Watch out for wet paint!
Drivers on city streets in Florence are being asked to be careful of their “lane changes” over the next couple days.
Erin Reynolds – “We are doing our annual striping of the roads. We have a contract with Lane County Public Works and they come in, and so, please be aware and try as best as you can to not drive on those lines.”
City Manager Erin Reynolds said the paint is specially engineered to be long lasting and that means if you accidentally drive across some just after it’s laid down, you may get it on your vehicle. If you do, try to get it off within an hour using hot soapy water. You may see some streets that are skipped… she says that will be on purpose.
Erin Reynolds – “Holding off on striping some of the areas where we are going to be doing some construction work so you’ll see some areas untouched.”
The water based paint is better for the environment; and as it is applied, thousands of little glass beads are deposited into the wet paint, making it more reflective and increasing visibility.
Legislative Committee to talk about septic funding
Oregon lawmakers are headed back to Salem later this week for three days of legislative committee meetings. State Senator Arnie Roblan said one of the items they’ll be talking about is a bill he sponsored in the past session providing a low-interest loan program to help homeowners make repairs to septic systems. The initial amount set aside by that bill was relatively low.
Arne Roblan – “Put 250-thousand there, but as you know septic systems… ten, 15-thousand… so, 250 isn’t going to buy a lot.”
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality finalized rules for the program in September. Since then, Roblan says he’s been approached by several fellow lawmakers about the need to increase the funding.
Arnie Roblan – “Once it gets up and going, it’ll be a revolving fund. People pay it back, with low interest, and we can use that money again.”
No final decisions will be made during committee meetings but the work done this week will speed the process when the session gets under way in February.
Military Museum finishing fund raising wall
A renewed effort is being made this month to complete what is called the “freedom and remembrance wall” at the Oregon Coast Military Museum in Florence. Museum Chief of Staff Geoff Cannon said there are just a few spaces left on the wall that is nearly filled with engraved bricks honoring and remembering donors to the museum.
Cannon said there are already 11 brick orders ready to be made and he is hoping the final seven can be sold shortly.
He said the commemorative bricks are $200 each. When the wall is complete it will honor 276 Veterans and supporters. Order information is available at the museum on Kingwood Street near the airport… or at the group’s website.
United Way in Mapleton
Thursday is the United Way of Lane County “Day of Caring”, and that means there will be volunteer projects in several different places around the county.
One of those will be at Mapleton Schools where superintendent Jodi O’Mara has organized a day of painting the inside of the play shed.
O’Mara says volunteers from United Way will be working, but anyone else from the community can come help out as well. All the paint and supplies… rollers, trays, and more… will be provided. The work party is slated to go from nine until one… lunch is not provided.
Volunteers are asked to park in front of the middle school and check in at the play shed on the lower field.
Beach Cleanup
This Saturday is the Fall installment of the semi-annual Great Oregon Beach Cleanup. Thousands of volunteers are expected on Oregon beaches to pick up trash and debris that has been left behind by visitors, the wind and the surf.
The day coincides with National Public Lands Day September 24th. That means day use fees at Siuslaw National Forest sites will be waived… fees at Oregon State Parks will remain in effect for the day.
The cleanup… organized by SOLVE… has expanded away from the coastline in the past several years and includes cleanups along several waterways in Oregon.
You can go to www-dot-solve Oregon-dot-org for more information.
Build your own bill
Oregon Lawmakers are in Salem the rest of this week, meeting in committees as they prepare for the next session in February. State Senator Arnie Roblan says while he is in the office he’s inviting constituents to engage in the process.
Arnie Roblan – “The end of this week, the beginning of next week, we have unlimited number of bills that we can introduce. And one of the things that we’ve done in our office is that if a person really has an idea that they think they want is really going to make all the difference in the world, we may not agree with it but we’re going to go get it written for them and we’re going to give them the knowledge to see that through if they can.”
He says he will listen to your concern and guide you through the process of having the bill written and introduced into the next legislative session.
