Business Matters Cottage Grove Recall
Fails to get enough signatures for Ballot
A petition to recall a Cottage Grove city council
member fell short of the required number of valid
signatures to make it on the ballot. Mike Borke,
the chief petitioner, hoped to recall three Cottage
Grove city council members: Chalice Savage,
Jon Stinnett and Mike Fleck. Fleck’s petition
did make it to the signature verification stage.
The Lane County elections office was only able
to verify that 463 signatures were from eligible
registered voters. Petitioners needed at least 654,
or 15% of the total number of city votes cast in the
last election.
Borke said he plans to use the lessons he’s
learned to put initiatives on the ballot instead.
He said specifically, he disagreed with how the
city council’s approached homelessness. He said
their current approach has led to many people
experiencing homelessness trespassing onto
private property.
He said the initiatives would ban open drug
use, camping during the daytime, and require
city council members to run in wards, instead of
city-wide.
Business Improvement Grant
Reedsport Main Street Program
Round Four Deadline: December 31, 2023
Through the Reedsport Main Street installed planters, applied new paint, created
Program, the City of Reedsport created the murals, replaced windows, and more.
Business Improvement Grant to assist with 2. Be realistic about what you can complete
building renovation projects. This program in six months. The more complicated
offers matching grants up to $2,500 for your project, the greater the chance that
the structural or cosmetic improvement of you will run into unexpected challenges.
Take into account the season and weather
businesses in Reedsport.
Grants to businesses within the Urban when planning projects. Any projects
Renewal District are funded by the Urban that you fail to complete may hurt your
Renewal Agency. The amount of grants chances of receiving a grant in the future.
available to businesses outside the URD are 3. Create a budget for your project. Be
dependent on funds raised through donations. careful not to underestimate your costs. If
The first grant cycle launced April 15, you complete your project over budget, the
2015. The grant amount requested cannot Business Improvement Grant will not award
total more than 50% of the total project additional funds to cover the extra amount.
cost. In-kind contributions such as labor 4. Prepare photos of the existing
can count towards the match. Projects that area and drawings or plans for the
are complete under budget will receive the proposed changes that you would
amount needed to cover the actual costs, like to make. Show the visual impact.
with the remaining funds cycling back 5. If you do not own your business’s
into the grant program in order to benefit property, make sure the property owner
more businesses throughout Reedsport. agrees to your project and grant application.
All projects must be completed six 6. Provide proof of liability insurance on the
months from the time that the grant is property.
You can find more online at:
awarded. Extensions may be given under
http://www.reedsportmainstreet.com/
certain circumstances.
Interested in Applying for a Grant? or at Reedsport Main Street Program,
1. Think about what visual improvements City of Reedsport, 451 Winchester Ave,
can be made to your business. Previous Reedsport, OR 97467, mainstreet@cityofree
grant recipients have made new signs, dsport.org, 541-271-3603 ext. 1008.
December 2023
Page 11
Sandy’s Country Cabin Coffee
Continued from front Page
What a great idea to have this place,
convenient with a laundry-mat. A clean and
comfy spot for doing laundry, definitely a
town convenience. Ernie and Sandy have
hit on a solid business plan that seems to
be really working in the year and half since
opening.
I said that Sandy’s cooking has a reputa-
tion and that is due to her work before this at
the La Pinata restaurant also here in Drain.
Her story here began in 1974 when she
moved to Drain. Having worked in food
industry for some time, in 2001 she started
working La Pinata and it was there she met
Ernie Malchow, who was to become her
husband. For a time they ran the Tin Lizzy
Pizza which
was popular
and
Sandy
was building
a reputation
and popularity
for her wares.
By
coinci-
dence
they
had a small
laundrymat
as well. The
laundrymat
was rundown
and old and
they were glad to leave it and buy into the
La Pinata in 2015.
Now for the next 6 or 7 years they built
a following for her spectacular cooking
and they built a solid restaurant business
known for miles. Then came the pandemic.
Which as it turned out “didn’t hurt as much
as we thought it would,” said Ernie. The
restaurant had already built up a “call in for
to go meals” business previously, and that
meant they could pivot to all pickup meals
easily and with virtually no staff. The actual
“closed” time they used to do some remod-
eling and improvements.
No, it wasn’t the pandemic that dealt them
in, but afterwards it was a different story.
“After the pandemic,” said Sandy, “we just
could not get any help. Nobody wants to
work, it’s just crazy.” It was then that Sandy
and Ernie started looking for a new and bet-
ter way to do their business. They were able
to sell La Pinata and start the new enterprise
and once they started working on the new
building, Sandy realized it was just to big
to do what she wanted. Having owned a
laundrymat and remembering how well
it served the community, they were only
considering it since having so much trouble
keeping up the previous building and equip-
ment. Thinking the cost was going to be to
high, Ernie stumbled onto an equipment
deal that, “I just couldnt pass up.” Nice
newer equipment with reasonable mainte-
nance was now
in a comfortable
and clean, well
lit, quiet atmo-
sphere. “It’s a
perfect setting
and people love
it, “ Sandy ex-
claims. ”They
like it and even
clean up after
themselves,
I
have
actually
seen
custom-
ers pick up the
mop and start cleaning. People appreciate
a clean place. My husband designed it &
just I love it.”
When you talk to Sandy she gets pretty
excited about the variety in her menu and
she is always keen to add items whenever
she can. She went on to say her , “favorite
thing is when people are so happy to get
their coffee and appreciative that we are
here.” When asked what the future hold’s
for her, “ maybe someday retiring and trav-
eling with my Hubby”. I asked her if she
had any last thoughts and she smiled and
said “If you have a Dream – go for it!”
Country Coffee & Laundry, 438 “B” Ave
HWY 38, Drain Oregon. Its a quick stop
that’s well worth it.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions Approves Pipeline
S tory by Rusty Savage
Federal regulators on Thursday, Oct.
19, 2023, approved the expansion of a
natural gas pipeline owned by TC Energy
in the Pacific Northwest over the protest of
environmental groups and top West Coast
officials. The pipeline project, known as
GTN Xpress, belongs to TC Energy of
Calgary, Canada. This is the same company
behind the now-abandoned Keystone
XL crude oil pipeline and who owns the
Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline which
exploded in Strasburg, Virginia, in July and
its existing Keystone pipeline spilled nearly
600,000 gallons of bitumen oil in Kansas last
December.
The GTN Xpress project, aims to
expand the capacity of the Gas Transmission
Northwest pipeline, which runs through
Idaho, Washington and Oregon, by about 150
million cubic feet (4.2 million cubic meters)
of natural gas per day. The company said
the project is necessary to meet consumer
demand and welcomed the decision in an
emailed statement. The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission approved the
project in a vote on October 19, 2023.
TC Energy plans to modify three
compressor stations along the pipeline
running through Kootenai County, Idaho,
Walla Walla County, Washington; and
Sherman County, Oregon. Compressor
stations help maintain the pressure and flow
of gas over long distances in a pipeline. This
In Spite of Opposition from Top Officials in 2 States and Environmentalists
modification is to increase the flow of gas,
increasing the capacity.
The 1,377-mile (2,216-kilometer) pipeline
runs from the Canadian border through a
corner of Idaho and into Washington state
and Oregon, connecting with a pipeline
going into California. Idaho’s Republican
governor and Congress members have
supported the project and said that
imposing other states’ climate policies
would be “misguided.” Oregon, along with
Washington and California, have passed
laws requiring utilities to transition to 100%
clean electricity sources by 2040 and 2045,
respectively.
After the FERC vote, U.S. Senator
Jeff Merkley of Oregon spoke harshly
against the federal government’s decision
to expand the natural gas pipeline in the
Northwest. Merkley says the expansion will
be “like adding 644 thousand gas powered
cars to the road every year”. Washington
Governor Jay Inslee also opposed the move,
saying the decision to allow more natural
gas to be burned reduces the impacts of
climate change reduction efforts. Governor
Inslee and California’s Attorney General
condemned the decision, Inslee saying
“the fight is not over”. U.S. Senators from
Washington and Oregon described the
project as “incompatible with our climate
laws” in a letter to the energy agency.
“GTN Xpress represents a significant
expansion of methane gas infrastructure
at a time when California, Oregon, and
Washington are moving away from fossil
fuels,” the senators said.. The attorneys
general of all three states, cited the energy
agency’s draft environmental impact
statement for the project and that it would
result in more than 3.47 million metric tons
of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions
per year for at least the next three decades.”
The agency’s final environmental
assessment issued last November revised that
number down to about half, in calculations
contested by environmental groups. This
is partly because some of the project’s gas
would be delivered to a Canadian natural gas
producer, Tourmaline. The assessment said
it wasn’t clear what the end use of the gas
delivered to Tourmaline would be, leading it
to conclude that the company’s downstream
emissions, stemming from consumers,
weren’t “reasonably foreseeable.” The
energy agency’s chairman, Willie Phillips,
reiterated its stance after Thursday’s vote.
“There was no evidence presented that
this project would significantly increase
greenhouse gas emissions,” he told reporters.
“The commission determined that this
project was needed and therefore we support
its approval.”
In its final assessment, the FERC also
said the compressor stations were in non-
forested areas with low to moderate fire
hazard and concluded the project “would
result in limited adverse impacts on the
environment.” “Most adverse environmental
impacts would be temporary or short-term,”
the federal agency said. The agency did
recommend specific steps, such as requiring
the training its personnel and contractors on
environmental mitigation measures before
any construction begins.
Opposing Environmentalists and
officials, unfazed, are rejecting the
companies premise and have also expressed
concern about TC Energy’s overall safety
record. In a statement, Audrey Leonard,
staff attorney for environmental nonprofit
Columbia Riverkeeper, said it represented
a “rubber stamp of unnecessary fracked gas
in the Northwest” and accused the energy
agency of failing to listen to U.S. senators,
governors, state attorneys general, tribes and
members of the public.
Leonard said potential spills and
explosions on the pipeline, which was built
in the 1960s, would not only harm the
environment but also present a heightened
wildfire risk in the arid regions it passes
through.
“An explosion of that level in eastern
Washington or eastern Oregon would be
catastrophic,” she said.
Leonard said Columbia Riverkeeper will
appeal the federal regulators’ decision and
submit a petition for a rehearing.