By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews
Two Lincoln County schools are on pace to get significant funds to fortify them as community safety and shelter hubs in case of severe wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis and ice storms.
A state decision, now under review, is expected soon regarding the Lincoln County School District’s application to buy and install permanent, full-building generators and advanced emergency communications equipment at Newport Middle School and Taft High School in Lincoln City.
Barring some unexpected hitch, the district’s request for $1.2 million in funds from the state’s Planning, Infrastructure, & Economic Revitalization program should win approval since it has already been recommended by a Lincoln County vetting committee.
“As long as it meets state requirements, it will be funded,” Susan Graves, the district’s safety coordinator told YachatsNews. “Right now, we’re just going through all the steps needed to get there.”
The state program was started in 2020 in the wake of Labor Day wildfires that year that caused severe damages and displacement in Lincoln and six other Oregon counties – Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Linn and Marion.
The total of more than $42 million now in the process of allocation is federal money being managed by the Oregon Housing and Community Services agency.
Assuming the school district’s proposal is approved, the process of buying and installing the targeted power and communications equipment is expected to take about one year, Graves said.
“As soon as we get the final go-ahead, we’ll get started immediately,” she said. “We know how important it is for our schools and our community to have this really high-quality equipment.”
Newport Middle School and Taft High School already have large storage containers on site containing tents and other supplies should an emergency happen during school hours and the district needs to shelter students outside of the school buildings. They would be sent up on adjacent athletic fields, Graves said.
The generator project’s underlying purpose is to “shelter and provide mass care services to large numbers of the community in safe and healthy environments,” according to the district’s 52-page application.
It added, “Even though the schools are in Lincoln City and Newport, this expanded capacity will serve any area of Lincoln County in need of shelter due to a wide variety of hazards that threaten our area. For example, during the 2020 wildfires, the north part of the county (Lincoln City, Otis, Rose Lodge, etc.) had to be evacuated all the way down to Newport for shelter.”
Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, said he continues to support the effort to fortify the two schools with both the generators and the fuel to power them and the satellite communications systems that can restore contact with the outside world that might be lost in event of natural disasters.
“If we have something like a major earthquake, where are people going to go?” he said. “Having our schools equipped in this way will make them natural collection points for our residents.”
On a somewhat parallel track, Gomberg said he is pursuing legislation that would increase supplies of fuel and water at local hospitals from the current three-day supply to two weeks.
“My only frustration with the current grant program is that it’s taking so long to get actual projects up and running,” Gomberg said. “If we’re really interested in recovery and resilience, we need to pick up the pace a little bit.”
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com