Heceta Water wants talks to flow again; gas prices inch up, Florence still inexpensive; CL PUD wins Federal Grant; and give blood on Halloween!

10-28-09 7,8,9 AM; Noon; 5,6 PM
RBS

Heceta Water District wants talks to flow again…

With the aim of getting negotiations with the City of Florence back on track, Heceta Water District Commissioners met last night to review their latest proposal for an inter-governmental agreement that would spell out who would provide water service to lands currently in the district… but ultimately destined for annexation into the city.
201 – “It’s time to take some action so… this is very important for this district and this district’s survival. And before we spend these millions of dollars on improvements to the district so it has long term viability we have to ensure the customer base because that is our revenue stream.”

Commission chair Bob Hursh expressed his frustration with the lack of progress over the past two years.
200 – “Every time we thought we got to the finish line something cropped up, something changed, something was added, something was removed.”

Hursh lays much of the blame for that lack of progress on Florence City Manager Bob Willoughby. Hursh felt they had an agreement last spring, but says Willoughby added a requirement at the last minute that the district pay a franchise fee equal to five-percent of water bills in annexed areas. Before that Hursh said he felt they had a deal. But, he says, it’s important to get back on track and they’ll meet with Willoughby next week to discuss that.

The US Department of Energy has awarded a grant of nearly $10-million to Central Lincoln PUD to help expand reliability and flexibility of the power grid. The federal “Smart Grid” funding will help pay for ‘smart meters’ allowing power customers to manage energy use more efficiently. Central Lincoln employees will also be able to electronically monitor lines and equipment and identify potential problems before they become an outage. Plus, if an outage does occur, the ‘smart grid’ technology will allow them to track it down and pinpoint the location much quicker. The grant award is the only one of its kind to an Oregon Utility and will allow the district to double the amount of funding they’ve set aside for their efforts.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline snuck up two cents to $2.60 in Florence this week. But drivers in Florence still pay less on average than anywhere else. According to Triple-A the national average jumped by ten cents this week to $2.68. Oregon’s statewide average went up by two cents and is at $2.73. Portland’s average price, as measured by Triple-A is $2.69 a gallon and in Eugene, it’s $2.76… 16 cents higher than Florence’s average price.

Halloween falls on Saturday this year. That will allow for more activities related to the theme of the day. Probably the most unique offering will be the Lane Memorial Bloodmobile at Three Rivers Casino. Blood donors can contribute a pint between nine and four that day.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

Prep Volleyball:
The Mapleton Sailors downed the Lowell Red Devils in four games last night to advance to the next round of Mountain West League Playoffs. They’ll now go up against the Cougars tomorrow in Crow.

In the Far West League, the Siuslaw Vikings downed the Douglas Trojans in four games last night, Leigh Aurich had 54 assists, Seabre Church 21 kills. Jenna Hanslits also had a dozen kills with a strong serving run of six straight points to finish the fifth and final game. Siuslaw is alone in second place now at 6 – 2. North Bend remains undefeated at 8-0, they beat South Umpqua. Brookings-Harbor falls to third place at 5 – 3 after a loss to Sutherlin.

Pac Ten Football:
Oregon and Southern California meet this weekend to determine the Pac-10 title… maybe. The winner may still have to deal with Arizona as a topsy-turvy season unfolds. The Number 23 Wildcats have joined the 10th ranked Ducks and number Four Trojans in the AP-Top 25. They’re the only three teams that command their own destiny in the conference race.

You have two chances to help out Siuslaw Athletics this week…

For Duck Fans (or Trojans) we have two tickets to the Oregon – USC game at 5:00 Saturday night… they’re very good seats… and they’ll be sold to the highest bidder with proceeds going to the Siuslaw Baseball Program.

For you Beaver Believers we have four tickets to the 1 o’clock game between OSU and UCLA. The highest bidder will get those seats… and the proceeds will go to the Siuslaw Athletic Booster Club. These seats are under cover, 45-yard line on the West side and includes a parking pass at the Goss Stadium parking lot.

Both will benefit athletics at Siuslaw High School. Call 997-9136 to register your bid. All bidding will close at 9:45 AM Friday, we’ll announce the totals on the air.