6A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 15, 2015
Chatterbox
Survey details
response to potential
school bond
The
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
It must be spring fever!
BY BETTY KAISER
For the Sentinel
O
n these glorious, sunshiny days, I
do not like to be inside, tied to my
desk and a keyboard! Outside there is real
work to be done: moss to be scrubbed off
planters and walkways; weeds to be pulled;
bushes to be shaped; roses to be uncovered
and winter’s damage to be repaired. And
of course, roads to be traveled.
In springtime, if it’s a sunny day outside,
then I’m a gloomy inside person. So now
that I’ve got that out of my system, here
comes another confession—I’m not get-
ting much done inside either. I’m sitting
here looking at the blank computer screen
with a road trip brain, dreaming about new
places to explore.
One of the many things that I love about
Oregon is that it is such a compact state. In
our RV days we traveled to just about ev-
ery nook and cranny possible in the PNW.
Now, for the fi rst time in 35 years, we are
touring by car, bus or train and there aren’t
many places we haven’t been.
Where to go next? That is always the
question. The answer usually arrives when
the monthly edition of Travel Oregon ar-
rives in my inbox. They have great sugges-
tions for cities and regions to visit, places
to stay, things to see and do in places large
and small.
Last month their visitor information
concentrated on the “Seven Wonders of
Oregon.” In no particular order, they are:
Crater Lake, the Wallowa Mountains,
Painted Hills, Columbia River Gorge, Mt.
Hood and the Oregon Coast. I was able
to check off fi ve of those areas as well
explored. We had been near the Painted
Hills but were unable to stop on our way
to Baker City.
Baker City is worth the long drive just
to visit the National Historic Oregon Trail
Interpretive Center. There, the story of
the Oregon Trail comes alive before your
eyes. The 23,000 square foot facility is
more than a museum or monument. The
story of tens of thousands of men, women
and children who walked for 2,000 miles
comes alive through life-size exhibits, in-
terpretive trails, special events and Oregon
Trail ruts. The living history performances
bring life to the trail experience. I even
bonded with one of the oxen over its long
eyelashes!
Having been-there-done-that, its time to
visit the Wallowas and the Painted Hills.
Both destinations make me a little appre-
hensive. First, I’m not fond of deserts—
high or low. We took a trip one year from
our home in Ventura (on the California
coast) to Death Valley—the lowest, driest
and hottest area in North America. Not our
favorite trip.
It was, however, one of the last Califor-
nia National Parks to check off our list. We
had to go. The valley is known for its iso-
lation, sizzling temperatures and lack of
rain. But it was only May. How hot could
it possibly be? Well, we would soon fi nd
out. This was the early 1980s. Information
was limited. There were no computers or
cell phones. Word-of-mouth, maps and
encyclopedias were our guides.
As I recall, we drove into the town of
Ridgecrest at dusk. We had plenty of wa-
ter and snacks in our ’81 Oldsmobile but
only about a quarter-tank of gas. Our maps
indicated Death Valley was just down the
hill. We decided to head down and fi ll up
in the valley.
I can still see the long, winding, iso-
lated road to nowhere that greeted us. We
promptly turned around, fi lled up the gas
tank and ate a hamburger (our last meal!) at
the only café in town. Down, down, down
we went. There was no traffi c. We were
the only car on the road. It was almost dark
and we had a sinking feeling wondering if
the road would lead to civilization and a
comfy, air-conditioned motel.
We gratefully arrived about 9 p.m. and
the heat was tolerable. The next morn-
ing we woke up to brilliant sunshine and
(gulp) 100-degree heat. By the time we
had breakfast and headed out on a tour bus
to Scotty’s Castle, the temperature had
climbed to about 117° F.
Scotty’s Castle was 53 miles from the
Furnace Creek Resort where we were stay-
ing. The castle and grounds are famous for
opulence in the middle of nowhere. In the
early 1900s, Albert Johnson grubstaked a
gold mining expedition for Walter Scott
(Scotty). The gold never panned out, but
Scotty convinced everyone that he had
money from secret mines in the area and
built a castle. Actually, Johnson and his
wife built the spectacular $2 million home
as a vacation getaway. The National Park
Service now owns it.
Today Death Valley State Park is quite
the destination spot. The Furnace Creek
Inn has luxury lodging as high as $370
per night. Its amenities are endless and of
course, include swimming pools. A nearby
mini-town built by the Pacifi c Coast Borax
Company today features another hotel and
the Amargosa Opera House. Things are a
wee bit different than during our visit.
Now, back to Oregon’s desert hot spots.
The stunning Wallowas Mountains are
said to be one of Oregon’s most beauti-
ful secrets and a multi-day adventure.
Pictures of the Painted Hills are spectacu-
lar. The colors shift and change with the
difference of light and the seasons. Wild
fl owers fl ourish at this time of year. Both
destinations sound wonderful. But they’re
still far away in a hot, desolate setting.
To go or not to go? That is the question.
But the road is calling...
T
he South Lane School
District bond-advisory
committee is expected to pres-
ent its formal recommendation
at the May 4 school board meet-
ing. Based on conversations
thus far, it seems likely that the
committee will endorse a gen-
eral obligation bond to replace
Harrison School. Last week,
the group indicated strong sup-
port for a 25-year, $29.8 million
bond as opposed to a 20-year,
$23.2 million levy.
Helping guide many of these
discussions has been the School
District’s bond survey, a six-part
questionnaire completed by 485
respondents.
Of those respondents:
The most represented groups
were elementary-school parents
and school-district employees.
Fifty-seven-percent were be-
tween the ages of 30 and 49.
Over 88 percent said they
would support issuing a general
obligation bond to build a new
Harrison School, if there were
no increase to the high school
bond tax levy rate; 55-percent
said they would support more
facility upgrades by increasing
the high school bond tax levy
rate.
In addition to replacing Har-
rison School, the most highly
prioritized projects included
adding classroom space to fa-
cilitate full-day kindergarten;
safety and security upgrades at
all schools in the district and
Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox is about peo-
ple, places, family, and other matters of
the heart. Contact her at 942-1317 or via
e-mail — bchatty@bettykaiser.com
B OND
Continued from page 1A
desire held by many to up-
grade the District’s theater, as
evidenced by a recent survey.
Architect David McClean,
himself a member of the com-
mittee, told the group that he’d
compiled a rough $5.5 million
estimate for a new theater, and it
was eventually agreed that sig-
nifi cant upgrades such as a new
sound booth and lighting could
greatly improve the current the-
ater’s function.
Local business owner Tim
Schweitzer represented a voice
of skepticism the committee.
Schweitzer pointed out Wednes-
day that, as the owner of four
taxable properties in Cottage
Grove, he is not excited about
the prospect of paying more
property taxes through a pro-
spective bond. He inquired about
remodeling Harrison as opposed
to building a new school.
Superintendent Krista Parent
responded that the footprint of
the current Harrison Elementary
is not big enough to expand the
school in ways such as building
a gymnasium that doesn’t have
to double as a cafeteria. She
said the footprint also doesn’t
include enough space for park-
ing and that there would be no-
where to house nearly 500 stu-
dents while the renovations took
place. McClean added that the
seismic upgrades necessary to
expand Harrison to two stories
would also be cost prohibitive.
The committee elected a small
group that will work to craft an
offi cial recommendation for the
South Lane School Board. They
plan to present their recom-
mendation at the Board’s May
4 meeting.
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network upgrades for technol-
ogy throughout the district.
Respondents also recom-
mended other projects that were
not listed, including an audi-
torium for the high school and
renovations to Lincoln. The
bond committee has since taken
these under consideration.
The informal survey was
available on the school district’s
website for about a month this
past winter and was promoted
through email and social media.
School District spokesperson
Garrett Bridgens, who helped
develop the survey along with
members of the committee, said
that he was very pleased with
the rate of response, especially
given the lack of formal adver-
tising.
“One of the goals we’ve had
for this process was to create a
community conversation about
what we want to do,” he said.
“The questionnaire was meant
to be an initial survey of the
community that would help
guide some of the decisions of
the bond committee. And I think
it accomplished that goal.”
Depending on what transpires
at the May 4 meeting, Bridgens
expects that a more scientifi c
polling of the community would
take place before the bond mea-
sure is placed on a ballot.
If the school board accepts
a recommendation to move
forward with a bond levy, the
school district would likely seek
to form planning and voting
committees before summer be-
gins, Bridgens said.
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