Demolition on old portion of ED begins tomorrow
After several months of preparation and construction, the Emergency Department at Peace Harbor Medical Center will be making a transition from the old to the new this morning.
Jan Finley – “Two full staffs, so there’ll be a full staff in the new ED, including, you know, a doc each area. A full staff in the old ED and we’ll probably have patients in the old ED.”
Nursing Supervisor Jan Finley says the transition will be “on the fly”.
Jan Finley – “So as each patient is discharged from the ED we will move that equipment to the new ED’s room.”
Both emergency rooms will operate side-by-side.
Jan Finley – “As people come in to be seen after eight a.m. we’ll have new patients in the new ED so we’re going to have both of them working until we clear out that old ED.”
The plan is for the new section to be hosting patients exclusively later today.
Jan Finley – “And by the end of the day we’ll have the old ED totally empty, which demolition starts early the next morning.”
That’s when crews will begin gutting the old portion of the department on the way to completing construction of the new expanded Emergency Department… that’s scheduled for completion in September.
Waste haulers to see sharp fee increase
Business license fees for waste haulers in Florence will likely go up by 500-percent under a proposal being considered next month by the City Council. That increase, though, will only result in a one-percent rate hike for residential and commercial customers… that’s about 25-to-30-cents per month for most residents.
The city’s Environmental Management Advisory Committee recently completed a review of the city’s rate structure. It showed that the current business license fees for waste haulers do not reflect the actual costs incurred by the city. Most of those costs, according to the report, come from wear and tear on city streets by garbage trucks.
Under the new proposal, the fee would be 3-percent of the companies’ revenue; increasing it from about $9,400 this year to more than $50-thousand next year.
Companies will also looking at higher equipment costs as an age limit will be imposed for engines in all “front-line” garbage trucks.
A public hearing on the new rates and fees will be April 4th at City Hall. If approved, they would go into effect July 1st.
Studded tire deadline Thursday
Drivers with studded tires on their cars are being reminded they have until next Thursday to remove them.
Studded Tire season in Oregon and Washington ends March 31st and officials say it will definitely not be extended this year.
Luci Moore with the Oregon Department of Transportation urges motorists not to wait until the last minute.
She referred to a study completed in 2014 that attributed about $8.5-million a year in damage to state highways caused by studs.
If you have studded tires on after March 31st, you can be cited.
Beach Cleanup Draws Thousands
An estimated 4,800 volunteers picked up about 90-thousand pounds of litter and marine debris from Oregon beaches Saturday. It was the spring edition of the semi-annual Great Oregon Beach Cleanup, organized by SOLVE.
Due to a strong winter storm season, the majority of the debris picked up Saturday had washed ashore from the ocean. Items ranged from large fishing rope to dozens of plastic crates and buoys.
Locally, volunteers found half of a kayak near Siltcoos Outlet. But, most of the plastic picked up was in tiny pieces that are harmful to wildlife that often mistake it for food. An aluminum boat was also found on the beach near the Oregon Dunes while pickers in Port Orford found an actual note in a glass bottle.
Transfer Sites Switch to Summer Hours
The 16 solid waste transfer stations in Lane County are moving to summer hours later this week.
The Florence Transfer site will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Mapleton and Walton transfer sites will be open from nine to five on Saturdays only; while the Low Pass on Highway 36 and Swisshome will also be open nine to five, but on Fridays and Saturdays.
Waste Management Supervisor Dan Hurley said summer hours remain in effect through September.
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