Registration ends… voting begins
Voters in Lane County could receive their ballots in the mail as early as Friday. Lane County Clerk Cheryl Betschart says the registration period ended at midnight Tuesday… that means a record number of ballots will go out in the mail this week.
Cheryl Betschart – “We will be depositing over 236-thousand ballots to the post office on Thursday the 20th.”
The previous high was 219-thousand ballots in May of this year. Because registration ended Tuesday, Betschart said not all ballots will be mailed immediately.
Cheryl Betschart – “Any last minute registrations we will start sending those out on Friday and Monday and then continue daily for those that qualify.”
This is an unprecedented election. In addition to the many ballot measures and local races, Oregonians will be voting for a president and a governor. Kate Brown ascended to the governor’s office in February 2015 following the resignation of John Kitzhaber. That set up a special election this year for the remaining two years of what would have been Kitzhaber’s fourth term.
Council approves annexation
The Florence City Council approved an annexation request that will bring nine tax lots into the city along Highway 126 just east of the city.
For several years, an unfinished commercial building on piers at the edge of the Siuslaw River Estuary has greeted visitors to Florence. That building will likely be completed now that it will be connected to municipal water and sewer.
Don and Norma Saxon own the building, along with several properties on the upland side of 126 in that area.
Because of state land-use regulations the annexation is not yet final. There will be an appeal period before that happens. But, there were no objections raised during the lengthy process so an appeal is unlikely.
Gas prices up slightly
It’s an up and down world again for fuel prices in Florence and Oregon. The average cash price for a gallon of regular increased locally by two-cents this week to $2.36. The Oregon average price, according to Marie Dodds with Triple-A, went up a penny and is at $2.52.
Dodds said West Coast prices held “fairly steady” this week, despite the series of storms that brought heavy rains to much of Northern California, Oregon and Washington. The weather created some minor “supply issues”.
She added there is some uncertainty as to what prices will do in coming weeks as many parts of the country deal with the weather. Although, the national average price did slip two-cents a gallon this week to $2.24.
National Guard preps for Cascadia Quake and Tsunami
A special convoy of the Oregon National Guard will be travelling the Oregon Coast later this week. The primary goal of the convoy is to observe potential route obstructions that might come from a catastrophic earthquake. Another is building relationships with local communities. Those relationships will be valuable in building a rapport between the guard and those communities that will help smooth out emergency operations.
The convoy, under the command of Captain Matt Owen, will be in Florence Sunday between 11 and one. Their equipment will be at the Florence Events Center for the two hour period. While there, Owen will brief area residents about every half hour on the steps they can take to be better prepared.
City of Florence spokesperson Megan Messmer said the exercise will also give the Guard a chance to practice setting up an emergency field kitchen and feeding a large number of people… she said anyone who comes out will get a hamburger or hot dog lunch.
Property Tax statements mailed
Ballots won’t be the only thing in mailboxes in the coming weeks. Lane County Assessor Mike Cowles announced this week that property tax statements will begin showing up as early as tomorrow in your mailbox.
The total tax bill for all properties in Lane County combined is 3.7 percent higher this year than last year. The grand total, according to Cowles, is $495.7-million.
Most of the increases can be accounted for by a 3.3-percent average increase in taxable values county-wide.
While the county assessor collects the nearly $500-million; it’s done on behalf of 83-separate taxing districts, including cities and schools as well as a variety of agencies such as fire, ambulance and library districts.
The first payment is due Tuesday, November 15th.
