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Siuslaw News
VOL. 129, NO. 52
NEWS &
VIEWS THAT
DEFINE OUR
COMMUNITY
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
SATURDAY EDITION | JUNE 29, 2019 | $1.00
TH
THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
Masons fund
Ambassador
of Music
INSIDE — A3
July Arts &
Entertainment — inside
SVFR & WLAD
increase revenue,
welcome
recruits in June
‘A match made in the makerspace’
RAIN connects
resources to
residents’ ideas
By Jared Anderson
Siuslaw News
Partly sunny with a
high of 64 and a low
tonight of 51.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Music ‘Legend’
comes to Three
Rivers
INSIDE — A3
SPORTS
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue
(SVFR) and Western Lane Am-
bulance District (WLAD) passed
resolutions to increase needed
revenue during two meetings in
June, as well as ushered in new
recruits for SVFR, honoring
retiring board members for both
boards and burning down an
entire house.
In a June 12 Budget meeting,
SVFR adopted the 2019-2020
budget for the General Fund
and Capital Reserve Funds in
the total amount of $3,915,549.
Attached to the budget was a
resolution imposing a rate tax of
$1.5417 per $1,000 of assessed
value, an increase of $0.4026.
“They’ve been looking at
capital replacement plans, and
there was absolutely no funding
to think about replacing fire
engines or some of our vehicles,”
SVFR/WLAD Chief Michael
Schick said. “Some of our en-
gines are going to cost $600,000
to $700,000.
See SVFR/WLAD page 10A
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
PHOTOS BY VICTORIA SANCHEZ/SIUSLAW NEWS
T
he Oregon Re-
gional Accelerator
and Innovation
Network (RAIN) held
its first of two summer
workshops this week at
the newly minted Flor-
ence Maker Space. The
Bring Your Idea Work-
shop walked attendees
through a business plan
model while introduc-
ing RAIN and its re-
sources to local resi-
dents.
Ariel Ruben, RAIN’s
new rural venture cata-
lyst, led the meeting for
RAIN Rural Venture Catalyst Ariel Ruben talks
ideas in the new Florence Maker Space.
the 20 people in atten- ably know. So RAIN
dance.
hires people like me,”
“RAIN is a statewide she said. “We’re catalyz-
organization that essen- ing new ventures and
tially builds ecosystems helping all of you start,
for startups. We work begin and launch in ru-
in rural communities. ral areas.”
A lot of cities have es-
Ruben is based in Eu-
tablished networks and gene but comes to Flor-
resources, accelerators, ence on Wednesdays
incubators, coworking and Lincoln County on
spaces,
makerspaces Thursdays to meet with
and a network of men- past RAIN cohorts and
tors and all that. But a new startups seeking as-
lot of rural communi- sistance.
ties don’t, as you prob-
See IDEAS page 8A
Councilor conflict Fireworks return
dominates discussion
on Thursday
RECORDS
Obituaries &
emergency
response logs
Inside — A2
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Activities and
comics every
Saturday
Inside — B4
CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
Inside — B6
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By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2019
The June 26 Florence Urban
Renewal Agency (FURA) meet-
ing was short on action and long
on acrimony. The often-dis-
played personality conflict be-
tween Florence Mayor Joe Hen-
ry and City Councilor Joshua
Greene took center stage at the
meeting, which devolved into a
series of comments questioning
the leadership of Greene as chair-
person of FURA and a call for
new officers for the group. There
were also heated exchanges that
questioned the truth of public
comments recently made regard-
ing the city’s public art funding
by Harlen Springer, chairperson
of the Public Arts Committee
(PAC), and Greene.
As has been the case since the
seating of a new city council in
January, the issue of public art
and FURA’s contributions to the
purchase and placement of art
was at the crux of the discussion.
The meeting began with Direc-
tor Bill Meyer asking for a clar-
ification of the procedures for
selecting chair and vice chair of
the agency. Florence City Man-
ager Erin Reynolds explained
the process, indicating that the
July meeting was customarily
the time new officers would be
selected. Meyer accepted the ex-
planation and the timeline for
electing new officers.
The agenda for the meeting
was the first sticking point of the
evening as Henry questioned the
last-minute addition of an item
listed as No. 6 – Public Art Grant
Funding: “Discuss and consid-
er directing staff to amend the
FY 19/20 budget to transfer the
$20,000 of public art funding
from available funds to future
public arts projects.”
Henry took exception to the
inclusion of the item on the
docket saying, “I have some com-
ments on the agenda, specifically
item No. 6, which magically ap-
peared on the agenda at 5:30 this
morning. … I actually think this
item should be removed from the
agenda and I will make that as a
motion. …
“It is my personal belief that
FURA does not legally have the
right to make this decision about
the $20,000. It was specifically
stated in the grant that the mon-
ey was to be spent on the mural
project artist stipend, which it
has, we’ve already paid the artist
$20,000, so that money is spent,
and I will challenge any decision
you make.”
See FURA page 7A
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
The Florence Indepen-
dence Day Celebration
will again take place in
Historic Old Town and
at the Port of Siuslaw on
Thursday, July 4. This
year, family-friendly ac-
tivities start at noon and
the famous fireworks will
be displayed over the Siu-
slaw River at 10 p.m.
“The Fourth of July is a special
day for Americans to celebrate our
nation’s birthday and honor the
patriotism of those who made our
independence possible,” said Flor-
ence Area Chamber of Commerce
MAPLETON
Sand Master Park
makes move
INSIDE — SPORTS
Florence Urban Renewal meeting filled
with controversy on budget, public art
SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO
Executive Director Bettina Han-
nigan. “For the past several years,
we’ve been able to present an out-
standing display over the Port of
Siuslaw which draws thousands of
spectators to our beautiful town.”
See FIREWORKS page 7A
The community of Ma-
pleton is also hosting July 4
fireworks. Funded by local
donations, Terry Saubert
and Carl Halverson will put
on the fireworks display at
dusk.
The best viewing areas
will be the Mapleton High
School parking lots and
football field, though the
school district is not affiliat-
ed with the event.
“Please be respectful of
the school grounds,” wrote
Janine Halverson on the of-
ficial Facebook event page.
“If you bring it, take it home
with you. No alcohol, tobac-
co, weapons or fireworks
are allowed on school prop-
erty. Thank you and Happy
Fourth of July all!”
Linda Wheeler is part of
the group putting on this
year’s show.
“This year, we’re going to
set out the donation hat to
work toward next year,” she
said.
People can find out more
by going to the “Mapleton
Fireworks” event on Face-
book.
LOFY CONSTRUCTION, LLC
2018
Serving Florence for over 30 years
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Tel: 541-590-3691 • dlofy@bmi.net • www.lofyconstruction.net
CCB# 221760 • 2285 Suite J Highway 101 • Florence, Oregon 97439
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