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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
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B7
A3
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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,
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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
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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