THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION ❘ FEBRUARY 10, 2018 ❘ $1.00 Central Lincoln, Banner Bank share space VIKS WRAP UP SEASON SPORTS — B INSIDE — A3 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 12 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 F LORENCE FLORENCE, OREGON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SIUSLAW AWARDS Imagination, service focus of annual awards honoring 2017 people and businesses Siuslaw Steering Committee seeks continued comment Public forum will discuss options, survey results B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News Siuslaw School District Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak is encouraging residents to attend a public forum at Siuslaw High School on Monday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m, with members of the district’s Steering Committee and the Siuslaw School District Board of Directors. The purpose of the discussion will be to review the pre-bond planning work and bond project priorities to be included in any future bond requests. The Steering Committee also hopes to receive input from community members that may not have had an opportunity to contribute to the process to this point, according to Grzeskowiak. “The Monday meeting at the high school has three purposes,” he said. “First, it is scheduled for student input. Previous meetings have been difficult for students to attend and share their thoughts on what is needed to improve the safe- ty and learning environment of the high school. “Second, more community members have been joining in the process over the last few months and have more ideas to share and ques- tions to ask.” Future First Citizen Kaylee Graham rce Board of Comme r e b m a h C guished nce Area the Distin s e iv g n (Left) Flore se ike Bones Bobby Jen assador M b m A e c President n re “My dad ard to Flo nes, said, o B s ri h Service Aw C everyone hose son, rence and lo F t u o (center), w b a he can.” tterly cares ry day that truly and u e v e t a th s ow here. He sh PHOTOS BY RODGER BE NNETT See DISTRICT 8A EMAC looks to change recycling equation B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News r Bettina utive Directo to the le p Chamber Exec eo p comes Hannigan wel vous” themed awards. ez d en R “Rhody F lorence Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2017 Siuslaw Awards at the Florence Events Center on Wednesday. It was a chance to honor local businesses with a number of awards, as well as to thank three spe- cific community members for their impact on the community through service. Chamber Executive Director Bettina Hannigan welcomed attendees to the event. “I’m looking out here and seeing friendly faces and people who like to do business,” she said. “We hope that you are enjoying our ‘Rhody Rendezvous’ experience. Terry Abeyta, our very own assistant executive director and Tony’s Garage — “Stu Johnston” Business of the Year Award B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News event coordinator, along with the decorating committee, have rocked this place out of the park.” The committee worked with event center staff to festoon the flat floor of the building with rhododendrons, festive lighting and other greenery. Hannigan then told a story about the many hats people in the community wear. “At the chamber, our primary hat is econom- ic development for our members. This means First Citizen Rachel Pearso n declares she is “Siusl aw Proud.” using all available resources — leverage, edu- cation, advocacy and relationships — to support our members. It takes resources to help people.” She said that the chamber’s resources equip businesses and people to support area nonprof- its, hire more people and pay better wages, in addition to the chamber’s second “hat” as the marketing partner of the City of Florence. Hannigan then talked about the importance of an “imagination hat,” as she once needed for a visit to Disneyland with her 8-year-old nephew. See AWARDS 6A Port of Siuslaw holds third public meeting INSIDE On Feb. 7, the Port of Siuslaw held its third public input meeting where members of the B Y J ARED A NDERSON public could Siuslaw News address their concerns to the Port Commission about security issues and sanitation, along with showing support for public art on port property. After the public meeting, an exec- utive session was held on the new port management position, where public action was taken afterward. The input meeting began with a Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 A3 A4 A2 letter of complaint from a liveaboard port moorage customer, listing a litany of problems the writer felt plagued the docks. The first section of the letter was devoted to security on the docks. “Currently, there is a total lack of enforcement of the 100 existing Port of Siuslaw ordinances, primarily because of the absence of a routine (port) presence on the docks, result- ing in an all-day, all-night long unawareness of events, complaint follow up or enforcement action,” the letter writer said. Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . . A7 Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 The letter stated that the writer had witnessed fist fights, drug users and “transients/drunks” who have urinated and defecated outside their window, night crabbers, overnight campers in sleeping bags, skinny dippers and out of season fireworks, among other things. The letter went on to state that the port’s actionable response solution was to report violations to the Florence police. But the writers claimed they had contacted the police and were told “off the record” that this is a port problem, not a THIS WEEK ’ S TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 54 36 48 39 52 34 53 39 See ENVIRONMENT 8A Sanitation, security, public art and port manager position discussed police problem, and not to bother 911 with these incidents. Florence Police Commander John Pitcher was contacted for a response to the complaint. “That’s just not true,” he said. “I’ve talked to port personnel and they were aware of complaints. We pulled calls and we pulled reports. We went down there every time we were called, and there was nothing there.” As to the port policing issues on its own, Interim Port Manager Dina McClure stated that the port does try to address complaints, but office staff WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 Florence’s Environmental Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) met for the first time in 2018 on Tuesday evening at the Florence Events Center. The committee began their work by taking public comments from the audience. Two prominent community members took the opportunity to address the group, Mayor Joe Henry and City Councilor Joshua Greene. Henry told the committee that he felt the work it is engaged in is vital to Florence, citing the recently approved city ordinances modifying takeout food containers, as an example of the positive impact EMAC has on the city. “I just wanted to thank you for the great job you did on the styrofoam issue, that is something that will be very beneficial to our community in the long run,” Henry said. is limited in its hours. Many of the complaints come in during the week- end, when the port office is closed. However, the port does have new security cameras, and more will be installed soon. “We go back and look at the videos if there’s a problem,” McClure said. “If somebody says there’s a concern, we go back and check it out.” McClure encouraged customers to contact police dispatch if any inci- dents do occur. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018 See PORT 8A