TSUNAMI STUFF

In early March, the City of Cannon Beach, in cooperation with several state agencies, hosted a tsunami forum at the Surfsand ballroom which dealt with post-tsunami recovery issues. The forum was attended by about 40 people representing not only the city but also the business community, public utilities, state and federal government agencies, emergency management professionals, health care facilities, private property owners, the news media, education and the clergy as well.

Forum participants were asked to identify post-disaster recovery issues within 4 different categories - POPULATION (includes residents, tourists, employees and special populations), the ECONOMY (includes impact on businesses, employment, the tax base and tourism), INFRASTRUCTURE (public and private utilities, shelters, transportation and communication - the essentials to keeping the community running) and REDEVELOPMENT (issues related to land use, zoning, housing and building codes for example).

The results of the forum will be published later in the spring whereupon more discussion will take place involving how to implement post-tsunami recovery plans. Of course, we all hope that we won't have to worry about recovery issues. However, the early March get-together at least gave us all much to think about as far as being more prepared for the aftermath.

On a related issue, you may want to mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 12th at 7:00 pm. That evening, at the Coaster Theatre, a community meeting has been scheduled to discuss tsunami preparedness. Dr George Priest of the Oregon Department of Geology & Mineral Industries will lead off the program with a technical (but not too technical, I promise) analysis of the Cascadia zone fault and the type and size of wave a significant earthquake could generate. Dr Priest is one of the leading authorities in the Pacific Northwest on this subject and he will address, among other things, the recent TV special on the Discovery Channel which created so much local discussion. Other presentations will include our evacuation plan, our infrastructure situation and a Q & A session.

"KILLER BROADBAND"

WIMAX is an emerging technology that would allow wireless access to the web above and beyond what current technologies, such as WIFI, can deliver. Right now, WIFI is pretty much limited to within a 1500 foot radius from wireless "hotspots". WIMAX has a radius of a minimum of 5 miles with additional potential of up to 20 miles depending on the terrain. It is also faster and more secure and capable of penetrating buildings, trees and other dense objects.

An organization representing cities and counties on the Oregon coast, along with private companies such as Motorola and Intel, are attempting to place WIMAX technology along coast as part of a pilot project. While there is no funding required from cities or counties to get this project off the ground, there would be a financial investment required from the private sector. Subsequently, these companies want to determine if there is sufficient demand among the 225,000 citizens along the Oregon coast for this high speed, wide ranging wireless service before they go through the time and trouble to make WIMAX a reality.

I would like to do my part and use this forum to ascertain any interest among my subscribers. Full disclosure - while the city could realize a small amount of franchise fee revenue out of this, I have no personal or financial interest whatsoever in the outcome of this survey or whether or not WIMAX happens.

So, I would appreciate you're feedback to the following 3 questions:

Question #1 - On a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest), how satisfied are you with your current internet service?

Question #2 - On a scale of 1 to 10, how interested would you or your business be in subscribing to a portable, high speed internet service (as described above) if it was offered for from $35 to $45 per month?

Question #3 - Would your interest in this service be for your home, business or both?

Thanks very much for your interest and input.