SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020 | 7A
WAGE from page 1A
“We have taken a very smart
approach by implementing the
raise in a way that makes sense
for workers and for businesses, no
matter where in Oregon they are,”
Brown said.
According to Oregon Bureau of
Labor and Industries (BOLI), Ore-
gon workers must make minimum
wage, with that wage depending
on work location. Workers should
be paid the wage for the county
where they work 50 percent or
more of their hours each week.
To determine which minimum
wage applies, employers should go
to www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/
Pages/minimum-wage.aspx.
Oregon RAIN (Regional Accel-
erator and Innovation Network)
answered some questions con-
cerning the new minimum wage
on its Facebook page.
On the post, RAIN Coastal Ven-
ture Catalyst Ariel Ruben pointed
out that the current federal min-
imum wage remains $7.25 per
hour.
“When federal and state em-
ployment laws conflict, employers
must apply whichever standard
is most beneficial to the employ-
ee. Therefore, Oregon employers
must pay the higher state mini-
mum wage,” Ruben said.
Oregon workers also must re-
ceive minimum wage during all
stages of employment, including
during on-the-job training and as
minors.
BOLI has released new post-
ers on minimum wage for 2020,
which are available in both En-
glish and Spanish at www.oregon.
gov/boli/employers/Documents/
BOLI_MinWage.pdf and www.
oregon.gov/boli/employers/Docu-
ments/BOLI_MinWage_Espanol.
pdf.
The creation of the governor’s
to start Feb. 1, 2022, and tion is projected to be 13.6 lenging aspects of a de-
end that December. The units per acre.
velopment of this scale.
Phase 1A, and for Phase 1B total density upon comple-
There are many chal- The City of Florence has
clear, codified standards
which must be met before
the many different stages
of development can begin
and continue.
One of the residents who
submitted comments is
Steve Williams, a member
of the Sea Watch Home-
owners Association. Wil-
liams has concerns with
the additional traffic that
would be added to the
area, but his most pressing
issue regards what he feels
is a potentially damaging
aspect of the project: water
runoff.
“The proposed develop-
ment is 9.28 acres. With
I s itt timee forr a new
w mattress??
6.5 feet of rain a year, we’re
talking about 2.6 million
cubic feet of water that
lands on that property that
has to be managed cor-
rectly. Now the project is
removing about 90 percent
of the vegetation that ab-
M ONDAY-SSATURDAY
Y 10--5 15500 6thh St.. & Hwyy 1011
sorbs much of that water.
5 41--9 97--9 4244 FREE
E IN
N TOWN
N DELIVERY
Y
So, where does the water
go?” Williams asked in his
letter. “Is it to a storm drain
system with adequate ca-
pacity or is the plan to re-
turn it to the ground (like
Fairway Estates) where it
will cause imminent blow-
outs of our sand slope?”
Williams added that his
Backhoe / Excavator
concerns are based on past
Hedge Trimmer / Tile Cutter
projects approved by the
And more……
city, and that, in his opin-
For the homeowner or contractor
ion, “The city has not done
this water management
Reservations taken for all Equipment
correctly and has caused
property damage here —
Monday—Friday 8 to 5
I believe twice — once
1550 6th St. & Hwy 101 541-997-2653
on Coast Guard Road, a
drainage pipe capacity is-
sue, and the other related
to Sand Pines around 1998,
OF
THE
BARGAINS
MONTH
which was a groundwa-
ter issue. It seems odd too
TRUE VALUE HARDWARE
that the Coast Guard Sta-
1750 HIGHWAY 126
tion has been doing a lot of
DUNES VILLAGE
GE®
stabilization projects since
SHOPPING CENTER
18 in. Under Cabinet
the Fairway Estates drain-
LED Light
FLORENCE, OR
E 268 333 1
age system was put in right
PHONE (541) 997-8024
across the street.”
In the past five years, up-
SALE DATE:
grades
have been made to
JULY 1 - JULY 31, 2020
the city’s stormwater col-
lection system. Rhododen-
Rayovac ®
dron Drive has seen major
24 pk. AA or AAA
Alkaline Batteries E 182 538, 540
asphalt, bike path and veg-
etation modifications over
the past three years.
Williams believes that
both the increased traffic
and further vegetation loss
would also be a problem
impacting area homeown-
DEVELOP from page 1A
A weekly roundup of shopping,
savings and doings around town.
O LD
D SCHOOL
Rental Center
17.99
6.99
minimum wage law was one of
her top priorities in 2016 — “one
that gives working families the
much-needed wage boost they
need, and addresses challenges for
businesses and rural economies,”
she said.
As she signed the bill into law,
Brown stated, “SB 1532 is a path
forward: so working families can
catch up, and businesses have time
to plan for the increase. That’s the
Oregon Way.”
ers.
“With 126 new resi-
dences, that could mean
another 200-plus cars con-
centrated in an area that
already has known issues,”
Williams wrote. “So, is the
city considering this many
residences without a traf-
fic study or plan? A study
should be done, and a road
plan should be available
for us to review to see if it
is reasonable for this many
new residences.”
Williams suggested the
plan should not only in-
clude extending the road
into the development area
to allow a third turning
lane but also include an
easement to allow the bike
lane to continue.
“Not doing this before
any consideration of pro-
posal is a safety risk to
those of us who live here.
Also, we request the traf-
fic study be conducted by
independent parties, not
associated with parties
profiting from the project,”
said Williams, who added,
“This has been an issue in
the past.”
Nancy Rhodes, another
resident of the area, pro-
vided her observations
in an email to the city for
inclusion in the informa-
tion packet provided for
the meeting. She had traf-
fic-related concerns.
“I live in Mariner’s Vil-
lage and have recently
heard about the above ref-
erenced subdivision plan,”
Rhodes wrote. “As an active
adult, I’m very concerned
about the increase of traf-
fic on Rhododendron once
the development is com-
pleted. I run and bicycle
on that windy road and, as
you know, there is very lit-
tle space to do so safely un-
til you get to Wild Winds.
The situation is critically
unsafe now but will wors-
en substantially after 100+
dwellings are added.”
Tom and Karen Wilson
echoed the reservations ex-
pressed by both Williams
and Rhodes and asked the
commission to carefully
evaluate the proposal be-
fore approval.
“Traffic on Rhododen-
dron is already bad and
35th Street is the only ac-
cess to Highway 101 for
several miles in either
direction. This requires
everyone living north or
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541-997-9424
CALL US AT: 541-997-7653
OR TOLL FREE: 866-967-7653
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The information contained herein is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.
Neither the Seller nor any Licensee warrants the square footage of any structures
and/or size of the land. The buyer should exercise all due care and diligence to
verify any information deemed material to their decision to purchase.
south of 35th Street to
pass by this area to get to
Highway 101,” the Wilsons
wrote. “Keeping in mind
that Fairway Estates will
be adding 80 new homes
and now 136 homes from
this new project — traffic
would increase consider-
ably on Rhododendron
and 35th Street.”
The Wilsons said that the
area is currently plagued
by traffic accidents, due
mainly to the amount of
traffic, speed and the lack
of a turning lane onto
Coast Guard Road.
“Please keep in mind
that more than 50 families
live and work at the Coast
Guard Station and Sea
Watch Estates. These fami-
lies come and go on a daily
basis with no turning lane
into that area,” the couple
wrote.
The Wilsons also talked
about the potential risk of
flooding danger to homes
due to the runoff they an-
ticipate from the remov-
al of vegetation and the
movement on land associ-
ated with grading and lev-
eling the plot.
The agenda and infor-
mation packet on the Plan-
ning Commission’s hearing
on Resolution PC 20 07
PUD 01 — Preliminary
PUD and Resolution PC
20 08 SUB 01 — Tentative
Subdivision (SUB) Plat are
now available at ci.flor-
ence.or.us.
In addition, the commis-
sion will conduct a hearing
on Resolution PC 20 06
CUP 02 — 470 Highway
101 Recreational Marijua-
na. This is an application
from Rosa Cazares for a
Conditional Use Permit
for a marijuana retail use
in the existing building at
470 Highway 101, at Tax
Map 18-12-27-44, Tax Lot
11800, in the Mainstreet
District regulated by Flor-
ence City Code Title 10,
Chapter 27.
Residents wishing to pro-
vide input or comments to
the Planning Commission
may do so by submitting
written communication via
email to the Community
Development Department
at planningdepartment@
ci.florence.or.us, by mail-
ing comments to the Plan-
ning Commission or by
dropping off comments
at the drop box located at
Florence City Hall, 250
Highway 101.
Those wanting to pro-
vide verbal testimony can
participate in the meeting
via the GoToWebinar plat-
form. To do so, complete
a speaker’s card online at
www.ci.florence.or.us/bc-
pc/request-address-plan
ning-commission-speakers
-card at least one hour pri-
or to the meeting, July 14
by 4:30 p.m. City staff will
then contact the speaker to
let them know the process
to participate in the meet-
ing.
The public can listen
and view the meeting
through the GoToWebi-
nar platform at attendee.
gotowebinar.com/register
/5779389765482736910.
Meetings are also shown
live on Cable Channel 191
and online at www.ci.flor
ence.or.us/citymanager/
public-meetings-live and
will be available after the
meeting on the city’s Vim-
eo website.
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