1 August 2014
Effort under way to dress up downtown
One component of a downtown revitalization plan completed 15 years ago is being dusted off and reconsidered. Florence City Councilors will be asked Monday night to endorse a proposal to place decorative banners on utility and light poles in Old Town Florence and along Highway 101. David Wiegan is on the Chamber of Commerce’s newly reactivated Downtown Revitalization Team:
David Wiegan – “It’s important for us to be able to show something, you know, visually that kind of announces, hey, you know, there’s something going on, there’s some… another effort being made here to produce something, you know, real positive.”
The chamber has applied for a 52-hundred-dollar-grant from Travel Oregon that will be used to purchase and install 50 of the banners.
David Wiegan – “It has more ramifications than just making something look better, you know? There’s a lot of components that go into the whole downtown streetscape kind of plan.”
Wiegan says the Chamber is not asking the city for any cash… simply support for the application itself, and eventual installation of the banners.
Interim to become permanent
For the past several months, Wendy Farley-Campbell has been serving as the interim planning director for the city of Florence.
Come Monday, she may have a permanent gig.
That’s when Interim City Manager Larry Patterson will ask the City Council to formally endorse Farley-Campbell as the permanent Planning Director. She began her career with the city of Florence in 2001 as part of a college internship program. She came to work full time a year later and steadily worked her way up through the ranks.
City Manager Search Progresses
The Council will have plenty of other work to do Monday evening. They will meet in a private executive session beginning at 5:30 to review responses to followup questions posed to 11 “semi-finalists” for the City Manager’s position. The public portion of the meeting will convene at seven Monday. The council has scheduled a return to the private executive session following that if they need more time.
Tsunami Recovery Efforts May Get Boost
A bill to strengthen tsunami detection and warning systems; improve response and resiliency; and better protect communities vulnerable to a tsunami has been introduced in congress as lawmakers are make their way for the exits.
Oregon First District Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat, says she has the support of Science, Space, and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, for the bill.
It would ‘beef’ up several programs administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Two other Oregon lawmakers have signed on… Fifth District’s Kurt Schrader and the Fourth District’s Peter DeFazio.
