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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2017)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION SUMMER TRAINING Letters to Dad Sunday, June 18 INSIDE — C SPORTS — B 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 48 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 Coastal entrepreneurs prepare for Demo Day FLAG DAY – JUNE 14, 2017 S TARS FLORENCE, OREGON AND STRIPES FOREVER June 21 graduation, showcase features RAIN’s 11 new startups Commissioners vote to rebate Owen for port moorage rates McClure appointed as interim port manager for second time B Y C HANTELLE M EYER B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News Siuslaw News R egional Accelerator and Innovation Network (RAIN) is concluding its first Coastal Pre-Accelerator program with a showcase and graduation during Demo Day on Wednesday, June 21 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St. RAIN Coastal Venture Catalyst David Youngentob said, “RAIN helps startup ventures that are being founded here on the coast launch and grow their businesses faster so they can reach cus- tomers all over country, and potential- ly the world. With our partners, we’ve been administering a three-month boot camp for startup founders. These peo- ple are your neighbors that you proba- bly already know. These are folks that are trying to launch a company from scratch.” During Demo Day, 11 coastal entre- preneurs will present a 5-minute pitch on their business, talk about how RAIN has helped them and share what they need to scale up to the next level. “The most important thing is, they are going to tell you about what they need,” Youngentob said. The event will also feature network- ing time, a keynote address by coastal entrepreneur and Chef Mels’ cofounder, Sam Gross. Food, beer and wine will be provided. The Coastal Pre-Accelerators began in March in Florence and Lincoln City, with six entrepreneurs attending the Florence group and five attending Lincoln City. Each cohort covered a range of topics including marketing and sales, financials and business mod- eling, and pitching and fundraising. They addressed these topics through seminars and workshops, group and 1- on-1 mentoring, one-page business plans and more. Here is a peek at the six local busi- nesses in the Florence cohort: Jesse Dolin — Stoney River Sinkers Dolin is revitalizing the fishing world by removing lead from water- ways. Stoney River Sinkers replace harmful lead with natural stone that is better for people, the environment, and fish and wildlife. “The key to fishing is natural pres- entation. What’s more natural than a stone gliding down a stream?” he said. As an angler, Dolin saw a need for a natural alternative and sought to fill a niche. And now, several years into this venture, he is gaining recognition, including winning the Willamette Angel Conference’s Speed Pitch com- petition in May. “I didn’t realize there was this com- munity of support for startups,” Dolin said. “I felt that joining the Pre- Accelerator was exactly what I needed because it offered a roadmap to success and connections to mentors who had experience with launching products.” Dolin plans to continue building the Stoney River Sinkers brand through sharing his passion and excitement for lead-free fishing. See INSIDE ❘ JUNE 17, 2017 ❘ $1.00 STARTUPS 7A Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 A5 A4 D PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS T he Florence community honored “Old Glory” during a Flag Retirement Ceremony on Flag Day, June 14. Community members gathered together at Veteran's Memorial Park on Bay Street to respectfully observe as American Legion Post 59, local scout troops and other groups “destroyed by burning” flags “in a dignified, ceremonious manner,” as part of U.S. Flag Code. Three Flag Day Ceremonies throughout the day gave many people a chance to hear about “The Talking Flag,” its history and what it stands for. Group files to unionize service caregivers Most Peace Harbor employees included except doctors, nurses B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News Service Employees Internation- al Union (SEIU) has filed a peti- tion to represent service caregivers at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center and PeaceHealth Medical Group clinics. According to the SEIU filing, the union wants to represent: “All full-time, regular part-time, on- call and per diem service employees, business office cleri- cal employees and guards in the following classifications em- ployed by the employer at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center.” This includes Peace Harbor Lab, Home Health and Hospice, Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Clinic, the Family Medicine Clinic, General Surgery Clinic, Internal Medicine/Walk- In Clinic, Anticoagulation & Diabetic Ed Clinic and Women’s Health/OB/GYN clinic. “We fully respect the right of our caregivers to be represented by a union,” said Marie Stehmer, senior director of human resources for PeaceHealth Oregon. See uring a special meeting June 13, Port of Siuslaw commissioners voted to refund former moorage tenant Gordon Owen more than $1,400 in daily moorage rate fees imposed after Owen became delinquent in his moor- age lease obligations to the port. Commissioners voted four-to-one in favor of the motion made by Commissioner Mike Buckwald. Commissioner Nancy Rickard cast the only “no” vote. Rickard said, “I think we can’t do this because of public money that we are responsible for. There is still a dis- crepancy between the port staff and Gordon Owen.” The dispute between the port and Owen regarding moorage payments on his 40-foot sailing vessel Tenacious began in April 2016, when Owen failed to make a timely payment on his six- month prepayment obligation to the port. Four commissioners, Ron Caputo, Terry Duman, David Huntington and Buckwald, voted to refund the money to Owen, even though the port had to write off $578 in unpaid moorage fees Owen owed when he removed the boat from port property. In reference to Owen’s three- page letter presented to the port on May 17 requesting that $2,989 in moorage fees be refunded to him, Huntington said, “I don’t understand a lot of it.” Before the vote, Caputo said, “The fact that he has been late all the time, he got behind (and) decided not to pay kind of hurts his whole case. When there was a dispute, he just stopped paying. I feel sorry for him, but I agree with Nancy that we are dealing with taxpayer funds. Everything we did was legal as far as we know and as far as our attorney says.” In addition to not making any moor- age payments to the port for more than six months, Owen failed to provide the port with proof of insurance or demon- strate that the Tenacious was seawor- thy — both port requirements for being UNION 7A See PORT 6A Planning Commission postpones Helping Hands decision More written input sought before City of Florence’s conditional use permit vote Dozens of people attended the June 12 Florence Planning Commission meeting, most to support the Helping Hands Coalition’s application for a temporary conditional B Y J ACK D AVIS use permit to convert Siuslaw News property located at 1790 Highway 101 from retail to multipurpose human services. Helping Hands is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to serving hot meals to those in need and others who need temporary assistance. The group also provides laundry and shower vouchers. Helping Hands lost the lease on its former loca- tion at 1339 Rhododendron Drive last July. Since then, the organization has been serving hot lunch- Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Side Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . A8 THIS WEEK ’ S es every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the United Methodist Church at Third and Kingwood streets. In addition to comments in support of the pro- posed new location, commissioners heard from several people who lived near the proposed site and were concerned about the effect a concentra- tion of transients would have on the neighbor- hood’s quality of living. City of Florence Planning Director Wendy FarleyCampbell said, “Our department has com- mented that they have been working with Helping Hands and that they have no concerns with the proposal.” The commission’s concerns over the initial pro- posed plan include a lack of adequate parking, the placement of an outdoor smoking area and traffic TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 67 54 72 56 69 56 67 51 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 congestion and flow around Teresa’s Sunrise Espresso, which is adjacent to the proposed site. Initially, FarleyCampbell said, “Staff does rec- ommend approval of this, with the many condi- tions that are listed in the application.” The recommended approval is for a two-year conditional use permit that would expire June 13, 2019, providing Helping Hands is moved into the site by June 13, 2018. Commissioners said residents were concerned about loitering, before and after meals are served. Helping Hands advocate Rick Hamilton said the location would be under 24-hour video surveil- lance to insure no loitering or overnight camping or parking problems. S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS ❘ 26 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 See HELPING 6A
