6A | SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
PORT from page 1A
The plan, as envisioned by
city staff, would create addi-
tional seating areas along the
port’s boardwalk area and the
placement of picnic tables in
the heavily trafficked grass
plots north of the boardwalk.
The cost for the equipment,
$44,361, was awarded from
Travel Oregon and information
provided to port commission-
ers regarding the IGA stated, in
part, the following:
“The City of Florence pro-
poses that the city will main-
tain ownership of all the furni-
ture and equipment purchased,
but the Port of Siuslaw will
maintain the new equipment
and furniture and, if anything
happens, will notify the City
of Florence’s Public Works De-
partment,” Moehrke said. “The
port will also be responsible for
the disposal of garbage from
the new garbage receptacles at
the expense of the port.”
The proposal also stated that
installation work would be
completed by Florence Public
Works staff, with the objective
to be completed around Me-
morial Day weekend. The cost
of the installation work would
be covered by the City of Flor-
ence as an in-kind match to the
Travel Oregon grant.
The term of the agreement
would be for 15 years. At that
time, the port and city could
renegotiate the IGA, after
confirming the furniture and
equipment are safe to remain
in place.
Commissioners then asked a
question regarding liability to
Commissioner Craig Zolezzi,
who works in the industry.
Zolezzi was relatively un-
concerned with the potential
for serious liability issues, al-
though he did recommend due
meeting, area resident
Mike Allen was the sin-
As is often the case gular in-person speaker.
during the public com- Allen, a local advocate for
ments portion of EMAC’s an official climate change
proclamation, spoke to
councilors about the on-
going opportunity for
Florence to participate in
the Lane County Climate
Action Policy initiative.
Allen, along with wife
Pat, also participate in the
#MyFlorence “Adopt a Street Program”
and, during his com-
Shop. Eat. Support.
ments, encouraged others
to join the program while
thanking public works
SAVE. SHOP
employees for their ongo-
ing assistance.
“This month, Pat and
I celebrated one year
of participating in the
Adopt A Street program.
We each spent about 140
hours collecting about
240 pounds of trash from
2.2 miles along Rho-
dodendron Drive from
35th Street to Sebastian
Street,’” Allen told the
council. “We thank Jake
Krieger at Public Works
for picking up our ac-
cumulated trash each
month and supplying us
with bags.”
Allen also thanked
Public Works Director
Mike Miller for arranging
the placement of Adopt A
Street signs with the Al-
len’s names at each end of
the street.
“Adopt A Street is a
great program and needs
to be supported and ex-
panded by the EMAC,”
Allen said. “We’d love to
see the entire length of
Rhododendron
Drive
EMAC from page 1A
Shoppe
LOCAL
PARK from page 1A
Washburne
reserva-
tions can be made through
OPRD’s partner site, ore-
gonstateparks.reserveam-
erica.com or by calling
800-452-5687.
Visitors should continue
to follow safety protocols
while visiting state parks:
limit the size of gather-
diligence before finalizing any
decision.
“It’s pretty typical that when
we are going to partner with
another public entity, that
we scratch each other’s back
and hold each other harmless,”
said Zolezzi. “That being said
I don’t want to hold up this
process because I think this
is a wonderful idea. It benefits
everyone, but I think it would
be wise of us to just email to
the SDAO (Special Districts
Association of Oregon), and
they can review it and get back
to us — probably in a day or
two. If they are OK with it,
then we can have our legal guys
put their eyes on it, tell us if
it is good and we can get it
done.”
The IGA’s project includes
the placement of six picnic ta-
bles in the grassy areas by the
boardwalk and the installation
of four smaller tables, seven
covered by volunteers, es-
pecially in the area of the
transfer station.”
Speaking of transfer,
the rate area residents
pay for the removal and
transfer of the solid waste
generated by their house-
holds was the next ma-
jor portion of the Tues-
day meeting. It was also
the subject of an earlier
committee executive ses-
sion to review financial
information involved in
the analysis of the cur-
rent rate structure for lo-
cal waste haulers County
Transfer & Recycling and
Central Coast Disposal.
Rates charged to resi-
dents by the companies
are reviewed and as-
sessed using a complex
process which requires
the submission of finan-
cial information related
to costs, unanticipated
expenditures and current
rates charged customers
for their services. Last
year was an exception to
this process as concerns
about the COVID-19
pandemic, along with
dramatically
changing
waste patterns, were cited
in a decision made by the
city to postpone a formal
review for a year.
At Tuesday’s meeting,
Chris Bell, from Bell As-
sociates, provided a com-
prehensive analysis of the
complete waste collection
paradigm.
The extensive report is
available online and de-
tails the costs associated
with delivering the ser-
vices required by the city,
ings, wear face coverings,
give space to others and
wash hands often.
More information about
the park is on the Oregon
State Parks official website
at stateparks.oregon.gov.
For information on
what to expect while vis-
iting state parks, visit
the Oregon State Parks
COVID-19 FAQ page.
benches and 14 stools for more
public seating options.
Commissioners
expressed
no further objections to the
proposal and authorized Port
Manager David Huntington to
finalize the IGA when it is re-
viewed and authorized by the
Florence City Council at one of
its April meetings — depend-
ing on the time required for
legal review by port attorneys.
Later in the meeting, Port of
Siuslaw Administrative Assis-
tant Kelly Stewart presented
the monthly financials, which
reported a slight decrease in
campground occupancy and
total expenditures for the
month of $134,227.
Huntington’s report was brief
but reminded commission-
ers of an Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)
program to deter cormorants
from eating hatchling fish
along locations on the Siuslaw
the margin of profit al-
lowed under the contracts
in place with haulers and
the expected change to
the transfer and “tipping”
fees charged to haulers by
Lane County.
Bell walked EMAC
members through his re-
port, answering questions
while providing the basis
and analytics used in his
calculations. In addition,
he talked about how the
uncertainties surround-
ing COVID-19 are fac-
tors in the calculations of
rate change.
The committee decided
to accept Bell’s report and
will hold a public hearing
to allow for discussion on
the subject of rate review
at a future meeting.
In other action items,
David Gardiepy, founder
and executive director of
EcoGeneration, provided
members with written in-
formation on upcoming
“Take Back” recycling
events planned by his
nonprofit.
Last December, Flor-
ence participated in
its first EcoGeneration
event, which served up-
wards of 150 Florence
households. This year,
EcoGeneration will be
offering three Recycling
Take Back Events in Flor-
ence on May 2, Aug. 1
and Oct. 3.
Gardiepy also asked
River contiguous to port prop-
erty.
“The last week of March,
we are starting our cormorant
hazing project and have lined
up to help,” said Huntington.
“Last year was the first time we
were given the opportunity to
participate and they are giving
us another opportunity this
year — and we hope it is suc-
cessful.”
Huntington also stated there
would be no use of projec-
tiles or violence against the
birds. They would be blocked
by boats and volunteers from
feeding on juvenile fish popu-
lations, with the focus of mov-
ing the birds to another area
rather than being euthanized.
The next Port of Siuslaw
Board of Commissioners meet-
ing will be Wednesday, April
21, at 7 p.m.
For more information, visit
portofsiuslaw.com.
EMAC to support a spon-
sorship request for fund-
ing for $400 to assist with
the operational costs as-
sociated with conducting
the three events. These
expenses include trans-
portation, supplies and
event equipment and
processing of the recycla-
bles.
The sponsorship,
which includes recog-
nition at the events and
in all local advertising
and promotions, was ap-
proved unanimously by
committee members.
Next, the issue of ini-
tiating a home compost-
ing program received a
boost, with funding pro-
vided for the purchase
of a small number of kits
and instruction on their
use — all of which came
in response to a propos-
al from EMAC member
Vickie Philbin.
EMAC also decid-
ed to participate in the
Siuslaw News’ “Recycle
Guide” and chose, due
to COVID-19 concerns
and financial limitations,
not to sponsor an Earth
Day-related film.
The last issue discussed
was the request by Wal-
ter-Sedlacek to create a
subcommittee to discuss
climate change. There
was immediate opposi-
tion to having the discus-
sion Tuesday due to the
amount of time the dis-
cussion might take and
the length of the meeting
already underway.
There was also the
need to decide whether
to include the creation
of the subcommittee in
the overall EMAC rec-
ommendations for inclu-
sion in the Florence City
Workplan, scheduled for
discussion at the April
5 Florence City Council
meeting.
Eventually, a date of
March 30 was agreed
upon as a date for a spe-
cial session of EMAC to
consider the proposal
prior to the council meet-
ing, with the final vote
passing 5-4.
For more informa-
tion about EMAC, visit
ci.florence.or.us.
Visit us on
the web
T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM
S IUSLAW N EWS
Follow us on
Twitter
@S IUSLAW N EWS
NO MORE WEEK 2021 IS HERE!
NO MORE’s eighth annual NO MORE week was March 7-13, 2021.
Our goal is to inspire everyone to make change to help create a
culture of safety, equality, and respect in our communities.
No matter where you are, #ChangeHappensHere.
Buying or Selling? I can help.
Tim Sapp
Owner /
Principal Broker
541 999-8230
SUPPORT
Maple Lane #6 – Lovely .29 acre home site in
gated Rhodo View Dunes Estates with full city
services. Beautiful wooded lot on a cul-de-sac,
ready for your dream home. $19,995. #2210-
13084475
1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200
Deadline for Press Releases Is Every
Monday and Thursday by Noon. Email
P RESS R ELEASES @T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM .
SAFE SHELTER SIUSLAW STUDENTS
Suzanne Mann-Heintz