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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2015)
REMINDER: Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend! Be sure to set clocks forward one hour before going to bed Saturday. Allen sixth, Lions 12th as a team at state, page 1B $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 36 Council to weigh in on crosswalk talk O LD SCHOOL Also inside: Many want a crossing at Jim Wright and Row River, but regulations prohibit its location at intersection BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel P Woman's favorite Cooking, entertaining tips from an earlier era, page 6A photo by Jon Stinnett Harrison Elementary Principal Ali Nice (far right) conducts a tour of a classroom at Harrison Elementary School. Nice said an outdated HVAC system makes keeping the building comfort- able a constant battle for maintenance personnel. Bond Committee tours Harrison's troubles BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Learning on Spring Break Students spend the week at InStove, page 3A Disclosure statement: Senti- nel Editor Jon Stinnett is one of nearly 40 community members and district personnel serving on the bond committee to explore the possibility of a bond measure to rebuild Harrison School. O ffi cials with South Lane School District opened up Harrison Elementary School to a group of visitors last week, but they weren’t invited to a special event or to see a showcase of stu- dent achievements. Instead, Harrison Principal Ali Nice and personnel from South Lane School District’s mainte- nance team led tours and spoke of a school building that they say has outlived its useful life in many ways, a building the District hopes to secure a bond levy to replace in the near future. In January, the South Lane School Board green-lighted the formation of a Bond Advisory Committee consisting of about 40 community members, district staff and school board representa- tives to explore the possibility of a bond that could be used to pay for a new Harrison building, in addition to other possible upgrades in the District. The committee met twice prior to last week, discussing the potential costs of the new build- ing (which would be built at the site of the old Cottage Grove High School) and the other potential upgrades, a list of which includes security and technology upgrades throughout the District and a new pool to replace the aging Warren H. Daugherty Aquatic Center. Superintendent Krista Parent told the committee that the time may be right to pursue a bond for Harrison for a few reasons: the improving economy and low interest rates fac- tor in, and the interest rate on the bond used to fi nance the construc- tion of Cottage Grove High School has been signifi cantly reduced. That bond will end in 2017, and Parent and others believe that the District could potentially secure a bond to build Harrison that would not signifi cantly raise the property tax rate paid by local taxpayers, a bond that would continue where the high school bond left off. Last week, Parent said a 25-year bond could potentially raise $29.8 mil- lion. The District is looking to place the bond before voters on the May or November ballot for 2016. The Bond Advisory Committee is charged with providing a recom- mendation to the School Board on a possible bond at the Board’s May 4 meeting, and on Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Committee toured Harri- son School to see its shortcomings fi rsthand. “I spend a lot of time talking Please see HARRISON, Page 12A lans for a proposed crosswalk that city offi cials say has been sought by business leaders and oth- ers in the community for a long time will appear before the Cottage Grove City Council at its Monday, March 9 meeting. The recent death of three children at a crosswalk in Springfi eld, coupled with the death of a Cottage Grove woman at the crosswalk at Highway 99 near the Village Shopping Center last year, have brought crosswalk safe- ty into the public eye recently, and members of the City Council and Mayor Tom Munroe reiterated their concern about crosswalk safety in this community at the Coun- cil’s Feb. 23 meeting. That night, the Council asked about updates on plans to build a crosswalk at the intersection of Jim Wright Way and Row River Road. “For as long as I’ve been here, we’ve gotten calls about putting a crosswalk at…that intersection,” said City En- gineer Ron Bradsby. “We’d like to see it get done.” The intersection, though, is under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Department of Transportation, which has strict guidelines governing where a crosswalk can be lo- cated. Bradsby said most people seem to want the crosswalk right at the intersection, but ODOT regulations state that, since there is no traffi c signal at the intersection, the crosswalk would have to be located elsewhere, likely south of the intersection itself. The new location would put the crosswalk at the driveway to an undeveloped lot that functions as a Christmas tree lot in December. Visitors to Cottage Grove’s Aviation Museum often cross Row River Road to get to the Village Green Re- sort, and guests at the resort tend to cross the road to visit the museum or see a play at the nearby Cottage The- atre. Bradsby said almost everyone who crosses the road in either direction does so at the intersection of the two streets. Traffi c studies have indicated that it may be 10 years before development in the area makes a traffi c signal at the intersection necessary, which could mean that a crosswalk there is also many years from happening. “We have to allow traffi c movements at the intersec- tion,” Bradsby said. “Because there’s no signal there, ODOT guidelines say to move it away.” The intersection could be potentially dangerous, Bradsby said, because a 35 mph speed limit on the street Please see WALKS, Page 12A Corps says new facilities aim to cut costs, promote sustainability Vault toilets replace plumbing at Lakeside Park to cut costs BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel Visitors to Lakeside Park at Cottage Grove Lake will likely notice recent changes to the fa- cilities there, changes designed to lower maintenance costs and promote sustainability at the park. On Wednesday, Feb. 25, the Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Cottage Grove and Dorena Reservoirs and the parks that surround them, su- pervised the installation of two pre-fabricated vault toilets at Lakeside Park to replace more standard restroom facilities that Corps offi cials say had been photo by Jon Stinnett The Army Corps of Engineers recently installed vault toilets at Lakeside Park to replace aging restrooms there. in use since they were built in 1981. A large crane was used to lift the restrooms into place near the former location of the old facilities. The Corps of Engineers’ Christie Johnson said the water system previously used to oper- ate the Lakeside restrooms uti- lizes water from a tower across the Lake near Shortridge Park, water that then fl ows through pipes under the nearby county road and below the dam. The water system itself is aging and a source of constant mainte- nance concerns, Johnson said. Johnson acknowledged that the move from running water to vault toilets may not seem like an upgrade to many park visi- tors. She said that such changes are also being undertaken at other parks to lower mainte- nance costs and provide for the ongoing sustainability of parks in the system. “It’s part of a national effort to try to foster a more sustain- able recreation program,” John- son said. “In recent years, Corps of Engineers recreation budgets have declined or remained the same, while the cost of manag- ing and maintaining facilities has increased. Our recreation bud- get usually covers basic mainte- nance and operational costs, but not the costs to improve, repair or replace aging and deteriorat- ing facilities. We are taking ad- vantage of the NRAP (National Recreation Adjustment Plan) funding opportunity to replace the restrooms now, instead of waiting until there are major problems that we cannot afford to fi x.” Johnson said the new rest- rooms are easier to maintain, promote less vandalism and of- fer better access to park visitors with disabilities. She said they’ll likely need to be emptied at least once and maybe twice per rec- reation season. Similar restroom facilities have already been in- stalled at Dorena’s Schwarz Park with NRAP funding. The new moves also aim to more closely align park facili- ties with the amount of use they receive, and the Corps is hoping the new restrooms fi ll the need at Lakeside Park while lowering costs. According to Johnson, a ma- trix used to analyze park use and cost “takes into account several variables including number of visitors, cost of operation and maintenance, and whether or not a fee is charged at the site. If visitors are charged a fee, they will have a higher expectation for services and facilities. So in considering whether or not vault toilets are an appropriate facil- ity for Lakeside Park, we took into account that visitors are not charged a fee to use Lakeside Park unless they are launching at the boat ramp.” Rain Country Realty Inc. W NE 746 S. 2nd St. Freshly renovated kitchen with new dishwasher, tankless water heater, cherry floors in dining area, gas fireplace and big yard in 3 bedroom 1 bath home. 20 years left on 30 year roof and new gutters. RIVER T FRON 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 Ron Schneider..................521-8713 Laurie Phillip....................430-0756 Valerie Nash ....................521-1618 +Z\ WEATHER Licensed in the State of Oregon CONTENTS HIGH LOW 59 31 Sunny Brokers $255,000 UDLQFRXQWU\UHDOW\#JPDLOFRP CONTACT US Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735 Frank Brazell....................953-2407 Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838 6+ river front acres with 2, possibly 3 quaint cottages. The acreage is gorgeous and cottages sit back off the road. 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