6A | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
WATER from page 1A
$139,416, representing an in-
crease of $84,856, above the
$54,560, we collected in 2020,”
the letter stated.
However, after a Dunes City
Council meeting last week that
made clear the community’s
concern with the increase, Tom
Puttman, CEO of Puttman In-
frastructure Inc., which owns
the SCWC, said he made the
decision to postpone the com-
pany’s rate increase hearing.
Puttman said his decision
was due to what he describes as
a miscommunication, in a letter
sent to SCWC customers late
last week, after being informed
of the wave of public opposition
to the rate hike.
The letter attempted to clarify
WALL from page 1A
The organizers, a major-
ity of whom are local vet-
erans, have been working
to finish the placement of
the last panel of tiles since
before the pandemic. The
delivery of the final set of
named panels has been a
problem as materials and
delivery of the finished tiles
has been challenging due
to COVID-19 restrictions
placed on manufacturers
and delivery services.
Dedicated Florence-ar-
ea veterans have raised a
substantial portion of the
money necessary to build
the walls, benches and
flags surrounding the park,
which abuts the Siuslaw
River. The City of Florence
has officially adopted the
the reasons for and the timing
of the rate increase request.
Meanwhile, the public re-
sponse to the unexpected in-
crease has been significant.
The issue was discussed in
detail at the July Dunes City
Council meeting, with the
council directing City Admin-
istrator Jamie Mills to contact
SCWC executives and sched-
ule a meeting to clarify the sit-
uation for councilors and the
public.
According to Puttman, the
response to the proposed hike
was unexpected and deserves
more attention before SCWC
presents its case at a future Or-
egon PUC hearing.
“Effective today, we are paus-
ing the PUC rate case process,”
Puttman announced on Mon-
park and works with local
veteran groups to make
sure it is respectfully main-
tained.
“Members of the Amer-
ican Legion, VFW (Veter-
ans of Foreign Wars) and
the DAV (Disabled Amer-
ican Veterans) rotate on a
monthly basis the landscap-
ing and clean-up of the site,”
Cavarno said. “The city
mows the lawn and trims
the hedges for us, and they
have been great.”
The idea for a memorial
park was once just an idea
hatched by Cavarno and a
few other veterans many
years ago during morning
coffee.
“Unfortunately, there are
only two of the original
group that came up with
this idea left — me and
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day. “Continuing the process
with these misunderstandings
would not be constructive. We
truly value our relationships
with our customers. Pausing
the process is the right thing to
do.”
The water delivered to Dunes
City residents from the SCWC
comes from Woahink Lake.
Previously, water came from
Siltcoos Lake. The planned rate
increase is primarily related to
the capital improvements re-
quired to make the change to
Woahink. These improvements
include a new treatment plant,
decommissioning the old treat-
ment plant and a new supply
main and pump station to con-
vey water from Woahink Lake
to the new treatment plant.
“As the new owner of the sys-
Steve Olienyk, who was just
named Florence First Citi-
zen at the Siuslaw Awards,”
Cavarno said.
The Veteran’s Memorial
Park now in place was the
eventual end product of
those early discussions and
has drawn thousands of vis-
itors over the past 10 years
to honor veterans. Over
time, it has become the
main staging area for many
local veteran related events.
In addition, the yearly Me-
morial Day services held
there have become central
to the city’s recognition of
the sacrifice and dedication
of those that have served. A
special component of that
ceremony is the laying of
wreaths on the river by U.S.
Coast Guard Station Siu-
slaw River.
tem, it was our understanding
that the customer base under-
stood these improvements had
been made and the rate in-
crease was forthcoming. These
improvements were made prior
to our ownership of the system
and the proposed rate increase
is necessary to pay for these im-
provements,” Puttman stated in
the letter sent last week.
In addition to not knowing
why SCWC wanted the rate in-
crease, some customers did not
receive the initial notice, which
SCWC is working to resolve in
its communications.
“We need to connect as a
community to talk about what
is going on,” Puttman said. “We
would like to share more about
how the water system works;
recent system improvements
The scenic nature of the
park and the thousands
of tiles with the names of
service members stands as
a permanent reminder of
those who have served in
the military in service to
the country and their fellow
citizens.
For more info, visit ci.
florence.or.us/publicworks/
veterans-memorial-park.
and potential future improve-
ments; service issues and cus-
tomer needs and how the PUC
estimate rates and the process
for approving them.”
Mills had not spoken with
Puttman by Monday afternoon,
but was planning to reach out
to Puttman soon to discuss pos-
sible dates for holding a pub-
lic forum to fully discuss the
SCWC’s position and to answer
questions from the public.
The date for a public forum
to share information and to
answer questions from resi-
dents has not been finalized by
press time but is expected to be
scheduled soon.
For more information, vis-
it
dunescityhall.com
and
puttman.com/utilities/scwc/.
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