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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2017)
City Beat — 5A New machine for hospital— 3A Police dept. lot break-in— 6A $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2017 Also inside: New laws coming in 2017 Pg. 11 Holiday clean-up Pg. 3 Faith schedule Pg. 6 VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 50 SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 Honorable Mentions A Year in Review:2016 May 11 Every 15 Minutes vist CGHS A look back at the stories that impacted the community As we head into 2017, the staff of The Sentinel has compiled a list of the year's top stories from bridge troubles on Main St. to a fi re that captured the city's attention. THE NEW SCHOOL Voters’ fi rst contact with the decision to build a new elementary school came on the May 17 primary election ballots. The question was put forth on whether or not to approve Bond Measure 20-249, which would replace Harrison Elementary School, fund deferred maintenance and upgrade security and technology around the dis- trict. Initial estimates placed construction of the new building at $18,921,100; just slightly higher than the cost of renovating the ex- isting structure. In July, offi cials from the South Lane School District traveled to Portland to sell a group of bonds that would furnish the district with the funds approved by the voters earlier in the year. The district secured an interest rate of just under three percent. December proved a diffi cult month for the construction process after the planning commission continued an agenda item concern- ing the conditional use permit for the new school. An oversight of the height restrictions in the area according to code forced the project to request a height variance before moving forward with construction. It was expected to be readdressed by the commission in mid-January. BRIDGE TROUBLES The Sentinel reported on March 23 that city offi cials had warned a Main St. bridge could, “collapse any day.” The bridge in question, connecting the eastern and western halves of Cottage Grove, was deemed unsafe after the city received a report from OBEC Consult- The “Every 15 Minutes” program coordinated with the Lane County Sheriff’s Offi ce to give a highly real- istic simulation of a drunk driving incident involving an extreme amount of detail to highlight the horrors of the consequences of intoxicated driving. July 6 Legendary track coach dies Sam Bell passed away on June 27, 2016. Bell replaced the famed Wally Ciochetti at Cottage Grove High School, where he coached Olympian Dyrol Burleson. See Year in Review pg. 8 Q&A with the new City Mayor BY CAITLYN MAY The Cottage Grove Sentinel Jeff Gowing was born and raised in Cottage Grove. Before he embarks on his new role as mayor, The Sentinel asked him what challenges the community was facing and what he hopes to ac- complish during his term. The following is a transcript of that interview. Full interview with new Mayor Jeff Gowing inside Cottage Grove Sentinel www.cgsentinel.com @ cgsentinel @cgsentinel #cgsentinel Cottage-Grove-Sentinel Why make the jump from councilman to mayor? My term was up and I got on city council to learn and my goal was, ultimately, to be may- or. When Monroe ran last time I didn’t feel I was ready at that point so I just sat in my position and learned more. When he de- cided not to run again it was a good opportunity to make the transition. What are the biggest chal- lenges Cottage Grove is fac- ing? There’s several because in the next two years we’re going to hit the 10,000 population mark and that puts more government regulations on us and that’s go- ing to be an issue. The infra- structure is defi nitely needing to be addressed. How are we go- ing to fi x the roads, the housing developments? The other thing I see is we’re running out of land inside the city limits. We’re not going to have that growth like Drain Mayor Resigns BY CAITLYN MAY The Cottage Grove Sentinel Drain Mayor Suzanne Ander- son is leaving her post after be- ing re-elected in November. Her resignation was effective December 31. “For health reasons, she re- signed,” Drain City Manager, Carl Patenod confi rmed. The city rang in the New Year without a mayor but Drain City charter allows the city council to fi ll the position. According to Patenod, that process will begin sometime in January. Reportedly, two individuals from the area stepped forward for consideration, including a former mayor. “It’s not Eugene. It’s a typical small town, it doesn’t become a political issue. We have trouble fi nding someone who wants to do it,” Patenod said of the posi- tion. Anderson won the Oregon Mayors Association’s merit award in 2012 and previously helmed the city’s newspaper the Drain Enterprise, which has since shuttered its doors. when they rezoned on S. 6th, the old drive-in. When that devel- oped into housing, it developed a lot of houses but we don’t have that property anymore because we fi lled it. Hayden Homes was a vacant lot until they developed that into 100-plus homes. What is working in Cot- tage Grove, what are we doing right? We’re attracting businesses. Paktech is coming into town, that’s going to be a major thing. Paktech is going to have a lot of skilled labor jobs and it’s going to pay higher than what people are looking at for wages. King Estates is continuing to develop out in the industrial park, that’s a good positive feature they’re adding to the community. I think we’re looking at our goals and sticking to them pretty good. We’re doing another goal set- ting session in January. What are some of the things on your list for that session? I’m only one voice out of seven, so it’s what the group does but my biggest ones would be the public safety. We have a lot of speeders in town and run- ning red lights and talking on cell phones. We had a fatality a few years ago, two cars hit a lady in the crosswalk there. It was an accident that could have been avoided. I think if we start addressing those things, those petty crimes with the breaking and entering in vehicles to get things to quick sell for drugs, I think you would start impacting that if you had the atmosphere where you enforce the laws we have and hold people accountable. Please see Mayor pg. 8 Douglas County resident Jeff Havener, left, joined a rally in late November con- cerning the possible closure of several library branches in Douglas County. County Commissioners are set to meet today, January 4, to fulfi ll their legal obligation to hold two public meet- ings before shutting down the library system. Several community groups have spoken out against the move after a ballot measure designed to create a library district failed in November. With out a viable fi nancial solution, branch- es will begin to close. Photos submitted by Joe Ross Douglas libraries may close BY CAITLYN MAY The Cottage Grove Sentinel A fi ght over access to public libraries is brewing in Douglas County after voters denied a ballot measure that would form a tax district to continue offer- ing library services. As a result, several area libraries may cease operation. "Right now there is no plan," Douglas County Commissioner Chris Boice said. "The measure was voted down by a vote of the people and the county will not be able to con- tinue to fund it," he said. Ballot Measure 10-145 would have formed a tax district with a permanent rate limit for operat- ing taxes of 44 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. However, voters defeated the measure by just over 50 percent. Several libraries would be eff ected by the change including Roseburg and Drain. Joe Ross lives in Roseburg and said he voted for Measure 10-145. "I believe libraries are good for the community. They're a meeting place but right now in Douglas County there's a 'no new taxes' sentiment," he said. According to Boice, the li- brary system will run out of money by the end of the fi scal year but not before cutting back services drastically. In order to maintain services, the library's budget was front-loaded through the fi rst half of the fi scal year, leaving a smaller operating b udget for the last six months of the year. "Two public hearings sched- uled to talk about closure or transition of the libraries. We don’t have a different organiza- tion to run it by the time we get to the fi scal year in July and the libraries will most likely close but that I think would be tempo- rary," Boice said. The county commission will meet during a public hearing on January 4 to discuss the matter. The are required by Oregon Re- vised Statute to hold two public meetings before transitioning to a non-existent library system. "I think they thought they would put the notices about the public hearings in the paper and no one would notice," Ross said. "People noticed." Ross attended a rally in No- vember with dozens of other residents to show their support for the library system in Doug- las County. "Hopefully it doesn't come to closing the libraries because they really are an important part of the community," he said. Th anks to Our Loyal Readers & Advertisers Fetching you the local stories, special events and off ers that matter most is what we do best, and we couldn’t do it without your valued readership and trust. Th ank you for your support! Cottage Grove Sentinel CONTACT US www.cgsentinel.com On the Internet (541) 942-3325 By telephone (541) 942-3328 By fax cgnews@cgsentinel.com By e-mail P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By mail Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove In person WEATHER adv Your e cou rtisem ld g e o he nt Cal l to fi us to re! nd o d ut m ay ore. In Print & Online • Subscribe Today & Save! 541-942-3325 • www.cgsentinel.com CONTENTS HIGH LOW 30 11 Some showers See Library pg.11A Calendar......................................... 3B Channel Guide Classified ads................................. 5B Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B 1 Dollar