4 August 2014
Crowded Field for Two-Year Council Term
With more than three weeks remaining in the filing period, the competition is getting crowded for three Florence City Council positions and the Mayor’s seat.
Two additional city council prospectives filed preliminary nominations last week, bringing the total number of candidates to five.
The most traffic is for the two year term that will be vacated by councilor Joe Henry. He submitted his resignation effective January 1st in order to run for mayor. Ronald Preisler, Susy Lacer and Clarence Lysdale have each begun the nominating process for that spot.
Georgy Lyddon is the only candidate to finalize a nominating petition for a four year term; Mildred Rowley has submitted a prospective petition for the second available four year term.
The Mayor’s race is still a three-way with Henry, incumbent Nola Xavier, and former Mayor Alan Burns all lining up.
The deadline for final petitions is Tuesday, August 26th.
Busy Night For Current Panel
For those already on the Florence City Council, tonight will be a busy one. They have three separate sessions scheduled for City Hall.
The action begins at 5:30 when councilors will meet in private executive session to consider responses to followup questions submitted to 11 of the 34 applications received for the open City Manager’s position.
Interim City Manager Larry Patterson said they’ll work up until the seven PM regular council session and take up the public agenda in the council chambers.
Following that, if they still have work on the application review, they’ll return to executive session with the intention of trying to come up with a short list of three to five candidates for personal interviews.
The goal, says Patterson, is to come up with a final applicant and have him or her under contract by the end of August and on the job no later than October First.
126 Safety Project Under Way
Work on a safety project aimed at helping keep drivers in their own lanes and reduce the number of crashes along Highway 126 between Mapleton and Walton began early this morning.
Oregon Department of Transportation contractors began grinding “rumble strips” and depressions for pavement markers. ODOT Spokesman Rick Little says data on past crashes revealed two-thirds of fatalities occur when a vehicle departs its lane. A further study found simple things like curve signing; centerline and shoulder rumble strips; sight posts and selective tree removal were not only efficient, but cost effective.
Traffic between Mapleton and Walton will be facing up to 20-minute delays through Wednesday between six am and eight pm.
Work will include a sealant to the roadway this week; as well as new striping later this month.
Fire Danger Highest
It’s August, traditionally the highest time of fire danger in the wildland areas of western Oregon and this year is no different.
Officials on the Siuslaw National Forest moved to a “high” danger level over the weekend, prompting advice and warnings to the general public.
Dan Eddy, the Fire Management Officer for the Forest says hot and dry weather, along with the commitment of many fire crewmembers to other blazes in the Northwest are combining to increase the risk.
Eddy says most of the fires that occur on the Siuslaw National Forest are human caused. He called for caution not only in the woods, but in the dunes and along the beach as well.
