SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2017
Business
retail location.
Canard Labs, 175 Nopal St., is a
new transplant for Old Town
Florence, and the connection grew
“organically,” said Dolin.
Co-owner Clay Rasley runs the
Florence location of Canard Labs
while his wife Tanya produces
handmade soaps, candles and other
products at the main location in
Coos Bay.
“We've been looking for a small
town on the coast to expand our
business,” Rasley said. “We had
our eyes on a few different coastal
towns, and this one made sense
geographically. Every time we
came here, we loved it. We loved
the food, we loved the shopping,
we loved the area — trails, camp-
from 1A
Dolin has been working with
area partners along the coast, in
Lane County and statewide to
leverage resources. From Florence
Area Chamber of Commerce,
Regional
Accelerator
and
Innovation Network (RAIN),
South Coast Development Council
(SCDC),
Lane
Workforce
Partnership and many more organ-
izations, he and the city are build-
ing connections to promote coastal
economic sustainability and
growth.
His connection to SCDC
encouraged one Coos Bay business
to choose Florence for its second
ing, all that stuff. It just made
sense.”
Dolin had spoken with SCDC
Economic Development Specialist
Shaun Gibbs about the vacant
storefront on Nopal Street. When
the Rasleys approached SCDC,
everything clicked.
“We were so impressed with the
time Jesse and Shaun took to show
us around, not just the spot but the
town. It just sealed everything for
us. We knew it was the right place.
We knew this was where we want-
ed to be,” Rasley said.
The sentiment is echoed by
another new business in Old Town,
Manna, 1297 Bay St., which is a
combination apothecary, jewelry
store and studio for young couple
Zak and Whitney Shelhamer.
“Beyond the charm of old town,
the grand geographic appeal and
the sweet artisan body, there is a
warmth that resides here that is
quite tangible and different from
surrounding areas. The people that
make up Florence are a kind and
hospitable people,” Whitney said.
She added that the community
shows a high level of service that
helped the couple establish their
business and feel at home.
“Hospitality and excel-
lence have always been
foundational to our work,”
Shelhamer said. “Thus,
Florence was the fit and
home we felt called into.”
For
Dolin,
creating
opportunities for young peo-
ple to return to the coast is
one of his motivators in
encouraging business.
“Florence really does care
about this community,” he
said. “ This is a unique town,
where everyone does feel
connected and wants to be a
part of the city being as
PHOTO BY JESSE DOLIN
vibrant as possible. It is a
Maria
and
Klaus
Witte
show Gov.
place where a healthy busi-
Kate
Brown
(right)
the
new Top
ness and a healthy lifestyle
Hydraulics facility during the gover-
can go hand in hand.”
The recent new and nor’s visit in March.
With economic development,
expanded businesses are one com-
ponent. Continued and new part- each success leads on to more
progress.
nerships are another.
“You see construction going on
Witte said, “Now, having
worked with so many local con- around town. It's not just road con-
tractors and seeing how much they struction, but buildings and things
cared to be involved and get this happening and new business. It's
project done right, has made me exciting, this momentum,” Maria
feel a lot more part of the commu- said.
For more information, visit
nity. I'm happy and proud to be a
ci.florence.or.us.
member of the community.”
Upgrades
upgrades, so that building will be
getting a new roof and it will be
seismically sound,” she said.
State Sen. Ted Ferrioli reiterat-
ed the importance of safe schools.
“Communities need to prepare
by making sure schools have been
seismically retrofitted so they
won’t ‘pancake’ during a large
quake. These buildings must sur-
vive, not only to protect children,
but so they’ll be available to serve
as emergency operations centers,
field hospitals, rendezvous points
for families and places where
community response can be coor-
dinated,” Ferrioli stated.
While receiving the seismic
grants from the state will allow for
major infrastructure improve-
ments, O’Mara is confident the
impact to students in the district
will be minimal.
The original timeline for com-
pletion of the upgrades has been
pushed back to allow for engineers
to properly inspect the areas that
are now slated for upgrades using
the new funds provided by the
state.
“Elementary construction will
begin June 16 and will continue
through the summer with a target
date set for completion of Nov. 1.
The high school construction will
now be starting in December dur-
ing Christmas break. This is due to
the need for engineering studies to
be done to determine the specifics
of how the upgrade can best be
accomplished,” O’Mara said.
percent of the vote.
Voters returned Mark Tilton,
Susy Lacer and Michael Falter to
their three seats on the Siuslaw
Public Library District Board of
Directors.
Countywide, voters over-
whelmingly voted in favor of the
Lane County Jail and Youth
Services Levy Renewal by a vote
of 50,349 yes votes to 18,619 no.
Florence Police Chief Tom
Turner said, “It is a great continu-
ation of the effort we started in
2013 to keep enough (jail) beds
open for a community our size.
“Any time we have a felon or
circuit court case, we can house
them at the county jail. It is noth-
ing short of a godsend. Once they
are housed there, they are out of
this community and that is better
for everyone. It is nice to have the
alternative.”
John Simington, Mizu Burruss
and Marilyn Fox all ran unop-
posed and were elected to the
Mapleton School District Board of
Directors.
Kathy Gurlach and Diana
Scoville were elected to the
Mapleton Fire Department Board
of Directors. Both ran unopposed.
Four unopposed candidates —
Matt Grassauer, Herb Harry,
Harold Duval and David Green —
were elected to the Swisshome-
Deadwood Rural Fire Protection
District Board of Directors.
Unopposed Wade Williams was
elected to the Mapleton Water
District Commission.
According to the Lane County
website, of the 246,368 registered
voters in Lane County, only
62,246 ballots (25.26 percent)
were recorded as of 5:30 p.m.,
Tuesday, May 16.
from 1A
also to those projects that can be
undertaken with the additional
funding.
“Now we have some additional
funds so we can revisit some of the
projects that we were wanting to
do that became an alternate, or
what we call a “value-added”
item. So the bond steering com-
mittee will be getting together to
see which of our value-added
items we can now do,” she said.
One of the projects that O’Mara
hopes to see improved would be a
major addition to the space that
can be used for student instruction.
“Now the south wing of the
building can be included in our
Election
from 1A
Two seats being vacated on the
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
board were won by Ned Hickson
and Ron Green. Both received
approximately 53 percent of the
vote. Hickson’s and Green’s oppo-
nents, Crystal Farnsworth and
Marvin Tipler, both received 47
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