SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2018 | 7A
Democrats hold Campaign Kickoff today
Summer art continues on 2nd Saturday
The Florence Area Demo-
cratic Club and the Campaign
to Re-elect State Rep. Caddy
McKeown will be hosting a
campaign kickoff to launch
their door-knocking and
phone-calling operation in
Florence.
The Democrats knocked on
almost 1,500 doors in Coos
County in July, and are now
setting out to talk to voters
in Florence over the next few
months.
The Democrats’ strategy is
to meet with voters face to
face, or speak with them over
the phone, in order to under-
stand the issues that people
really care about.
This grassroots-type effort
takes time — but it’s the best
way to get voters engaged,
and the Florence Democrats
are ready to get out there and
start talking to voters.
Candidates and measures
being supported by the Flor-
ence Area Democrats include
Kate Brown for Governor,
Peter DeFazio for U.S. House
of Representatives, McKeown
for State Representative and
Maureen Miltenberger for
Florence City Council, as well
as gaining support for Siu-
slaw School District’s school
bond measure.
The kickoff will be held on
Wednesday, Aug. 8.
Participants will have the
option of either knocking on
doors, making phone calls
or just coming to listen and
learn. It will begin at 3:30
p.m. with a short training.
The 2nd Saturday Art Gal-
lery Tour is this Saturday, Aug.
11.
From 3 to 5 p.m. on the sec-
ond Saturday of each month,
participants can enjoy great lo-
cal art, interactions with fellow
patrons of the arts and artists,
receptions, refreshments, live
entertainment and communi-
ty.
Enjoy the various types and
styles of at any of the 18 partic-
ipating locations.
New to this month’s tour
is the Heffy's Gallery at 1856
37th St. Come by the gallery
and the Florence Area Cham-
ber of Commerce to see this
unique wood art.
Stop off at Old Town Coffee
& Gallery to enjoy some coffee
and see Tamarah Philipps' lat-
REVISION from page 1A
that they may have questions
on.”
The contractor meeting will
be held on Oct. 25.
“Construction would then be-
gin in January and go through
the end of September, which is
just the typical ODOT construc-
tion season,” Messmer said.
Through consultation with
ODOT and project engineers,
Messmer said the city was able
to achieve “a win” for the future
contractor.
“A lot of this is summertime
work, so not being allowed to
close lanes on Highway 101 was
“One thing will do this time,
which we did not do last time,
will be a mandatory pre-bid
meeting for contractors,” Mess-
mer said. “It’s a chance for con-
tractors who are interested in
bidding to come, meet with us,
the consultants and engineers
and get more information on the
project. At that point, they can
ask questions and we can make
sure all the bidders get those
answers. It also provides them
an opportunity to actually walk
the area and see things in person
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Participants will then de-
part the office at 4 p.m. or
stay to make phone calls.
The event will end at ap-
proximately 6 p.m.
Food and beverages will be
provided.
The kickoff will be located
at the Democratic Campaign
Headquarters, 4969 Highway
101 Unit 4.
For more information, or to
find out how to get involved,
call 541-590-3114.
The Florence Area Demo-
crats is an affiliate of the Lane
County Democrats.
For more information, visit
www.florenceareademocrats.
org, call 541-590-3114 or
email fadcemail@gmail.com.
a big hurdle, causing night work
throughout the full project,” she
said. “We were able to appeal
that decision through our main-
tenance side of ODOT, as op-
posed to the capital investment
side. They have agreed to allow
us to close one lane during the
day for this project.”
This means that from Monday
through Thursday, the traffic
plan will include lane closures
of one lane at a time during the
daytime hours, as well as during
the night shift.
“ODOT is concerned about
weekend traffic, so that lane clo-
sure would not be allowed Fri-
day through Sunday,” Messmer
said.
By allowing some of the con-
struction to continue through-
out the day, “It takes out a lot of
the risk of doing night work for
the contractor,” she added.
City Manager Erin Reynolds
said, “More than anything, hav-
ing consistency across the entire
project time period for whatever
they’re doing — traffic control,
management of closures, etc.
— if they can do the same thing
throughout the duration of the
project, that buys down your
cost. …
“Plus, it is consistent for the
STORM
BE
READY Expo
READY
community. Once they get over
the initial shock of the lane clo-
sure, then you just get more ac-
customed to it occurring.”
The City of Florence is work-
ing to develop resources for a
Business Toolbox to help com-
munity members adapt during
the process. In addition, Flor-
ence Area Chamber of Com-
merce has plans to support busi-
nesses and the economy while
construction continues.
In looking at the previous bids
and numbers from the current
construction season, Messmer
said the agencies are hopeful
that the new bids will come in
around $4 million.
“Murraysmith provided us
with a midpoint estimate a
couple weeks ago and we went
through that to consider more
options to reduce cost, which
is where this list came from,”
she said. “We’re using updated
figures in our estimate, because
there has been a lot of change
between last season and this
season, as well as a demand on
construction.”
The $4 million estimated for
construction also allows for a 10
percent buffer.
Engineers are working with
ODOT to make sure the project
estimates match.
Reynolds said, “Our goal is to
keep it the total budget at $7.4
million, which includes the de-
sign, engineering and all the
work so far — the right of way
acquisition, construction man-
agement costs and ODOT fees
— as well as the actual cost of
doing the work.”
COURTESY IMAGE
The “Spirit of Summer” continues at the Florence Events
Center.
est drawing collection.
Also, Backstreet Gallery is
featuring the art of Daphne
John and Mike McIntyre.
Meanwhile, the Florence
Events Center has the “Spirit
of Summer” exhibit on display
until the end of August. Be sure
to Vote for People’s Choice and
become a Patron of the Artists.
For more information, visit
2ndSaturdayGalleryTour.com.
In the actual construction, the
contractor will be laying frame-
work for some items that will
come in at the end of the project.
This will include the decorative
monuments at the “gateways
to Old Town” on Quince Street
and Highway 126 and Maple
Street and Highway 101. The
contractor will only be in charge
of building the bases, not doing
the actual construction of the
arched monuments.
“Urban Renewal and the city
can come in after the fact and
do a separate contract to cre-
ate those monuments,” Mess-
mer said. “That was one thing
through the process and hearing
from the contractors that they
said was an issue. It’s a very spe-
cialty work; it’s artwork within a
paving and street construction
project. They aren’t necessarily
the contractors that would do
that, normally. … Removing
those from an ODOT project
will save us quite a bit of money
and allow us to get better con-
tractors who can do that special-
ized work.”
Reynolds said the monuments
were already designed, which
would make it easier to bill the
right person to create and install
them.
The contractor will also be in-
stalling a conduit for the six sep-
arate utilities to “underground”
their lines. This will include op-
tical fiber, phone lines and elec-
tricity.
In general, ReVision will still
provide an updated, narrower
roadway on Highway 101, more
pedestrian amenities and bet-
ter landscaping and storm wa-
ter management. Some of the
smaller things won’t be as visible
at first, though many will be in-
cluded soon after the main con-
struction ends.
“Our end product, for the
most part, will be what we set
out for, which will be the side-
walks, the underground utili-
ties, new paving and the plazas,”
Reynolds said. “What you see is
really what we want to be pro-
viding. There are other nuances
and ‘nice to haves’ that we may
have to forgo at this time, based
on cost and budget.”
That includes the remov-
al of some of the landscaped
bioswales that were added to
balance the ones necessary for
storm water management.
Mayor Joe Henry, a mem-
ber of Urban Renewal, said he
hoped ReVision will still look
“beautiful like it shows in the
brochure” and that the project
will not exceed the $7.4 million
budget.
“That is our plan,” Reynolds
said. “If things change in the
bidding process and we have to
go back with costs, that is a po-
tential, but it is not what we’re
aiming for. … We’re doing ev-
erything that really needs to be
done now, and leaving things
that can be put back with little
to no disruption at some point
in the future, if that’s something
the city or Urban Renewal wants
to do.”
One component that Public
Works will be able to install will
be arms on the light poles that
will cast more light at the pedes-
trian level. While more light is
not necessarily needed in all the
areas, the agencies approved the
aesthetics of the poles. The cur-
rent project bid will not have the
main contractor install those,
but will leave a plate over where
the arm could be installed later,
as well as brackets for banners
and flower baskets.
“Part of our direction from
the board last time was to make
sure we intensely monitor the
work of Murraysmith to make
sure we’re getting the best num-
bers that we can and really have
a better understanding of any-
thing that can have cost savings,”
Reynolds said. “They very much
understand where we are at and
what we are trying to accom-
plish.”
At the end of the Urban Re-
newal meeting, Greene said, “I’m
optimistic as always, but a little
nervous right now. I’m looking
forward to hearing those num-
bers and seeing the designs.”
He spoke briefly about the
meeting at the Florence City
Council meeting on Aug. 6.
“The outcome of the 101 Re-
Vision Project, which Urban
Renewal, the councilors and
staff have been working on, is
going to turn out for the bet-
ter. There’s a lot of reorganizing
that is going on … to see where
we can save some money while
not losing the aesthetics and
the beauty of the concept that
we’ve all embraced,” he said.
“We’re learning new ways to
do it for the future. It is a little
bit of a setback, but I think the
outcome is going to be an edu-
cational one. If this turns out to
be the solution, it will be a good
example for other communities
to consider too.”
For more information, vis-
it www.ci.florence.or.us/urban
renewal/revision-Florence.
EMERGENCY
SUTURING CLASS
Saturday, August 25, 2018
FLORENCE EVENTS CENTER
FREE ADMISSION
LIVE DEMOS, VENDORS, PRIZES!
DOORS OPEN AT 10AM
to be held at the Florence Events Center
during the
Be Ready – Storm Ready
Preparedness Expo
August 25, 2018!
Please call the Siuslaw News
at 541-902-3526 to sign up.
You may pay by credit or debit card.
There are two classes being offered.
Positions in the class are on a fi rst paid for, fi rst
reserved basisand classes are limited to the fi rst
25 paying participants in each class.
So don’t delay, sign up for a place now!
FREE HOT DOG LUNCH
The class is at
11:00 AM AND 2:00 PM
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Cost is only $25.00
per participant!
SPONSORED BY KIWANIS
PRESENTED BY:
FIRST 300 GUESTS WILL RECEVE ONE 2.5 GALLON WATER CONTAINER
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