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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2021)
SN THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM SATURDAY EDITION | JANUARY 23, 2021 | $1.00 C OMMUNITY FULLY FUNDS M OVIE T HEATER ’ S G O F UND M E I NSIDE — A6 Siuslaw News Lane County holds vaccine town hall Siuslaw News NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY Hospitals, EMS, U of O and others give insight into state of local vaccinations By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News VOL. 131, NO. 7 F LORENCE , O REGON O n Jan. 21, Lane COn Jan. 21, Lane County hosted a virtu- al town hall about the progress of vaccinations in the county after get- ting approval five weeks ago. In attendance were representatives from the county’s two larg- est medical centers, PeaceHealth and McK- enzie-Willamette; a first-response agency; the Universi- ty of Oregon (U of O); Lane County Public Health (LCPH); and Oregon Medical Group (OMG). “The purpose for tonight is to create clarity, encourage transpar- ency and empower our community through information,” said modera- tor Jason Davis, LCPH public infor- mation officer. “We want to essen- tially share with you everything that WEATHER Mostly sunny with a high of 49 and a low of 39. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY we know.” He added that the community submitted hundreds of questions about the two FDA-approved vac- cines, the disbursement process, timelines and priority. “We appreciate how concerned are communities and the level of de- tail that they are requesting in some of those questions,” Davis said. The information from the town hall is included on www.lanecounty. org/coronavirus. As of Jan. 22, some 218,413 people in Oregon have received one or both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This includes the two vaccines man- ufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the COVID-19 vaccine contains mate- rial from the virus that gives a person’s cells instructions for how to make a harmless protein that is unique to the vi- rus. “After our cells make copies of the protein, they destroy the genetic material from the vac- cine. Our bodies rec- ognize that the protein should not be there and build T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19 if we are infected in the future,” the CDC stated. In addition, the FDA empha- sized, the “COVID-19 vaccine does not contain SARS-CoV-2 and can- not give you COVID-19.” Both vaccines were approved at the end of 2020 and reached Ore- gon on Dec. 14. See VACCINE page 7A Port accepts bids for electrical upgrade Environmental CFE Electrical Contractors will return for project The Port of Siuslaw Commission visitors at the Port of Siuslaw RV with us well and they are familiar held its regularly scheduled meet- and Campground. with the project.” ing on Jan. There have been 15 new spac- Port commissioners accepted By Mark Brennan 20, with es added over the past year, which Huntington’s recommendation and Siuslaw News C ommis- have proved to be popular with the the contract was awarded unani- s i o n e r s public. This interest has allowed the mously to CFE at their bid price of Rob Ward and Bill Meyer in atten- port to continue adding rental spots $48,250. dance at the port office, along with and an electrical upgrade was need- After this, Meyer then revisited Port Manager David Huntington ed to bring all of these spaces to the a problem the Port has been deal- and Administrative Assistant Kel- same level of service. ing with for years — the sale of the ly Stewart. Commissioners Terry “We have received three bids on property owned by the port at the Duman and Craig Zollezzi par- our electrical upgrade,” Hunting- Pacific View Business Park. The ticipated virtually. park is a 40-acre Commissioner Mike parcel of land over- Buckwald was ex- looking the Pacific “We have a great relationship with (CFE Ocean, cused from the ses- currently sion. Electrical Contractors). They work with us well zoned light indus- Meyer chaired the and they are familiar with the project.” trial and deemed meeting, with the “shovel ready” by the — Port of Siuslaw Manager David Huntington State of Oregon. This first order of business attended to promptly means the state con- as there was con- siders any develop- sensus on accepting the meeting ton said. “I’m recommending CFE ment capable of proceeding within agenda and the minutes from last Electrical Contractors as the bid we six months of acquisition within month’s commission meeting. should go with. I realize it is not the one or more of eight industry-type In a report, Stewart stated expen- low bid on the project … but there profiles, such as food processing or ditures of $66,710. Moorage rates are certain things he is including in campus industrial/electronic and remained steady and occupancy for his estimate that are going to help computer assembly. the campground was down 3 per- us along the way.” Meyer revisited the topic of the cent as compared to last year. According to the port manager, property as a means of moving to- Huntington next presented the CFE has worked with the port in ward the possibility of either selling responses to a call for bids on the the past. the land or hiring a realtor to assist next step in the expansion of the “We have a great relationship in the sale. full-service campsites available to with them,” he said. “They work See PORT page 6A /S IUSLAW N EWS @S IUSLAW N EWS Florence City Council discusses open committee positions By Mark brennan & Ned Hickson Siuslaw News T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2021 One of the important elements of the structure of the Florence municipal government is the ac- tive participation, in an advisory capacity, of community members contributing to the discussion in the decision-making process ultimately made by elected officials. This participation most often takes the form of sitting on one of the many committees and commis- sions which advise the city coun- cil and city staff. At a special work session held virtually Jan. 14, coun- cilors discussed and selected appli- cants to fill vacancies that currently exist on several of these committees. Mayor Joe Henry reminded the council and viewing public the purpose of the meeting was clearly defined and not a forum for discus- sions on process. Henry was clear the meeting was to select applicants under the current council format, which allows for the mayor to make final decisions on committee, com- mission and agency appointments. “I want to reaffirm the purpose of this meeting is to discuss and con- sider council recommendations re- garding appointments to Florence’s commissions and committee and the Florence Urban Renewal Agen- cy, and discussion of potential ap- pointments to city council ex-officio positions,” Henry stated. “What that means is we are not today to change the committee process or the ap- Y L O P O - E C N E On Sale F L O R $ 9 Modeled after the world famous board game, Florence-Opoly is customized to our great city. Fun for the whole family! Siuslaw News • 148 Maple Street • Old Town Florence or call 541-997-3441 24. each 9 proval process. We are not here to talk about committee work plans or their function. So, we don’t want to really get off into that — those are topics for another day.” Henry also shared with other councilors the recent resignations of Katie Prosser and Dale Barnett from the Environmental Man- agement Advisory Committee (EMAC) with no additional expla- nation provided from either former EMAC member. See COMMITTEES page 8A D\ P +LJKZ WUKXQWHUFR ZZZ LATEST NEWS : ͘͘͘ FOLLOW US FOR THE ͕ Listings and public notices Inside — B5 Ăƚ CLASSIFIEDS ŝƚƵ Ɛ Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B4 sŝƐ SIDE SHOW ŝƐĐ ŚŽ ŽǀĞƌ ŵĞ ǀ ŝŶƚĞ ŝŶƚĂ ƌŝŽ ŐĞĐů ƌƐ͕Ă Žƚ ŶĚ ŚŝŶŐ ĐŽ ͕Ă ŽŬ ŶƟ ŝĞƐ͊ ƋƵ ĞƐ Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 ͘͘͘ƚŽ Ě RECORDS The Florence Environmental management Advisory Committee (EMAC) met virtually Jan. 19, with an agenda that was short — and which again revolved around the topic of climate change. The meet- ing dealt mostly with subcommit- tee reports and future plans for those subcommittees, but a shift in the focus of EMAC was a notable topic. Michael Titmus, EMAC’s vice chairperson, led the session, call- ing for the roll without reference to the recent committee resigna- tion of former EMAC Chair, Katie Prosser. After her resignation, EMAC is comprised of Daniel Berry, Josh Haring, Britte Kirsch, Ronelle Kuert, Sherry Harvey, Liat Mell- er, Vicki Philben, Ray Sherrill and Titmus, along with city staff repre- sentative Wendy FarleyCampbell. See EMAC page 6A ibrary.or iuslawL www.S 97-313 2 541-9 Community Voices INSIDE — B By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News OUT CHECK S.) (WE EVEN GAME BOARD g LIFESTYLE committee meets with fewer members rd aboa g Climb readin ad! the real railro Students receive art materials INSIDE — A3 Framing es Fram ence Quality Custom of Flor • Mirrors s • Needlework • Watercolors Shadowboxe Photography Oils • 43 97-20 G 541-9 101, Suite Hwy. 2285 OR 97439 Florence,
