The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current, March 21, 2015, Image 9

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2015
Chief
from 1A
Soon after, he transferred to
Eugene Police Department at
the request of his commanding
officer.
“I went right to the City of
Eugene and stayed there for the
next 23 years, always hoping to
come back (to Florence) in one
form or another, but I went
where the jobs were,” he said.
In 2006, he went back to
LCSO. He held the positions of
captain, undersheriff and sher-
iff. He heard about Florence’s
open police chief position when
he was invited to sit on the hir-
ing panel last year.
“After I started thinking
about that, I thought why not
me? I don’t want to be on the
panel. I want to actually be the
chief. I always wanted to go
back to the coast,” he said.
Turner, with 33 years of
experience in Lane County,
said, “I was looking for an
opportunity that came along,
just like Florence, and here it is.
What I offer to the community
is a very high desire to be in that
environment again.”
He also wanted to be back in
a law enforcement oriented
position again. At the LCSO, he
navigated budget shortfalls and
managed to keep offering serv-
ices to the community. Because
of that, Turner said, he balances
prudency today with planning
for tomorrow.
“It’s never fun to have fund-
ing issues,” Reynolds said, “but
it’s a very normal part of our
business. Again, he just has that
experience that he can bring to
the table. And he’s been suc-
cessful on that as well.”
Currently, Turner is review-
ing the contract and a private
investigator will perform a
background check. The process
should take about three weeks.
If the contract is successful,
Turner would earn $94,000 per
year. He currently makes
$124,000 a year as sheriff.
He, his wife and 12-year-old
son will “absolutely” move to
Florence, he said. His two
daughters, ages 19 and 21, will
remain in Eugene, where they
attend Lane Community
College and University of
Oregon.
If he gets the position, Turner
looks forward to living and
working in Florence.
“We have a family to raise
for many more years to come. I
never intend to stop working,
anyway, with a young member
of our family. ... Living on the
coast, that’s where we wanted
to be anyway.”
Reynolds referenced Turner’s
belief in small towns and build-
ing and maintaining relation-
ships.
“He said multiple times, ‘I
think that can be solved over a
cup of coffee,’” she said. “What
he means by that, is taking the
time to slow down, meet with
people, listen to what their
needs are and then come to a
workable solution. ... He knows
how to involve the community
and is able to articulate in a very
common sense way what the
need is and what a good solu-
tion could possibly be.”
Although the transition will
keep city staff busy until May 1,
Reynolds said, “We’re ready for
him whenever he’s ready.”
Town
from 1A
In 2009, Helen Hunt por-
trayed the role of Stage
Manager in an off-Broadway
production to rave reviews for
a two-year run before they
took it on the road in Los
Angeles.
Directors Jennifer Connor
and Cathy Dupont chose to
follow suit with the Last
Resort Player’s production and
cast veteran actress Annie
Schmidt in the role.
A demanding role because
of the great number of lines,
Schmidt finds it much easier
Spray
from 1A
“We’re the only sole source
aquifer in Oregon, so it’s very
important, very delicate. ... If you
look at the lakes, they’re all inter-
connected. They all drain into
each other and they affect all of
us,” Boyd said. “We’re hoping
that you’ll work with us to pro-
tect our precious water.”
Becky Goehring spoke next.
“I’m also here to talk about,
hopefully, the council’s support
for looking into protecting our
watershed. I live in the north
lakes area, so I’m not in the city,
but I recognize that this has
become an issue that’s larger
than just a one-time spraying
operation.”
Goehring cited research done
through the Ford Family
Foundation and the Pathways
Program, where “about 88 per-
cent of responders agreed that
natural resources are something
GET SPOILED
FROM HEAD
TO
TOE
Sit back and enjoy a spa
mani-pedi, deluxe facial or any
of our pampering salon services.
Now Offering Shellac Gel Manicures
Only $20
Enjoy a no-chip fi nish for up to two full weeks!
Skin Care | Massage | Nail Care | Waxing | Hair Care
Beauty Products | Gift Cards | Expires 03-31-15
to learn monologues than dia-
logue.
“I can usually keep on
keepin’ on if I’ve missed a line
of a monologue. It’s complete-
ly different if I miss a dialogue
cue,” she said with a laugh.
“I’ll be the one standing there
wondering why nobody’s say-
ing anything — and then real-
ize it’s my line! That does not
endear you to your fellow
actors.”
Along with the Stage
Manager, “Our Town” con-
jures up memorable characters
Emily Webb and George
Gibbs, portrayed by Lyndsey
Keppol and Jesse Reeves.
These two young actors have
played love interests before in
Last Resort Player’s “The
Sound of Music.” They also
both appeared in the group’s
2014 production of “Les
Miserables.”
The actors have been
trained to pantomime some of
the main action with authentic
costumes from the era that
have been designed by
wardrobe mistresses Victoria
Seitzinger and Kristi
Whittington. Lighting and
sound effects bring the imagi-
nary elements alive by the
magic touch of Margaret
McDiarmid, David Nelson and
Leah Goodwin.
Cameo appearances for dif-
ferent performances will be
made by Ken Janowski, Ned
Hickson, Florence Mayor Joe
Henry and Wayne Sharp for
the character of Mr. Carter.
Performance times for “Our
Town” will be today, March
21, at 7 p.m., and Sunday,
March 22, at 2 p.m. The show
will continue for three more
performances March 27
through 29 at the Florence
Events Center.
Tickets are available from
the box office at 541-997-1994
and online at www.eventcenter
.org.
that we need to protect and take
care of,” she said.
Joan Skarda, also from Protect
Florence Aquifer, said, “I think
it’s really important that we con-
sider how we can maybe work
with the owners to minimize the
impact of their activities on their
operation.”
Skarda also lives near the
Charnocks and has witnessed the
changes to the property since
they logged the land in 2013.
“They do plan on continuing
to spray a couple times a year for
the next three to five years,
depending on how long it takes
for their little saplings to get big
enough to shade out the Scotch
broom,” she said.
Florence Public Works
Director Mike Miller said, “It’s
actually referred to as the North
Florence Sole Source Aquifer, as
designated in the ’80s. Basically,
that means that with the intercon-
nectivity of the water sources —
for instance, Heceta Water
District is a surface water supply,
so they get the water out of Clear
Lake, and we have groundwater
... — it’s the only source of
drinking water for the entire area.
So if something was to happen,
nobody would have water.”
Miller went on to conclude,
however, that the proper use of
approved herbicides should have
minimal impact to the water sys-
tem.
“Most of our concern is with
mishandling of herbicides, pesti-
cides, petroleum spills, those
type of things, those catastrophic
events,” he said.
A memo prepared by Miller
stated: “We are not saying that
there should be no concern. ...
The risk to the aquifer when
using proper application methods
is low relative to the risk of acci-
dental releases, improper han-
dling, storage and disposing of
chemicals. It is the improper han-
dling of chemicals where the
concern lies.”
Mayor Joe Henry said, “I
think I speak for everybody on
the staff and the council that we
also are concerned about our
water supply. We’ve had a few
conversations already, and I’m
sure we’ll have some more.”
The council discussed open-
ing a dialogue with concerned
members.
“Maybe Heceta Water, the
City of Florence, the community
at large and the owners could
find a way to manage the land
that could ... minimize any dam-
age that could happen to the
watershed,” said Councilor
Joshua Greene. “I don’t know
what that looks like, but I want it
stated that we all share that inter-
est.”
Councilor Ron Preisler
advised, “It’s larger than just one
landowner. It’s private property
that is logged. This is a similar
scenario. It needs to be looked at
in a larger scale.”
Miller said, “This is a very
complex issue. It has property
rights — as a private property
owner, you have private regula-
tions over the application of the
herbicides — and also have state
forestry practices that manage
the certain practices. ... There are
a lot of things in play.”
While technically the land is
out of the city’s jurisdiction, the
council discussed the importance
of the water table that affects the
whole region.
Henry advised opening a dia-
logue with Heceta Water District,
saying that they are on the fore-
front of water issues in the area.
“It seems to me that Heceta
Water has already contacted all
the agencies and everything, and
I think they’re working on that.
That doesn’t mean that we
shouldn’t at least extend the olive
branch to try to support them. We
share their interest in our water
system,” Henry said.
City Manager Erin Reynolds
encouraged this.
“(You should) have that
respectful conversation with
another government entity at a
peer level, at your level, and if
there are some next steps that
come out of that conversation
that you want staff to engage in,
you can direct me,” she said.
She added that providing
clean and quality water for resi-
dents is one of the city’s top pri-
orities.
Henry said, “I believe it’s (an
encumbrance) on every one of us
as we communicate to the public
that we are concerned about our
water and we will, to the best of
our ability, support efforts to pro-
tect our water system.”
To prepare for the meeting,
Miller consulted Jacquie Fern,
drinking water protection spe-
cialist with Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality, who
brought up the issue with Dr. Jeff
Jenkins, professor of environ-
mental and molecular toxicology
at Oregon State University.
Miller also looked at forest prac-
tices
through
Oregon
Department of Forestry and stud-
ies by the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Miller’s memo stated, “We
anticipate the impact of the
application in the area described
in the permit may be low to mod-
erate in the immediate vicinity of
Mr. Charnock’s property. The
risk to the city’s drinking water
supply is very low. ... The use of
herbicides for forestry purposes
is highly regulated by both the
federal government (for the
product)
and
Oregon
Department of Forestry (for for-
est practices and management).”
To contact Protect Florence
Aquifer, email protectflorence
aquifer@outlook.com.
Paraffi n Pedicure
only $40
Hair and Manicurist Station For Rent. Please call for details.
KT SALON
180 Laurel Street
Old Town Florence 541-999-2801
www.kt-salon.com
Hours: Sunday, Saturday and Monday by appointment.
Buying or Selling? I can help.
Desiree Johnson
Principal Broker
541 999-5223
Siuslaw News
Photo Gallery
9 A
94360 Upper Deadwood Creek Rd – 12 acres of
privacy and serenity. This forest land is waiting for
your cabin! Septic approved, power at lot line.
Enjoy the fish runs in your backyard along with
abundant wildlife. $140,000. #2397-14386369
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
Coming Soon
Now Showing
Fraud-Ville
Crab Crack
Home & Garden Show
CROWʼs Share Your Heart
SHS Boys & Girls Bsketball
DIVERSIFIED MARINE & EQUIPMENT SALES
Special
Financing
r
available fo
s
n
a
r
Vete
OREGON COAST’S SUPERSTORE
“Where You Always Get a Whale of a Deal!”
Metal Buildings • Wooden Sheds • Consignment: ATVs, Rvs, Boats, Cars & Trucks
Complete Detail Service: RVs, Cars, Trucks & Boats • Enclosed/Open Trailers for
Sale or Rent • Boat, Motor, Trailer Repair Service • Used Vehicle Sales
diversifi edmarineandequipmentsales.com
Veteran Owned & Operated • Jim & Bonnie Johnston, Owners
2530 Hwy. 101, Florence • 541-997-4505
View at
www.thesiuslawnews.com
Photos available for purchase*
5x7 – $5 00 • 8x11 – $7 00
Purchase at 148 Maple St. 541-997-3441
*Photos online are reduced quality –
Actual photos purchased are
high resolution, high quality.
1/2 Off First Service