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VOL. 131, NO. 26
M ARCH 31, 2021
F LORENCE , O REGON
WEATHER
Community
Voices
Giving Back &
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rence
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egion
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THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
A celebration
of some of the
area’s nonprofi ts
997-5973
Spring 2021
A Special Publica
tion
of the Siuslaw New
s
Mapleton
schools tackle
standardized
testing
School board passes
resolution urging
families to opt out
By Chantelle Meyer
Siuslaw News
Mostly sunny
with a high of 65
and a low of 41.
Full forecast on A3
COMMUNITY
Honoring women
INSIDE — A3
LIFESTYLE
The Mapleton School District
Board of Directors met virtually for
its monthly meeting on March 17.
Four out of five members were pres-
ent, along with Mapleton Superinten-
dent Jodi O’Mara and student liaison
Orion Ricks. Director Marilyn Fox
was absent.
The meeting included several dis-
cussion and action items, the most
prominent of which were deciding
when to evaluate the superintendent,
setting board goals and considering a
resolution to support district families
in opting out of standardized testing.
Director Michelle Holman worked
with Fox on the resolution. She then
proposed it to the board at the meeting.
See SCHOOL page 6A
Community meeting
gives information on
navigating forward
Editor’s Note: An earlier ver-
sion of this story was posted to
TheSiuslawNews.com on March 27.
RECORDS
Obituaries &
response logs
Inside — A2
TV GUIDE
Inside — B3-B4
Library to reopen tomorrow in Florence, Mapleton on limited basis
Story & Photo
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
T
he Siuslaw Public Library
District has announced that
it will be reopening to the pub-
lic for browsing and check-out of
materials on Thursday, April 1.
Branch locations in Mapleton,
88148 Riverview Ave., and Flor-
ence, 1460 Ninth St. (pictured
above), will reopen, with the
Mapleton Branch operating few-
er hours than in pre-pandemic
times.
Both branches have been large-
ly closed to the public since the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
prompted the partial shut-down
of many parts of the community.
However, the easing of state-man-
dated restrictions, the lowering
case counts and the increase in
vaccinations have prompted the
Siuslaw Public Library Board,
and Library Director Meg Spen-
cer, to take the first steps towards
a full reopening at some point in
the future.
According to Spencer, the
district has added services and
See REOPEN page 7A
Mapleton Water District changes course to avert further troubles
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
Viks score big
INSIDE — B
A new chapter
for Siuslaw Public Library
The cloudy situation swirling
around the Mapleton Water Dis-
trict (MWD) has cleared a bit after
a community Zoom meeting held
on March 24, hosted by the water
district board of directors. More
than 30 residents participated in the
live stream which was facilitated by
Board Vice Chair Dustin Basurto.
Basurto has stepped into a more
pronounced leadership role in the
district’s operations after the abrupt
resignation of District Manager Ter-
ry Saubert.
Since last summer, there had been
a growing dissatisfaction by some in
the community with Saubert’s lead-
ership and a lack of communication
from the board to MWD customers.
These were exacerbated by the re-
cent arrival of unusually high-water
bills for many residents.
One of the reasons Basurto and
the remaining board members —
Bryan Moore, Marilyn Fox and Lin-
da Jensen — have agreed to remain
on the MWD board was the need to
navigate the district through anoth-
er problem in what has clearly been
a difficult year for residents and
board members.
“First, the board would like to
apologize for all the problems, and
we hope to make this better as soon
as possible,” Basurto said. “Westec
(Tech Support) has been onsite and
done some service, and the tem-
porary system we have is working
as well as can be expected — but
we are going to have to have a new
plant for the future. … I know this
is a rough situation, but we have to
take responsibility for what we have,
and we have to figure out a way to
move forward.”
One of the first ways the board
has decided to move forward is by
creating a Community Relations
Team (CRT), which will be tasked
with contacting district customers
and discussing with them their spe-
cific situation in regard to their wa-
ter quality, cost and needs.
There was also a clear acknowl-
edgment in Basurto’s comments that
there was a problem with the way
the water meters in Mapleton had
been read during the past year.
It was also stated at the meeting,
in response to questions from those
MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
Mapleton Water District is lo-
cated inside the Mapleton Lions
Club at 88151 Riverview Ave.
viewing live, that there would be no
water shut offs occurring due to un-
paid bills at this time.
See WATER page 8A
KIDS CORNER
Activities for kids
Inside — B5
CLASSIFIEDS
Listings & notices
Inside — B6
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Dunes City announces employment opportunities
By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS | 18 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2021
The Dunes City Council met
on March 24 with a short agenda
of action items to consider and
the announcement of employ-
ment and volunteer opportunities
available at the city.
Mayor Robert Forsythe brought
the meeting to order with Coun-
cilor Robert Orr an excused ab-
sence.
City Administrator Jaime Mills
facilitated the meeting, first an-
nouncing an unwanted opening
with the city.
“It is with great sadness I an-
nounce the passing of Dunes
City Permit Tech Sandra Van-
derWoude,” Mills said. “Unfortu-
SIUSLAW PUBLIC LIBRARY
BROWSING
IS BACK!
nately, this opens the Permit Tech
position again and we are seeking
candidates to fill that position.”
In addition, Dunes City is look-
ing for a planning secretary who
can work 20 hours per week.
Mills said that citizens interest-
ed in learning about Dunes City
should also consider applying for
one of the six openings on the
Dunes City Budget committee.
Next on the agenda, councilors
considered, discussed briefly and
passed unanimously Ordinance
257, which allows for public ac-
cess through Dunes City property
along the Hellcat Trail at Buck-
skin Bob Campground.
The next item discussed was
the acceptance of Mills’ recom-
mendation that the city enters
into an agreement to look at the
repair and improvement of Park-
way Drive, which is becoming
unsafe.
The scope of the repair needs
to be assessed, but the council
approved Mills’ request to move
forward by engaging engineer
Will Dawson to create the report
from preliminary work he had
done.
Following this, Mills gave re-
ports updating the number and
types of city permits issued.
She also passed on commu-
nication from Lane County re-
garding the plan for registering
for a COVID-19 vaccine. Mills
directed residents who wish to
receive the vaccine to contact
See DUNES page 7A
Agencies seek info
about theft of
multiple firearms
from The Sportsman
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
and the National Shooting Sports
Foundation (NSSF), the trade as-
sociation for the firearms industry,
announced a reward today for in-
formation leading to the arrest and
conviction of the persons responsi-
ble for the burglary of The Sports-
man located in Florence on Feb. 5,
in which six firearms were stolen.
On Feb. 5 at approximately
3:45 a.m., one or more unknown
suspects forced entry into
See BURGLARY page 7A
STARTING THURSDAY, APRIL 1
No appointment needed.
Patrons of all ages welcome.
Masks required.
541-997-3132
Florence: Monday-Thursday 11 AM - 2 PM
Friday 11 AM - 6 PM
Mapleton: Thursdays 12-5 PM.
Walk-ins with limited capacity;
no public computers.
WWW.SIUSLAWLIBRARY.ORG