10 New COVID-19 Cases For Florence; City Council Adopts Work Plan; Construction Begins; Vaccination Registration; School Deep Cleans

10 New COVID-19 Cases For Florence

The Florence area saw another significant jump in the COVID-19 numbers yesterday as 10 more were added to the list bringing the total to 215.  The latest jump is an indication that people are letting down their guard.   It is not yet known whether the latest cases are part of an outbreak or community spread.  We are awaiting verification from Lane County Public Health.   Lane County added 65 new cases total yesterday.  The state added 473 new cases yesterday.  The Oregon Health Authority issues new risk levels today and Lane County will move to the High Risk category on Friday which will limit indoor activities such as movie theaters to 25% of capacity.  This will also affect indoor dining at restaurants.

City Council Adopts Work Plan

Last night the Florence City Council unanimously approved their work plan for the 2021-2023 Biennium.   The Council has been working toward the decision with the help of city staff since the beginning of the year.  The work plan consists of a comprehensive look at the next two years and addresses goals of housing initiatives, family wage jobs and workforce development, community beautification efforts as well as policy involving public safety, and the Florence Events Center.  The in-depth document is available on the city’s website at ci.florence.or.us.  The city also issued a proclamation on the celebration of Arbor Day which will be celebrated on April 30th.

Construction Begins

The city has released its plans on the construction project for 9th street from Rhododendron to Kingwood street.  The city will be installing a new water line along 9th street and preliminary work is already underway with marking of the underground utilities.  Assistant City Manager Megan Messmer said in a press release that actual construction work is to begin today with exploratory excavation.  Actual installation of the new 16 inch water pipeline is scheduled to begin on May 3rd.  the project is expected to take approximately 6 months to complete.  During this time there will be delays expected and city manager Erin Reynolds says they are working on a contingency for Public Safety and Ambulance.

“Weve already been communicating with those agencies and they’re aware and of course that will be of utmost consideration as the contractors work through that corridor throughout the duration of the  project.”

The project will cost an estimated 2.07 million dollars.

Vaccination Registration

Registration opens today for this Friday’s Vaccination Clinic at the Florence Events Center.  Individuals wanting to schedule their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine can go to lanecounty.org/vaxclinics to sign up for an appointment.

School Deep Cleans

Last week Siuslaw School District released information that a member of the School staff had contracted COVID-19 and the school underwent a deep cleaning over the weekend.  Individuals who had come in contact with the staff member were notified.  This brought up the question of how many of the faculty and staff were vaccinated.  Due to privacy concerns there is no way to know how many opted for a vaccination but School Superintendent Andy Grzeskowiak said that roughly 85% of the teaching staff had requested to be scheduled for vaccination.