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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 2016)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2016 Safety from 1A They also felt that Florence police did not always respond in a timely manner to calls about suspicious activity, drug use or drug dealing. Turner said the information flow online makes some things seem more urgent than other calls that do not show up on social media. “Even though Florence is relatively small, we do get a lot of calls for service,” he said. On Monday, Turner and Commander John Pitcher vis- ited Miller Park around 2:40 p.m. after receiving a call from dispatch about a “juvenile problem.” “We went out there to answer one of these complaints, to see if we could see if people were doing anything wrong,” Turner said. He was glad to find that the group in question was not suspicious. “I hope it was an interaction with the police where they saw we are there to help, interact and make this a better deal for everyone,” Turner said. Reynolds said the interac- tion had some good takeaways. “One complaint can gener- ate some good conversation,” she said. Turner and Pitcher met some of the originators of the social media posts while at the park. They talked about things peo- ple could do to keep Miller Park safe. “If the park is getting heavy use, there are fewer problems,” Turner said. “If it’s getting less use, there is more illegal use and activity. “We do have specific hours at the park, and heavy usage times. Both of those keep the area fairly well policed.” Miller Park has video cam- eras and the police do regular patrols. Turner calls the sur- veillance “deterrents,” as they do not always lead to “cap- tures” of perpetrators of suspi- cious activity. Premium Burgers grilled to mouthwatering perfection! Daily Happy Hour 3-6pm Choose from our chef’s most popular burger combinations. Open Daily for Lunch 11-6pm beer, wine & cocktails! The Grill & Lounge Miller Park’s size, the sea- sonal presence of transients and the vegetation make it dif- ficult for police to be as effec- tive as he would like. “Without resources it’s hard to do capture. You can do deterrents, but as far as doing capture — as soon as we’re present there are a lot of places to exit the park,” Turner said. “We’ll continue to do patrols through there. If all we can is deter, that’s fine.” Mayor Joe Henry asked Turner what the council and city can do. Turner said one “unpopular” option would be to make the entire park a non- smoking area. “We don’t want to violate any one’s right to the park. Since we don’t have a ‘no smoking’ ordinance, we can’t tell from a distance if there is problematic activity,” he said. Lane County has plans to create a juvenile smoking deterrent program. Henry said, “We are going to work with Lane County on this. Possibly we could consid- er no smoking in Miller Park.” Turner also does not advise adding a curfew to the park. “We have to be cognizant of our juvenile population. They do have to have something to do and some place to be,” he said. He reiterated that everyone has rights to the park. “When we were leaving, we contacted a number of people at the front of the park, playing with their children and enjoying the park. We want that activity to go on without problems,” he said. School Remodel “We’ll also be coordinat- ing with the ReVision Florence Project,” Messmer said. “Our goal is to incorporate this as an example of what can be done as we improve public spaces.” ReVision Florence is a streetscape design to improve the visual, pedestrian, gateway and safety aspects of Highways 101 and 126 in Florence. It is a combined effort of Florence Urban Renewal Agency, the city and Oregon Department of Transportation. Councilors Susy Lacer and Joshua Greene inquired about the incorporation of art into the design of the remodeled City Hall, and Mayor Joe Henry asked about the exterior design. Messmer assured the council that the Public Art Committee will be part of the process. “Right now, the concep- tual design we have mostly shows spatial needs and not the design elements yet,” she said. “Whether public art is outside or inside with a display area for community art, we’ll be work- ing on that.” Greene wanted to make sure that design elements are incor- porated into the architecture. “I think the whole fascia and front of the building could be more inviting, friendly and more modern,” he said. “Right now, we have a very 1970s modern style. You can easily accentuate certain pieces and make it look pretty cool without spending a lot of money.” Improvements will also be added to the new council chambers. Better technology will allow those present to hear speakers and view presentations and allow those watching online better lines of sight. “With a new chamber, we’ll have the ability to build technol- ogy in, rather than as an after- thought,” Messmer said. While the improvements take place, logistics demand that city staff and departments vacate the premises. Departments will be split between the new Public Works Facility and an unused space at the Florence Justice Center. Meetings will take place at the Florence Events Center. In the next months, the city will start seeking architectur- al planning services to begin design and engineering work. Messmer said, “This will be our facelift of the facility and show what others can do as we move forward.” Forum “The PeaceHealth Talent Acquisitions team has been very supportive, and have been dedicating an amazing amount of resources to help us find viable, promising candidates,” said Nena Harvey, director of operations for PeaceHealth Medical Group operations for Florence. “PeaceHealth lead- ership at all levels is com- mitted to finding providers to care for the health needs of this community.” Nationwide physician short- ages are expected to balloon in the next five years, estimat- ing that by 2020 there will be 90,000 fewer physicians than needed, according to the new Association of American Medical Colleges work force projections. Questions from the public will be solicited before the meeting and included in the discussion. at Sandpines 1201 35th Street at Kingwood, Florence Highway 101 & 35 St. 541-997-4623 from 1A As the planning process con- tinues, Messmer said the city would hold several outreach events for community input. (541) 997-6111 375 9th St Florence, OR 97439 www.spruce-point.com Learn how to embrace life changes while managing your health Thursday, July 21st @ 2:00 Learn Feel What Can Prevent Falls Each Day of Your Life. Great: You How to Have Do Joy, to Humor and Happiness Thursday, April 21st, 2pm Take simple August steps to prevent falls and maintain your independence. Free screening Thursday, 18th @ 2:00 clinic provided to help identify fall to risk Know. factors. Parkinson’s: What you Need Facts About Macular Degeneration Thursday, September 15th @ 2:00 Thursday, May 19th, 2pm Learn the Facts About Congestive Heart Failure and How to Stay Out of the Hospital. Macular Degeneration is the most common cause of vision loss in seniors. Find out the latest facts and information Thursday, October 20th @ 2:00 about Macular Degeneration prevention and treatment options. from 1A Two topics, the summer lunch program and the resur- rection of the high school bond issue, were the primary focus of the meeting. Grzeskowiak reported that the summer school lunch pro- gram, which runs through Aug. 19, was averaging 105 lunches per day, which is above the 100 lunch threshold Food Service Manager David Bitner said he would need to fully fund the program. Concerns were that the number of lunches served would drop below 100 after the Twilight summer school pro- gram ended July 19. Currently, a school van distributes sack lunches to chil- dren up to 18 years old at four locations, plus the elementary school, Monday through Friday. For the compete lunch schedule, go to www.siuslaw. k12.or.us. The program also serves free breakfasts at the elementary school location at 8 a.m. For the upcoming school year, the district is planning on offering free lunches to all students for the 2016-17 school year. “The only reason we didn’t go forward with (the 100 free and reduced lunch program to every student) this year is because it was our first year as a self-directed food service and that was the recommenda- tion from Oregon Department of Education. But now, we are going to move forward with it,” L L F F Y L from 1A • How PeaceHealth will keep its patients informed when new providers become available. The City of Florence and PeaceHealth recognize the recent provider changes can leave the community and patients in a state of unease. Ease Pain and Stress and Improve Quality of Life. Advances in Digital 17th Hearing Thursday, November @ 2:00 Aid and Technology Thursday, June 16th, 2pm Holiday for Families and Caregivers. Hearing better Tips is possible! Learn about the unexpected benefits of correcting your hearing loss. Also find out about Thursday, December 15th @ 2:00 insurance coverage and hearing aid benefits. Avoid Depression During the Holidays. WORD Students learn about technical the- ater during one of three Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops (CROW) summer programs for area youth. ON THE STREET What have you learned about putting on a show during camp? “I learned that being behind the scenes of a play is hard.” —M AYA , 9 “I have learned a lot about technical theater — mostly how things work, what things are meant for and what things are. My favorite is when we do art projects to learn things.” —C HLOE , 10 “I’ve learned that it’s harder than it looks to do theater. My favorite thing was turning into a zombie and attacking people.” G RACI , 12 Maya, Chloe and Graci transform into zombies at the Florence Playhouse using skills learned in a CROW summer camp about technical theater. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed above are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Siuslaw News or its advertisers. S HELTER C OVE V IEW H OME Coast Real Estate 100 Hwy. 101, Florence, OR 97439 Cell: CB#10862 MLS#16685521 7 A $590,000 541-999-7317 diana@cbcoast.com JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak (center, left) and chairman Bill Mcdougle (center, right) take the helm of the Siuslaw School District board at the July 27 meeting. Grzeskowiak said. According to “Instead of waiting until Grzeskowiak, the 2018 (to attempt another new program ended the year in the black, school bond), I think we with state and federal can organize and be ready funding covering the entire cost of the pro- to go by May 2017.” gram. —ANDY GRZESKOWIAK, The financial SIUSLAW SUPERINTENDENT demographics of the Siuslaw School “One of the criticisms I heard District make it eligi- was that we wrote (the bond) ble to apply for the 100 percent in very vague general terms. In program. looking over some successful “Once we go 100 percent bond campaigns, I saw very free and reduced, all of the specific linear items. If we lay paperwork and all of the data this out and bring it to the peo- entry pieces go away,” he said. ple then they will see that we Grzeskowiak also addressed are not hiding anything.” the failed bond measure for a Grzeskowiak said he wanted new high school. He said he to target specific community wants to re-launch the bond groups, meet with them and measure while it is still fresh in answer all the questions. voters’ minds. “Allowing them to feel that “Instead of waiting until they are part of the process will 2018, I think we can organize be important,” he said. “We and be ready to go by May were rushed by time.” 2017, if that is the board’s desire,” he said.