Siltcoos Algae
Siltcoos Lake has been suffering from an outbreak of cyanobacteria according to a press release from Dunes City Recorder Jamie Mills. Back in November the blue-green algae was up to 1,423,372 parts per milliliter. Anything over 100,000 ppm is considered concerning. Some of the issue can be attributed to septic tank runoff into the lake. Recently the Environmental Protection Agency released a mobile app for phones that can detect the levels of cyanobacteria. Mills in her release said the app currently registers 346,736 parts per million. While she is not sure of the accuracy of the app, she notes that it is more information than they have had in the past. In addition to septic release, decomposing plant material and warmer water temperatures also contribute to algae growth. Dunes City recommends that pets, the elderly, young children and pregnant women avoid drinking the water and substitute bottled water instead.
19th Annual Pounding
Tomorrow is the 19th annual Pounding to support the Florence Food Share. The annual food drive consistently adds over 10 thousand pound of food to the shelves of the agency and helps to provide food for over 700 needy families in the Florence area. Organizer, Cindy Wobbe has set her sites on 15 thousand pounds this year. Last year the Pounding added 14,572 pounds of food. The annual event was also helped last year by local business Top Hydraulics which donated an equal share of cash to the pounds of food raised. This year they have again pledged to match dollar for pound. The event is held at the Grocery Outlet on Highway 101 from 10 until 2. Coast Radio will have a live broadcast from 10 until 1 tomorrow.
Planning Commission
After the Florence Planning Commission along with the Florence City Council passed the residential code updates the planning commission will meet on Tuesday for its regular meeting. They will be looking at new requests for Planned unit developments and a subdivision. The requests are for the allowance of a project located at the site of the former senior center on Airport Road. Developers DevNW (Dev Northwest) is looking to build 12 detached homes in a community oriented setting cluster development.
