City gets greenlight to pursue property; School Board Chair passes away; Crab ready for harvest and Civil War Tailgater to benefit Boys and Girls Club

City gets green light to pursue property

A high profile piece of Old Town property, with a clear view of the Highway 101 Bridge over the Siuslaw, could be targeted for development in the near future.
205 – “There is one piece of property on Bay Street that is undeveloped and the Urban Renewal Agency and the City Council has been focused on obtaining that, it is the Barnett Property.”

Assistant Florence City Manager Jacque Morgan says this development would be ‘low impact’ consisting of a meandering path, a wetlands demonstration and interpretive signage.
206 – “We received notification to proceed so what that means is that we have scenic byway funds and we have federal funds and Urban Renewal Agency funds, and now we can start contacting the property owner in California to see if they are interested in selling that property.”

The city would use $85-thousand in Urban Renewal Funding along with the money from outside sources to buy the property and create a park. Morgan said it’s still too early to say how long it would take.

For the past several months Oregon’s Commercial Dungeness Crab fleet has been working on preparing for the coming season. Saturday morning at eight AM they can begin dropping their pots and then, in the wee hours of next Tuesday they’ll begin pulling in the meaty delicacy. Quality testing of crab off the Northwest Coast showed they are ready for harvesting. The annual catch has exceeded 33-million pounds in recent years. Crabbers are allowed to take only mature males, leaving younger males and the females to propagate the species.

One week from today the Florence Events Center will be smelling like roses and hamburgers… as the Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County hosts their second annual Civil War Tailgater. The aim, according to interim club director Jerry Matheny is to show team spirit for the football teams from the University of Oregon and Oregon State… but mainly to raise money for the club’s programs. Advance tickets are on sale at the club for only $5 per person or $20 per family. Matheny said there’ll be silent auctions, a drawing for a pair of tickets to the Civil War game on December 3rd and even a few players from each team on hand.

Siuslaw School Board Chair Nancy Phelps passed away last night in a Springfield hospital. Phelps had surgery last week to repair a torn aorta, but suffered a series of heart attacks in the past two days. Services have not been set.

A trio of residents from Greentrees Village say they want to lift a ton of food. Warren Marshall, Dick Benson and Howard Burwell went door to door in the gated community last year and collected 18-hundred pounds of food for Florence Food Share. This year, says Marshall, they’re “going for a ton”. The three will be going door to door beginning December 8th. Florence Food Share is the food box pantry that distributes emergency food boxes to nearly 600 households each month in the Florence, Dunes City and Mapleton areas.

TAKING A LOOK INTO COAST RADIO SPORTS:

College Basketball:
The Oregon men fell in a hole early, trailing by ten at the half, and were unable to come back losing last night at Mac Court to the Montana Grizzlies. It was the Ducks’ second straight loss after losing their first three games. On the schedule tonight… the Oregon Women are at home against Santa Clara.

Athlete of the Week:
Siuslaw football standout John Duman is Coast Radio Sports’ Athlete of the Week. The Viking senior was honored on both sides of the line of scrimmage by Far West League Coaches, selected for the first team on offense for his work as a center; and on defense as a linebacker. Honorable Mention goes to Viking Offensive Lineman Aaron Teo, a junior who was also selected to the first team Far West Squad.