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❘ JUNE 24, 2017 ❘ $1.00
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127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 50
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
Chamber moves
forward under
new president
FLORENCE, OREGON
Zanzibar looks to
Florence for
guidance, advice
Bobby Jensen, new board
take on ‘the mantle
of leadership’
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Florence
Area
Chamber
of
Commerce
wel-
comed new mem-
bers and President
Bobby Jensen to the
board on June 15
during the cham-
ber’s annual meet-
ing and installation.
Jensen and the new
Bobby Jensen
board will lead the
chamber for the next year in its efforts to
promote business, networking and the
Florence area.
Chamber Executive Director Bettina
Anderson opened the meeting.
“It’s my job to help your business be
successful so that you can help people. And
that’s the heart of the chamber. We’re here
to help people. We’re here to help your
nonprofits, as you expand your employee
base, bring better resources to your
employees and to help you be a resource in
turn,” she said. “Our hearts have chambers,
but our chamber has a heart,” she said.
Using the theme of “Sharing the Heart of
the Chamber,” Hannigan expressed grati-
tude for the 22 Visitor Center volunteers,
many Chamber Ambassadors and dozens
of committee members.
See
CHAMBER 7A
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
PHOTO BY ROGER BENNETT
(Right) Roger Bennett recently returned from almost two months in the
East African Country of Tanzania, where he assisted in the creation of
founding documents that may become the basis for a new constitution for
the semi-autonomous area of Zanzibar.
Former city manager Roger Bennett travels
to Africa to create founding documents
O
nce in a while, an individual
gets to make a real difference
in the world. Imagine having
the opportunity to make a contribu-
tion that will significantly impact tens
of thousands people. That is clearly the
case for Florence resident Roger
Bennett.
Bennett is a former Florence City Manager and
currently a senior member of the International
City/County Management Association (ICMA).
ICMA members, like Bennett, work with the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID)
to tackle challenging democracy
building situations around the
globe.
The goal of the two separate
organizations is to assist local
officials from around the world in
setting up the legal and logistical
framework needed to have an effective municipal
or even a national government. Most important is
to help to establish a government that is accepted
and respected by the people that it represents.
Bennett has been a professional administrator
for more than 30 years and is familiar with a wide
range of governmental models.
“I was asked to Zanzibar to help draft new
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
foundation documents for an organization called
ZALGA, The Zanzibar Association of Local
Government Authorities. It is the present system
of local governance,” he said.
Currently, the area’s elected officials have very
little say over what happens in their locality.
ZANZIBAR 9A
See
Oregon Small Woodlands Association BPA to begin 3-year, $20M upgrade
Service transmission poles on Highway 126 to be replaced
holds 3-day conference in Florence
Rankin award brings 150 conference attendees to town
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
In November, Oregon Tree
Farm System voted area resi-
dents Dave and Dianne
Rankin Outstanding Tree
Farmer of the Year for 2016.
This was a good thing for
Florence.
Because of this, Lane
County was chosen to be the
host county for the 2017
Oregon Small Woodlands
Association’s (OSWA) annu-
al meeting.
And because the Rankin
tree farm is located just out-
side of Florence, Three
Rivers Casino Resort was
chosen as the location for the
150-member, three-day con-
ference, culminating in a tour
of Rankin Woodlands on June
17.
The meeting had two days
of sessions and informative
talks, including some by local
residents.
Jesse Beers, representing
the Confederated Tribes of
Coos, Lower Umpqua and
B Y J ACK D AVIS
Siuslaw News
Siuslaw Indians, spoke on the
Cultural History of western
Lane County and Del Phelps,
from the Florence Historical
Society, talked about the his-
tory of the area.
The Rankin Woodlands
tour started at 8 a.m. on
Saturday and was divided
into information stations. The
150 participants loaded into
nine vans and were transport-
ed to three stations located
around the tree farm.
See
WOODS 7A
Bonneville Power Admin-
istration (BPA) representa-
tives met with the public dur-
ing an open house at the
Florence Events Center
Wednesday to talk about a
$20 million dollar, three-year
construction project that will
begin in July.
BPA’s project will start at
the west end of the Wendson
substation, near Florence, and
replace the 70-year-old wood-
en power poles between
Florence and Eugene.
BPA
Public
Affairs
Specialist John Tyler said,
“The Lane-Wendson trans-
mission line was originally
constructed in 1947. The
wooden tower polls that are
used to support the transmis-
sion lines have outlived their
useful service life. There is a
need to replace those aged
power poles with newer ones
to ensure that we are able to
continue to transmit electrici-
ty reliably.”
The 2017 phase of the proj-
ect will focus on replacing
polls between the Wendson
substation and the Mapleton
substation.
“In 2018, we will focus
work between Mapleton and
the Walton substation. The
final phase in 2019 is between
the Walton and Lane substa-
tions, close to Eugene,” Tyler
said.
He said the most challeng-
ing part of the project is the
stretch of poles going over the
coast
range,
between
Mapleton and Walton.
BPA provides electricity
generated from 31 federal
hydroelectric dams on the
See
UPGRADE 7A
Port Commission considers dredging options
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
INSIDE
Port of Siuslaw dock walkways and Novelli’s Fish Market slope Friday morning
after low tides leave them partially sitting on the banks of the Siuslaw River.
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Coastal Events . . . . . . . . . .
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Side Show . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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A8
A3
B8
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . . A3
THIS WEEK ’ S
Over the Memorial Day week-
end, when the first minus tide of
the summer season hit, Port of
Siuslaw employees came to an
inevitable conclusion: The mari-
na has to be dredged.
“Staff witnessed some of our
docks sitting in the mud,” Port of
Siuslaw Acting Director Dina
McClure said during the port’s
monthly public meeting on June
22. “The walkway between G
and F dock was considered
unsafe to walk on. The bottom of
the gangway next to ICM was
partially airborne due to the tilt
of the dock.
“Dredging isn’t a popular sub-
ject,” McClure added. “It’s very
expensive and it involves a lot of
regulatory paperwork. The only
return on investment is protect-
ing our docks and maintaining
the water depth.”
Generally, marinas need to be
dredged every five years, though
the Florence marina hasn’t been
dredged since 2009. And, at that
time, it was expensive.
During the last dredge, the port
spent $229,000 to remove 30,000
cubic yards. $154,000 of that
total was funded by grants, but
the port had to take out a loan of
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
83 56
68 55
62 52
63 51
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
$75,000 to cover the rest.
$56,000 is still owed on that loan.
According to McClure, it
could cost up to $400,000 to
dredge this time, depending on
how much material is removed.
Commissioners fear the issues
will become more prevalent as
the summer progresses.
“What I can tell with the sum-
mer tides, they’re not even as
low as they were the year
before,” said Commissioner
Nancy Rickard. “We’re getting
all of this happening now without
the lowest tides that are possi-
ble.”
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 22 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2017
See
DREDGING 9A