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SATURDAY EDITION | JUNE 30, 2018 | $1.00
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SUMMER SOFTBALL
IN FULL SWING
SPORTS — B
128TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 52
Commission
approves
Cannery
Station plan
Meeting covers community
concerns, age restrictions
At the June 26 meeting of the City
of Florence Planning Commission, the
preliminary planned unit development
(PUD) of
By Jared Anderson
Cannery
Siuslaw News
Station was
approved by
the commission with a six-to-one vote,
with Commissioner Sandra Young voicing
the sole dissent.
Cannery Station is a mixed-use de-
velopment project, holding a mixture
of commercial, residential and different
densities. The project will be completed in
eight phases over a 10-year period.
Tuesday’s meeting was a continuation
of the committee’s June 12 meeting, where
the project was initially discussed in front
of the commission and the public.
The meeting was not to approve a final-
ized plan of the project, but to approve the
overall concept and construct guidelines
in the next phases of the project that will
bring cemented plans before the commis-
sion in the coming years.
At the meeting, multiple concerns were
addressed by Cannery representatives,
including age restrictions, traffic concerns
and how the project would affect the qual-
ity of life for Florentine Estates, which sits
adjacent to the property.
Age-restricted housing
One of the major concerns that the
public had about Cannery Station was its
focus on senior housing. This has created
some contention as there is a shortage of
affordable housing for young, working-age
families in the Florence area.
The overall scope of Cannery Station
is to create a multigenerational commu-
nity as the project is built out in multiple
phases.
“The hope is that it will be a vibrant,
residential area that will include old-
er people, younger people, little shops,
restaurants and some amenities that will
make it interesting to live in,” Chuck
McGlade, one of the project leaders and
founders of Cannery Station, said during
the June 12 meeting.
However, the first phase of the project
was to be primarily centered around se-
nior living, including transitional housing,
an assisted living facility and an indepen-
dent living facility.
In the initial planning meeting, Com-
missioner Michael Titmus asked Bryan
Cavaness, one of the project managers for
Cannery, about the age restriction.
INSIDE
See DEVELOPMENT page 7A
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Community. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B5
A3
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FLORENCE, OREGON
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
Boards
approve
FY 2018-19
budgets
Digging deep
to provide
seismic
upgrades
Story and Photos
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Four of Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue’s stations received seismic upgrades this year,
including Sutton Lake (above). Here, work crews install steel helical piers to the building’s
foundation to increase stability. Below, crews are wrapping up improvements at Western
Lane Ambulance District’s office.
Western Lane Ambulance, Siuslaw Valley prepare for disaster
with proactive Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program
T
here is no question that a severe earth-
quake will eventually hit Oregon. The
probable cause of that event will be
movement along the fault in the Earth’s crust
known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
This 600-mile long zone runs from British
Columbia to Northern California, about 100
miles off the Pacific Coast and includes all of
Oregon.
The Oregon Office of Emergency Manage-
ment (OEM) states that
Oregon has the strong
potential for a 9.0 +
magnitude earthquake,
often referred to as “The
Big One,” caused by
movement in the zone.
OEM also reports the
likelihood of a resulting
tsunami of up to 100 feet
in height will impact the
length of the coast.
Currently, scientists
are predicting there is a
40 percent chance that
Sideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
This Week on the Coast. . . . . A6
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
THIS WEEK ’ S
this type of mega-quake will impact Oregon
sometime in the next 50 years. These predic-
tions are based on data gathered over the last
five decades which shows that, since the last
seismic event occurred along the Cascadia fault
in 1700, pressure has been building along the
Juan de Fuca Plate, which is subsiding under-
neath the North American Plate.
This movement will eventually shake the
State of Oregon like a dog shakes a chew toy.
The resulting destruc-
tion could lead to mas-
sive loss of life and will
undoubtedly lead to
millions of dollars in
property damage to
homes and businesses.
This scenario is fright-
ening for civilians, but a
source of professional
concern for the Siuslaw
region’s emergency re-
sponse services.
See SEISMIC page 5A
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
67 53
67 51
65 50
63 50
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
Western Lane Ambulance District
(WLAD) held its June board meeting at
SVFR’s Main Station on June 28. Director
Ric Yecny
By Mark Brennan
and Board
Siuslaw News
President
Mike Webb
were at the meeting in person and Director
Larry Farnsworth attended electronically,
allowing the meeting to move forward with
a quorum.
The most important action taken during
the meeting was the approval of the organi-
zation’s 2018-19 fiscal year budget.
Chief Director Langborg presented the
budget created by a joint committee formed
by members of the board of directors for
both WLAD and Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue (SVFR), which have an intergovern-
mental agreement (IGA) to share adminis-
trative services.
There was a short period of discussion
regarding the line item categories used for
accounting purposes and some questions
regarding the wording of expenditure expla-
nations.
Yecny praised the staff ’s efforts during
this year’s budget process.
“I’d like to recognize the great work
done by staff in developing this year’s
budget. There have been a lot of issues to
be addressed, and the work done by the
administrative staff has been important as
we move into the new fiscal year with a plan
that meets the needs of the district and the
citizens we serve,” he said.
The directors then approved the budget
for next year, totaling $6,663,770. On June
20, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue directors
approved a budget totaling $3,348,667.
Operations Manager Matt House then
gave his report, which stated that there are
significantly more calls so far this year than
last, with an increase of nearly three hun-
dred calls to date.
House also reported that seismic im-
provements at WLAD’s office were nearing
completion. Interior modifications to the
building to create a new sleeping space for
the district’s EMTs was also nearly finished.
House’s report was received by the
directors with few questions and the board
moved to a previously tabled subject that
has received different responses from the di-
rectors of SVFR and WLAD: a random drug
testing policy for the two districts.
In past months, Farnsworth has asked that
Langborg and district staff look into adopt-
ing a policy of random drug testing. This
has been a concern for Farnsworth since
SVFR directors decided last month to put in
place personnel policies that eliminated the
authority of the district to administer a drug
test on a random basis.
S IUSLAW N EWS
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