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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2019)
8A | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS PAC from page 1A The last year has been a difficult one for PAC and the city council, as mem- bers of the two groups have clashed over the issues of leadership, autonomy and process. The installation of murals on two sides of the Central Lincoln PUD building, on the corner of Quince Street and Highway 126, seemed to crystallize opposition to the use of public monies for the purchase and installa- tion of art. The Quince Street mu- ral was created by Ma- rino-Heidel Studios in response to a “Call for Artists” from PAC and the artists were selected from more than 100 entries re- ceived. Public forums and packed city council meet- ings which questioned not only the art selected but the process used to select the art resulted in a concerted effort on the part of May- or Joe Henry and others to separate PAC from the city. Henry has been at the center of the debate regard- COUNCIL from page 1A passion to sharing the his- tory to those who visit the lightstation and interpre- tive centers,” Henry read before proclaiming this week as Keepers of Heceta Head Lightstation Week in the City of Florence. “This will honor Flor- ence Oregon’s Heceta Head Lightstation and its keep- ers of days gone by to the present, and encourage cit- izens to join in this obser- vance,” he said. The proclamation was received by staff members and volunteers from the Heceta Head Lightstation. Terry Abeyta, Program Development Specialist for the Lightstation, is inviting the community to come for a visit on National Light- house Day today, Aug. 7. “We didn’t publicize this upcoming event because with summer, the park parking lot has been fill- ing up almost daily and with more publicity, the parking situation becomes overwhelming,” said Abey- ta, who explained that the Aug. 7 celebration will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. “We will have a picnic stand set up at the bed and breakfast lawn, and sell picnic items, pourings of our 125th Anniversary private label wine and other refresh- ments.” There will also be lawn games, entertainment on the porch, docent-led tours at the Keeper’s House and lighthouse and a commu- nity coloring-craft table for visitors to enjoy. The positive start to the meeting continued throughout the evening and stood in contrast to recent meetings that have focused on problems be- tween the Public Art Committee (PAC) and the Florence City Council. The heated debates of recent meetings was absent as the council seemed to be trying to move past some of the divisive issues sur- rounding public art. Area resident Michael Allen was the only individ- ing not only the perfor- mance of the committee, but also in questioning the need for PAC to continue. To that end, Henry intro- duced a motion at the July 15 Florence City Council meeting that would require PAC to present to the coun- cil a plan to fundamentally change the committee’s op- erating mandate. The coun- cil passed the motion on a 3-2 vote to allow PAC 90 days to reimagine the way it operates. Monday’s meeting was a joint workshop intended to further that goal. At a tense city council meeting last month, the animosity between city councilors Joshua Greene, Geraldine Lucio and Henry ended with Greene angrily leaving the meeting before its conclusion. That level of frustration was not evident during Monday’s work ses- sion as Henry and Greene were restrained in their comments. While some tension was evident, the meeting was civil and ulti- mately productive. The main tangible result of the work session was the agreement that the PAC by- laws would be reviewed by councilors and their rec- ommendations would be incorporated into a new version of the governing rules for the committee. While the actual work produced by the joint work session on Monday was limited, it represented steps made by the two entities to move forward. Greene was in attendance at the Monday meeting, which centered on the re- sponses given when Hen- ry asked PAC members to consider the role art played in the overall assessment of the city’s needs. The discus- sion then continued with Henry asking PAC mem- bers and councilors to share their vision of what form that relationship between the two entities would take in the future. As the thoughts and con- cerns of PAC members were presented, Henry listened and expressed his appreci- ation for the work done by the volunteers of PAC. Henry has been forth- ual who spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting, request- ing the city take concrete action to address the con- tinuing problem of gun vi- olence in America. “I lament the failure of President Trump and the R e p u b l i c a n - c o nt r o l l e d Senate under [Mitch] McConnell to back bans on military-style assault weapons and limits on magazine cartridges,” Al- len said. “I lament the tac- tics of the Republicans in our state Senate and the response of the Democrat- ic leadership, backed by [Arnie ] Roblan and [Kate] McKeown, to kill the om- nibus gun bill which in- cluded a gun safety storage measure. But most of all, I lament the lack of resolve by Mayor Henry and our city council to take steps to deal with the important matter of protecting our citizens from gun violence when the state and federal government is unwilling.” Allen accused the mayor and others of suggesting that passing gun control laws by the city council is “preempted” by state stat- utes. “This is true,” said Allen, “but our mass slaughters and daily killings using guns dictate that we do something at the local lev- el.” Allen then made a for- mal request of the City of Florence and the mayor to advocate with state legis- lators to modify the pre- emption statutes, allowing local governments to pass tougher gun violence pre- vention measures. Other items on the limit- ed agenda for the meeting included an introduction by Florence Events Center Director Kevin Rhodes of a new employee, Matt Miller, and consent items related to changes in the city’s fee structure. The council also heard a staff presentation from Florence Finance Manager Lezlea Purcell in support of a request for street clo- sure related to the Rods n’ Rhodies event planned for Sept. 14. Purcell reported to the council that the applicant had successfully complet- ed all of the required pa- perwork and staff recom- mended approval of the request, which the council agreed to. There was a brief public hearing to allow for community input but there were no public comments on the request. The only action item that required councilor attention was from Public Works Director Mike Mill- er, who asked the council to approve the awarding of a construction proposal bid to Ray Wells, Inc., for $284,426 for water services along the southside of Highway 126. The council unanimous- ly approved the request. City Manager Erin Reyn- olds’ report included a positive update on a grant application and reminded councilors and the com- munity about the second National Night Out, held last night, and today’s ded- ication of the new mural. She encouraged residents and councilors to attend. Henry ended the meet- ing on a positive note with comments regarding the PAC and the work session attended earlier in the day by committee members and councilors. “This morning we had what I consider a produc- tive meeting between our city council and our PAC. As everyone knows, there has been some stress in- volving the city council and the PAC, and I believe we made some progress on trying to resolve some of those issues and at least possibly created a path for- ward that we can work on in the next few months,” Henry said. “I was encour- aged by this meeting.” The next Florence City Council meeting is sched- uled for Monday, Aug. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at Florence City Hall. For more infor- mation, visit ci.florence. or.us. coming with his criticism of PAC leadership and what he considers to be the un- professional behavior of former ex-officio repre- sentative of the city coun- cil, Greene. Henry has also expressed irritation with comments allegedly made by Harlen Springer, Chair- person of PAC. Henry was noticeably less strident in his approach to the future of PAC on Monday. Springer assured coun- cilors that the new funding challenges faced by PAC would be incorporated into whatever emerges as the end decision of the council regarding the committee’s future. He also guaranteed mem- bers of the joint meeting that whatever decisions the council made in regard to PAC would be accepted and incorporated into the new PAC mandate. The next meeting of the Public Art Committee, which is open to the public, will be Monday, Aug. 26, be- ginning at 10 a.m. For more info, visit ci.florence.or.us. County Transfer & Recycling Th anks for recycling in Florence! Separating recyclables from your trash reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfi lls, saves energy, and reduces emissions! Th e items that can go into your recycle cart are: • Cardboard (please fl atten) and Paper (magazines, junk mail, newspapers, scrap paper, cereal boxes, egg cartons) • Plastic milk jugs and transparent drinking bottles (please rinse – no lids) • Metal food and drink cans (please rinse – no lids) In Florence recycling is picked up on the same day as your trash. Th anks for letting us serve you! For more information please call us at: 541-997-8233 5078 Coastwood Ln, Florence, OR 97439 Get Results...List With Tim. Tim Sapp Owner / Principal Broker 541 999-8230 5405 Ka-Teech Dr - Immaculate, custom-built home in a private setting on over an acre. Lavish master suite offers a soaking tub, walk-in tile shower, walk-in closet and double vanity. 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