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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2019)
SN Siuslaw News VOL. 129, NO. 6 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 F LORENCE , O REGON WEATHER SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 19, 2019 | $1.00 THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM TH ‘School Board Super Heroes’ honored Siuslaw recognizes education proclamations Feel Your Best in 2019! 50% OFF Enrollment THROUGH JANUARY 541-997-8086 2285 Highway 101 – Florence Expires 1-31-19 M ARTIN L UTHER K ING , J R . D AY J ANUARY 21, 2019 Siuslaw Valley, Western Lane receive yearly audit reports Top of their field PERS causes concern for WLAD By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News Evening showers with a high of 53 and a low tonight of 42. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Yachats holds annual Agate Festival this weekend INSIDE — A3 SPORTS Siuslaw pins Toledo + Winter Sports Preview INSIDE — SPORTS RECORDS Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B4 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B5 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM At the Siuslaw School Dis- trict Board meeting on Jan. 16, board members conducted the meeting under a banner reading “School Board Super Heroes” — the theme for this year’s Oregon School Boards Association’s (OSBA) School Board Appreciation Month. Cut-out masks, comic book style word effects and custom art by Siuslaw students also greeted the board. Siuslaw Elementary Princi- pal Michael Harklerode read Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s Jan- uary 2019 School Board Rec- ognition Month proclamation on behalf of Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak, who was absent for the meeting. “Locally elected boards ful- fill leadership roles and serve as the conduit through which teachers, parents, businesses and communities demonstrate the care, creativity and support that lead to student achieve- ment,” Harklerode read. “Board members build the framework that makes it possi- ble for education organizations to teach Oregon’s children.” Brown’s proclamation re- ported that Oregon has 197 school districts, 19 education service districts and 17 com- munity colleges. See SCHOOLS page 8A By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News “Now jump down!” Another joked as everyone laughed. But Bell had been trained well, com- ing down methodically. He had a big smile when he finally made it, taking off his helmet and wiping away the sweat. “I was cleaning limbs that were hang- ing that could be a potential hazard and kill people,” he explained. “That big one you just saw was about 40 feet. It was quite a bit heavy. We’ve been cutting limbs between the trees, trying to make sure it’s all cleared out to make sure that when it is taken down, it won’t cause any problems.” Delimbing is one of the first steps in taking down the tree, which had not fused together, splitting about half way up. The split was building pressure, and could present a potential hazard in the future, so it has to come down. “It’s a dangerous job, and not for most people,” Bell said. “But someone has to do it, and I’m glad to be trained to do it safely and efficiently.” Audit reports dominated January board meetings held by Siuslaw Valley Fire and Res- cue (SVFR) and Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD) earlier this week. The required yearly reports were present- ed to directors at both board meetings by Chris Mahr, CPA. While there were similarities in Mahr’s assessment of the financial situations of the two organizations, the reports were marginally different in one major regard — the ultimate determination of state compli- ance requirements. The initial determination by Mahr’s firm was an “unquali- fied” approval of the SVFR fi- nancials and a “qualified” des- ignation for WLAD. The terms qualified and un- qualified, as used in the world of auditors and CPAs, have a different meaning than in oth- er contexts. According to the website Investopedia, “An unqualified audit refers to a complete au- dit that has been performed and researched so thoroughly that the only possible remain- ing discrepancies stem from information that could not be obtained by the auditor.” See FORESTRY page 5A See AUDIT page 7A JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS Youth in the Angell Job Corps learn trades like forestry, plumbing, carpentry and automotive while getting the chance to earn their GED. Angell Job Corps partners with Camp Baker to remove trees, increase camp’s accessibility By Jared Anderson Siuslaw News I t was when Garrett Bell started to descend the giant Sitka Spruce tree that things started to go wrong. The teenager had been sawing off “widowmakers” for the past half hour — long branches periodically falling to the forest floor of Camp Baker, a Boy Scout camp in Dunes City. He had just cut off a long one. However, instead of falling to the ground, the branch got caught in the lower tree limbs. As he looked down at the stuck branch, his coworkers laughed. “You can do it, Garrett,” one yelled as Bell slowly worked his way down to the problem area. The coworkers gathered in a small group, shouting encourage- ment at Bell as he worked on cutting the branch loose. After around 10 minutes of cutting, the big branch fell with a loud thud that echoed throughout the camp’s trees. “Nice!” a worker yelled, and the sur- rounding group clapped and hollered. Collard Road sink hole expands after recent rains County fails to see emergency as road access threatened by degradation By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 16 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2019 There is a really dangerous curve ahead, if you live on Collard Lake Road. Residents of the area, locat- ed north of Florence off Mercer Lake Road, have worried for years about the safety of a stretch of Collard Lake Road that has dete- riorated to the point where it is clearly a significant safety hazard. The road lies outside of city limits and Lane County has responsibili- ty for maintenance of the road. A number of people who live COURTESY PHOTO BY SKIP THOMSEN or travel on the road have contacted Collard Lake Road resi- city and county officials, on numer- dents have noticed a ous occasions, pointing out the need marked increase in the for some sort of repair of the large, size of the damaged sec- and still growing, hole in the asphalt tion of road. surface and substructure of a por- tion of the road that twists and turns Resident Alex Orobey through forest and underbrush for directly contacted County miles. Commissioner Jay Boziev- The condition of Collard Lake matter of major concern to those us- ich regarding what he perceives as Road has been and continues to be a ing the road. a serious danger to his family and neighbors. “As a resident of Lane County, I am writing to bring attention to a se- rious concern to over 100 residents of Lane County. Our roads Collard Lake Road and Collard Lake Way are in serious degradation to the point now, it has become a safety issue,” Orobey wrote in his email. “In the last few days, Collard Lake Road suffered a physical washout next to a steep slope. With the rainy season upon us soon, the road will be impassable and may possibly fail, resulting in serious injury or loss of life. I understand a few years ago in another rain storm the other road washed out and someone was killed.” Residents Skip and Camille Thom- sen live in the neighborhood and have noticed a marked increase in the size of the damaged section of road since the weather has become progressively inclement. “My wife and I walk by the spot sev- eral times a week on our walks, so we 1956 to 2019 AND STILL GOING STRONG See SINKHOLE page 5A “We’re next to the Bridge” 100 Hwy. 101 See all Florence Listings at cbcoast.com A History and Tradition of Success and Leadership COAST REAL ESTATE The Early Years 1980 1990 Present 541-997-7777
