The city pleaded guilty in June to violating the conditions of its permit to discharge pollutants into Alsea Bay. In court documents, the city acknowledged that in the spring of 1996, the city's main plant operator went on medical leave. Her boss, the Waldport Public Works Superintendent, decided to run the plant himself. Court papers state that he did not have the ability to competently operate the plant and essentially ignored it for two weeks.

Because of this, the plant went septic and its effluent, which flowed into the bay, was polluted with high levels of fecal coliform bacteria, posing a threat to humans and shellfish. Source: Coos Bay World, September 30, 1998 (AP).

10/5/98 - City of Florence Admits Liability For Clean Water Act Violations - Link to: Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition Article

Citizens For Florence, a local group that has expressed concern over the city’s rapid development, appealed the design review approval to the LUBA in July.

The group is questioning whether the city’s sewage treatment plant has the capacity to handle the increased load from the store, if the stormwater collection system could handle a 100-year rainfall event and what effect the system would have on drinking water wells the city has considered digging in the area in the future.

Eugene attorney William Sherlock, who is representing the citizens’ group, said the board will make its decision from information already part of the record from previous public meetings. He said Wednesday he doesn’t expect a decision from LUBA for at least two months. Source: Coos Bay World, October 8, 1998.

Also see: CFF Appeal Brief

Lane County Circuit Court Judge Jack Mattison approved summary judgment requests from the city and PUD earlier this month allowing the line. A final judgment has been prepared by attorneys for the city and is awaiting Mattison's signature, said Arden Olson, an attorney for the city.

The power line would feed a sub-station that is needed for an industrial park and to power the city's west side as it continues to develop, according to PUD engineer Ron Ellson.

But John Neuner, spokesman for the homeowners group, said the high voltage line planned to run through the alley behind plaintiffs' homes would lower their property value and present a potential health hazard.

Eugene attorney William Sherlock, who is representing the homeowners, said the homeowners are waiting on the final judgment, which is expected to be filed this week. An appeal will be filed in early October with the Oregon Court of Appeals in Salem.

Sherlock said he expects a decision within four months, but the city's attorney said an appeals court decision could take as long as a year.

City crews are working on a water line in the alley and when that is finished, the PUD can begin work on the power line, Hobson said. PUD spokesman Gary Cockerum said the PUD will begin soil testing by the end of this month and construction of the power line should begin in January 1999. Source: The World Newspaper, by Paul Noel, September 22, 1998.

LOC -- of which Eugene and most other Oregon cities are members -- takes the lobbying position that "the expenses generated by new growth have vastly outweighed the revenues generated by that growth." For example, LOC finds that "between 1985 and 1995 city street mileage has grown by over 15%, due mostly to roads added by new subdivisions."

LOC has also shifted its corporate recruitment and economic development policies "from a single-minded focus on job creation" to "a focus on supporting distressed communities and existing businesses as well as addressing growth issues throughout the state." - AP - Source: Eugene Weekly Newspaper, September 17, 1998.

9/22/98 - Florence Hires Development Director -- A Vermont planner has been hired to fill the community development director position here. Sandra Young, the director of a regional commission in Pawlet, Va., that supplies planning services to 21 Vermont cities, is expected to take the top position in the city's Planning Department on Oct. 19, according to City Manager Ken Hobson.

Young was chosen for the position from a field of 50 applicants, Hobson said. She was one of four interviewed by Hobson for the position.

Young's salary will be $48,000 a year. She'll replace John Theilacker, who quit to take a position as a planning consultant with a private conservatory in Pennsylvania. Source: The World Newspaper, September 22, 1998.

Three groups -- the Sierra Club, the Constitutional Law Foundation and Citizens for Public Accountability, a local group that has raised concerns about Hyundai's Eugene factory -- filed the lawsuit in May 1996. They alleged that Hyundai allowed muddy runoff to spill into west Eugene creeks during construction of the computer chip company's $1.4 billion plant.

Under the consent decree, the money will be used for environmental projects and to reimburse the Western Environmental Law Center of Eugene, which represented the three plaintiffs. Source: Eugene Register Guard, September 15, 1998. 

Also see: OSCC v. City of Florence re: Clean Water Act

9/10/98 - Threat Propels Drive to Improve Tsunami Alerts -- Wide ranging efforts are bearing down on what's certain to be a deadly encore for coastlines on the Pacific Rim. 

Terry Thompson vividly recalls the tsunami that slammed into the Newport shoreline on a moonlit night 34 years ago. A 17-year-old high school student at the time, Thompson witnessed the initial 10-foot wave as it raced ashore at 11:35 p.m. March 27, 1964. "My family lived on a cliff, and we were able to savfely see it," said Thompson, now a commercial fisherman and state legislator. "It was just like a huge high tide that pushed up the boats, then rapidly went back down."

A few miles north on Beverly Beach, the wave brought tragedy to a Tacoma couple when all four of their young children were swept from the family's camping spot and drowned. Along the rest of the Oregon coast, cars, motels, bridges, houses and sea walls were destroyed. Source: Excerpt from Article in The Oregonian, September 10, 1998, by Richard L. Hill. (For full article, see: Tsunami Page)

The plan has the full support of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce, and the association came to the port to ask permission to use their facilities as part of the race. "it would be such a feather in Florence's cap," said McVee. "It would put Florence on the map."

McVee and Spicknell said the current plan is to bring in a smaller race to next year's festival as a "teaser" for future annual races.  If next year goes well, then they said they would bring the full race to Florence. "It would be a power boat event on an annual basis with a teaser next year. In the year 2000, Florence would be added as an APBA leg of the Thunder Boats race in Seattle," McVee explained. McVee and Spicknell told the port that the biggest challenge would be getting the acceptance of the Oregon State Marine Board. "On the surface it looks great," said new commissoiner Al Pazar. "I have some concerns, but we can work them out." "I think we need something like this," said Commission President Lynnette Wikstrom-Smith. The port gave their permission by consensus to allow the APBA to use the boat ramp and other facilities for the 1999 race. Source: Siuslaw News, August 26, 1998.
 

Port of Siuslaw

Since May 1990, the state has cited the city eight times for violations ranging from dumping too much sewage into nearby Camas Swale Creek to failing to properly monitor how much sewage was being dumped into the tributary of the Willamette River.

The DEQ never fined the city. But the city agreed in 1995 to upgrade the treatment plant or face fines of $250 a day if it didn’t make progress. City Administrator Ron Hanson said a multimillion-dollar project would expand Creswell’s plant to treat the wastes generated by the town’s 2,875 residents. More precise cost estimates won’t be known until the city studies expansion options, he said. The city will look at a combination of federal grants, loans and increases in user fees to pay for the work, Hanson said.

The problem stems mainly from too much stormwater and groundwater entering the city’s treatment lagoons during rainy periods, he said. The rain fill sup the lagoons faster than the sewage can be treated, forcing the city to flush the sewage into Camas Swale before properly treating it. Creswell also has been growing, putting additional demands on the sewage treatment plant, Hanson said.

Fred Meyer originally requested to lease 4-1/2 acres of the BLM land so it could stabilize the dune face. The BLM has ruled that Fred Meyer can move the sand on the 150-foot dune face, but it opposes the use of vegetation for stabilization. The BLM fears non-native plants may spread from the area to private lands adjoining the property.

The BLM also approved an application from the city of Florence that will allow the city to manage the 40-acre BLM parcel for open space and dispersed recreation, including the development of a hiking trail system with interpretive signs. Construction must have approval from BLM.

Fred Meyer spokeswoman Marilyn Coffel said the consultants with the corporation are reviewing the BLM decision to determine the cost of continued removal of sand. The decision also requires Fred Meyer to pay for the sand it removes while grading the dune. Coffel said although the decision is different than what Fred Meyer proposed, officials are happy with the decision. “It’s something Fred Meyer can work with,” she said.

The BLM denied a request for the property from Citizens For Florence, the citizens group that has appealed the city’s design review approval of Fred Meyer to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Citizens For Florence President Zane Ziemer said the group is pleased with the BLM decision and does not intend to appeal. “It was a fair compromise,” he said, “As far as we’re concerned, the BLM did their job of protecting the dune, and we think it was a fair decision.” Source: Coos Bay World Newspaper, September 1, 1998, by Paul Noel.

Also see: BLM Decision

Last summer, the city asked the utility district to install the line to feed a substation that would provide power to a new industrial park north of the Florence Municipal Airport. A group of 13 residents, “People Of Wise Energy Regulation,” sued the city and the PUD, claiming the alley behind their 24th Street homes was dedicated in 1975 only to allow city employees access to the city’s water filtration plant and water lines located in the alley. They argued that the line would lower the property value of their homes and present a potential health hazard.

But one of the citizen group members said Thursday that an appeal of the decision is likely. John Neuner said the group will meet to discuss a possible appeal. PUD Engineer Ron Ellson said the utility will soon begin soil tests in the alley to determine what type of poles it will use for the high-voltage lines. He added that construction of the line should begin next spring. Source: The World, September 4, 1998, by Paul Noel.