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WEDNESDAY EDITION
WRESTLERS
PIN MEDALS
SPRING...
ON THE ROAD
SPECIAL SECTION — C
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 32
DUNES CITY
Council
selects Mills
as admin
❘ APRIL 20, 2016 ❘ $1.00
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
EXPLORING THE ESTUARY
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
City also extends public
comment period for septic
maintenance ordinance
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
During the April 14 Dunes City Council
meeting, councilors voted unanimously to
offer interim city
administrator Jamie
Mills the permanent
position.
Mills, a former
city councilor, took
over as interim city
administrator and
recorder in October
after Fred Hilden
retired from the
Jamie Mills
position. She was
one of five applicants to apply for the job.
Mills said, “I look forward to working
with the mayor and councilors to establish
a solid base from which the city can grow
and prosper for the benefit of our citizens.
My personal goals for this coming year are
to focus on the city and its assets to ensure
their protection through regular mainte-
nance and repair and to develop and
implement policies and procedures that
ensure continued security into the future.”
In other business, the council voted to
extend the public comment period on
Ordinance No. 228 regarding septic main-
tenance until April 28.
See
PHOTOS BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
During the Siuslaw Middle School science class field trip to the Siuslaw River estuary, (clockwise from above left) students help clear
away invasive scotch broom, dig and identify sand shrimp, take a clam population survey estimate and differentiate clam species.
Siuslaw eighth-graders help maintain, record estuary health
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
COUNCIL 6A
POLICE
Multi-agency
search suspended
for swimmer
Portland man disappears
Friday near North Jetty
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
tudents from Siuslaw
Middle School eighth-
grade science classes
helped remove invasive
scotch broom and estimate clam
populations as part of a three-day
Siuslaw Salmon and Watershed
Studies program held last week on
the east end of Port of Siuslaw
campground property.
S
The estuary studies program is in
its fourth year and is funded by
grants from the Grey Family
Foundation and the Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board.
Retired Mapleton science teacher
and program organizer Jim Grano
said, “During a four-station work-
shop at the school on Thursday,
April 7, the class learned about the
functions of the estuary in terms of
tide control; it being a nursery for
Dungeness crab and salmon and
how it controls and filters the
water, all those things the estuary
does so well.”
On Monday, April 11, the first
hour of the field trip was dedicated
to scotch broom removal on the
northeast section of the port prop-
erty.
Two years ago the program
began the task of removing the
invasive species from the property.
“Several years ago this was a
jungle of 6-foot-tall scotch broom.
What we are seeing now are the re-
sprouts because what we did then
was just cut it off at the ground
level. That was all we could do to
begin with,” Grano said.
This year the students dug up the
smaller re-sprouts by the roots and
piled them up for later disposal.
According to Grano, the scotch
broom removal fits under the
grant’s goals of restoration.
See
ESTUARY 6A
City finalizes plans to extend access to Rhody Drive
Siuslaw News
After 12 hours with no sign of a
missing Portland man who was last
seen swimming
near the North
Jetty in
Florence on
Friday night,
Lane County
Sheriff’s Office
and the U.S.
Coast Guard
has ended a
multi-agency
Jack O’Hollaren
search.
According to the sheriff’s office,
Jack Charles O’Hollaren, a 20-year-
old University of Oregon student
from Portland, Ore., disappeared into
the surf just north of the North Jetty
of the Siuslaw River on April 15 dur-
ing a beach party with friends.
Local 911 dispatchers relayed a call
from the man’s friend at 8 p.m. to
watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard
Sector North Bend saying the man
INSIDE
See
SEARCH 6A
Car Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . A5
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Nearly 70 people attend
open house about ODOT’s
shoulder extension project
Public Works
set up this
demonstration
marking the
car travel lanes
and the new
walking and
bike path on
Rhododendron
Drive. The gray
stripes indicate
the fog line
and show
space for signs
and other
markers.
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
T
he City of Florence and Oregon Department
of Transportation (ODOT) finalized plans on
the Rhododendron Drive Shoulder Extension
Project that will add a walking and bike path along-
side the road this spring. Nearly 70 community
members attended the project’s open house on April
14 at the Florence Events Center.
The Shoulder Extension Project will run from
Ninth to Wildwinds streets on Rhododendron
Drive. It takes the place of the “Rhododendron
Multi-Use Path,” designated by Florence’s 2008
Recreation Master Plan to connect to the rest of
the city’s pedestrian paths.
“We’re going to talk a little bit about how we
got here today, what the next steps are, and a lit-
tle about the project. Then we’ll open it up for a
Q and A,” said Florence City Manager Erin
Reynolds.
She and representatives from the city and
ODOT were on hand to answer questions during
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
the meeting.
Florence Public Works set up a model of what
the roadway will look like with the addition of
two 6-foot paths added to the width of the exist-
ing roadway. Two City of Florence vehicles
showed the right and left travel lanes, and a bicy-
cle helped indicate exactly how wide 6 feet looks
in relation to vehicles and fog lines.
Permeable pavement will be used on the
shoulders. Water will flow through it and be
absorbed by the sand underneath. It is a healthier
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
63 49
63 53
62 50
58 48
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
alternative for plants, cleans stormwater and does
not carry pollutants into rivers.
OBEC Consulting Engineers, based in
Eugene, Ore., prepared project plans, specifica-
tions and estimates.
ODOT will manage the project. It opened the
project for bids on April 14 and is set to begin
construction toward the end of May and com-
plete the project by the end of summer.
S IUSLAW N EWS
3 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2016
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RHODY 5A