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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