Airport Advisory Committee
The City of Florence Airport Advisory Committee will meet Wednesday where there will be a transition into the Transportation Advisory Committee. The change is one of the city’s attempts to streamline committees while also extending the outreach of the committee. The airport is in the process of getting bids for a facility upgrade that will include new approach lighting. The current lighting system has reached its useful life and will require a new up to date system. The project will cost just over a million dollars and will be paid for with grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration. The late spring construction is not expected to bleed over to the popular wings and wheels event held every year, but there will be limited closure of the runway during daylight hours due to FAA safety regulations. The committee will also hear from city recorder Kelly Weese on the change to the Transportation Committee. The committee meets November 14th at 2 pm at the Florence Event Center.
Don’t Flush It
Toilets are not trashcans is a nationwide campaign to educate people on what should not go into the wastewater and the city of Florence is participating in this program. Public works Director Mike Miller says that items like grease, packing peanuts and even blue jeans have been removed from lines and pumps along the city’s sewer lines and he says the problem has gotten worse with the introduction of new products that advertise themselves as ‘flushable’. Miller says Products such as Charmin Fresh Mates and Cottonelle Fresh Flushable Moist Wipes do not break down in the system and can cause clogging. And just because something says that it is flushable does not mean that it is. Products that are considerable flushable have three main characteristics: They easily and quickly break into little pieces, are not buoyant and contain no plastic or regenerated cellulose. Other products that are often flushed are paper towels, feminine hygiene products and pharmaceuticals which should never be flushed into the system.
Oregon Veterans Converge on DC
Veterans from around the country, including Oregon, are in Washington, D-C this week advocating for bills to protect more acres of public lands. In a letter delivered to Congress on Veterans Day, former service members say public lands and rivers offer a chance to heal and reintegrate into civilian life. Rusty Lininger is founder of Source One Serenity, which provides fly-fishing opportunities as healing projects for veterans in Oregon, and is in D-C. He says for many veterans, being outside is a special kind of rehabilitation after being on the battlefield.
“The best therapy for me is to sit on a cold, wet rock and just let the outdoors take it all because it doesn’t judge.”
Oregon veterans are pushing for passage of the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Special Management Area Designation Act to protect about 100 thousand acres of the North Umpqua watershed and is named for a World War II veteran who lives in the area. They’d also like to see Congress pass the Oregon Wildlands Act, which would designate more than 90 thousand acres as wilderness and add 250 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers protections.
