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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM | SIUSLAWNEWS | WEDNESDAY EDITION | SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 | $1.00 @ SIUSLAWNEWS Community Voices SAILORS SINK PIRATES SPORTS — B INSIDE — A7 128TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 38 FLORENCE, OREGON SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 Deer, chickens and speedboats Giant kites star at Habitat’s Beachwalk Dunes City Council meeting covers community topics By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News Story & Photos By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Whimsical kites and bubbles and live music greet participants at Driftwood Shores at the end of Habitat for Humanity’s Beachwalk. Event raises funds for Habitat’s projects F lorence Habitat for Human- ity held its annual Beach Walk fundraiser on Satur- day, Sept. 15. The walkers signed in and began the walk at the North Jetty park- ing lot and ended their trek at the Driftwood Shores Resort and Con- ference Center. Driftwood Shores has partnered with Habitat for the event the last few years, and this year provided lodging for attendees and catered snacks and beverages. Florence Habitat Director Janell Morgan said the event was well supported by the community this year. The funds generated will be used in Florence to support current projects. “The Beachwalk is our annual fundraiser. Not only is this a fam- ily and pet-friendly event, it raises funds to help build our next home,” Morgan said. “Habitat builds homes and sells them to families with an af- fordable mortgage, allowing people who otherwise could not purchase a home to become homeowners.” “This is a new thing for Dunes City,” Dunes City Administrator Jamie Mills said to the audience during last Wednesday’s Dunes City Council meet- ing. “We’ve gotten a lot of verbal allegations that we aren’t paying attention to our residents when they express concerns and ideas. In order to try and avoid that criticism, when I get anything, it’s coming to the city council now. We’re making everybody’s voice heard.” The agenda for the meeting was bereft of its usual big-ticket issues that night; no discussions on mar- ijuana were to be had, nor water rights. Instead, it was the usual business of a small, rural town. First on the docket was a discussion about feeding wild animals. The issue arose from a letter sent to the city by resident John Scott. “It’s not unreasonable that we have had a cougar sighting in Dunes City,” the letter read. “A primary source of food for cougars is deer, either young or crippled. … They are easy, attractive prey for the transient cougars. There are many well-meaning people in town who feed the deer, for whatever rea- sons they may have. Feeding deer has a tendency to concentrate their numbers in our urban neighbor- hoods. Do we really want to promote this activity? Many cities in Oregon have ordinances prohibit- ing the feeding of all wild animals, except for birds. Should Dunes City consider a similar action?” Scott was in the audience, which consisted of three other residents. “John, why don’t you come up and tell us what you have against animals,” Dunes City Mayor Rob- ert Forsythe joked as Scott worked his way up to the speaker’s table. “Well that was loaded,” Scott said, laughing as he sat. “I wrote the letter because I’ve lived here for 20 years. An urban environment is conducive to the See DUNES CITY page 9A See BEACHWALK page 10A Citizens for Siuslaw Florence clarifies illegal lodging code Ordinance No. 12, Schools begins Series 2018, allows campaigning city enforcement The formation of a new political action commit- tee, Citizens for Siuslaw Schools, was announced at last week’s Siuslaw School District Board of Di- rectors meeting by the By Mark Brennan group’s chairperson, Siuslaw News Robert Orr. The purpose of the action committee is to actively support the passage of the school district’s upcoming bond measure, which will appear on the Nov. 6 General Election ballot. Siuslaw School District is requesting voters approve the issuance of a $108 million bond to be used for major upgrades at the elementary and middle schools, along with a complete replace- ment of the current high school. INSIDE See COMMITTEE page 5A Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 B5 A5 By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News On Monday, Florence City Council voted to approve Or- dinance No. 12, Series 2018, to amend current nuisance lodging and camping codes on private property within the city. While earlier drafts of the ordi- nance also included public prop- erty, city staff removed the lan- guage after consulting with the city’s legal counsel. Florence Planning Director Wendy FarleyCampbell present- ed the staff report recommending Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 THIS WEEK ’ S changes to Florence City Code Title 6, Chapter 1 Section 2-4. “The city receives numerous complaints about illegal camp- ing in public parks and in the brush on private properties,” the written staff report read. “Com- plaints and resulting issues in- clude abandoned property and refuse, public urination and def- ecation, animal abuse and illegal fires.” Other reported issues includ- ed noise from fighting, habita- tion and dogs; illegal dumping of tanks; unsightliness; obstructing vision clearance; and sidewalk and trail encroachments. “There are significant public costs to the taxpayers as the city, Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue (SVFR) and Western Lane Am- bulance District (WLAD) re- spond to calls for assistance, en- forcement and site clean-up,” the report continued. For the agencies, the annual expenses for these incidents to- tal $10,650 for SVFR and $19,500 for WLAD. For Florence Code Enforcement and the Florence Police Department, expenses have ranged from $50 to $400 per callout and as much as $4,997 per site cleanup for Florence Public Works. “We were just getting lots and lots of nuisance complaints about illegal camping,” FarleyCampbell said. “… These are the costs to respond to illegal camping situa- tions, whether that’s illegal fires, callouts or emergency medical situations for fights, domestic vi- olence or, once a few years ago, even rape.” TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 64 49 66 50 66 52 64 50 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 Her presentation showed im- ages of an abandoned illegal camping site in the Florence area, a tent and overhanging tarps lit- tered with belongings and trash. “We have a responsibility to clean it up,” she said. In July and August, Florence City Council met for two work sessions on the nuisance lodging issue. This included a listening session for SVFR, WLAD, Code Enforcement and police to talk about their recent experiences with the callouts. “They provided some input to you about their experiences, needs for transitional housing and the challenges with providing housing and services to that pop- ulation,” FarleyCampbell said. S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018 Puzzles • Greeting Cards • Tea • Polish Pottery • Vera Bradley • Christmas Ornaments GRAND OPENING Champagne & Chocolate! Door prizes every 15 minutes In-Store specials and more! Saturday, September 22 ,1-6 p.m. Raffl e drawing to benefi t Boys and Girls Club and The Oregon Coast Military Museum 1312 Bay Street, Old Town Florence 541-991-3842 See LODGING page 6A
