6A | SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
HYBRID from page 1A
For Grzeskowiak, March
12, 2020, was “when the
world changed for us for
the last 365 days.”
He talked about the im-
mediate aftereffects of the
order and the many ef-
forts the district has un-
dertaken to keep students
learning and well-adjusted
during a global pandemic.
These have all culminated
in districts across the state
switching to hybrid or full
on-campus instruction by
this spring.
As Brown said in a state-
ment, “One year later,
thanks to the hard work
and smart choices of Ore-
gonians to slow the spread
of COVID-19 in our com-
munities, I am so pleased to
see over 174,000 students
back in the learning envi-
“It's been worthwhile from school.
In their report, Siuslaw
ronment that serves them
During the March 10 Siu- Middle School Principal
best: in-person instruc- getting kids back in the
building and seeing things slaw School Board meeting, Andy Marohl and Vice
tion.”
Now, Oregon Depart- get back to some level of the district’s administrators Principal Nathan Green
wrote, “The staff
ment of Edu-
is very excit-
cation and the
“It’s that natural social growth and development that
ed to welcome
Oregon Health
Authority
are
students
back
happens in schools, which is just as important, or more
working on the
to
in-person
in-
important, than just the academic piece. It’s been fun
latest
installa-
struction. … This
watching some of that and just making sure that they're up
tion of “Ready
is the first step to
and running and having the opportunity to be students,
Schools,
Safe
what we hope is
and not just learners on the other side of the screen.”
Learners,”
the
a return to more
— Siuslaw School District Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak time for students
guideline
for
school districts’
at school.”
reopening.
Special
Ser-
Grzeskowiak said the up- normal,” Grzeskowiak said. gave notes on their expec- vices Director Lisa Utz said
date likely will include new “Now that people have had tations for the new hybrid the Life Skills and Resource
rules for transportation. kids in the classroom, and model.
programs are currently
According to Siuslaw serving students in both
Any suggested changes will even though it's been just a
go in effect a couple weeks couple of days, I think peo- High School Principal CDL and hybrid learning.
Garth Gerot and Vice Prin-
after spring break, at the ple feel better.”
At several weeks in, Siu-
The community has no- cipal Dave Goetz, “Staff and slaw Elementary “students
start of the fourth quarter.
The district will be in touch ticed as well, especially as students are both extremely and staff alike have adjust-
with families as soon as the district’s school buses excited to start in-person ed well to new routines in
more information becomes are back on the streets and learning again after almost hybrid learning,” stated
transporting kids to and a year of being off campus.” Principal Mike Harklerode
available.
He cited multiple ex-
amples directly from City
as well as the process and Code which he believes
the overall interpretation relieves his LCC of the re-
used by city staff when as- quirements cited by Far-
sessing the fines.
leyCampbell in her mem-
orandum explaining the
violations, and which was
included in the informa-
tional packet for the meet-
ing.
“After being presented
with paperwork and writ-
ten citation demands from
#MyFlorence the Florence Police Depart-
ment and delivered to me
Shop. Eat. Support.
personally at my home by
your enforcement officer,
SAVE. SHOP and in addition to writing
a check for $2,000 to cover
the fines on Jan. 21, I have
carefully reviewed the veg-
etation approval, staff re-
port and findings of fact,”
Person said. “Along with
numerous emails between
Wendy
FarleyCampbell
and I, and according to City
Code I found on the city’s
website that outlines the
vegetation clearing as refer-
enced above, it appears my
company is exempt from
being required to obtain a
permit.”
Pearson continued by re-
futing the specifics of the
violation in addition to the
city requirement that he ob-
tain a wetlands report. He
pointed to a code which, as
he interpreted it, does not
require a wetlands report
because it is less than half
an acre in size.
He said that this process
has caused unnecessary
months of delay in the con-
struction process.
The points raised by
Pearson were refuted to a
certain degree by Farley-
Campbell. However, the
specificity of Pearson’s ar-
guments prompted her and
PLANNING from page 1A
Shoppe
LOCAL
the Planning Commission
to agree to request an opin-
ion from City Attorney
Ross Williamson.
“I’d like to suggest we
maybe request Wendy to
get with the city attorney
about the procedures we
would need to go through
so that we maintain our
rules and regulations and
all of us can read and re-
read Mr. Pearson’s corre-
spondence in the mean-
time,” Tarvin said.
In summary the viola-
tions charged include:
• Failure to get a vege-
tation clearing permit for
clearing. The permit was
not valid without a signed
Affidavit of Acceptance.
Also, clearing was per-
formed off-site, notably on
the golf course property.
• Clearing of vegetation
within the 20’ buffer along
property lines. Area was to
be demarcated with fencing
or tape. Within the buffer
shrubs could be manually
cut to a width of 24” to gain
access to a survey point.
• Failure to flag trees and
have them inspected prior
to felling, limiting removal
to those necessary for ac-
cessing survey points along
lot lines, leaving vegetation
within the internal areas of
the proposed lots.
• Clearing of vegetation
within a 50’ buffer along
wetland boundaries. Buffer
area was to be demarcated
with fencing or tape.
• The applicant did not
file acceptance of the ap-
proval, did not flag the site
and call for an inspection,
ignored the clearing lim-
its and restrictions, and
cleared property they did
not own or have a permit
for.
The $2,000 fine imposed
might have been consider-
ably higher pursuant to the
General Penalty clause con-
tained in Code Section 1-4-
1. In this section, it is stated
that each offense shall be
punishable by a fine not
to exceed $500, with each
day constituting a separate
offense, along with the po-
tential of withholding or
revoking of the business
license, final PUD or sub-
division approval, building
permits, and suspension of
building inspections until
each offense has been satis-
factorily mitigated.
The amount of informa-
tion presented by Pearson
and the difference in inter-
pretation of City Code led
to a suggestion by Tarvin
that the commissioners
would benefit from a site
visit and the need for more
time to consider Pearson’s
correspondence.
The suggestion then
prompted the Planning
Commission to postpone
any decision on the fines
until a later meeting. This
would allow all commis-
sioners to visit the site and
hear from the attorney on
the legal aspects of the dis-
cussion.
The
commissioners
agreed this was best and
the subject was tabled for
now, with FarleyCampbell
agreeing to coordinate a
site visit and a discussion
with Williamson.
The parking discussion
that followed was related
to the proposed multi-resi-
dential complex being built
by Northwest Housing
Alternatives (NHA) locat-
ed immediately south of
Presbyterian Church of the
Siuslaw on the east side of
Highway 101, between 35th
and 42nd streets.
NHA has requested an
exemption from the total
number of parking spots
required by the city for the
project, and also provided
responses to questions put
to the group by commis-
Gayle Vinchesi
and Vice Principal Leonard
Ulrich.
On Friday, Grzeskowiak
said he was able to walk the
halls of the campus, where
he got to see people inter-
acting and sharing smiles.
While not a full return of
all students or a full school
day, it was important to get
the students back to in-per-
son instruction.
“It’s that natural social
growth and development
that happens in schools,
which is just as important,
or more important, than
just the academic piece,” he
said. “It's been fun watch-
ing some of that and just
making sure that they're up
and running and having the
opportunity to be students,
and not just learners on the
other side of the screen.”
For more information,
visit siuslaw.k12.or.us.
sioners at their February
meeting. Representatives
from NHA, Chris Clemow
and Desi Bellamy, were on
hand to provide the an-
swers to the questions sub-
mitted by commissioners.
There were a few new
questions from commis-
sioners regarding the per-
centage of subsidized units
in the Shore Acres develop-
ment and the expected per-
centage of senior residents
that would be living in the
development. But the main
concern expressed by com-
missioners was the need
for a more thorough and
up-to-date traffic survey of
the area. This was agreed
upon by the commission-
ers and a new traffic survey
will be conducted during a
weekend period in the near
future.
The next Planning Com-
mission meeting is sched-
uled for March 23. For
more information, visit ci.
florence.or.us.
Rotary Club of Florence
Rotarian of the Month
GAYLE VINCHESI
Gayle Vinchesi is the Diamond of Our Club
CLARITY- What you see is what you get.
Gayle is a caring giving person who dedicates much of her
time to the children of our community.
In 2016 Gayle was recognized as Florence’s First Citizen
COLOR- Subtle differences in color can dramatically affect
diamond value.
Gayle is clearly a genuine and loyal person who exemplifies
all the values of a Rotarian. Her value to our Club, The
Siuslaw Library and the community, is unmeasurable.
CUT – When a diamond interacts with light, every angle
and every facet affects the amount of light returned to the
eye
Gayle radiates the light of kindness with everyone she
meets and that light not only dazzles, but it is also
contagious.
SUPPORT
WEIGHT – The metric carat is divided into one hundred
points
Gayle’s 100 points of kindness is reflected is in her selfless
giving to our community in so many ways as . . . .
‰ An active Rotarian and Board Member over several years
‰ The leader of Rotary’s “Read Across America” program
‰ Manager of Rotary’s Annual Dictionary Giveaway to our
community children
‰ The Executive Director of West Lane Community
Foundation
‰ A major contributor of her time and services to the
Soroptimist Club
‰ Florence’s Youth Services Librarian where she manages
programs and story time for:
9 Headstart
9 Florence School District
9 Florence & Mapleton Preschools
9 Boys & Girls Club
STORY TIME AT THE LIBRARY
HARD AT WORK AT AUCTION