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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2019)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2019 | 7A Drivers needed for seniors People are invited to sign up with Florence Senior Connections to drive their own vehicle to take senior cit- izens who otherwise have no transportation to their medi- cal appointments in Florence, Eugene, Springfield and the Coos Bay/North Bend areas. Mileage is reimbursed at .405 cents per mile, which is not taxable and does not in- New group honors life with event terfere with Oregon Health Plan or Food Stamp deter- mination. The hours are typically weekdays. People can de- cide which days and hours they are willing to help. If interested in volunteer- ing, contact Kristine Sir- mans with Florence Senior Connections at 541-902- 9430 x7830. MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS F In 2019 we will be celebrating the 80th anniversary of our business in Florence. It is time to express the appreciation and gratitude we feel, and have always felt, for the friendship, trust and loyalty of those who live in this community. It is your confi dence in us and your continued patronage that has made these 80 years such a pleasurable experience. Th ank you. Johnston Motor Company Since 1939 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 lorence 4 Life, a recently formed local group, held an informational event on June 22 at the Florence Events Center. The presentation included a short film on the pro-life debate followed by a question and answer period and refreshments. There were a number of tables with contact infor- mation and resources available for women seeking assistance with their pregnancies. Recent scientific advances made in detecting the beginning of human life were discussed, as was the need for a positive and empathetic approach to discussing the very personal issues of pregnancy and reproduction. PARK from page 1A Some of Conrad’s sugges- tions included a possible ex- pansion of the rudimentary trail system at the North Jet- ty, the introduction of an in- We’re so excited to announce the birth of Cora Leigh Clawson Born on June 8th @ 1:14am 4 lb 6 oz, 17.25 inches. Congratulations Saige & Dylan Clawson, she’s PERFECT! We’re so Blessed and couldn’t love y’all more! ….Love Mom & Dad ( Nana & Papa) David Frizzell & terpretive aspect to the park, the construction of ADA ac- cessible areas for those with mobility challenges and oth- er possibilities. “This might be an op- portunity for habitat resto- ration. The park already has an informal trail system and one of the options to consid- er is whether to have a more formalized trail system,” said Conrad. “There are also site amenities throughout the park that we can provide so that people can go on a nice nature hike there.” The decision to take over long-term management of the park would ultimately be left up to the Lane Coun- ty Board of Commissioners. The next year will be spent analyzing the potential ben- efits and challenges relat- ed to the acquisition, with data and public feedback received at meetings like the one on Monday shared with commissioners. The discussion that fol- lowed was rather free-form, with Conrad emphasizing the open-ended nature of the work being done by Lane County Parks in or- der to determine whether the acquisition of the North Jetty property makes sense for the community and the county. One of the main con- cerns expressed during the public’s comments was Amy Clawson the need for better overall maintenance at the North Jetty location. Specifically, residents mentioned the ter- rible state of the parking lot, including multiple large and potentially hazardous pot- holes, and the untidy nature of the park’s restrooms. “It’s such a beautiful piece of property and it provides a lot of opportunities for us and we have a lot of ideas,” Conrad said. He added that one of the first things that would take place during the trial phase of the new relationship be- tween the county and park users would be closer atten- tion to cleaning and mainte- nance. “If Lane County Parks does decide to take this over, a lot of things can happen in the next 20 to 30 years. Currently, the park is owned by the Department of State Lands and, for the past 10 years or so, they have had an agreement with Oregon State Parks to maintain it. One of the things we are going to do at Lane County Parks is to have a mainte- nance agreement with State Lands to maintain the bath- rooms and collect the litter. That does not mean we have acquired the park,” Conrad said. Feedback from the public included a number of com- plaints about the parking lot at the North Jetty, which then prompted a discussion of the second most voiced concern of the meeting: the need for fees at the site in the future. Wade Helm attended the meeting as the representa- tive of the Department of State Lands (DSL) and he agreed with the overwhelm- ing public opinion that the parking lot at the North Jet- ty needed immediate atten- tion. “We are working through a long-term agreement with the county, and part of that agreement would be to re- pair and re-do that parking lot completely,” Helm said. “I have talked with my su- pervisor and I have made my opinion very well known — that we need to have a permanent fix for this. The public is not happy about the lack of annual improve- ments at the park and we re- ally do need to address this issue.” The most contentious part of the discussion re- volved around the subject of fees. Many in attendance felt the introduction of a fee structure in any form at the North Jetty was funda- mentally wrong. Those ex- pressing this opinion cited the long-standing law that allowed for beach access all along Oregon’s coast, which celebrated its 50th anniver- sary last year. Others in the audience believed that there should be funding in place to assure proper upkeep of the park. “I think it is unreasonable to expect Lane County to pay to maintain that park- ing lot and also maintain re- strooms and keep the place clean, out of whatever their budget already is,” said one member of the audience. Conrad was clear that in order to address the mainte- nance concerns expressed at the forum and the potential improvements at the park that were being considered, there was a strong likeli- hood that some form of rev- enue enhancement would be needed. “If Lane County Parks was to take over this proper- ty, we could not afford this with our current budget,” said Conrad. “A lot of people have mentioned fees, and for our budget and the way we structure it, fee revenues are a significant portion of our budget.” There will be additional opportunities available for public input on the issue of the future of North Jetty park. These public meet- ings will be scheduled soon. There is also a short survey available at forms.gle/zJ1c- J4iZHEmxs5Tg8. 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