Gearhart Update from Mayor Brown
| Gearhart Update from Mayor Brown by Gearhart City Staff GEARHART UPDATE WEDNESDAY 4/8/20: I was on a conference call with the other Clatsop County mayors last night and Senator Betsy Johnson. We spoke about the situations with the beaches and influx of visitors for the clam tides and also about small business recovery in our county. I wanted to update you on a few items: Beaches and Visitors I have relayed a lot of your concerns about the influx of visitors coming into the county for clamming tides. There was a lot of anxiety last weekend from folks crowding the beaches. I have reached out to the governor’s office and county officials to see what can be done. I will report back to you. We continue to highly encourage visitors to STAY HOME and SAVE LIVES per the Governor’s executive orders during this time and not day trip or vacation in Clatsop county and Gearhart. Clatsop County so far has decided to install gates on Del Rey Beach Access and Sunset Beach access that can stay open during the week for local residents and can be closed on the weekends or when traffic is high. In Gearhart, the 10th street beach access and all beach access parking areas will REMAIN CLOSED to visitors and vehicular traffic. However, Gearhart residents may continue to walk on the beaches following safe social distancing guidelines. For folks that want to drive on the beach, it can still be accessed at Del Rey or Sunset Beach north of Gearhart during the week. The beach areas north of the 10th street access are not in the Gearhart city limits. Keep Up the Social Distancing! I’m very proud of the vast majority of full time and part time home owners and residents that have been spending their time in Gearhart and practicing safe social distancing. We did receive complaints about a few homes in Gearhart that were full of large groups of friends and families during the weekend but are now gone during the week. Again, we value all homeowners and want everyone to use their best judgment when using their homes. We highly recommend folks to consider not inviting large groups of people down to their beach homes for the weekends. This can add to the anxiety level of our residents that are choosing to stay in Gearhart through this pandemic. We all appreciate the consideration and it continues to warm my heart seeing our residents outside walking their dogs and enjoying the beauty of our little town safely. Small Businesses Being a small business owner myself I’ve felt the impact that this pandemic has had on the local economy and all of our small businesses and jobs in Clatsop County. Most of you know about a few SBA loans available to help folks get through this and get our citizens back to work: SBA Payroll Protection Program https://www.sba.gov/…/coron…/paycheck-protection-program-ppp SBA Disaster Assistance https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance I wanted to personally reach out to other small business owners and operators out there and let you know I’m here for you if I can assist in any way in navigating some of these programs and loans or if you just want to bounce ideas off of me or chat. I’ve filled out these applications myself and have learned a ton from our local SBDC folks like Jessica Newhall and Kevin Leahy who are helping guide local businesses through this tough time. Please don’t hesitate to message me or email if I can help explain something or assist you through the process. I would be happy to help. Clatsop SBDC https://bizcenter.org/centers/clatsop-sbdc/ Our small businesses are the life blood of our local economy and we want to get everyone back working as soon as possible. If you know someone who has been laid off or a business that’s been heavily effected by this pandemic please reach out and show your support, it really means a lot to everyone.Thank you and I’m very grateful to be your mayor, stay safe friends!   An SBA loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.  SBA.GOVPaycheck Protection ProgramAn SBA loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis. |
