Paving Scheduled; FAA Tests New Lighting System; Lower Umpqua Hospital Buys Property; Open For Lunch

Paving Scheduled

On July 15th the city of Florence will begin its summer road rehabilitation projects.  Sections of 23rd, 18th,and 17th, streets will be repaved from highway 101 west as well as some work on the east side for 11th and 10th streets.  In addition several other roads will be covered with a hot oil chip and fog seal.  The project will be completed by Knife River Corporation at a cost of close to a half million dollars.  Work should be completed by the 2nd of August and will be done during the day from 7am to 7pm Monday through Friday.  Weather permitting the city is also planning chip and seal work for Rhododendron Drive between Fawn View Lane and Sebastian Street. Chip sealing will also take place on Spruce Street from 25th to 32nd streets; 32nd Street between Spruce and Redwood streets; Redwood Street between 32nd and 35th streets; and 42nd Street from Hwy 101 to Spruce Street.  Chip and seal is intended to extend the life of roadways without the immediate need to repave.

FAA Tests New Lighting System

Over the next 2 days expect to see a Lear Jet over the Florence skies as the FAA begins its final tests of the new lighting systems at the Florence Airport.  The first flyover is expected today at around 2pm.  The specially equipped plane can ensure the accuracy of the system.  There will be another flyover at 5am tomorrow morning.  The REIL system (runway End Identifier Lights) need to be tested at dawn to ensure that they produce enough light to perform safe landings at dusk and dawn.  The system upgrade total cost is about 1.16 million dollars with most of the money being covered by an FAA grant.  A total of $13,666 was out of pocket for the City of Florence.

Lower Umpqua Hospital Buys Property

Lower Umpqua Hospital in Reedsport has announced that they have purchased the property that housed the Covenant United Methodist Church.  Lower Umpqua hospital had been leasing space from the Reedsport School District but were notified earlier this year that the space was needed by the school and LUH would have to relocate.  LUH will be refitting the property and consolidating their services at the location on 3520 Frontage Road.  They also plan to expand their outpatient nursing and rehabilitation services once the remodel is complete and they free up space at the hospital.  Work will likely be completed sometime in September.

Open For Lunch

Florence City Hall has announced that it will no longer be closing for an hour at noon.  Effective on July 8th the city hall will operate from 8am until 4 pm daily Monday through Friday.