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Volunteers remove mountains of trash from Topits Park

Photos by David Rupkalvis/The World

Above: David Crandall, parks supervisor for the city of Coos Bay, throws trash into a dumpster while Beth Chu, founder of Oregon Bay Area Beautification, looks on. Right: Ben Chu picks up garbage while carrying his young son during a cleanup day at John Topits Park.

By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

A growing grassroots effort to clean parks in Coos Bay and North Bend led to 41 volunteers picking up dozens of bags of trash Saturday. Before the two hour cleanup at John Topits Park was completed, the volunteers filled an entire dumpster with trash and removed mounds of garbage from the park. Beth Chu started the organization she calls Oregon Bay Area

Beautification using a Facebook page to encourage others to help clean the parks in the area. "I kind of had a crazy idea when I was postpartum," Chu said. "I started the idea and I managed to hook up with Penny Moloso. So Penny came in and we started doing things, and we did our first activity at Boynton Park. We had 17 volunteers." A second event was held at Boynton Park before the group moved to Topits Park over the weekend, where 41 volunteers

showed up and worked to clean up the park. "I am so pleased," Chu said. She said when she started one of the first people she spoke to is David Crandall, parks supervisor for the city of Coos Bay. On Saturday, Crandall was at Topits Park, picking up all the trash bags and working with volunteers. He said having volunteers help keep the parks clean is a godsend to his short-manned staff. Please see TOPITS, Page A2

North Bend Council votes to reimburse legal fees By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

A split North Bend City Council voted 4-2 to reimburse City Administrator David Milliron just over $12,000 in legal fees resulting from an HR investigation. The motion to pay the attorney fees came after two motions to delay the decision failed. The vote was made without sharing much information with the public because state law and city code limit what can be released in HR and personnel matters.

During the council meeting, several members of the public questioned the expenditure, in part because little information related to it was offered. "I feel that it would be appropriate to give an explanation of need for reimbursement rather than just submitting an invoice to be paid," Natalie Ranker told the council. "Perhaps a citizen of North Bend, such as I, do not have the right to ask you for an explanation. However for many years, we have all been made aware that we must watch our

resources closely. Therefore I do not doubt legal expenses are an appropriate city expenditure, but it does not seem right for North Bend to pay over $12,000 for legal reimbursement." "As a taxpayer of North Bend, I can think of better ways we can spend this money," Martha Gregor added. "$12,000 may be a relatively small amount of money, but I can think of the playground equipment it could buy, trees that could be planted and public events that could be supported. That is what comes

to my mind when I think about $12,000. It seems like at the work session this money is being spent on something the council can't agree on.' "Why should the public support legal reimbursement for legal fees when there was no information for what those fees were for," Ken Benetti said. "What if the legal fees were involved to an employee grievance. I feel all such matters involving large sums of money should be transparent." Beth Chu urged the council to

wait on a decision, saying a vote could set a dangerous precedent. "I have no base knowledge and I understand why it needs to be kept quiet," Chu said. "Even if it's not intended to set precedent, it still could. I believe it would be a good idea to pause this, not vote on it tonight, to see if the city council could get legal advice for ensuring it does not set precedent." During a work session the night before the vote, Mayor Please see LEGAL FEES, Page A3

Courtesy photo from OSU

Researchers said the use of portland limestone cement, or PLC, will help reduce the carbon footprint of California’s transportation system by as much as 10% annually.

Low-carbon cement approved for California highway projects STEVEN LUNDEBERG Guest Writer

Caltrans has approved the use of low-carbon cement following testing by the Oregon State Uni-

versity College of Engineering. Caltrans is the agency responsible for more than 50,000 miles of highways and freeways in California,

The use of portland limestone cement, or PLC, will help reduce the carbon footprint of California’s transportation system by as much as 10% annually compared

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to ordinary portland cement, according to the transportation agency. PLC has a higher percentage of limestone, which results in the carbon savings.

Portland cement, developed in England in the early 1800s, is the most common type of binder Please see CEMENT, Page A2

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