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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2016)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION Bowling champs ❘ JANUARY 27, 2016 ❘ $1.00 WEDDING GUIDE Wedding Guid e SPORTS — B SPECIAL PUBLICATION INSIDE CYAN MAGE NTA YELLOW BLACK Siuslaw News & Cottage Grov e Sentinel 2016 Suppleme nt How to plan for summer heat PAGE 4 Make the perfect floral arrangement PAGE 8 January 27, 2016 126TH YEAR SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON ANNUAL REPORT Florence Mayor Joe Henry’s address reviews city’s goals, continued progress Port of Siuslaw evaluates past year, moves forward on property acquisition B Y C HANTELLE M EYER B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News Siuslaw News lorence Mayor Joe Henry delivered the annual State of the City address at the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours at the Florence Events Center last Thursday. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River pre- sented the American and Coast Guard flags at the start of the Jan. 21 ceremony. Siuslaw Middle School choir sang the national anthem. “In my first State of the City Address, I told you of a great many things to come. It is deeply fulfilling to be able to say we have accomplished many if not most of the goals we presented last year,” Henry said. He focused his speech on the five goals adopted by Florence City Council on Feb. 17, 2015. The city’s first goal was to sus- tain and improve the delivery of cost effective and efficient servic- es. “The city provides over 30 pro- grams or services, all done by our dedicated staff of 60 employees, under the leadership of our city manager … and a five-member board of directors, or city council. We have approximately 8,700 shareholders or citizens. We are the urbanized city center for approximately 17,000 Siuslaw Region residents,” Henry said. He listed customer service, improving and promoting the Florence economy, preparedness and community coordination, com- munity outreach and professional- ism for all departments, emphasis on automation and improving effi- ciencies in all service areas. During the Jan. 20 meeting, Port of Siuslaw Commission President Ron Caputo gave the annual State of the Port message and updated commissioners on the property negotiations between the port and Don Wilbur Ltd. He reported, “The port continues to be profitable which allows us to save funds for future projects. 2015 brought continued increases in occupancy in the RV Park of 11 percent and in the moorage basins of 16 percent.” Caputo concluded the report by saying, “This last year the port was once again very crabby, extremely fishy and somewhat clammy.” Caputo also announced that the port has successfully negotiated an earnest money agreement to pur- chase a 51-acre parcel of land from Don Wilbur Ltd. The port’s primary interest in the property, located at 5940 Highway 126, just east of the Siuslaw North Fork River Bridge, would be to con- struct a second port-operated boat launch facility to relieve congestion along Florence city streets during the salmon fishing season and to make boat launching quicker and easier. The parcel has previously been used for dock building, tug and barge operations, boat repair and storage. Caputo said, “In the future, the port may offer boat storage, park- ing and picnic tables, as well as public access to the clam flats which have been privately owned since before 1950.” The port has placed a $3,000 earnest money agreement on the property and has until May 1 to complete initial investigations to be sure there are no unexpected risks from past industrial uses. F See PHOTOS BY DEBORAH HELDT CORDONE Members of the local Coast Guard open the ceremony, presented by Mayor Joe Henry (above). COURTESY GRAPHIC Port of Siuslaw staff selected this “Dances with Sea Lions” design by local artist Ron Hildenbrand to adorn the port’s fiberglass sea lion, one of 20 that will be dis- played around the Florence area in April to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Florence Events Center. CITY 11A See PORT 11A Indian Creek meeting raises interest, concerns Forest Service explains proposed changes to watershed M INSIDE ore than 100 concerned residents gath- ered at the Mapleton Grange last Thursday to hear U.S. Forest Service (USFS) representatives explain their goals for the Indian Creek Landscape Management Project. The proposed restoration project would affect the 30,800-acre Indian Creek Watershed north- east of Florence. B Y J ACK D AVIS Deputy District Siuslaw News Ranger Carl Bauer _________________ received pushback from the crowd as he attempted to explain what the USFS was initially proposing. “We are looking to increase and enhance wildlife habitat,” Bauer said. The USFS proposal includes laying 900 logs across the creek to enhance salmon and steelhead Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A5 A2 A4 smolt survival, planting trees, repairing and main- taining 87 miles of national forest system roads, eliminating approximately 15 miles of existing forest service roads and decommissioning 10.5 miles of forest service roads. “We also propose to construct about 37 miles of temporary roads on road templates and about 1.5 miles of new roads,” he said. According to Bauer, the forest service also plans on removing 12 species of invasive plants on approximately 220 acres by means of manual labor, mechanical and chemical herbicide treat- ment. “We are going to implement an early detec- tion, rapid response strategy for maintaining Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 See PHOTOS BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS Deputy District Ranger Carl Bauer (above) explains U.S. Forest Service proposals for improv- ing wildlife habitat within the Indian Creek Landscape Management Project to more than 100 concerned citizens who met Jan. 21 at the Mapleton Grange. At left: Forest Service person- nel show area residents proposed site work. WATERSHED 11A THIS WEEK ’ S TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 59 52 54 49 51 40 49 36 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 S IUSLAW N EWS 126 TH Y EAR ❘ I SSUE N O . 8 C OPYRIGHT 2016 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK STATE OF THE ‘CITY IN MOTION’