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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION VIKS SWEEP SWEET HOME ❘ DECEMBER 21, 2016 ❘ $1.00 EARLY DEADLINES FOR HOLIDAYS All news articles and press releases must be submitted by Monday, Dec. 26, at noon, for both the Wednesday, Dec. 28, and Saturday, Dec. 31, issues. The deadline for display advertising in the Dec. 31 issue is Tuesday, Dec. 27, at noon. Line classifieds and legal notices for Saturday are due by Wednesday, Dec. 28, at 1 p. SPORTS — B 126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 101 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day is today, Dec 21, the longest night of the year. Homelessness has increased significantly in the Florence area and around the country in the last several years. The homeless are at serious at risk of death in the winter here, usually from exposure to the elements. Though the temperature may be above freezing, wind-chill with soaked clothing and bedding can — and does — kill. Contrary to what many believe, most people become homeless due to job loss or other finan- cial emergency, such as an illness or car failure. Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck and any financial emergency can be devastating to families. West Lane County has been shown to have the highest percentage of families living close to homelessness. Today, consider helping by delivering any of the following supplies (new or used) to one of the following drop off sites between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.: • Things to stay warm and dry such as tents, tarps, sleeping bags, ponchos, warm waterproof jackets, blankets, gloves, warm hats and hand warmers. They also requested all cotton socks — preferably in men’s sizes, black or white. • Flashlights (and batteries), • $5 and $10 fast food or grocery gift cards, canned items such as vegetables, tomato sauce, broth, soups and milk. • Personal hygiene items, especially tooth- brushes and toilet paper. • And, of course, cash is always helpful. The Florence Cold Shelter is a nonprofit See It’s no coincidence that today, the longest day and night of the year, also happens to be National Homeless Awareness Day. The distinction B Y M ARK B RENNAN corresponds with the day of the year Siuslaw News in which the highest number of deaths occur within the homeless population in America. Currently, the National Coalition for the Homeless See HOMELESS 7A ROAD 7A CHANTELLE MEYERS Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds C Baskets bring hope for holidays ity Manager Erin Reynolds received the highest marks possi- ble during her 2016 perform- ance review held Monday. Mayor Joe Henry said, “On a scale of one to four, with four B Y J ACK D AVIS b e i n g Siuslaw News ‘always exceeds expectations,’ our city manager was ranked a solid four. I for one believe that our city manager is very deserving of that outstanding rating.” Henry said each councilor had previously completed a seven-part performance eval- uation covering all aspects of city management, including “All of this could not be possible without a great staff and community.” — Erin Reynolds city council relations, staff management, community relations, financial manage- ment, and other aspects of the operation of the city. “The council evaluations, along with a self-evaluation from the city manager, were tabulated and the results were a consensus of a 4 rating on a scale of 1 to 4 with 4 being that the employees work per- formance is consistently excellent when compared to the standards of the job,” Henry said. Reynolds said, “All of this could not be possible without a great staff and community. It is a great reflection of the city’s work” According to Henry, the council completed a compen- sation review including a salary survey of 10 compara- ble cities in Oregon. It showed Reynolds at about the midpoint of comparable cities when base salary is adjusted to compare to cities offering deferred compensa- tion to their city mangers. During the Monday coun- cil meeting, members approved the evaluation and the 5 percent increase in INSIDE See MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS The annual Soroptimist Holiday Basket giveaway took place Saturday, Dec. 17, at Siuslaw Middle School, where volun- teers (above) distributed food boxes to more than 370 families comprised of approximately 1,850 individuals. Volunteers from several local service organizations helped with the collection and distribution of the donated food items. City approves $3.6 million public works construction budget Councilors also approve IGA with Siuslaw schools to fund resource officer B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News REYNOLDS 6A Obits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 B5 A3 A4 During the Dec. 19 meeting, councilors voted to accept a bid from 2G Construction in Eugene and approve a new city Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 staff recommended $3.6 mil- lion budget to build the new Public Works Operation Center at 2675 Kingwood St. The 2G bid of $2,893,000 was the lowest of five bids for the project. THIS WEEK ’ S In order to stay within budg- et, eight items from the original proposal were deleted from the bidding process. Public Works Director Mike Miller said, “There are some elements that we pulled off and TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 52 40 48 39 45 36 45 34 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 added as alternates.” These include a chain link fence, painted metal wall liner, roof material upgrade, sky- lights, creating a “green roof” for connecting corridor and an upgrade to custom color on alu- minum frames, totaling $238,000. Total projected cost for the construction project is $3,386,568. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 24 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2016 See BUDGET 6A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Reynolds P ROJECT W ARM SEEKS DONATIONS FOR HOMELESS TODAY receives S PECIAL REPORT high marks Road to homelessness has many on-ramps
