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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 11, 2015)
Herbert hustles at home Green for yes... Marijuana meeting gets colorful, page 3A Lions take ninth in invitational, page 1B $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015 SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 33 Also Council votes to regulate e-cigs inside: Ordinance prohibits use by minors, restricts marketing BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel O n Monday, the Cottage Grove City Council took a signifi cant step towards regulating electronic cigarettes devices (ESDs) within its local jurisdiction. By a vote of 6-1, the Council passed an ordinance that includes prohibitions of ESDs for minors, includes re- strictions on product market- ing and subjugates ESDs to the same restrictions of use as to- bacco under the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act. The ordinance came in re- sponse to the previous City Council meeting on Jan. 26, in which the Council received a presentation from Lane County Health and Human Services staff regarding’ the County’s Tobacco Retail Licensure pro- gram. The program — which includes ESDs — is intended to more effectively regulate the market by providing better le- verage for enforcement. If, for example, a retailer consistently sold tobacco products to minors, he would risk losing his license to sell the products. One of the options discussed at this meeting was either for Cottage Grove to implement its own licensure program or em- power the County to administer one on its behalf. While the City’s ordinance draws heavily from the County’s example, a major distinction is that it only deals with ESDs. After conducting independent research, Councilor Jake Boone — the lone nay vote — said the Council was “hornswoggled” by the County’s presentation, specifi cally in regards to its claims of health risks. He said the County’s list of cancer-caus- ing chemicals in ESDs was greatly exaggerated and that much of its data was formed by extrapolation on unsustainable levels of ESD usage. Councilor Boone accused the County of having an agenda channel funds from this program back to its own agency. Councilor Boone also ques- tioned the County’s view of ESDs as a gateway to other harmful substances. He said ESDs are the “lesser of two evils” when compared to ciga- rette use among Cottage Grove youth. In response, Councilor Mike Please see COUNCIL, Page 8A I N TIMES OF TROUBLE The efforts of many to treat mental health crises in Cottage Grove BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel A You don't say! Two couples share wedding date, meet by chance, page 6A t the far end of the emergency department at PeaceHealth Community Medical Center in Cottage Grove sits an exam room not quite like the others. The size and dimensions are similar, sure, and the room can be converted to operate like its neighbors. But here no pictures adorn the stark beige walls. Absent from view are the medical instruments, kept behind a steel door that can be rolled up and out of sight to reveal them as the need arises. A soft padded bench abuts the back wall, and a window al- lows those in an unseen adja- cent room to closely monitor all activities in this one. A sign near the door describes (in lan- guage not dissimilar to the Mi- randa Rights read to arrestees) the situation of the moment to the room’s current occupant. “You are being held in this hospital because someone is concerned that you may hurt yourself or other people,” the sign reads. “Anything the staff of this hospital observes you do or say while you are in custody here may be used as evidence in a Court of Law to determine whether you should be committed as a mentally ill person.” It’s known as the “safe room,” a room set apart that’s purposefully devoid of objects a patient may use to harm himself and any external stim- uli that could exacerbate an al- ready fragile mental or Please see TROUBLE, Page 9A photo by Jon Stinnett Dr. Paul Kranitz, Director of the Emergency Department at PeaceHealth Community Medical Center in Cottage Grove, stands in the hospital's safe room, which provides a place for treatment that's largely devoid of external stimuli and dangerous objects. Oregon Supreme Court dismisses City's water rights appeal City objected to order to conduct fi sh study before drawing more water from Row River BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he Oregon Supreme Court recently dismissed an appeal by the City of Cottage Grove of a decision that called into question the validity of a water right sought by the City, a move that has perplexed city of- fi cials and the City’s legal team. The City had previously ar- gued that Oregon’s Water Re- sources Department had issued the City a right to draw more wa- ter from the Row River prior to a 2005 law that mandates a study to determine “fi sh persistence” in the river and determine ways to reduce waste in the city’s water systems. In late 2013, however, Oregon’s Court of Ap- peals disagreed and sided with Water Watch, a Portland-based non-profi t that aims to “protect and restore water to Oregon’s rivers,” which objected to the is- suance of the water right on the grounds that the studies had not been conducted. Cottage Grove Public Works Director Jan Wellman argued that, while the City does not currently need the extension to draw more water from the Row River, the expectation of popu- lation growth means the City needed to plan for increased water needs in the future. “We have to have water rights that reach into the future,” Well- man said. “If you’re looking ahead 20 to 25 years, you have to start securing the water rights you need now.” The last time the City needed to prove its right to draw water from the Row, Wellman said, it was only capable of draw- ing about two million gallons per day from the Layng Creek treatment facility. The 2008 construction of the Row River Water Treatment plant doubled the City’s capacity, and Sean O’Day, an attorney representing the League of Oregon Cities, said he believed the City had proven the entire water right granted by the Water Resources Department when it began using the Row River facility. In early 2014, the City en- listed the help of attorney Mi- chael Gillette, who served as an associate justice on Oregon’s Supreme Court from 1986 until 2010 and served as a judge on Oregon’s Court of Appeals from 1977-86, to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The City also had the League of Oregon Cities in its corner, as the case was deemed of interest to any municipality in the state that fi nds itself in the process of seeking an extension of its wa- ter rights. Gillette told the Sentinel last January that an excellent legal argument could be made that, once issued, a water right is in- violable. He added that the Su- preme Court could potentially be interested in the case because of its potential importance to other communities. “The substance of it is a ques- tion of whether what the City did to attain the water right is suffi - cient,” he said. “That question is important by itself, because it’s something every city in Oregon has to do at one time or another. On the procedural side, there’s a notion that, once the Water Resources Department issues a water certifi cate, there’s a statute sort of saying that the certifi cate is good ‘against all the world.’ There’s a question of whether the Court of Appeals can over- turn something like that, and it’s an important question for any citizen who deals with a state agency.” The Supreme Court’s dismiss- al, though — which comprises all of one page that came to the City without further explanation — amounts to a decision not to accept the City’s appeal, which City Manager Richard Meyers called a “weird surprise.” “It’s bewildering,” Meyers said. “In a way it’s like they wasted our time. In essence, they’re saying that what we’ve already done is no good and we have to do the study.” Meyers said the City is “still looking at its options” to decide what to do next. “It could be a legal solution, legislative, I don’t know,” he said. “We were granted a water right, and when one is granted, no one is supposed to be able to take it away. How can a court decide to do that?” City offi cials were expected to meet with the City’s legal team on Monday to discuss their next move. Rain Country Realty Inc. S D OL 1024 56th St. 3 bedroom, 1 bath newer kitchen cabinets, laminate floors, vinyl windows and more IN D N E P G Cute Duplex! Legal status changed to duplex and is pending again as such! $122,000 5DLQ&RXQWU\5HDOW\FRP 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 Brokers Ron Schneider..................521-8713 Laurie Phillip....................430-0756 Valerie Nash ....................521-1618 $225,000 UDLQFRXQWU\UHDOW\#JPDLOFRP CONTACT US Principal Brokers Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735 Frank Brazell....................953-2407 Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838 820 R Street +Z\ WEATHER CONTENTS HIGH LOW 63 42 Partly Cloudy Licensed in the State of Oregon Calendar......................................... 9B Channel Guide ............................... 3B Classified ads................................. 5B Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B 75 CENTS
