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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2020)
6A | SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2020 | SIUSLAW NEWS RESORT from page 1A Business volume wise, this is really nice for a Friday, you know? We couldn’t be happier at this point. It’s a good turnout. We’re up to about five jackpots so far this morning. We’ve been counting and taking pic- tures.” And so far, the resort has not received any push- back from the instituted safety precautions. “We haven’t had any complaints,” Colton said. “Everybody understands the rules and they appreci- ate everything we’ve done. It’s a good feeling.” The precautions are no- ticeable from the outset as guests arrive. “We’ve got one point of entry, and that’s at our main door, and all the other doors are exit only,” Colton said. Once through the main entrance, guests are asked to have their temperatures checked with a touchless monitor that scans guests’ foreheads. “It works really well,” Colton said, showing off how the machine works. He slightly lowered his mask for the machine to read his face. If a tempera- ture is in excess of 11.4 de- grees, guests are asked to leave until the fever sub- sides. But in Colton’s case, a greenlight flashed on the screen in front of him, clearing him to enter. “We are doing this for team members, too,” Colton said. “When they come into the back of the house to come to work, they get their tempera- tures checked, sanitize and get their PPE (personal protective equipment) for the day.” All guests are required to wear face coverings in- side the building, and are asked to lift their masks when drinking, smoking or eating on the casino floor. Guests are also asked to bring their own masks. While the resort does have PORT from page 1A “We’ve got very clear sig- nage that tells everybody to stay six feet apart. This upcoming Friday and Sat- urday Halibut season starts at all depths, and it doesn’t look like the weather is go- ing to be that good for any- body to be able to get out and fish, so I don’t expect to see any issues this weekend either.” Commissioners added their observations that the launching and landings of watercrafts went well and the same should be expect- ed this weekend when traf- fic in and around the Port will increase due to the Me- morial Day holiday. Commission Chairman Terry Duman agreed with Huntington’s assessment and seemed pleased with the reopening of the boat launch. “I had the opportunity to PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON/SIUSLAW NEWS Three Rivers Casino Resort, 5647 Highway 126, reopened yesterday with a robust set of guidelines con- cerning sanitation and safety of both guests and staff. a limited supply of PPE available for guests with- out a mask, Colton said it’s been difficult procuring them due to nationwide shortages, and asks every- one to bring their own. Latex gloves are also available to any guest upon request, but they are not required. After a security guard checks and scans identifi- cation of all guests enter- ing the building, guests are free to play the major- ity of games on the floor, with the exception of live poker, which is still closed until further notice. “We’ve turned off about half of the slot machines here, as well as taken away slot machine chairs,” Colton said, which allows for social distancing when people sit at machines. He also stated that many machines have been re- positioned to ensure more popular machines are available. Table games, such as blackjack and pai gow, are still open, with modifica- tions. “We’re only allowing three players per table,” Colton said. “We’ve got the plexiglass up to pro- tect the dealer and the players. And then every half hour or so, we sani- tize. We change the cards out every hour.” Hand sanitizer is also available to players at the tables, as well as touchless sanitizer stations through- out the casino floor. “We’re taking every pre- caution we can,” Colton emphasized. Nearly every counter in the resort has a plexiglass barrier, from the player services booth to the ho- tel reservations desk. They are also prevalent in the resort’s two restaurants that will be open. “We’ve got all our ta- bles spaces out for social distancing,” Colton said, pointing to the floor space of Blue Bills Sports Bar and Tap Room, where roughly half of the tables have been taken out. “We’ve got our plexi- glass up here with our or- ders to go and as you see, we have everybody spread out,” Colton said. “Every- thing’s been changed to single serve condiments. Nothing is reusable.” Soda self-service sta- tions have been turned off for now, though the resort has touchless dispensing machines on order. “Getting everything has been a challenge,” Colton said. In addition, Three Riv- ers’ hotel resort is open, but with limited capacity. Early check in and late check out will not be per- mitted, and room ameni- ties, such as water bottles and coffee, will only be available upon request. “For cleaning the ho- tel, we have electrostatic sprayers that we’re using to disinfect. They do all the rooms,” Colton said. The casino floor and talk with Dave during the week and I feel very com- fortable, personally, with what is going on,” Duman said. The discussion then turned to the issue of re- opening the campground at the port. Huntington said the staff and the facility were ready to reopen although he was somewhat hesitant to open this weekend just in case there were unexpectedly large crowds. “Well, right now we don’t know of any state parks that are opening up for overnight use, but some county parks are starting to open up and other ports are starting to open up their campgrounds with guid- ance,” Huntington said. The meeting was held on Wednesday, after which the Oregon Parks and Rec- reation Department an- nounced that it will offer limited camping at many state park campgrounds be- ginning June 9. Meyer, who was at the Port of Siuslaw Office and moderating the meeting, offered advice regarding the schedule for reopening other ports along the coast. “For three weeks now I’ve been on a Zoom meeting with representatives from the governor and represen- tatives from the other com- missions on the central and north coast,” he said. “One of the things they were urg- ing is that everybody kind of open at the same time, and it sounds like in the next few days all of them will be reopening.” There was a general sense of agreement with Meyer and Huntington’s comments from the com- missioners. Huntington suggested putting in place guidance for port visitors moving forward. “We have come up with a Port of Siuslaw Overnight Campground and Rec- reation policy, with rules set in place that we think would allow us to safely re- open the campground for overnight camping if the rules are followed,” he said. “We will probably wait ‘til after this weekend, because it might be a little hectic for us to get things together.” Huntington suggested reopening the campground sometime next week, to al- low for a gradual ramp up of services and staff under the new and evolving regu- lations from the state, coun- ty and the city. Commissioners were re- ceptive to the port manag- er’s suggestions and Meyer put the safety of the staff as the priority of the Port Commission. “Rather than rush this, we want to do this so staff is comfortable and make sure that things go smoothly, and I think it would be un- wise to do it on what could be a very busy weekend.” Meyer said. The rest of the commis- sion agreed with Hunting- ton’s plan to phase in the reopening next week as crowds thinned after the Memorial Day holiday. The Port of Siuslaw later announced the reopen date for the campground will be Tuesday, May 26. To ensure the Port of Siuslaw’s ability to provide overnight recreational op- portunities at the facility, the following guidelines shall be followed by all us- ers: 1. Gathering of people must be limited to no more than ten (10) people. 2. Maintain a six (6) foot distance from others at all times. 3. Stay in the comfort ESTATE JEWELRY AND ANTIQUE FURNITURE!!! County Transfer & Recycling “ I’m here to support the community and the Siuslaw News.” Delbert L. "Del" Phelps Real Estate BROKER “I love to help people buy and sell property” Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate 1875 Hwy 101, P.O. Box 276, Florence, OR. 97439 Cell - 541-991-7787 dphelps@bhhsnw.com • oregoncoastallistings.com A member of the franchise system of BHHS affi liates, LLC Auto, Home, Life, Business Flood, Antique Auto, RV’s Medicare Advantage Plans Medicare Supplements Health Insurance Phone (541) 997-9497 1234 Rhododendron Dr / Florence We buy, sell and consign quality estate/heirloom jewelry & furniture. Gold, silver, platinum jewelry with precious & semi precious stones. Call 541-997-8104, Florence Antiques & Coast Jewelers Separating recyclables from your trash reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfi lls, saves energy, and reduces emissions! Items that can go into your recycle cart are: • Cardboard (fl atten) and Paper (magazines, junk mail, newspapers, scrap paper, cereal boxes, egg cartons) • Plastic milk jugs and transparent drinking bottles (rinse – no lids) • Metal food and drink cans (rinse – no lids) Florence recycling picked up on same day as your trash. 541-997-8233 5078 Coastwood Ln, Florence OR wasteconnections.com Since 1983 Alva Bracey Broker Your goals are my top priority. Let’s get together! LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS Tires • Brakes • Shocks Alignments Call, Text or Email Cell: 541-505-1180 Insect & Pest Removal 4325 Highway 101 Florence, OR 97439 541-997-7178 Trapping • Mole/Gopher Dead Animal Removal • Honey Bee Removal Crawl Space Cleaning • Exclusion Work Fumigation of Antiques and Commodities. (541) 997-4027 Alva@CBCoast.com 541-997-7777 100 Hwy. 101, Florence, OR COAST REAL ESTATE restaurants go through constant cleaning as well. Instead of being open 24 hours a day as normal, the casino will close between the hours of 3 and 7 a.m. to disinfect. “We’re doing a deep clean on the floor with those sprayers, vacuum- ing and wiping down ev- erything,” Colton said. “All the high touch points, we’ll hit really hard. But all throughout the day, we’re still hitting them as well.” The opening of the ca- sino comes as Oregon inches its way back into reopening. While Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authori- ty have instituted a num- ber of requirements for reopening, Three Rivers is going beyond those re- quirements with the myr- iad of safety measures it has instituted. On the same token, Brown has also asked, but not required, for residents over the age of 60 to re- main sheltered in place, and discourages individu- als from traveling beyond their immediate commu- nities. However, it’s not required and the Siuslaw region has already seen a slight uptick in visitors since some restrictions were lifted. Colton believes that re- opening the casino will see more people come to the region from outside areas, but it’s not making a large push for out-of-area visitors. “We’re expecting our normal crowd from Eu- gene, to be honest,” he said. “But beyond that, I’m not expecting a whole lot of people from Portland to come down yet. I think it’s going to take longer for that, and that’s okay. We don’t mind a slow start to this. This is all new for all of us. If we can tiptoe into this and slowly get going, we’re happy with that.” For more information, visit www.threeriverscasino. com. and safety of your RV and your site when not par- ticipating in recreational activities. 4. Use your own RV’s bathroom facilities. 5. Do not allow visitors to your RV and site. 6. RV’s and campers shall not park with primary access door facing the pri- mary access door of your neighbor. 7. Limit those staying in your RV to members of your immediate family/ household. 8. Most importantly, if you or a member of your family is feeling sick, please stay at home. Failure, by any individ- ual or group, to follow all applicable COVID 19 guidelines will constitute a violation of Port policy and may lead to a denial of services. For more information, visit portofsiuslaw.com. MODEL TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS Over ars 50 Ye ce! rien Expe CALL ME TO BUY, SELL OR TRADE! I’M LOCATED HERE IN FLORENCE. 541-255-9822 - Larry landl316@live.com Us TOO Florence Prostate Cancer Education Support on the Oregon Coast www.ustooflorence.org • Tuesday Evening Group (2nd Tuesday) 5-7 p.m. - Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant • Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff attends. • Tuesday Lunch Group (3rd Tuesday) 12 noon – 1:00 p.m. – Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant • Urologist Dr. Roger McKimmy attends. Contact Bob for more information: (H) 541-997-6626 • (C) 541-999-4239 maribob@oregonfast.net