18 February 2013
Dunes City Councilor Resigns
A surprise came at the end of the Dunes City Council meeting Thursday night when councilor Troy Sathe abruptly announced his resignation. He said he would be leaving the community and moving to Albany in the near future. The resignation took councilors and Mayor Rebecca Ruede by surprise, but Sathe inferred that he had been planning for it for some time. He admitted that he had purposely not taken any committee chairmanships in order to make the transition a smoother one.
He was initially appointed to the council three years ago; then won election to a four-year term that November.
The council will discuss the process to fill the vacancy during their next meeting in April.
Superintendent Search
The Siuslaw School Board will meet in private executive session later today to interview two candidates for the superintendent’s position. The board identified three top candidates to replace a retiring Jeff Davis last week. Curtis Scholl, the principal at Salem’s Sprague High School and Shawn Wiencek a former Montana school administrator will each have a second interview with the board. Former Seattle resident Susan Follmer had her second interview last Monday. She is currently living in Venezuela. Board Chair Paul Burns said the board has a target date of February 27th to finalize a selection.
Lost Buoy
A wave energy company is trying to locate a multi-million-dollar buoy anchor. Ocean Power Technologies had installed the buoy 2 ½ miles offshore last fall, two more anchors were scheduled for installation this spring… but the company says that could be delayed as they try to locate the first anchor’s subsurface float. The company says the disappearance could indicate a shift in the anchor’s position. Another possibility is that the tether line connecting the float to the anchor has become fouled, pulling it downward. The buoy system is intended to be the first of ten the company will install off the coast west of Reedsport.
Ice Machine Leaving
Work will begin tomorrow to dismantle the commercial ice machine on the Siuslaw Wharf in Old Town. Port of Siuslaw Manager Bob Forsythe says a crew from Bornstein Seafood will begin disassembling the structure tomorrow and is scheduled to haul it away by truck by Thursday. Bornstein purchased the machine from the Siuslaw Fishermen’s Association last fall after a years-long effort to reestablish ice sales to commercial fishers failed.
