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Siuslaw News
Siuslaw News
NEWS &
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VOL. 131, NO. 21
M ARCH 13, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
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Peace Harbor completes seismic upgrade
$2.5 million Seismic Rehabilitation Grant pays for medical center’s retrofit
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
O
n March 11, PeaceHealth
Peace Harbor Medical Center,
400 Ninth St. in Florence, complet-
ed seismic upgrades to its Florence
facility.
According to Chief Adminis-
trative Officer Jason Hawkins, pa-
tients and residents of this area can
now receive treatment in a safer
environment than they were able
too prior to the completion of the
reinforcement project.
“Our patients, caregivers and
community can now rest assured
that Peace Harbor is prepared for
a high-magnitude, Cascadia Sub-
duction Zone earthquake,” Haw-
kins said. “Every floor and wall of
this building is now fortified to the
Siuslaw School
Board grades
superintendent
accomplished,
effective
The Siuslaw School District
Board of Directors met March 10
for its monthly board meeting, as
By Chantelle Meyer well as
two exec-
Siuslaw News
utive ses-
sions. A
majority of the board members at-
tended virtually, with Board Chair
Bob Sneddon leading the meeting
from the Siuslaw School District
Office.
The meeting was on the shorter
side, due in part to no scheduled
special presentations or program
highlights.
The focus of the meeting was on
the evaluation of Siuslaw Superin-
tendent Andy Grzeskowiak.
See EVALUATION page 7A
ations.”
Coincidentally, the project at
PHPH was completed March 11 —
the 10th anniversary of the earth-
quake off the coast of Japan which
led to the flooding and destruction
of three reactors at the Fukushi-
ma Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The tsunami which destroyed the
Fukushima complex killed more
than 20,000 people.
One of the responses to the Jap-
anese disaster was the recognition
of the need for hospitals and first
response agencies to be able to con-
tinue to support their communities
even when confronted by major
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
natural disasters.
This week, PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center finished a
“When Peace Harbor was built
seismic retrofit to its facility which serves western Lane County.
in 1989, there wasn’t a widespread
state’s stringent seismic standards our patients and caregivers and understanding of the likelihood of
See SEISMIC page 5A
to ensure the immediate safety of the continuation of hospital oper-
Commission addresses construction penalties
Fairway Estates
challenges fines,
code violations
The Florence Planning Com-
mittee met March 9 with a rela-
tively short agenda which grew
into long conversations regarding
parking and penalties. The penal-
ty discussion was the first agenda
item requiring action.
Pacific Golf Communities, LLC,
was recently fined $2,000 for im-
properly clearing vegetation at the
site of its construction project at
Fairway Estates.
City Planner Wendy FarleyCa-
mpbell began the meeting with a
detailed review of the violations
assessed and what she felt city
code required her to do in re-
sponse to the clearing being done
at the construction location. Her
comments were then refuted point
by point by the recipient of the vi-
olations.
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Pacific Golf Communities, LLC, has been fined by the City of
Florence for construction work being done at Fairway Estates on
Rhododendron Drive.
Pacific Golf Communities rep- City Code — which he believes
resentative Michael Pearson pro- is being misinterpreted by Farley
vided commissioners with a de- Campbell.
tailed list of reasons to waive the
Pearson has delivered verbal
fines, but Pearson was more fo- and written criticism of the fine,
cused on the length of time he has including during his presenta-
been working to satisfy city de- tion to commissioners Tuesday,
mands and his analysis of Florence
See PLANNING page 6A
‘The first day of school all over again’
Siuslaw middle, high school begin on-campus hybrid learning
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 16 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
On March 8, 100 students at both
Siuslaw middle and high school
stepped into their buildings for their
first day back in hybrid learning.
Moving forward, for half the week
they will be on campus, with the
other half spent in comprehensive
distance learning (CDL).
“It's been good,” said Siuslaw
School District Superintendent
Andy Grzeskowiak. “The kids seem
to enjoy it and the teachers enjoy it.
It's kind of the first day of school all
over again, having kids back in.”
The district split students into
two cohorts for the new hybrid
model. Students who were on cam-
pus Monday and Tuesday morning
are Cohort A, and attended both
Monday and Tuesday, followed by
CDL the rest of the week. Cohort B
attended Wednesday and Thursday,
with the rest of the week in CDL.
According to Siuslaw School
Board Student Liaison Elijah Blan-
kenship, “Personally, the hybrid
stuff has been really nice. I really en-
joyed being in school the last couple
of days, even though all the curric-
ulum is pretty much the same stuff.
It's just a lot nicer to be in school
and seeing people.”
To prepare to bring students back
for longer days — a transition from
the limited in-person instruction
the district had operated in since
December — school staff has been
hard at work.
Grzeskowiak detailed the com-
plicated transportation plans,
classroom reorganization and even
changing the hallways to be one way
only.
“It's been a big dance for us,” he
said.
In addition, the district’s custodi-
al and maintenance staff have been
working on projects such as replac-
ing drinking fountains with water
bottle filling stations, increasing
filtration on HVAC units and rear-
ranging all the necessary classrooms
and student spaces.
“They're running things well
within the buildings, and getting
kids to and from,” Grzeskowiak said
about each of the facilities.
Siuslaw Elementary started hy-
brid learning on Feb. 22.
“The kids are really good about
masks and distances and stuff,” Grz-
eskowiak added. “The funny thing
is, the only thing that's changed
has been the volume of it. Because
they're six feet apart, the kids just
need to be a little louder. Plus,
they're kids and they haven't seen
a lot of each other for the last year.”
Friday marked the one-year
anniversary of Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown’s executive order to close
Oregon schools. Many districts
headed into a longer spring break
before transitioning into CDL.
See HYBRID page 6A
Florence Public
Art Committee
continues work
The City of Florence Public Art
Committee (PAC) met virtually on
By Mark Brennan March 8 for
its monthly
Siuslaw News
meeting
with new
members and a new ex-officio rep-
resentative from the Florence City
Council.
Committee Vice Chair Jo Beau-
dreau was acting chairperson for
the meeting, with fellow members
Serena Appel, Maggie Bagon, Karl
Engel, Peggy Meyer, Dayle Mur-
phy, Christine Santiago, Kathleen
Wenzel and Patti Williams, along
with ex-officio representatives City
Councilor Maggie Wisniewski and
City Recorder Kelli Weese, making
up the latest incarnation of the
committee.
Wisniewski recently accepted the
responsibility of participating in
See PAC page 5A
C elebrating Over 30 Years
in Real Estate
JIM HOBERG
Broker/Owner
9
201
VOTED
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BEST O
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SIUSLAW NEWS READERS CHOICE WINNER
Voted Best Realtor for 6 Years!
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