Florence Council accepts dune offer from developer.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

FLORENCE - The City Council gingerly accepted a $250,000 pledge from a Eugene developer Monday night, to be spent preserving an 80-acre piece of Lane County land that contains one of the area's most beloved dunes.

That doesn't mean the city will get the property, however. The land, which features a giant sand dune along the banks of the Siuslaw River near Old Town, has yet to be appraised. It's possible that the value will exceed $250,000, which would leave the city short of the money to buy it. Also, county commissioners haven't decided if they want to sell the tax-foreclosed property at all, much less to whom.

Nevertheless, Monday's unanimous vote allows the city to keep negotiating with Eugene-based Arlie & Co. representatives, who offered the money in a letter to Mayor Phil Brubaker earlier this month.

But Councilors Nan Osbon and Dave Braley hoped that the city could persuade the Arlie Musumeci Family Foundation to reconsider the wording of its letter, which clearly states that "the property will be purchased and owned by the City of Florence in perpetuity." Other requirements include that it remain open space for the public; not be developed; and allow for John Warwick, the man who lost much of the land through tax foreclosure, to live there until he dies.

Osbon and Braley said they'd like to reserve the option to sell the property to the U.S. Forest Service or the state Parks and Recreation Department and use the $250,000 for other preservation projects in the city.

While the wording of Arlie Vice President John Musumeci's letter was clear, Brubaker said the developer was willing in phone conversations to consider such an idea.

"There's no obligation whatsoever in this pledge," Brubaker said. "And there wouldn't be, until we took the next step."

That won't happen until after the county's appraisal, which Commissioner Pete Sorenson said takes more time than some members of the public expect.

"It's not an easy thing to value property that's undeveloped, that has some potential but limitations for development, but has maybe tremendous values for park and open space," Sorenson said.

Commissioner Bill Dwyer called the Florence council's action "premature."

"How can they do that, when they don't know what the price is going to be?" he said. "Are they expecting if he gives $250,000 we're going to sell it for $250,000 because we're such nice people? We're not going to give it to the city. We give them enough."

Winston Ross can be reached at [phone] or [e-mail].