Florence City Councilors gave high ratings this week to City Manager Erin Reynolds. Mayor Joe Henry said they completed her annual job performance review Monday night.
Joe Henry – “We each did a seven or eight page performance evaluation and then we tabulated the results. Came out on a scale of one to four, four being exceptional; a very solid four rating that everyone concurred on.”
City Manager Erin Reynolds earned high praise and a pay increase following her annual performance evaluation. Reynolds took over as Florence City Manager in March 2015 after serving as the city’s finance director.
Henry said he and the others are impressed with Reynolds’ ability to complete tasks. Earlier this month she gave them an update on a lengthy list of objectives.
Joe Henry– “We had a 155 action items in our work plan. 101 of those were marked completed.”
He said 53 of the remaining will likely be completed in early 2017. That’s in addition to more items that will be added to the list next month.
The high marks extended to her compensation…
Joe Henry – “112,000 was her former base and her new base salary is 117-eight which is an increase of five percent or 56-hundred dollars.”
Reynolds’ experience as a CPA has left the city in excellent financial condition according to Henry, but he says her strongest suit is in her leadership skills.
Waldport man walking in Highway 101 dies
A Waldport man and his dog were killed Wednesday night while walking along Highway 101 in Yachats. Oregon State Police say 37-year old Travis Eppinghaus was walking in the northbound lane of the highway, wearing dark clothing, and carrying his dog at about 7:45 pm. Amy R. Hartz, 30-years old of Waldport, was northbound at the same time and struck Eppinghaus. He and the dog both died at the scene.
Troopers say Hartz remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
Wave energy facility wins development grant
Oregon State researchers trying to find cost effective and sustainable ways to generate electricity by using the power of the Pacific Ocean got a big boost this week.
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $40-million in funding to what is billed as the most advanced wave energy test facility in the world.
The facility, operated by OSU, is located just offshore near Newport and it will be connected to the energy grid by undersea cables. It will test not only the wave generation devices themselves, but all of the infrastructure needed to transmit that power to the shore.
OSU engineering research professor Belinda Bratten is the director of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center. She said the test site is expected to be operational by 2020.
Gas prices rise slightly
The average cash price for a gallon of regular gas in Florence went up two cents in the past week, but it’s still well below the statewide and national averages.
This week’s price in Florence is $2.17 a gallon… seven cents below the national average as measured by Triple-A and 23-cents lower than the statewide price.
Marie Dodds with Triple-A says gas prices are on the rise due to market expectations of tighter crude oil supplies following the announcement last month that OPEC nations will continue to cut oil production in January.
Beach access detour created
A potential winter-time conflict between an endangered shorebird and off-highway vehicles has been relieved. For the past several years biologists have discovered Western Snowy Plovers have been using the several hundred foot wide space of open sand at Breach Road near Siltcoos Beach as an overwintering area.
The only problem with that is that the tiny bird is no match for large four wheel drive vehicles that regularly traverse that path to get to the beach.
Officials began talking about building a seasonal detour for vehicles almost two years ago, but it wasn’t until this fall that they completed it.
That detour is well marked and is just 600 feet north of the existing, long-time beach access corridor. Shane Gill with the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area says the detour will be in effect through March 14th.
Sea turtle strandings a possiblity
Visitors to beaches along the central Oregon Coast in the next weeks should keep an eye out for stranded sea turtles. Last winter there were four sea turtles rescued from Oregon Beaches.
Jim Burke says this is not their normal range. He’s the director of Animal Husbandry at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
Olive ridley and pacific green sea turtles live and breed in warmer waters along the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Sometimes they can wind up in the colder waters off Oregon and when they do, they can become sick or weak and might wash up on the sand.
If they do, they need immediate and specialized care in order to survive.
Burke said if you see a sea turtle on the beach, call the Oregon State Police tipline immediately. That’s 800-452-7888. He said you should mark the location of the turtle and stay nearby to observe if possible.
