By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com When Mike Ruane extended his fence Thursday to prevent walkers on the 804 Trail from crossing his property just south of the Adobe Motel, he simply wanted to keep people away from him and his house. That happened. But he also ignited a firestorm of outrage from the hundreds of people […]
Shannon Beaucaire
Yachats city manager outlines new plans for City Hall employees, planning and code enforcement
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Yachats City Manager Shannon Beaucaire has developed a new staffing and employee structure for City Hall, proposing to add one employee to handle community service duties and a second to be an administrative assistant. The plan is more than a year in the making. Beaucaire said it involved interviews with current […]
James Kerti abruptly resigns from Yachats City Council after his first year in position
By Quinton Smith/YachatsNews.com Yachats City Councilor James Kerti abruptly resigned from his position Tuesday afternoon, just one year into his four-year term. Kerti’s said his resignation was effective immediately. The City Council is scheduled to accept his resignation Wednesday, Jan. 15 and decide how to seek applications to replace him. In his four-sentence resignation letter […]
Divisions between Yachats City Council members go public during first meeting of 2020
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Divisions on the Yachats City Council moved into public view Thursday during its first meeting of 2020, starting with a split vote for council president and ending with a disagreement whether it had approved hiring a facilitator to help craft goals for the year. Electing a council president during the first meeting […]
After uproar, Yachats council plans to discuss code enforcement policy Wednesday night
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council will discuss the city’s code enforcement program at its Wednesday, Sept. 18 meeting. The topic was put on the 6 p.m. agenda after councilors Leslie Vaaler and James Kerti expressed frustration during last week’s council meeting with the lack of information on the status of the current […]
Finance Committee has first peek at draft city budget — and gets asked for cuts
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats Finance Committee got a first glimpse Wednesday of a draft 2019-20 city budget for capital projects and was immediately asked to look for ways to trim $1 million from $1.8 million in requests. “We’re all going to need to chip in to find sources of revenue and cuts,” City Manager […]
Little Log Church board agrees to tear down, replicate deteriorating building
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com There are holes in the siding of the Little Log Church and Museum in downtown Yachats. There is no foundation under the church. And there is dry rot throughout the structure. And, it could cost $300,000 or more to repair or replace. Is it worth it? That’s the question facing the city […]
Yachats may have been under-charging biggest water users for years
By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com What do you do when after three years it’s discovered that you might be under-charging the biggest water users in Yachats? That’s the $27,000 question that could be facing the city of Yachats. Tom Lauritzen, a Yachats resident and former finance consultant for the city, has apparently unearthed a 3-year-old mistake in […]