THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
❘
/ SIUSLAWNEWS
❘
@ SIUSLAWNEWS
WEDNESDAY EDITION
Business
nominations
❘ JANUARY 17, 2018 ❘ $1.00
Winter Music Festival
brings on the bluegrass
INSIDE — A9
INSIDE — A3
128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 5
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
1 6 t h a n n ua l W in t e r M u si c F es t iv a l
FLORENCE, OREGON
Florence sets new
goals for 2018
Florence City Council launches
into work plan to address
housing, development
PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
F
lorence’s annual Winter Music Festival at the Florence Events Center this weekend brought hundreds
of people to the area, as well as a sold out show to the headliner concert for Al Stewart. Music sets
included Jeff Scroggins and Colorado (above left), Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, Castletown,
Calaveras, Cabin Fever NW, Pretty Gritty, Petunia and the Vipers, John Craigie, a gospel choir, Billy Jones and
University of Oregon a cappella group On the Rocks. In addition, Florence Regional Arts Alliance held its
annual Artisan Fair, featuring local and regional artists and vendors, as well as books and craft demonstrations
from Siuslaw Elementary School students.
Siuslaw School Board ponders options for upgrades
Directors hear program updates and new initiatives during School Board Appreciation
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
January is School Board
Appreciation Month. At the Jan.
10 meeting of the Siuslaw School
Board, Superintendent Andy
Grzeskowiak read a proclamation
issued by Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown recognizing the contribu-
tions of school board members
across the state.
“Locally elected boards fulfill
leadership roles and serve as a
conduit through which teachers,
parents, businesses and communi-
ties demonstrate the care, creativ-
ity and support that lead to student
achievement,” the proclamation
stated. “Public schools nurture
and train diverse student popula-
tions to the best of their ability,
whatever the resources, to give
the students the knowledge, skills
and opportunities they need to
succeed.”
The governor thanked the men
and women who serve on 197
school districts, 19 education
service districts and 17 communi-
ty colleges across the state, which
all “deserve recognition and
thanks for their dedication to the
education needs of the people of
Oregon.”
Florence Community PTA and
district students then presented
each board member with a small
gift bag and cards.
The board also heard public
comments, which were limited to
one individual suggesting that
district buses might be utilized to
transport students attending class-
es at LCC, in order to offer an
alternate means of getting to and
from classes.
Directors thanked the speaker.
K EEPING A BOVE
THE
Next, Lane Education Service
District (ESD) Superintendent
Tony Scurto made a brief presen-
tation to the board to update
the directors on the changing sta-
tus of the Oregon Promise
Program.
The Promise plan is an ongo-
ing venture between districts in
the county that looks at how best
to find other means to certify
teachers for college courses to
meet Lane Community College
requirements for instructors.
See
When Florence City Council met for the first
meeting of 2018 on Jan. 8, councilors voted to con-
tinue Florence’s momentum into the new year with
decisions on code changes
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
and economic develop-
Siuslaw News
ment.
City Manager Erin
Reynolds said, “We are working in real time on a
construction project.”
The council received updated information on
asbestos abatement for the Florence City Hall
Remodel project.
“As we move forward on that construction, this is
our first step to make that facility safe for contrac-
tors to be in,” said Florence Project Manager Megan
Messmer. “When City Hall was built, they used this
material primarily in the tile floor and adhesive for
the paneling, as well as some pieces of the dry wall
areas. This will be removed during the abatement.”
As the meeting began, the city was still in the
process of receiving final, refined quotes from three
potential contractors.
“The apparent low bidder is W.L. Thomas
Environmental, out of Albany, for $32,700. That is
above the city manager’s spending authority, so we
will need city council approval for that,” Messmer
said. “It is within the $57,000 estimate we received
from the architect, which was included in the pro-
posed project budget you reviewed last time (Dec.
18, 2017).”
According to the staff report, asbestos abatement
and related permits were accounted for in the city’s
overall budget for the remodel.
Florence Mayor Joe Henry said, “This is a great
way to start the new year. We had a little bit of angst
when we approved the bids on the City Hall
Remodel, since they were higher. Our staff assured
us they would work to reduce that amount, and as a
good start they have reduced that total by $25,000
already.”
The council voted to award the bid to W.L.
Thomas Environmental.
Messmer said construction on City Hall should
begin toward the end of the month.
Florence City Council also voted to initiate code
amendments in order to address concerns for place-
ment of accessory dwelling units, needed housing,
and nonresidential church housing to be put into
effect prior to Senate Bill (SB) 1051 going into
effect on July 1.
BOARD 6A
See
CITY 6A
W ATER
– I S COASTAL LIVING IN JEOPARDY ? P ART IX –
Life in the Siuslaw seeks to find ‘its own heartbeat’ amidst economic challenges
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
& J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
INSIDE
For Nyra Campbell, life on the
Siuslaw has not always been easy. She
initially came here to escape expecta-
tions placed on her as a high school
senior, choosing a relationship and
mushroom picking over the option of a
four-year college. In her time in
Florence, Campbell has found new
love, had three children, worked a
variety of jobs, owned a business and
found ways to “keep above water.”
“I’m not a worrier,” she said. “I
don’t worry about things, I guess. I’m
more into super positive thinking,
which I think has gotten me where I
am in this town. With my background,
I feel like I am not some major suc-
cess. But we’re above water. And our
kids are happy.”
Campbell and her husband, Derrick
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3
Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . A10
Vanduch, own West Lane Plumbing,
and Campbell also works as a server at
Waterfront Depot in Historic Old
Town Florence.
“My past experience in life has been
that things always work out,” she said.
Campbell grew up in Beaverton, a
city that she says has a lot of options
for youth. After her dad died when she
was 16, she finished high school and
moved to Florence two weeks after her
graduation party.
“I just was over the whole, ‘Where
are you going to college?’ question. I
was tired of it. I thought I was going to
go to Florence and pick mushrooms,
because the person I met picked mush-
rooms and made lots of money. I
thought, ‘This will be fun for a year,’”
she said.
Twenty years later, she is still here.
In many ways, it has been a strug-
gle. From being a single mom to
working 14-hour days as a server,
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Campbell has paid her dues. She had
to make new friends as a young person
in a new town. She had to learn new
skills. She had to find time to flirt with
Vanduch, when they both worked long
hours and her daughter was still a
baby. It took two years before the two
actually formed a relationship.
“Derrick worked at the auto parts
store, and I needed brake fluid for my
jalopy of a car. He was flirtatious and
talkative. That was that. He was sin-
cere and sweet,” she said. “I needed
brake fluid all the time because my car
was a total piece, so I would go in
there. I had devised a plan early on to
get the smallest amount of brake fluid
I could so I could see him.”
Campbell couldn’t visit the “cute
parts guy” every day, but it seemed
like she stopped in once a week.
“I got lucky I guess. My husband is
11 years older than me, had never been
married before, and didn’t have kids.
THIS WEEK ’ S
So how that worked
out is beyond my
brain,” she laughed.
“Most people our age
have kids. They’ve
been married. Or
they’ve been through
something. I feel like
I brought more bag-
gage into our relation-
ship than he did by
far. I was young and had a baby.”
Once the two got together, they
began facing new challenges. They
had a son, and then Vanduch switched
from the auto parts business to plumb-
ing.
“I would say, at that point, it was a
seven-year struggle with on and off
jobs with him in the plumbing indus-
try,” Campbell said.
She described the apprenticeship
process as needing both work hours
and schooling. While plumbing can
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
59 45
49 41
47 41
48 43
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
be a consistent business, Vanduch
couldn’t get an answer to his applica-
tions at existing businesses in the
area. At one point, he couldn’t con-
tinue with classes until he got more
work hours.
“They basically said, ‘You’re two
years ahead of school with no work
hours to show for it. So we’re putting
your apprenticeship on hold,’”
Campbell said.
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 18 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2018
See
REGION 7A