North Douglas Herald
City Desk
February 2024
Yoncalla Beautification
Officer of the Year
Sutherlin PD honors Ashley Higgins
Story by Rusty Savage
Officer Ashley Higgins has been honored
as Sutherlins Officer of the Year Award at the
48th Annual RoseburgOptimist Respect for Law
Enforcement Banquet.
In a statement from Police Chief Troy A.
Mills, “I want to call attention to one officer that
has stood out this last year not for a single iso-
lated event, but a collective series of events that
we believe make her our honoree and officer of
the year.”
Ashley has been an officer in Sutherlin
since 2016. With an Associate Science Degree
Umpqua Community College and an Inter-
mediate Certificatein Law Enforcement. She
is currently a Field Training Officer and Tasor
instructor and has completedover 1340 hours of
field related training.
Chief Mills called officer Higgins, “A
very well rounded officer who continues to learn
and excel.”
New Apt Complex
72 Units for Sutherlin
Story by Rusty Savage
Sutherlin OR — A 72-unit apartment
complex is going up on 3.75 acres next
to the Oak Hills Golf Club in Sutherlin.
Construction has started on five, three
story, buildings, on the plans submitted
to the city. Two of the units will house 18
apartments and the other three will have
12 apartments each.
The complex will have 25 garages,
12-feet-by-24-feet each. Vehicle parking
will accommodate 134 parking spots
and another 72 spots for bicycles.
Developers, Tim and Nikole Clark of
Clark Property Management LLC, are
local developers in Sutherlin.
This complex development is a
timely endeavor to help with sutherlin’s
current housing situation. At an earlier
council meeting, it was agreed to create
a housing and homeless task force to
come up with ideas, and some possible
solutions. Said Sutherlin City Manager
Jerry Gillham, “It’s not just the homeless
and it’s not just low-income housing
we’re talking about, it’s the totality
of workforce housing”. A housing
development
for
middle-income
workers would help those companies
and bolster economic development in
the community.
Pat Lynch, director of livability
services for the city, said the current
housing shortage is underscored by
the miniscule vacancy rate of 1.5%.
“There’s nothing available,” he said.
“There are people moving here to find
someplace to live and there’s nothing.
Continued on page 6
The Yoncalla Beautification Project is
winding down from the Christmas holiday
and working to take down the lights from
the Christmas holiday. The Christmas
lighting project was a tremendous success
in Yoncalla which brought out the holiday
spirit in the community. The Yoncalla
Beautification Project would like to thank all
the businesses and the residents of Yoncalla
for this great cooperation and success
during the 2023 Christmas holiday. What a
tremendous holiday spirit Yoncalla has for its
community. The lights were put up between
Jim Thorpe Lumber Products Inc. and Easy
Pick Micro Shavings, located at the north
and south entrances to the city of Yoncalla.
The Beautification Project is now
working to put together the annual flower
baskets around Yoncalla which are beautiful
and which adds a wonderful and personal
touch to the city of Yoncalla. It takes a lot
of work to put the flower baskets together,
which also comes with an expense to
establish the baskets and maintain them
throughout the summer months. The flower
baskets require watering normally on a
daily basis to maintain their beauty. The
Beautification Project is always looking
for donations to help offset the cost of the
flowers, and to maintain them. The large 16
inch pots cost about $80.00 and the smaller
12 inch pots cost about $25.00 to put together.
Individuals wishing to make donations can
do so in increments of any amount regardless
of how large or small the donations are. The
individuals making donations can specify
which size pot they are contributing to and
they will be listed as a sponsor of that size
pot. All donations are greatly appreciated.
Anyone interested in sponsoring a basket
or making donations to the Beautiful Project
can do so by mailing donations to: the
Yoncalla Beautification Project, P. O. Box
936, Yoncalla, Oregon. 97499. The point of
contact for these donations is: Doris Bartlett
who can be contacted at: 541-315-0608.
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