6 A
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2015
New food service hot topic at school board meeting
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
The eagerly anticipated report
on the Siuslaw School District’s
self-operating food service was
presented to the board by recent-
ly appointed Food Service
Manager David Bitner during
the Aug. 12 meeting.
Bitner had members’ stom-
achs growling with his descrip-
tions of the coming school years’
proposed menu offerings.
Pesto pizza with fresh Oregon
tomatoes, fresh tomato and
cucumber salad, all-you-want
salad bars with up to 15 veggie
choices and oven-fried chicken
were just some of the all natural,
made-from-scratch selections
from the school’s September
lunch menu.
“We will be implementing
scratch cooking, using raw and
whole ingredients,” Bitner said.
“We will use standardized
recipes, which will allow us to
have
consistent
products
throughout all three schools.”
Bitner gave some examples of
his healthy food resources. The
district has partnered with
Painted Hills Natural Beef from
eastern Oregon. They raise hor-
mone free, antibiotics free,
grass-fed beef. Other partner-
ships include Darigold Dairy, a
Northwest cooperative owned
by more than 500 dairy farmers.
Fresh vegetables will be as
locally sourced as possible.
Bitner said he has agreements
with 50 local farmers, and his
strategy is to reach outside the
immediate area only when he
has to. But he assured the board
that no fresh produce would
come from farther than Oregon
or Washington.
Just-in-time food is another
priority for Bitner.
“With a typical heat and serve
situation like many food service
companies
do,”
Bitner
explained, “all the food for 400
elementary school students is put
in a warmer waiting for the stu-
dents to come.”
He said with students coming
through at staggered lunch
breaks, the food in the warmers
may sit there for more than one
and a-half hours before the last
students go through the lunch
line.
“We will be cooking food
just-in-time,” Bitner said. “For
example, if the first lunch service
is at noon, that food will go into
the hot well at 11:50 a.m. While
that group is being served, we
will be cooking for the next
group who will come through at
12:30 p.m. Their food will be
ready at 12:20 p.m. That is how
you have fresh hot food for every
child.”
It won’t all be foie gras and
canapés. There will still be hot-
dogs, hamburgers and nachos,
but they will be made with hand-
made beef patties, all-beef franks
and natural beef and fresh-made
salsa in the nachos. Vegetarian
alternatives will be offered on a
daily basis, as well as gluten-free
versions of most menu items.
Possibly the biggest surprise
of all is that the new program
will not increase the cost of
lunches. Siuslaw School District
still charges less than what the
federal government allows for
lunches.
__________
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@SNews_Jack. Email him at
jack@thesiuslawnews.com.
Roundup
from 1A
“Our attendees graciously
donated 3,832 pounds of food
for the Florence Food Share
program,” Dummer said.
Florence Food Share
Director Norma Barton said
that the Broncos “kept rolling
in” when they delivered food
on Saturday.
“It was amazing, and the
amount was amazing. Last
year they brought in just over
400 pounds, so this was com-
pletely unexpected. We’re
overflowing right now,”
Barton said.
She added, “And they did-
n’t just bring canned food —
they went to our website to
see exactly what we need, like
chili, tuna, milk and eggs.
And they brought it. It’s just
so wonderful.”
“Not too bad for a group of
people who love a specific
body style of vehicle that
ceased production over 35
years ago,” Dummer said.
The NWBR will celebrate
the 50th anniversary of the
Ford Bronco in 2016.
“With high hopes, we plan
on having the biggest atten-
dance yet. We want to contin-
ue to grow this event with the
help of Florence,” Dummer
said.
For more information on
the NWBR, go to www.north
westbroncoroundup.com.
__________
Follow Chantelle on Twitter
@SNews_Chantelle. Email her
at cmeyer@thesiuslawnews.com.
A LICE B RAUER C HRISTIAN P RESCHOOL
BACK TO SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE
PERS
from 1A
“Even our road secretary at
12 hours a week, 52 weeks a
year, is over 600 hours,” he
informed the council.
“This is not an easy subject,”
Mayor Rebecca Ruede said. “At
the mayors’ conference, we
talked about this. It’s like a buzz
topic among a number of small
cities.”
Prior to 2011, the city had two
people on PERS. Then the city
hired Cardinal Services of Coos
Bay to provide part-time
employment services. Also in
2011, the council decided the
city could balance its budget by
eliminating the city planner
position and outsource contract
planning.
“This was due 100 percent to
the downturn in the economy,”
School
from 1A
AVID is a nationwide pro-
gram designed to help teachers
better prepare students for col-
lege or post-high school
careers.
The district has been run-
ning the AVID program in the
elementary school for several
years, but a $25,000 Nike
School Innovation Fund grant
received last spring will allow
the program to include the
middle and high schools.
“Our staff is working hard to
ensure that all of our students
leave Mapleton ready to be an
active member of society by
having the skills needed to
continue their education or
begin a career,” O’Mara said.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the
district will host its annual
open house barbecue from 6 to
7:30 p.m. The event is open to
students, parents and the com-
munity at large.
“We will gather in the
Mapleton High School gym to
meet all of our amazing staff,”
O’Mara said.
There will also be a presen-
tation by Lane County Sheriffs
Ruede said. “Small cities, like
Dunes City, that do not have a
tax base were especially hard
hit. We have to balance our
budget.”
With the economy recovering,
Dunes City may once again be
able to offer part-time employees
a PERS benefit package.
“We have loyal employees
and we see the value of their
tenure. We want our staff to
know that we value them very
much. So we are starting to talk
about benefits,” Ruede said.
“The council has decided that we
need to revisit the situation about
putting our valued employees
back on PERS. The budget is
still tight but we have asked our
city administrator to crunch
some numbers and give us our
options.”
Hilden said, “There really is
no option around PERS and no
exception to PERS. I’m working
on a matrix of payroll options
and I will present that to the
council at our September meet-
ing.”
In other business, Hilden gave
an update on the status of the
emergency generator. He said
the problem with the land
encroachment issue from the
location of the generator and
propane tanks appears close to
being resolved.
Due to space restrictions,
Hilden said the city would need
to purchase four 120-gallon
propane tanks instead of one
500-gallon tank. He said the
four-tank array would provide
enough fuel to power the emer-
gency generator for approxi-
mately seven days.
Concerns over councilor Ken
Platt’s offer to “piggyback” two
more tanks onto the city’s pur-
Office on the district’s new
Alert, Lockdown, Inform,
Counter, Evacuate (ALICE)
training being implemented
this year.
After the welcome back
meeting in the gym, families
are asked to go to each stu-
dent’s classroom to visit.
“We end the evening with a
free barbecue in front of our
middle school building. We
look forward to seeing every-
one,” O’Mara said.
For more information, con-
tact Mapleton School District
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chase to bring the total order to
six tanks in order to take advan-
tage of free shipping raised con-
cerns of ethics violations by
councilor Maurice Sanders.
“I’m just thinking that from
the ethics commission stand-
point we’ve got a problem with
that,” he said. “We have a signif-
icant problem with that. As much
as I’d like to say yes, that’s a
great deal, ethically we can’t do
it, in my opinion. You might
want to call the ethics commis-
sion before you go forward.”
The council suggested Hilden
research to see if the city could
buy all six tanks and then sell the
two extra tanks to Platt, avoiding
the potential ethics problem.
__________
Come see what the buzz is all about!
Meet all of our staff while you check
out our classrooms and playground!
All families are welcomed!
Wednesday, August 26th
6:00 - 8:00pm
2100 Spruce Street
541-603-1562
Alice Brauer Christian Preschool
Follow Jack on Twitter
@SNews_Jack. Email him at
jack@thesiuslawnews.com.
at 541-268-4312.
__________
Follow Jack on Twitter
@SNews_Jack. Email him at
jack@thesiuslawnews.com.
Florence City Wide
Garage Sale
September 11-13, 2015
presented by
the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce
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How To Participate
Board
The fee to participate is $15. An ad for the City Wide Garage Sale with a map of all participation sales will
be published in the Siuslaw News on September 9th and 12th. The event will also be listed on several
yard sale websites. Because of print deadlines, the registration deadline is 5pm September 2nd.
from 1A
Scott said the community
was concerned about the
board’s actions during that
time and that people had
approached him with ques-
tions concerning conflicts of
interest and ethics.
“I think the thought is that
we need a successful fire dis-
trict and we need to work to
help the chief create that,”
Carnahan said.
He maintained that he
would be able to work with
Langborg as board president.
Boardmember
Woody
Woodbury made the motion to
elect a new president. Scott
seconded. Board members
Lori Gates and Tony Phillips
also voted in favor of the new
election. Carnahan abstained.
A majority vote elected
Scott to be the new president.
__________
Follow Chantelle on Twitter
@SNews_Chantelle. Email her
at cmeyer@thesiuslawnews.com.
<RXZLOODOVRUHFHLYHWZRRI¿FLDO&LW\:LGH*DUDJH6DOHVLJQVDVZHOODVDWLSVKHHWRQKRZWRKDYHD
great sale. Please post signs only on private property with the owner’s consent. Posting signs on City
utility poles, street or signal light poles, and median strips is against the municipal code.
Additional maps will be available at the Florence Visitors Center, Siuslaw News,
Banner Bank, Laurel Bay Gardens and Mon Ami.
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Subdivision name (if any) ____________________________________
Dates (CIRCLE):
Times:
Friday 9/11
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Saturday 9/12
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Sunday 9/13
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*Valid for new patients only. Call for details. Expires 8/31/2015
Bring or mail form and your check for $15 to Siuslaw News
PO Box 10, Florence, OR 97439 Or Call 541.997.3441
6LJQ8SRQOLQHDWZZZÀRUHQFHFKDPEHUFRP
Deadline is September 2nd at 5pm to be included on the map.
