SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015
7 A
Last Resort Players
Florence hires interim finance director
Reynolds, current finance director, takes on city manager role March 1
host auditions Saturday
Auditions for the June per-
formance of “25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee”
are being held Feb. 28 and
March 1, at 2 p.m., on the
main stage of the Florence
Events Center.
All rolls are for adults.
In this riotous play, an
eclectic group of six mid-
pubescents (played by adults)
vie for the spelling champi-
Specializing in Women’s Cut and Color
1569 9th Street
Florence
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
onship of a lifetime while can-
didly disclosing hilarious and
touching stories from their
home life.
Those planning to audition
should bring sheet music or an
accompaniment track, a head-
shot and resume.
More inormation is avail-
able at www.lastresortplayers
.org, or by contacting Paula
Burnette at 541-997-4092.
541-902-7712
Siuslaw News
At Florence City Council’s
Feb. 17 session, the council
decided to hire an interim
finance director when Erin
Reynolds, who currently holds
the position, assumes the role
of city manager on March 1.
Andrew Parks, president of
Government
Executive
League Oregon, Inc. (GEL),
will become a contracted
employee of the city.
Reynolds said, “What we
looked at is the timing of fill-
ing this position. It doesn’t
City
from 1A
Continuing his speech,
Henry said, “Look at us now
as we kick off a strong effort
to focus our energies on
growing and diversifying
Florence’s economy.”
Stimulating the Florence
economy will involve working
with the community.
Henry looks forward to
developing a realistic vision
and action plan; community-
building to improve livability
and quality of life in Florence;
retaining and expanding local
Market
A quiet word about
your hearing.
We’re very
good listeners.
from 1A
“… It also aired on Hawaii
news, because the vendor that
does this program is based in
Hawaii. From those initial air-
ings, it has received 65,500
views online. So that’s fabu-
lous,” she added.
Right now, several of the ads
focus on the sand dunes and
dune buggy rides.
Spruce Point
Assisted Living
presents:
work so great with the budget
season coming up. The time
that it takes to recruit a full-
time finance director wouldn’t
allow a new finance director to
be here in time to get us
through the budget season. …
“We’re asking you to enter-
tain the idea of filling the posi-
tion on an interim basis, much
like we’ve done with City
Manager Larry Patterson.”
Parks will work for an all-
inclusive, contract services fee
of $9,000 per month, with
GEL covering any of his other
expenses.
He will be in Florence for
around 10 days a month, two
to three days a week, and be
available remotely.
“Andy Parks comes to us
very highly recommended,
and I in turn recommend to
you that you consider this pro-
posal and review this con-
tract,” said Reynolds.
“I would be very happy to
have him come alongside and
provide not only assistance to
me as the city manager, but to
our department directors,
employees and to you as a
council. I think that he will do
a great job getting us through
this budget season, rolling for-
ward the long-range financial
plan and even looking at some
other tasks that I know we are
looking at for financial report-
ing, quarterly updates, creat-
ing a finance committee and
things along those lines. I
think he’ll be a great addition
to our team for the next 4-1/2
months until we can fill that
finance director position,” she
said.
Temporarily filling the
finance director position
allows Florence to maintain its
financial standing through the
conclusion of the budget sea-
son.
businesses and industries;
marketing to tell the Florence
story and determining and tar-
geting new industries.
Parks and roads also will be
a focus in the coming year.
Florence maintains 88 miles of
roadway, 5 miles of pedestrian
and bike paths and 54 acres in
12 city parks.
The city is seeking funding
to improve conditions, espe-
cially for Rhododendron
Drive.
“This council is working to
improve communications and
hopefully your trust in local
government,” Henry said.
“Shortly the city will be on
Twitter and we are now on
Facebook,” he said, crediting
Megan Messmer, assistant to
the city manager, with build-
ing more communication
links.
To Florence-area residents,
the mayor said, “This council
appreciates your input. We
might not always agree, but
we want to hear from you. If
you have a concern or a ques-
tion, let us know. We will seek
to find an answer. …
“I encourage all of you to
become involved. … Our city
is stronger if we all are
engaged.”
Henry praised the commu-
nity’s compassion in support-
ing the Florence Emergency
Cold Weather Shelter and
Siuslaw Outreach Services.
He also thanked many pub-
lic officials for their work in
the community.
“Let me request your help in
moving our city forward and
engaging our community. …
When you travel outside the
city or talk to others, encour-
age people to look at us now
because we are a city in
motion,” Henry said in con-
clusion.
“One of the things I love
about featuring local dune
buggy products here is that it’s
actually the first place on the
coast moving south where you
can access the dunes,” she said.
“If we’re trying to penetrate the
Portland market, they have a
lot of easy access to the north-
ern coast, but they can’t get this
product. People were actually
calling us when they saw our
print campaign last summer,
wanting to go on a dune buggy
ride, which warmed our hearts
greatly.”
Travel Lane County also
partnered with the Florence
Area Chamber of Commerce to
create
the
Uncurbed
Adventures campaign.
That ad, which features local
actors and several Florence-
area venues, can be found at
www.florencechamber.com.
As she concluded, Westlund
said, “We’re always hungry for
videos and photographs, espe-
cially of Old Town. … You
really have the best merchant
old town on the coast. We want
to be hitting that harder. We
want to introduce that to
Portlanders. We think yours
really tops the merchant old
towns on the coast.”
For more information on
Travel Lane County, go to
www.eugenecascadescoast.org
or call 541-484-5307.
For more information on
Travel Oregon, which features
destinations around the state,
go to www.traveloregon.com
or call 503-967-1560.
SAFETY
SafetyMan says
“Always be Safe to Ensure an Active
& Independent Lifestyle”
Brad Smith, Au.D.
Sandi Ybarra, Au.D.
Gail Leslie, Au.D.
Doctors of Audiology
Port
Join us as we host a lecture series to increase safety awareness on fall prevention, common home
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401 East 10th Avenue, Suite 110
www.hearingassociates.net
Surviving the Heat
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2015, 2:00 PM
Falls Are Preventable
Beyond Balance
FLORENCE: 541-997-7617
1525 12th Street, Suite 2
Eat Healthy for Life and Prevention
of Diabetes
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015, 2:00 PM
Managing Activities of Daily Living
EUGENE:
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Modifying Your Home for Safety
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2015, 2:00 PM
All Participants will be entered into a raffle for a $25 Gift Card. To RSVP and to find out about our
Move In Specials call (541) 997-6111 or visit us today!
Managed by
Spruce Point Assisted Living
Hearing is believing
375 9th Street
Florence, Oregon 97439
www.PrestigeCare.com
The wait for primary care
is over.
McKenzie Primary Care Associates
welcomes new providers.
John Egar, M.D. (board-certified, internal medicine), and Mildred Rowley, M.D. (board-certified,
family practice), have joined the team at McKenzie Primary Care Associates. Along with
Phillip Taggart, M.D. (board-certified, internal medicine), they welcome new patients at their
Florence location. Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance plans welcome. Ask us about
preventive care services your health insurance may cover at no cost to you.
Same-day appointments often available.
Call 541-997-1251.
4480 G Highway 101N • Florence
541-997-1251
Prestige Senior Living, L.L.C.
from 1A
The city planning com-
mission turned down the
revised proposal to move the
location further up river. A
third proposal will be pre-
sented to the planning com-
mission March 10.
“We plan to mount a com-
munity support effort at that
meeting,” port commission
President Ron Caputo said.
“Hopefully we will have 20
to 30 people there to con-
vince the commission that it
is pretty nice to stop at a
floating rest stop when you
have been out fishing for
three or four hours.”
According to Port
Manager Bob Forsythe, the
port is tasked with maintain-
ing the facility, but will
receive funds from OSMB to
buy the necessary equipment
and receive $15,000 annual-
ly to pay for upkeep.
“Remember,” Forsythe
said, “this restroom is only
going to be in the river 16
weeks out of the year.” The
rest of the year it will be
stored in one of the port’s
storage buildings.
A resolution to adopt a $5
per night, per site rate
increase for the RV park will
be decided at the next port
meeting, March 18. Forsythe
said this would be the first
rate increase in four years.
He cited the need for electri-
cal and other upgrades as
justification for the increase.
There will be a public
hearing during the March 18
meeting to discuss the pro-
posed RV site rate increase
before the vote. Port com-
missioners also will consider
a 3 percent annual commer-
cial moorage rate increase at
the meeting.