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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018
Housing
from 1A
“In looking at our need for
workforce housing, the communi-
ty has actually met with a lot of
different potential developers to
try to figure out which sites would
be most viable,” Weese said.
“Since the senior center was
moved, the city has always intend-
ed for that property to be used for
housing of some sort. We feel that
the 15th Street site is the fastest
turnaround potential for a work-
force housing site, and that’s why
we want to propose it for this grant
process.”
Councilor Ron Preisler asked
about the current activity of the
garden and requested that the city
help relocate the garden when the
time came.
“It would be a shame to have to
move it,” Weese agreed, “but we
are very much looking forward to
finding them a new home.”
The site development will
also include partnership with
the
Neighborhood
Econ-
omic Development Corporation
(NEDCO).
“NEDCO is a nonprofit that
really focuses on workforce hous-
ing, and it is looking to expand its
reach to the more rural parts of the
county,” Weese said.
City staff members have been
working with NEDCO staff since
Jan. 5 to develop a plan for the
15th Street site.
The second track under the
application is the need for techni-
cal assistance with Florence City
Codes, fees and program develop-
ment.
“This is asking the state to fund
a lot of what we already have in
our work plan, where it’s improv-
ing our development codes, look-
ing at some of our fees and trying
to change our policies to be as for-
ward-thinking as we can to pro-
mote workforce housing,” Weese
said.
Funding could help cover the
needed updates to the city’s devel-
opment codes and systems devel-
opment charges, as well as to work
out a system for tax options and
abatements. It could also help
increase partnership development
with local employers and complete
the city’s Rental Unit Market
Analysis.
“As we’ve been meeting with
developers lately, it has come to
our attention that we really need to
have a better idea of our local
housing market,” Weese said. “It’s
a Catch-22 — we have a very tight
rental market, and that means a lot
of the rents that are being charged
aren’t documented. … People are
finding rentals based on talking to
each other as opposed to it being
in the paper or something. It’s very
difficult to know what our stan-
dard rents are in town. What that
will take is a little elbow grease to
call around and figure out what the
general rule of thumb is for rents
for different types of housing
units.”
If Florence’s projects are
approved by the state, the city will
be required to match a certain
amount of the project.
The staff report stated, “There
is no specific match requirement
specified, but the application sub-
mittal indicates preference for
projects that will leverage local
employers, jurisdictions and non-
profits to complete projects.
Potential methods the city may
provide a match can include
potential donation of land and/or
discounted sales, staff time alloca-
tions, grant administration and
potential additional funding as
appropriate.”
Weese said the state funds
“won’t be something that will fund
an entire project, but it is some-
thing that gets us moving in that
direction.”
According to Weese and
Reynolds, the new program isn’t
clear on the exact timeline or even
funding levels. They expect to
hear about the next step in the
process in approximately 90 days.
“We feel really good about it,”
Reynolds said.
Mayor Joe Henry thanked
Weese for the presentation, and
said that the Governor’s Regional
Solutions Office was one of the
partners in the city’s efforts to get
to this point. He said that South
Valley/Mid
Coast
Region
Coordinator Jackie Mikalonis,
who works with Benton, Lane,
Lincoln and Linn Counties, was a
huge asset to the community.
“After Gov. Brown’s visit here
last March, Jackie came down
with a team of her employees to
talk to us about what they could
do for Florence. …That’s an
honor in itself,” Henry said.
He added that Mikalonis
came to Florence for the Deluxe
Corporation’s “Small Business
Revolution — Main Street”
reception on Jan. 3 and was
able to talk about Florence’s
progress with representatives
from the TV program.
“This is another indicator of
the direction we are going,”
Henry said. “We’ve been working
on some of these exciting things
as we try to deal with the housing
issue. We are working hard on it
and making some good progress.
That is partly a reflection of the
relationships that our staff and
our council have developed with
outside entities, such as the state
and county.”
At that point in the council
meeting, two Florence residents
stood for public comment.
The first was Larry Null, 87,
who identified himself as a car-
penter — and had been since
1948 — who said it was “vitally
important” to use the housing ini-
tiatives to do training for local
workers.
“They should do some training
here in this town for the workers
who will be employed in these
projects, and make proper
apprenticeship programs so that
young and old can get into these
trades,” Null said. “They will
have a living wage and proper
training to go into their own busi-
ness.”
Null emphasized that the mat-
ter should not be overlooked
before it is “too late” for people
in the workforce demographic in
the area.
“I’m talking about a need for
Florence,” he said. “We used to
train these high school students,
and there were women in our car-
penters union in 1881. That’s how
long we’ve been training people
of all ages. Florence needs those
jobs.”
Henry thanked Null for his
comments, and also assured him
that training and jobs were part of
Senior Class Fish Fry
Tuesday, February 20th
5:30 - 8:00 PM
All you can eat Fish (or Chicken) and Chips,
Non alcoholic beverage and cobbler
Mo’s Restaurant - Florence
Adults $12.50 Children $6
o!
Raffl es To
Proceeds go to Siuslaw Senior Grad Night
Mo’s Old Town, Florence • Daily 11 am - 8 pm
an upcoming council work ses-
sion. In addition, the Florence
Housing
and
Economic
Opportunities Project (HEOP)
has yet to reveal its findings on
employment in the area.
Councilor Joshua Greene said,
“The need for training is happening
nationwide. There are not enough
young people being trained as car-
penters, which is a problem with all
the new development they want,
since there is no one they can hire.
It is a major problem, and I just
want you to know that it is not
going unnoticed.”
The second speaker was Cal
Applebee, current executive
director of the Oregon Coast
Military Museum and former
director of the Florence Area
Chamber of Commerce. He said
he worked for 30 years in the title
and escrow business, and said
revisions are necessary for the
Oregon Land Use Law system.
“I really encourage you to
jump on this opportunity — and
don’t just stop there,” Applebee
said. “There’s more to it than just
affordable housing. All of our
construction and development
across the board needs some
relief from regulations, fees and
everything to make it cost feasi-
ble for our society and our com-
munity. But this is a good start.”
The City of Florence has
scheduled a groundbreaking for
construction on City Hall for this
Thursday, Feb. 1, at 12:30 p.m. in
front of City Hall, 250 Highway
101.
For more information about
city projects, especially as many
City Hall functions have moved
to the Public Works Facility at
2675 Kingwood St, visit
ci.florence.or.us.
Theft
In addition to her 20 days of
jail time and 48 months of proba-
tion, Bursaw is responsible for
restitution and is not allowed to
have contact with any of her vic-
tims at Driftwood Shores.
Bursaw was taken into custody
following her sentencing and is
currently scheduled for release
Feb. 14.
from 1A
Alletson was present during
Bursaw’s
sentencing
last
Thursday and had asked for a
total of 54 days of jail time —
one for each of his employees
who had been stolen from.
589 Ivy St.
2/2-2/4
9am-4pm
tools, furniture, fi ne china,
antique pedal grinder,
collection of story book dolls,
& much, much more.
FREE
garage sale signs
541-997-3441
with your ad
Friends of Florence
Van Fans
Game Day Fundraiser
$15.00 per person
February 21, 2018
Florence Elks Lodge • (North Door - Follow Sign)
Doors Open at 11:30 A.M. • Lunch Served at NOON
Fore more information or to
RESERVE A TABLE
Please call:
Viola Sears • 541-991-3721
Sharon Grove • 541-997-8629
Deadline for Reservations
February 16, 2018
Visit us online: www.TheSiuslawNews.com.
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5078 Coastwood Lane
Phone: 541-997-8233
Florence, OR 97439
ALL NEW DINNER SPECIAL!
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SATURDAY
Enjoy great food and good times.
PAN SEARED SCALLOPS
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Happy Hour • Monday-Friday 3:00pm to 5:00pm
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MEATLESS MONDAY
Healthy vegan and Vegetarian expertly prepared meals!
WINE WEDNESDAY
Enjoy a palate-pleasing variety of half price wines by the bottle!
ALL YOU CAN EAT COD THURSDAYS 5-8PM
Enjoy all the hand-battered, golden fried cod and chips you can eat!
CULINARY CELEBRATION WEEKENDS
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The Grill Restaurant & Lounge
Open Daily for
Breakfast 10am-1pm
Lunch 10am-5pm
Daily Happy hour 2-5pm,
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at Sandpines
1201 35th Street at Kingwood, Florence
Highway 101 & 35 St.
541-997-4623 ext. 5