The Florence City Council discussed the future of the vacant former nursing home at its Dec. 3 meeting.

A group is considering rehabilitating the nursing home into affordable housing and asked whether a survey could be done to help determine if there would be enough interest in the project.

The survey could also establish whether the housing should be geared toward those 55 and older or toward young families. Florence Economic Develop­ment agreed to spend $360 on the surveys to be inserted in the Free Press.

A cash prize between $50 and $100 was suggested to help ensure as many surveys as possible are returned. Completed surveys will be kept confidential, with identifying information used strictly for the prize drawing and only the demographic information released to the developers.

In other business, the council:

• decided to attend a meeting with the Marion County Special Education Cooperative Jan. 21 to provide information and emergency contact numbers. That night’s council meeting will be at 6 p.m. and adjourned early enough for councilors to attend the MCSEC meeting.

• will offer use of the city’s wood chipper to the city of Peabody. An alley-clearing project there had been put off due to the expense of renting the equipment.

• heard the PRIDE committee has filed for a grant to continue work on Veteran’s Park. The committee will learn whether funding is approved sometime within the next three months.

  Currently, equipment and vegetation have been removed from the park in preparation for the project.

• discussed purchasing additional snowflake lights to display on the hill coming in to Florence on Fifth Street. One or two lights may be purchased each year if the budget allows and they could eventually be displayed on light poles as they are downtown.

• thanked everyone who put up Christmas lights at their homes.

• approved purchase of a new snow-removal blade. City workers were asked not to pile snow in the middle of the road as had been done in previous years.

• heard a request to have the diagonal electrical wire across Fifth and Main raised. Councilors also learned that a new city employee would be starting Dec. 26 and that the trash truck needed one rim replaced and still needed tires replaced.

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