SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2021 | 5A
DONATION from page 1A
retiring, he moved to Flor-
ence and joined Florence
Lodge Number 107. While
here, he was an active
member until his death last
year. In 2002 he received
the Hiram Award, which
is an award given to older
members for their long-
time service to Freemason-
ry.
In his death, Paul con-
tinues to support local
children by leaving most of
his estate to the children’s
library in Florence.
“This will give our local
library well over $500,000
to help the children of Flor-
ence,” Tooley said.
Besides the donation to
the library, Kindsvater also
set up a fund for the lodge
to draw on to help sup-
port the Florence Masonic
Lodge Scholarship Fund.
“Paul never married
but always supported the
lodge’s efforts to help the
children of the Florence
AGENDA from page 1A
on the council a year and a
half, but they have never at-
tended a meeting in person,
so it’s a new experience for
all of us.”
The mayor then an-
nounced the mid-term ap-
pointments of Tom Bene-
dict and James LaCroix to
the Environmental Manage-
ment Advisory Committee,
Ken Henderson to the at-
large position on the Flor-
ence Urban Renewal Agen-
cy (FURA) and Bruce Jarvis
to the Public Art Commit-
tee.
This was followed by pub-
Florence Masons met with the Siuslaw Public Library to honor the legacy of Mason Paul Kindsvater and his dona-
tion to the children’s library. (Front row from left) Siuslaw Public Library Foundation President Laurel Ferguson
and Library Director Meg Spencer. (Back row from left) Siuslaw Public Library District Board President Susy Lacer,
Assistant Director and Youth Services Librarian Gayle Vinchesi and representatives of the Florence Masonic
Lodge Secretary Hunt Ramsey, PM, Marshall Dick Tooley, PM, and Senior Warden Tom Velvin MWPGM-MD.
area,” Tooley said. “He be- to continuing his support donation, Siuslaw Public ian Miss Gayle said, “Hear-
Library Assistant Director ing Paul’s Lodge brothers
lieved our children are our for them.”
After learning of the and Youth Services Librar- talk about his passion for
future and we look forward
lic comments on subjects
not on the evening’s agenda.
The first speaker was Jar-
vis, who expressed support
for the Florence Police De-
partment and called on the
council to adopt a “Stand
for Freedom” Resolution
which would limit Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown’s ability to
impact city policies that are
viewed as unconstitution-
al by an unnamed group of
overseers.
Then, local activist Mi-
chael Allen spoke, request-
ing that the Florence City
Council accept the what he
considers to be the reality of
climate change and develop
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a strategy to minimize that
impact.
Allen made a brief state-
ment and, for much of the
three minutes allotted to
each speaker, read the names
of some of the nearly 500 in-
dividuals that have signed
Allen’s request to the city for
some form of climate action.
Allen’s comments were fol-
lowed by those from Frank
Smith, who continued read-
ing the names of those that
signed Allen’s petition.
In contrast, the final
speaker, Sam Spayd, urged
the council to ignore the
request to initiate any sort
of climate discussion and
instead focus on issues that
directly impact Florence.
It is the council’s policy
to not address public com-
ment.
The first action item of
the meeting was consider-
ation of the sale of a parcel
of city property, Lot 20, in
the Pacific View Business
Park.
Kelli Weese, in her role
as the Economic Devel-
opment Coordinator for
the city, walked councilors
through the review of the
process which led staff to
recommend the sale. The
property under consider-
ation is just under 5 acres at
216,058 feet. Weese’s review
included data from a num-
ber of previous sales of city
properties and the rationale
for determining what was
eventually approved as the
sale price of approximately
$19,000.
The discussion among
councilors was minimal.
After the review was pre-
sented by staff, the sale was
approved unanimously and
authorization was given to
City Manager Erin Reyn-
olds to enter into a contract
to sell the parcel.
The next item on the
agenda was a request from
staff to accept a childcare re-
lated grant from the Cascade
West Economic Develop-
ment District in the amount
of $10,000. The presentation
was made by City Econom-
ic Development Catalyst
Sarah Moehrke, who pre-
sented data from state and
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county organizations which
deal with childcare issues
throughout the state.
The information shows a
lack of affordable child care
in the Florence area and a
growing need to address
this shortage.
A tangential request au-
thorized the city manager to
negotiate with United Way
of Lane County to admin-
ister the City of Florence’s
Childcare grant program.
With little debate the coun-
cil approved Moehrke’s re-
quests.
The evening’s consent
items were approved with-
out comment by council
members and included pas-
sage of Resolution No. 24,
Series 2021. This resolution
extended the City of Flor-
ence’s workers compensa-
tion coverage to volunteers
of the city.
There was also a request
to ratify the recently nego-
tiated three-year collective
bargaining agreement with
the Florence Police Employ-
ees Association Agreement,
acceptance of a $32,000
grant from the American
Rescue Act from the Federal
Aviation Administration re-
lated to COVID protocols,
and purchase of two mes-
educating children and
teens is inspiring. There
is no greater legacy than
to impact the lives of chil-
dren, and we at the library
are honored and privileged
to share Paul’s passion.”
The Siuslaw Public Li-
brary has locations at 1460
Ninth St. in Florence and
88148 Riverview Ave. in
Mapleton. Both locations
have books and activities
for children. Even more
resources are available at
www.siuslawlibrary.info.
According to Library Di-
rector Meg Spencer, “Mr.
Kindsvater’s donation will
be felt for decades in our
community, and young
people here will have better
access to library and liter-
acy services because of his
remarkable generosity. He
will be making generations
of readers with this gift.
I can’t thank him and the
Florence Masonic Lodge
enough for their commit-
ment to education in our
region.”
sage boards for deployment
at community events, con-
struction sites and emergen-
cy situations. These items
were all approved as part of
the consent agenda.
In addition, Reynolds
gave her City Manager’s
Report and reviewed the
options available to watch
council meetings online or
in person.
She also reminded the
council that as time passes
there will be more public
and community events tak-
ing place. The next large-
scale community event will
be held Aug. 3, the third
annual National Night Out,
which will take place in
Miller Park. This provides
an opportunity for residents
to meet first responders
from the Florence Police
Department, Siuslaw Valley
Fire and Rescue and West-
ern Lane Ambulance Dis-
trict, as well as local organi-
zations. The event provides
a free meal to the communi-
ty and activities for children
and families.
The next regular City
Council meeting is sched-
uled for Monday, Aug. 2, at
5:30 p.m.
For more information,
visit ci.florence.or.us.
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