design and rebuild the city’s website and technology systems and manage them for three years. The new system will replace one mostly built

City contracts with new planner

January 10, 2019

The city of Yachats has contracted with a new planner following the Dec. 31 retirement of Larry Lewis. David Mattison of Tillamook started the one-day-a-week contract position Jan. 8. In addition to planning duties, Mattison will also handle code enforcement. He will work at City Hall on Tuesdays. Mattison was the planner for the city of Tillamook from 2000 to

Planning Commission turns over three members, has one vacancy

January 3, 2019

The Yachats Planning Commission is turning over three of its seven members starting this month and there is still one unfilled vacancy. Christine Orchard, a former member, and Jacqueline Danos were appointed by the City Council in early December, effective Jan. 1, to replace Ron Urban and Shelly Schrock, who did not seek reappointment to their four-year terms. After interviews

Yachats gets $100,000 grant to help street repair

January 3, 2019

The city of Yachats has received a $100,000 grant to help pay for the reconstruction of East Second Street between Highway 101 and Prospect Avenue. The one-way street is on the north side of the Drift Inn restaurant and motel complex. The city plans to do the work before July 1, possibly in conjunction with Lincoln County’s repair and repaving

Yachats City Council gets makeover with three new members

January 3, 2019

A new mayor and two Yachats City Council members were sworn into office Wednesday, creating a new majority and possibly heading the group in a different direction. John Moore, a retired banker who also ran for mayor in 2016, succeeds Gerald Stanley, who did not run for re-election. The two new council members are James Kerti, a web developer and

City studies building options

January 3, 2019

The city of Yachats is taking further steps to resolve some of its building and space issues. The Library Commission has officially ended its two-year study to determine if a move into the vacant 501 Building adjacent to The Commons because the move was prohibitively expensive. Instead it will work with an architect to develop plans to hopefully expand and

New council moves meeting dates, sets 2019 goals

January 3, 2019

One of the first things the new Yachats City Council did Wednesday is change its monthly meeting schedule. The council had been meeting at 9:30 a.m. the first Wednesday of the month and at 6 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month. But the short gap between meetings was making it difficult for staff to get all the work done