New goal posts installed on SHS athletic field

Seaside Signal
July 15, 2010

BY JEREMY C. RUARK
Seaside Signal

The goal posts on the Seaside High School athletic field were a safety issue. The field, also used for practices, is where teams play home games at Broadway Field, next to Broadway Middle School.

"During our practices we had some of the athletes run into the goal posts," said football coach Stubby Lyons. "To solve that safety issue, we are taking down both of the old goal posts."

Crews from Coastal Repair and Maintenace of Seaside removed the north field goal post July, 9. The south end goal post will also be taken down.

"With the old goal posts, we've had some kids get hurt," said CRM owner Ron Dean.

"The old goal posts were built right on the end zone line. The players would be running toward the goal post to catch a pass and they would be looking back and smash right into the post."

Dean donated the $3,300 worth of materials and labor needed to build and install the new goal post with help from North American Pipe in Longview, Wash., and A-1 Ready Mix Concrete in Warrenton.

"Schools don't have the funding for this sort of thing so we just decided to help out," said Dean.

The new red goal post is installed five feet back from the end zone line and is supported by just one pole.

"So you've reduced the chance that the players will hit the post," Dean said.

Seaside High School football players Andy Pittard and Brook Johnson helped put up the new goal post.

"It means a lot," said Johnson. "The new goalpost will help keep our players safe."

"We came out to make sure it gets up and gets us rolling," said Pittard. "Now we have a brand new goal post and a new coach. It's the beginning of a new era for Seaside High School football,."

"We will have just the one new goal post," said Lyons. "That's all we need on the practice field."

Lyons believes this is one of the only true goal posts in south Clatsop County with the correct dimensions. "It is wonderful," said Lyons.

Lyons will host a football camp for the new team July 26 at Seaside High School. The team begins lite workouts Aug. 23.

Making the Dollar: Coastal Repair and Maintenance

The Daily Astorian
May 29, 2010

Ron Dean, owner with wife and accountant Nancy
Coastal Repair and Maintenance
1725 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside

Coastal Repair and Maintenance, CRM, provides a wide range of services and it would be pretty difficult to go through a day on the North Coast without looking up to or putting a hand on one of their products. The store is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Visit the website at (www.coastalrepairandmaintenance.com). For more information, call (503) 717-8223 or toll free at (866) 261-6617.

What does CRM offer?

"We provide quality welding and metal fabrication services. We fabricate and install flagpoles and have in-shop and portable welding services and all metal working needs. We specialize in fabricating and installing custom stairs and stainless steel cable railing. Ornamental iron railing is our forte. CRM also provides crane and boom truck service, flags and flagpole accessories, and RV and trailer components. CRM is also a licensed trailer dealer. Last spring we installed a 45 foot flagpole at a winery in California's Napa Valley. We installed the 45 foot pole at the turnaround in Seaside and many other places around the coast. The breezeway steel structure at the Seaside Hospital was engineered and fabricated by us from start to finish. I am a welder and do a lot of steel stairs. We also repair equipment like riding mowers, bull dozers and excavators, and we have a computer controlled plasma table for making parts."

How did you get started with this business?

"We began in 1996 installing flagpoles. I found that I needed a crane so we went into the crane business. With two cranes we can do a lot of odd jobs like installing hot tubs over fences, or setting trusses and beams. With my welding and fabrication skills, one thing led to another and we have become very diversified."

What can you tell us about your volume of business?

"We have put up hundreds of flagpoles and our volume has gone up every year. Lately not so much, but we are still growing. We just bought a lot next door so we can expand. We have a 14,000-square-foot facility, two cranes, four service trucks and 11 full-time employees to support a $3 million a year business. Our growth has been like a snowball rolling downhill."

What is your strategy for coping with the recession?

"Diversity is the key. You have to do more than one thing in this economy. The days of waiting for people to come in are over and one has to pound the pavement for work. We get a lot of support from the local community. I believe there are a bunch of people who realize how important it is to buy locally, and we buy our material supplies locally. The other key is our employees. We have the best welders and fabricators in the Northwest who are willing to work with us during slow times. Some may take three-day weekends, or we may cut back to seven hours a day, but no one gets laid off, and they all receive benefits. We are successful because of our employees."

Gulls raise money for new library flagpole

By DONALD ALLISON
Seaside Signal
June 5, 2008

Seaside High School Senior Eileen La Montagne and SHS Junior Ashley Dean raised money selling pumpkins last winter as part of their Pacific Project, and they were so successful at doing it they were able to purchase a flagpole for the new Seaside Library.

The pair were on hand last week as CRM construction workers installed the tall flagpole. La Montagne said they bought 5,000 pounds of pumpkins in two truckloads from a grower in Washington County, and resold them in Seaside.

"We bought them in bulk and sold them for $0.30 per pound," she said.

The pair received guidance and donations from community mentors like Stubby Lyons, La Montagne said.

"We purchased the flagpole for $780 wholesale," La Montagne said. "CRM donated the crane service and the flag."

Dean said selling the pumpkins was a lot of work, as some of the pumpkins were as large as 45 pounds each, and most of the selling happened during October rain.

Photos by Donald Allison
(Right) Eileen La Montagne (right) and Ashley Dean (left) show off the new flagpole they raised money to purchase for the Seaside Library.
(Left) The new flagpole sits in front of the Seaside Library.

CRM Lifts Yacht Mold

By ROD JONES
Seaside Signal
November 29 - December 5, 2007

If you can't find a place to live on land, maybe you need to test the waters. A custom yacht builder is setting up shop in Seaside after purchasing a Portland company and moving it 90 miles downstream.

Russell Mead will soon be churning out fiberglass yachts from his shop on Lewis and Clark road near the Highway 101 intersection. Last week he moved the necessary gear into place, most important of which consists of the molds required to shape fiberglass strips into boat form.

His primary tool of choice is a 42-foot hull mold that weighs about 4,000 pounds. The mold is so large it had to be trucked in via Highway 30 because the Highway 26 tunnel would have been too narrow. The payload would have taken up both lanes of traffic through the tunnel making for a more difficult move.

Mead is excited to get started in his new environs, building custom boats from the ground up before they are transported north to the Columbia River, then to points beyond for delivery.

The name of his company is Cascade Yacht Works, an outfit that has links to more than 50 years in the business.

Mead said his biggest change for the company, besides being based in Seaside, will be the type of resin used in the fiberglass, making for a stronger finished product.

"The resin is kind of like maple syrup - it's thick and gooey, and it won't come out of anything." he said.

New Sign Dots Landscape

Seaside Signal Photo by Melanie Kabanuk

Dan Smith of Willie's More Power Electric installs wiring for the new Pizza Hut sign on S. Roosevelt across from Safeway. The electric company worked with Coastal Repair and Maintenance to put up the new sign on Friday, Sept. 8, which Pizza Hut was replacing due to winter storm damages the old sign had suffered.

WOW facility catches fire

Blaze causes about $500,000 in damage; service will continue

By LAUREL EDDY
The Daily Astorian

SEASIDE - Despite a fire Saturday that caused about $500,000 in damage, Western Oregon Waste is proceeding on.

"Our primary focus right now is making sure our services continue." Laura Leebrick, the coast operations manager for WOW, said today.

Seaside firefighters responded at 4:05 p.m. Saturday to a fire in the maintenance shop where trucks that serve Clatsop County and north Tillamook County are serviced. They put it out, but not before the building was badly damaged. The company's office suffered major smoke damage and is currently unusable.

The cause of the fire is unknown. The Clatsop County Fire Investigation Team will look into it this morning.

Leebrick said the shop and office will probably be closed for two to three weeks, but said anyone needing customer service can call 738-5717. She said the company will continue its garbage and recycling services uninterrupted. Locals can continue to use the recycling station on the property, Leebrick said, although it may be moved to another location while the company rebuilds.

Leebrick thanked Ron Dean of Coastal Repair and Maintenance for offering to let WOW use his repair facility. The shop, at 1221 S. Jackson St. at the south of Seaside, suffered an estimated $200,000 in damage, Seaside Fire Marshal Chris Dugan said. The estimate for the trucks, equipment and parts inside was $300.000.

Smoke was pouring out of the tightly locked building when Seaside firefighters arrived. "We took saws and cut the doors open," Dugan said.

Firefighters searched for the base of the fire, which was in the back. Dugan said they had to maneuver around forklifts, gas tanks and other equipment to find the base, and had to move some equipment. They were working in the dark.

Water from the hoses combined with the heat to create a great deal of steam. Dugan compared it to working in a sauna. Because the firefighters were unsure about the stability of the roof, they could not climb onto it to cut a ventilation hole. He said the steamy conditions were typical for fighting a fire in a metal building.

Dugan said it took the firefighters nearly an hour to put out the main part of the fire, and two hours more to eliminate hot spots. He said someone may have been hit by falling debris, but no one had to go to the hospital.

The firefighters were alerted by a 9-1-1 call. The Gearhart Fire Department, Medix ambulance and Seaside police assisted.

New pole for "Old Glory"

City Councilor Stubby Lyons (far right) looks on as the crew from Coastal Repair & Maintenance recently reconditioned the flagpole in front of the Seaside Library. The 30 foot wooden pole was taken down, sanded, patched, painted and reinstalled. Worn down to barely readable, the Trophy Case provided a new plaque. The inscription reads "This light presented In honor of Hattie Snell by the Seaside American Legion Auxiliary, April 3, 1989".

Man gives flag poles facelift

By ERIN DIETRICH
Seaside Signal

Life can be rough for a flagpole on the damp Oregon coast, but thanks to the efforts of Ron Dean and his staff at Coastal Repair and Maintenance, several flagpoles around town have received a much needed facelift. Most recently, Dean and his crew repaired the flagpole that stands in front of the Seaside Historical Museum.

The museum's pole had a broken rope and was in need of a paint job after a stormy winter. Dean picked up the pole and took it back to his shop, repainted it, re-strung the rope and replaced it in front of the museum. Then the crew re-hung the American flag.

"Our coastal environment is pretty hard on poles, especially the old ones," Dean said. "And it costs a lot of money to refurbish them properly. I had my eye on the museum pole for a few months, and then I saw that the rope was broken."

Dean asks for no financial contribution for flagpole repair services, which he has been performing in Seaside since 1996. The locations he chooses for his repair services are often in front of schools and other locations that couldn't otherwise afford maintenance for their poles. Among the poles he has repaired are those at the Seaside Library, the swimming pool and the Girl Scout House.

For his next project, Dean said that he has his eye on the flag pole in front of the Warrenton High Scbool pool.

"The reason to display the American flag is to take pride and have it look good," Dean said.

New flag pole at the Turnaround

Unit features internal rope system to prevent vandalism

By LESLIE PUGMIRE
Seaside Signal Staff

The end of the Lewis and Clark trail received a new accessory last week.
A new 45-foot high flagpole was mounted at the westernmost tip of the Turnaround, replacing the previous pole that had once stood where the now-familiar Lewis and Clark bronze statue resides.

According to Al Harwood of the city of Seaside's public works department, the flagpole being removed was installed in the mid 1980's. The new pole will have an internal rope system that can only be accessed by a locked panel.

Because the former flagpole had external ropes that were prone to vandalism, city workers were forced to utilize a bucket truck everytime they needed to remove or replace the flag, Harwood said, as the ropes were required to be secured up high.

The new pole will eliminate that problem as well as provide a safer structural element, according to Ron Dean, owner of Coastal Repair and Maintenance.

''The new pole does not have a 'cape' under the eagle," he said. Dean, who ha operated his business locally since 1997, said that he has discovered that the decorative concrete discs tend to crack with time and have fallen without warning.

The new pole is galvanized steel painted white and sports an eye catching golden eagle to outshine the former corroded bird of prey.