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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
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