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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2017)
❘ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION GETTING THEIR KICKS ❘ NOVEMBER 1, 2017 ❘ $1.00 COAST CENTRAL SPORTS — B A&E — INSIDE 127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 87 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 Stormwater Open House tonight FLORENCE, OREGON HALLOWEEN 2017 W I C KE D W E LC O M E Florence to update Stormwater Management Plan B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News The City of Florence will be hosting a com- munity meeting tonight at the Florence Events Center to discuss stormwater management issues. City staff invites community members to stop by the events center, 715 Quince St., on Wednesday, Nov. 1, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to help staff develop priorities to guide the development of a new capital improvement plan. Attendees will be able to make comments and voice con- cerns at this time. The purpose of stormwater management is to improve surface water quality; protect ground- water; reduce flooding; control erosion, sedi- mentation and stream erosion; preserve natural hydrology; and limit impacts on endangered or threatened species. Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller said he believes it is time to update the city’s plans to deal with drainage and flooding prob- lems around the city. “Our current Stormwater Management Plan was developed in the late 1990s after the 1996- 97 floods. It was finalized in 2000, but adopted by Florence City Council in 2004. It has been 17 years since the Stormwater Management Plan was completed,” Miller said. “Typically, infra- structure master plans such as this one are updated in a 10 to 15 year interval, depending on growth and community needs.” See S TATE PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS ld Town Florence got into the spirit of Halloween as ghouls and goblins, heroes and villains, princes and princesses and a whole host of revelers swarmed Bay Street yesterday. Hundreds of children and their families visited Port of Siuslaw, Old Town merchants and even the U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River’s Motor Lifeboat during the annual Trick or Treat in Old Town. Elsewhere in the area, churches and community groups held dances, parties, “trunk- or-treats” and the Scare-CROW Haunted Maze. O STORMWATER 8A OFFICIALS HOLD Oregon Sen. Arnie Roblan (District 5) and Rep. Caddy McKeown (District 9) held a Town Hall meeting on Saturday at the Siuslaw Public Library. B Y M ARK B RENNAN The Democratic legis- Siuslaw News lators wanted to update the community on work done during the most recent legislative session and to answer questions from local con- stituents. Roblan and McKeown each made brief pre- sentations recapping the regionally relevant issues and bills dealt with during the 2017 ses- sion before outlining the issues to be debated in the next legislative session. During the meeting, both officials highlight- ed their long-standing relationship and similar governing philosophy. “Caddy and I are part of the Coastal Caucus, which is a group of legislators that have part of their district on the coast,” Roblan said. “We are the only caucus, other than the Democrats and Republicans, that has actually survived over the years. We have been going for 25-30 T OWN H ALL Bacterial disease hits Oregon sea lions No confirmed cases in Lane County or at Sea Lion Caves B Y J ARED A NDERSON Siuslaw News MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Oregon Rep. Caddy McKeown and Sen. Arnie Roblan hold a Town Hall Meeting Saturday at the Siuslaw Public Library. years, and we make sure that as Democrats or Republicans, senators or representatives, regardless of what else is going on, we repre- sent the coast.” McKeown echoed Roblan’s feelings about the bi-partisan group and believes the goodwill See OFFICIALS 8A The Oregon coast has seen a deadly outbreak in the bacteri- al disease leptospirosis in sea lions over the past few months, though there have been no con- firmed cases in Lane County at this time. “I have not seen anything here,” said Jim McMillan, gen- eral manager for the Sea Lion Caves. “So far, it’s up north. California is having it too, but we haven't seen any sick ani- mals yet.” That’s not to say that Lane County lions are protected from the disease, said Jim Rice, Stranding Coordinator for the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network. SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO An outbreak of the bacterial disease leptospirosis has infected California sea lions across the coast, but the area’s native Stellar sea lions have remained largely safe. “I think there have been cases, but we haven’t been able to collect animals and ‘Do we really want to be a city?’ Part II B Y J ARED A NDERSON Siuslaw News O INSIDE n Oct. 25, Dunes City Council decided to allow existing mari- juana grow operations to continue within city limits. Residents are writing resolutions for the city council to pass, attacking the grow sites over water use and detailing information local citizens have found out about the growers and the process that ultimately led to the approved Land Use Compatibility Statements (LUCS). Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 A9 A5 Defining the city’s ordinances, and enforcing them when they’re broken, is only a small part of why the mari- juana grows remain, and why Dunes City Council asked last week if the city is broken. Part I of this article was published on Saturday, Oct. 28. Dunes City residents continue to question the process of how the LUCS were processed, particularly in regard to City Administrator Jamie Mills. During public comment ses- sions at several Dunes City Council Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 meetings, Mills has been accused of circumventing Dunes City law in how she handled the LUCS. Some residents have even called for her termination. This leads to another crisis Dunes City is facing now — a lack of com- munication with overburdened city officials. The public has frequently stated that neither Mills, nor Dunes City Council, were open about the mari- juana issue and that it was slipped in under the radar. However, notes from Planning Commission and City THIS WEEK ’ S THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 58 46 53 43 48 39 49 40 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 See SEA LIONS 6A Dunes City’s marijuana debate raises questions of the city’s issues, future Council meeting minutes prove this assumption incorrect. Back in March, a joint Dunes City Council/Planning Commission was held specifically on the issue of mar- ijuana grows. In attendance were six city councilors and five members of the planning commission. Planning Commission Chairman Angela Allen stated that the grow sites have been discussed intermit- tently in commission meetings for several months. “Ultimately, the Planning Comm- ission agreed that it would like to TODAY sample them yet,” he said. know how the city council feels about the issue and if the council had any recommendations for the plan- ning commission,” minutes from the meeting quoted Allen. Multiple questions were posed in a roundtable discussion, including whether marijuana is actually a crop, what kind of security issues would arise from the sites, water quality nuisance concerns and if such sites were even allowed in residential areas. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2017 See DUNES CITY 7A
