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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION ❘ APRIL 28, 2018 ❘ $1.00 VIKS DODGED BY DOUGLAS SPORTS — B 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 34 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 The trouble with funding rural law enforcement FLORENCE, OREGON LEGISLATION ‘Gaining momentum’ with Florence public art Oregon targets municipal building programs Cash-strapped Lane County agencies discuss protecting rural areas New state inspection rules could complicate small city financials, progress B Y J ARED A NDERSON B Y D AMIEN S HERWOOD Siuslaw News For the Siuslaw News The challenges of policing rural districts were the main topic of discussion last week in Dunes City as the city hosted a town hall dis- cussion on the issue. In attendance were Dunes City Mayor Robert Forsythe, Lane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) Sheriff Byron Trapp, Florence Police Chief Tom Turner, Oregon State Police Lt. Vonn Schleicher and Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich, among others. The agencies have a mutual aid agreement, with the sheriff’s office responding to the bulk of the calls from rural Western Lane County, but in cases of a life threatening or serious emergency in the area, Oregon State Police and Florence Police will show up to assist if needed. The main reason for the need of mutual aid is that the sheriff’s office is understaffed and underfunded. Response times can be long, depending on where available deputies are at any given time, and deputies may not show up for every call. Trapp and those in attendance discussed the problems facing the sheriff’s office, and possi- ble solutions that the public could support in easing the burdens of the office. One of the major questions asked at the meeting was about how big the problem of crime is in Dunes City and other rural areas, but finding exact numbers can be difficult. “The only accurate data is the violent crime indexes — rape, murder, arson, burglary,” Trapp said. “That kind of crime rarely does not get reported.” He said Lane County Sheriff’s Office reports statistics to the FBI, but they may not be complete. New rules restricting third-party inspec- tion services in city building programs has drawn concern from small Oregon munici- palities as officials rush to meet deadlines. Affecting dozens of cities whose building programs are due for renewal this year, the rules were handed down Monday from the Building Codes Division (BCD) as letters were issued to cities whose building pro- grams may be in violation of Oregon law. Small municipalities, many of which fully contract out their building programs, could now be required to hire new employees at up to six-figure costs or give up control of their programs to the county or state. Florence and Dunes City were among those notified by the BCD that as of July 1, 2018, their building programs will no longer be accepted — a move which has prompted local criticism. “For me, the greatest concern is that now you’ve added an extra layer of bureaucracy, time and money to a system that was already operating quite efficiently,” said Dunes City Recorder Jamie Mills. While the action appears sudden and has caught many off guard, Oregon legislation and debate on the issue goes back nearly a decade. In 2009, House Bill 3462 created a pilot program to address a shortage of building inspectors by cross-training inspectors to be qualified in more than one specialty code. Legislation in 2013 gave the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services authority to appoint these building inspectors to perform inspections throughout chosen geographical regions. See ENFORCE 8A F LORENCE CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS A new horse sculpture graces the landscaping of Florence Senior Center thanks to a public art donation by Sam Spayd and Ron Green. Sam Spayd and Ron Green donate imported metal sculpture B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News On April 24, the Public Art Committee gathered at the Florence Senior Center, 1570 Kingwood St., to unveil the newest public art in Florence: a metal horse sculpture donated to the city. “We gathered here today to celebrate and acknowledge a very generous donation of this won- derful piece of art by Sam Spayd and Ron Green,” said Committee Chairman Harlen Springer. “I think you can agree that public art is beginning to gain momen- tum here in Florence. We are moving on a couple projects and we’re going to have several more big projects come up in the next 90 days. You’re going to see sculptures, murals and all kinds of things like this show up all over time.” The Public Art Committee, members of the Florence Senior Center Board of Directors, city staff and community members attended the event to thank Spayd, a retired pilot and active volunteer, and Green, the chief executive officer of Oregon Pacific Bank. According to Green, “it was Sam’s idea” to purchase the horse and donate it to the city. “I have viewed Sam Spayd as who I want to be and how I want to act when I grow up — and that is someone who puts the commu- nity first,” Green said. The two first saw the sculpture through an Oregon Pacific Bank fundraiser that raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Oregon. Through the event, Green spoke with the own- ers of Swahili Imports at the Fifth VIEWS FINAL DESIGN OF Street Market in Eugene. “They have direct goods right from multiple countries in Africa,” Green said. “This horse is specifically from Kenya. It is made from recycled oil drums that a craftsman hand-hammered and spot welded.” He added that he has another piece from the same artist group — a 6-foot ostrich. “Sam said we are very proud of the fact that the City of Florence is embracing public art and diversity, and being a pro- gressive community,” Green said. “He asked, ‘Why don’t we go in together and buy this and donate it to the city?’ I said, ‘Great! Sign me up.’ I had no idea what I was getting into, but I was willing to do it. Anything for Sam and any- thing for the City of Florence.” See HORSE 5A R E V ISION P ROJECT Consultants, engineers and city staff hold open house for Highway 101 streetscaping project B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News INSIDE On Wednesday, the City of Florence welcomed community mem- bers to an open house at the Florence Events Center for the final design of the ReVision Florence Streetscape Project. City Project Manager Megan Messmer led presentations on the construction timeline, design high- lights and safety features. Mayor Joe Henry welcomed people to the presentation. “We’ve been working on this proj- ect for three to four years. A lot of time and effort has gone into this proj- ect, plus a lot of money,” he said. He thanked Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Lane County, the Florence Urban Renewal Agency (FURA) and city staff for their work in putting the project together and getting Messmer said it was a coordinated effort between those organizations, as well as the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce. “We call it ReVision Florence because it’s much easier to say than the ‘beautification and streetscape project from the Siuslaw River Bridge north to the intersection of Highway 126 and then east to Spruce Street,’” Messmer said. “That’s our project Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 A3 A4 A2 area. We’ll be doing quite a bit of improvements this year, followed by ODOT repaving the Highway 101 portion of this corridor.” She said the Highway 101 corridor was “complicated” as it handles com- peting needs from a variety of users. It is a federal highway managed by the State of Oregon. It also has not had many improvements since its last repaving 30 years ago. “Highway 101 runs through the heart of our community,” Messmer said. “We get quite a bit of traffic on the highway, from you as community members, business owners, our many visitors and our freight. One of our goals is to slow that traffic down through our community.” The ReVision Streetscaping Project will create an aesthetic for the high- way through the Urban Renewal District; improve pedestrian and bicy- cle safety; reinvest in public infra- structure with the goal that there will be private investment to follow; pro- mote job growth in the community and continue freight mobility. “Most of all, it will bring what we love about our community to this cor- ridor that doesn’t necessarily repre- sent everything that is great about Florence right now,” Messmer said. By its conclusion, the project will cost $6,935,000 for the design work, Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . . A7 Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 See INSPECTION 6A OCHS outlines next steps in transition B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS David Dougherty, of Dougherty Landscape Architects, speaks to community members about the final design for ReVision Florence, which is set to begin construction in August. construction, contracting and project management. FURA and the City of Florence are providing $3,185,000, the state and federal level are providing $2,550,000 and Lane County is providing $1,200,000 in in Transient Room Taxes. According to the project timeline, THIS WEEK ’ S the city will open the bidding process on June 7, with construction sched- uled to continue in August. Once the streetscaping is complete in March 2019, ODOT will then repave the highway corridor. The entire project is expected to be finalized by the start of Rhody Days, 2019. See TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 56 47 52 44 53 43 56 43 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 It’s been a busy two weeks for the new board members of the Oregon Coast Humane Society (OCHS). Board President Jack Hannigan and the other members of the board have been spending a great deal of time familiarizing themselves with the organization’s volun- teers, staff and facilities. Hannigan’s approach to the manage- ment of OCHS is to seeking input from everyone willing to talk with him about their concerns. “During these first two weeks, we have met with the shelter staff to ask for their candid opinion of current conditions and list of concerns. We listened and are addressing each and every issue,” he said. “We feel that although the shelter is without a manager, the current staff has pulled together in a remarkable way, caring for and adopting out cats and dogs.” The OCHS board is working to priori- tize the tasks that all of the stakeholders in the organization have identified as areas of concern. One of the most pressing items on the extensive to-do list is identifying and hiring an executive director. REVISION 7A S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018 See TRANSITION 5A
