New, long-awaited website for city of Yachats went live Monday morning

July 22, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com After a year of debate and study and six months of work, the city of Yachats went live with its new website Monday morning. Its debut – the internet address is the same at yachatsoregon.org — coincides with a new and separate system for paying utility bills and licensing. The new site is designed to be easier, more

Taylor family returns – again – with plans to turn vacant Yachats restaurant into special place

July 18, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Marc Taylor believes his fifth time will be the charm. Taylor grew up in Yachats and four times has moved away to pursue business or family dreams. Now, he’s back for a fifth time – and he hopes his last – to lease the former Alder Bistro restaurant at the corner of West Second and Beach streets

Yachats council gives go-ahead for $370,000 library expansion and remodel

July 18, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council gave the go-ahead Wednesday night to a $370,000 project to expand, remodel and furnish the city’s 46-year-old library. The city will use $60,000 from its capital improvement budget, and authorize spending $100,000 of a bequest to the library from the Hall family. The rest of the money — $210,000 – is planned to

Seven Yachats residents chip in to buy surplus entrance sign for City Hall

July 18, 2019

When Yachats city offices move from the Commons to the 501 Building there will be a bright, new sign for it. Seven Yachats residents banded together to buy a mistakenly-made city entrance sign and are donating it to hang in or on City Hall. Wednesday night, the City Council formally accepted the gift and thanked Michael and Debbie Hempen, Jacqueline

Central Lincoln has to pay $1.6 million after six years of bad readings from faulty BPA meter

July 17, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Talk about a surprise bill in the mail. The Central Lincoln Peoples Utility District was recently forced to dip into its reserves to pay the Bonneville Power Administration $1.6 million after the agency said a malfunctioning meter miscalculated almost six years of electricity it delivered to the coast. The BPA discovered the problem in December, notified Central

Is Yachats’ “Clean Sweep” getting too big? City commission begins debating that question

July 11, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Yachats’ annual “Clean Sweep” event may be getting too popular – and big – for its own good. The city-sponsored event each June encourages people to bring unwanted household items, yard debris and other junk to the field behind the 501 Building. Trash goes into dumpsters and better household items are laid out for other people

Yachats Fire Department headquarters and main station

Yachats Fire District starts process for rezoning and selling downtown station

July 10, 2019

The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District has started the process of getting its downtown property re-zoned before putting it up for sale later this year. The district plans to start moving into its new, $8.3 million station on the north edge of Yachats in late September. The district property on West Second Street is zoned for public use and consists

Yachats council debates water rate adjustments, OKs study to possibly fix problems

July 9, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The city of Yachats will proceed with a $24,000 study of its water rates to possibly help correct billing mistakes made more than three years ago but only recently discovered. The City Council voted 4-1 last week to have a Eugene-based water consortium conduct the study, which should take 6-8 weeks. The vote came two months after

Parent-led study of Crestview Heights School in Waldport finds no current air quality issues

July 8, 2019

WALDPORT – An $8,700 air quality study at Crestview Heights School overseen by a parents group has found no current indoor environmental issues, the group has announced in a letter to the community. Five days of testing by G2 Consultants of Lake Oswego found no carbon monoxide and that levels of volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and carbon dioxide were below

Yachats council discusses vacation rental issues in long Wednesday meeting but makes little headway

July 4, 2019

The Yachats City Council made little progress Wednesday on one of its thorniest issues – working out details of potential changes to the city’s 2-year-old vacation rental ordinance. Yachats’ vacation rental license program is one of the city’s most contentious issues, drawing hundreds to public hearings in 2017 before the council passed an ordinance limiting licenses to 125 and imposing