City Sells Parcel to Developer
The Florence City Council on Monday approved the sale of a parcel of land that it had reacquired north of Munsel Lake Road off of Spruce Street. The 7.61 acre parcel was returned to the city in 2019 as the city was a lien holder. Coastal Development Properties approached the city with intent to purchase the property for a 5 step development which includes 20 single family homes and 30 townhomes. The developers will pay $175,000 cash and the city will carry the note on the remaining $225,000. The council voted unanimously to approve the sale. Coldwell Banker coast Real Estate’s Aric Sneddon spoke for the developers as to the plan for the property
“So the project that we are proposing will be split into 5 phases. The first phase of the project will be the site engineering and the infrastructure development. The second phase will be the construction of the first phase of townhomes which will be fifteen units or 5 tri-plexes. The third part will be the second phase of townhomes which of equal units. The fourth phase will be the first phase of single family homes which will be 10 and then the final phase will be the last 10 homes of single family residences.”
Sneddon says they are hopeful that material costs will begin to level off and even come down to offset some of the costs proposed. There was no date given as to when the phases will begin.
Florence Resident Killed in Roseburg Accident
The Oregon State police released the name of a victim of a vehicle versus pedestrian crash that occurred yesterday morning near Roseburg. The accident happened about 5:42 yesterday morning as a utility truck, driven by 57 year old Garry Davis of Roseburg was traveling northbound on I-5 near milepost 132. Davis’s Dodge truck struck 24 year old Anika Jamison of Florence. Jamison was walking in the travel lanes of the interstate. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gas Prices
The federal government’s decision to release nearly 180 million barrels of oil over the next 6 months has had an effect on gas prices. Crude oil prices had a sharp decrease leading the Oregon price of a gallon of gas to fall 4 cents this past week while national prices averaged a 7 cent decrease. For the Florence area it has meant about a 9 cent decrease as the average price falls to about $4.60 for a gallon of regular. One local station is selling it for $4.48 a gallon which is the lowest price locally.
COVID-19
While there has been a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases, overall the increase has been minimal. There has been one new case reported for the Florence area (1507). Lane County’s latest numbers are a cumulative total from March 31st. 93 cases which is about 23 average daily cases. The Oregon Health Authority has redesigned its reporting pages. The OHA is reporting the daily average number of cases over the past 7 days is 291.6. Hospitalizations have dropped below 100 for the first time in about 8 months and is currently at 97 with 22 still in ICU.
Service Clubs Back in Person
After a long hiatus for several of the areas service club it is back to in person meetings for many. The Florence Siuslaw Lions club has been meeting in person since late February. They were joined this week by two other clubs. Florence Rotary resumed weekly noon meetings Tuesday afternoon; Florence Kiwanis is getting back together today. All three groups are thankful to be able to meet in person and they are working on upcoming projects. Kiwanis is working on the Rhody Festival Kids Games and the annual Middle School “Game of Life”. Lions will be selling concessions at the Rhody Festival Show and Shine, as well as putting on their annual Bass Tournament. Florence Rotary is deep in the throes of their signature event, the annual scholarship auction coming up June 4th. Rotary meets noon Tuesdays at the Florence Events Center. Kiwanis has a “brown bag” meeting noon Wednesdays at the Fire Station and the Lions meet the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30 PM at the Pacific Pines RV Park on 42nd Street.
