SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2021 | 7A
Committees from page 1A
given from City Recorder and
Economic Development Co-
ordinator Kelli Weese, Assis-
tant City Manager and Public
Information Officer Megan
Messmer and City Planning
Director Wendy FarleyCamp-
bell.
All three presentations were
designed to lead new commit-
tee members through the pro-
cesses that govern meetings, as
well as an overview of financ-
es, human resources, planning,
public works and personal in-
teractions.
That was also the case for
FURA committee members,
who received an abbreviated
version of the longer presenta-
tion tailored to the agency.
FURA Chairperson Bill
Meyer introduced new com-
mittee members and reviewed
the agenda for the evening.
“I want to welcome two new
commissioners tonight, Dave
Braley and Rob Ward, who is
representing the Port of Siu-
slaw. He is our latest commis-
sioner at the port. I am sure
pleased to have both directors
on board and I believe it por-
tends some good decisions
moving forward,” Meyer said.
With no public comment
scheduled and no changes to
the minutes from the previous
month’s meeting, Reynolds
turned the meeting over to
Weese, who covered the his-
tory of FURA, the manner by
which it is funded and how it
has interacted with the city
previously.
Weese paid special atten-
tion to emphasize the tone and
tenor expected from FURA
members, asking members to
be respectful. Comments to
the media and to the public
in general were mentioned
as areas where an individu-
al’s opinion should be stated
clearly; any comments made
regarding FURA should only
be mentioned when discussing
the work done by the agency.
The overview at FURA in-
cluded new graphics which
clearly delineated the areas in
the Urban Renewal District,
projects qualified for poten-
tial support, previously FU-
RA-funded projects, and the
expectations of committee
members.
Messmer then reviewed the
status of the ReVision Flor-
ence Streetscaping Project,
mentioning the few remaining
items being completed, in-
cluding the repair to the Maple
Street Gateway Monuments,
and ADA-compliant cross-
walks.
Current members of FURA
are: Chairperson Bill Meyer,
Vice Chair Mike Webb,
Ron Caputo, Dave Braley,
Mayor Joe Henry, John Scott,
Rob Ward, Carmela West and
City Councilor Woody Wood-
bury.
During the CEDC meeting,
much of the same information
regarding the responsibilities
of its members and the city
structure which governs com-
mittee interactions was cov-
ered. The CEDC action items
were limited and included the
election of Bill Prosser as its
chairperson, and Jeff Ashmead
as vice chairperson.
Current members of CEDC
are Chairperson Bill Prosser,
Vice Chair Jeff Ashmead, Jon-
athan Baily, Nicholas Costa,
Brian Holmes, Daniel Lofy,
Russ Pierson, Carla Twombly,
David West and Robbie
Wright, as well as Mayor Joe
Henry as the city council
ex-officio and Kelli Weese as
the staff ex-officio.
WLFEA from page 1A
• Change over to an Op-
tion 4 Health Insurance plan
at a 90/10 split for employees,
and a 50/50 split for employ-
ee families in the amount of
$98,430; and he then request-
ed transfers from Contingency
to Personnel Services totaling
$400,500 so the district does
not exceed appropriations.
While Resolution2021-01
was ultimately approved, the
differences in philosophy be-
tween one WLAD director
and other board members
was highlighted in comments
made by Director Larry Farn-
sworth during the discussion
period.
“I will open the discussion
by again expressing my disap-
pointment that our board did
not have the resolve to com-
plete the negotiation goals that
they set out at the beginning of
this process,” he stated. “Well
before COVID and well before
the budget cycle, our board
came to a consensus. The chief
presented a very good official
review of the future of the
district and it was clear that
expenses were growing faster
than revenue — and that our
district faced some difficult
financial challenges. We have
no spending discipline and we
don’t have a board that is will-
ing to say ‘enough is enough.’
The sense of entitlement in
this district is beyond com-
pare.”
Farnsworth
continued,
pointing out specific expen-
ditures which he believed
should be handled differently
and that, from his perspective,
employees and staff at WLFEA
were over compensated and
received more benefits than
other comparable agencies.
WLAD Director Mike
Webb disagreed with Farn-
sworth on the financial situ-
ation at WLFEA and pushed
back in a brief response to
Farnsworth.
“We have a contract and we
have to fund it. We have em-
ployees that are on a contract
and we have to continue to
run the district,” Webb said.
“It is a two-way street when
you get into negotiations and
we went all the way down to
mediation. It’s not that we
didn’t try to cut things, it’s
just hard to make the case you
are destitute when you bring
in $350,000 more then you
spend.”
SVFR Director and Presi-
dent Ned Hickson, who was
involved in the fire district’s
contract negotiations, said he
supported the idea of address-
ing future district obligations
but also felt the deal reached
with the labor union was
achieved in good faith and
would allow for more debate
on the matter during the two
years of the contract’s life.
“I know this has been an
arduous process, a seemingly
never-ending process, and I
know that it got a hair away
from mediation. But I think,
given the circumstances, ev-
erybody took a little bit of a
hit and everybody got a little
bit of something,” Hickson
said. “It’s not exactly what we
started out for, and it wasn’t
what the union started out
for. But under the circum-
stances, and considering the
challenges of the past year, I
am happy with what we end-
ed up with.”
After a brief pause, the roll
call vote took place to approve
the contract, as was the case
with the transfer of assets re-
quested in Resolution 2021-
02, passing with only Farn-
V
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said.
This includes the Florence
Police Department and the
Mapleton and Swisshome/
Deadwood Fire Departments.
“The West Lane Emergen-
cy Operations Group is final-
izing discussions with Lane
County Public Health for
vaccine clinics to be held in
the City of Florence,” Schick
added. “We are hoping to be
able to hold more clinics in
early March. Those desiring
to be vaccinated must sign
up through the Lane County
COVID information website.
The federal government has,
or will shortly, be distributing
vaccine directly to local phar-
macies on our area.”
People can preregister for
the vaccine through www.
lanecounty.org/coronavirus.
WLFEA’s meeting ended
on a positive note as Hick-
son, during the director com-
ments portion of the meeting,
specifically welcomed new
firefighters Pebley and Ter-
rell, thanking them for their
commitment and intention to
serve the Florence communi-
ty.
The next meeting for the
SVFR and WLAD boards
of directors is scheduled
for Thursday, March 25.
For more information, vis-
it svfr.org and westernlane
ambulance.com.
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4325 Highway 101
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sworth opposed.
Reports
from
SVFR/
WLAD staff were included in
the meeting materials, with
no questions from directors.
Also during the meeting,
two new firefighters — Con-
way Pebley and Nick Terrell
— were sworn in and the con-
sent agenda for the meeting
was approved without chang-
es.
In his monthly memo-
randum, Schick reported
WLAD was awarded a reim-
bursable grant from the Or-
egon Parks and Recreation
Department for the purchase
of an All-Terrain Vehicle in
the amount of $60,164, of
which $48,130 (80 percent)
is paid for by the grant, leav-
ing $12,034 (20 percent) to be
paid by the district through a
contingency transfer.
WLAD was also awarded
a Coronavirus Relief Fund
grant through the Depart-
ment of Administrative Ser-
vices for the purchase of two
Hands-Free CPR devices in
the amount of $32,770, of
which 100 percent is paid by
the grant.
In addition, “All first re-
sponders in the WLAD ser-
vice area have been offered
the COVID vaccine and we
have completed the vaccina-
tion series for those who de-
sired to be vaccinated,” Schick
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