Council Approves Bid
The Florence city Council heard from Public Works Director Mike Miller at last night’s meeting. Miller laid out several projects that the city is planning including the construction and redesign of the portion of Rhododendron drive from Wildwinds to 35th street. The lowest bid for the project came in above the budget the city had allocated at 7,346,000 dollars and some change. The city’s budgeted amount was 7 million. Miller said that while the city cannot legally negotiate the price, there were ways to cut back the cost during the project.
“There are gonna be hauling excavated material offsite, well we can come up with a spoils disposal site on one of the city’s properties to help reduce that cost.”
Miller also said they could consider closing the roadway for extended periods to divert traffic from the area. Miller said one of the highest cost in the proposal is the manpower allowed for flagging traffic through the area. Miller says they can trim about $601,000 by implementing those and a couple other cost cutting measures to bring the project in budget. In the end the council approved the awarding of the monies to K&E Excavating with the cost cutting measures presented by Miller.
City Manger Receive High Marks
The Florence City Manager, Erin Reynolds received her annual evaluation at last night’s city council meeting. Reynolds scored a 3.78 out of 4.0 which is an outstanding level by city standards. In the evaluation notes the a recommendation of a 3% base wage increase, the first since 2018. And increase in technology stipend, the establishment of a vehicle stipend as well as the establishment of a deferred compensation retirement benefit. Reynolds received glowing comments from the council just prior to the approval of the evaluation and the additional benefits recommended.
DUII Increased Enforcement
The Florence Police department will be on the lookout for drivers that are driving impaired on the upcoming holidays. Additional enforcement will be on the roads for December 24th and 25th as well as December 31st and January first. Florence police will join other law enforcement entities in the county and state to help reduce the number of impaired drivers on the road. Increased patrol dollars will come through a grant from Oregon Impact which administers DUII grant funding in Oregon.
Reedsport Honors Councilor
The City of Reedsport will be honoring the memory of Councilor DeeDee Murphy. Murphy passed away after a brief illness on October 24th of this year. Murphy had resided in Reedsport since 1993. She was active in volunteer work and work on the city council. the memorial will be on Saturday the 16th from 1-3 pm at Big Fish Café located at 345 Riverfront Way in Reedsport.
Surplus Sale Update
The upcoming surplus sale for the Siuslaw Schools will be held at the Siuslaw Elementary School gym. The event will be on December 20th, 21st, and 22nd. The schools will be letting go of some items that no longer have value to the school system including some electronics like a 3D printer, some sewing machines and some furniture.
