City Takes a Look At Movies In The Park; Be Ready Expo; Quakes Once Again Off Coast; Planning Commission

City Takes a Look At Movies In The Park

The City of Florence is looking to bring back movies in the park.  The annual event at Miller Park had to be cancelled when the company supplying the equipment was sold.  But the city, with its new emphasis on Miller Park, has decided that it wants to include the event in its activity schedule for next summer.  City Manager Erin Reynolds says the city is looking for a way to bring back the event, possibly for multiple nights over the summer and has put a team together, headed by public works director Mike Miller to see what options are out there.  Reynolds says there are interested parties that support the return of Movies in the Park.  The city will be making changes to the park over the next few months including building a new concessions area.

Be Ready Expo

The Siuslaw News in conjunction with Peace Health and Banner Bank had their Be Ready Expo over the weekend.  The event is intended to inform Florence residents about the dangers of winter storms and the possibility of a Cascadia event that could produce a 9.0 earthquake.  Entities from around the city came out to share information on readiness and what to do in case of an extreme event.  Frank Nulty is a member of Western Lane Emergency Operations Group and the Community Emergency Response Team and he says getting to know your neighbors before an emergency is integral

”One of the most important things you can do is to get y our neighborhood organized, Because the people that are going to help you are your neighbors, not the emergency responders.  Anytime you have a disaster you have got to be on your own.”

Nulty says it is important to know who has items in case of an emergency.  Items like chain saws, generators, water, as well as what skills individuals have that will be useful during an event.  Several hundred people were in attendance to hear speakers talk on various subjects like earthquake, storm, and even fire dangers that exist for the coast.

Quakes Once Again Off Coast

A succession of three more quakes off the Oregon coast occurred over the weekend.  The first was 3.9 magnitude quake on Friday due west of Bandon with another on Saturday at 3.0 magnitude and a 3.1 magnitude on Sunday.  The USGS says this is an active region for quakes.  All three of these quakes were about 6 miles in depth and carried no warnings with them.

Planning Commission

The City Planning Commission will reconvene on tomorrow at 5:30 for a work session.  They will be looking at the buildable lands inventory for the area as the city ramps up its efforts to support affordable housing as well as taking a look at proposed code changes as they relate to the Tsunami hazard overlay and future development.  The meeting will be at the Florence event center.