!
d
e
d
n
u
o
r
G
So long, Civic
Hot July!
Recounting a glorious
baseball summer, page 1B
Lookout tower closed
due to 'structural
defi ciencies,' page 3A
Events abound during
CG's busiest month,
page 6A
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
Also
inside:
VOLUME 127 • NUMBER 2
Arby's moving to
new Row River
Road location
Wildwood warning
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
he site of recent construction off Row River
Road across from Cottage Grove’s Walmart
store is set to become the new location of the local
Arby’s restaurant, the franchise’s owner confi rmed
last week.
Eugene-based businessman Doug Mortimore of
The Howling Coyote, Inc., said the current Arby’s
will be moved to the new lot and will be one of the
fi rst restaurants in the U.S. to feature the brand-new
Arby’s “inspire” building prototype.
“We are planning to begin construction in Septem-
ber and hope to be open in January, 2016,” Morti-
more wrote via email.
Mortimore built the structure in the Bi-Mart shop-
ping center that currently houses Arby’s in 1989, the
year he founded Howling Coyote, though the build-
ing originally hosted a Taco Time franchise. Arby’s
opened there in 2000; currently Howling Coyote
operates fi ve Taco Time restaurants and three Arby’s
restaurants in the Eugene/Springfi eld area.
City Planner Amanda Ferguson said the City has
taken part in pre-application meetings with Morti-
more and expects building permit applications for
the new Arby’s in the near future. Construction crews
are currently working on water lines and other under-
ground amenities there, she said. Ferguson added that
the City also expects permits for another restaurant at
the old Arby’s location in the near future, but Morti-
more wrote that it was “premature to comment” on
potential plans for that site.
County hopes signage can
make popular site safer after
recent fatalities
Offi cial
Grover's been
watching the jumps
for a quarter-century,
page 3A
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Visitors from locales throughout Oregon and beyond
gathered at Wildwood Falls southeast of Cottage Grove
over the long Independence Day weekend, and many
took the opportunity to plunge 15 or so feet into the wa-
ters of the Row River from the basalt cliffs that form
several segments of the falls themselves. The Row is
relatively placid at Wildwood this year following a dry
winter and the early start of summer, and of the few I
asked, not one of the visitors from out of town claimed
to know anything about the loss of life that has occurred
there recently. But if offi cials with Lane County have
their way, the lack of knowledge about the danger there
will end soon.
On Sunday, May 31, Sidney Anthony Nelson III, a 19-
year old student at the University of Oregon, became the
most recent fatality at Wildwood Falls after he jumped
from the cliffs and failed to surface. Nelson was the sec-
ond swimmer to perish there in less than a year; on July
1, 2014, 16-year old Scott Alexander Smith of Aloha did
not emerge from the waters beneath the falls after
* City Beat — 5A
* Quake? What
quake? — 3A
* News from
beyond — 9A
Garbage Service
discontinues
rural recycling
'Simple economics' cited after
disposal costs jump
Please see WILDWOOD, Page 10A
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
photo by Jon Stinnett
Above: A Wildwood Falls visitor jumps from its cliffs into the Row River. The visitor and many oth-
ers said they didn't know the falls had been the site of recent drownings.
Band director Larsen leaving Cottage Grove High
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
fter 10 years of leading
award-winning music pro-
grams at Cottage Grove High
School, David Larsen is leaving to
become the Director of Instrumen-
tal Studies at Spokane Falls Com-
munity College.
“It has always been a career goal
of mine to transition to the college
level,” he said. “It won’t be vastly
different — I’ll still be directing
bands, but it still feels like a major
change.”
Larsen began teaching at Cot-
tage Grove in 2006 while he was
fi nishing up a masters program in
jazz composition at the University
of Oregon. Not a stranger to the
community, Larsen had already be-
come acquainted with several Cot-
tage Grove students through private
lessons. He had also worked in the
Cottage Theatre.
Prior to Larsen’s arrival, there had
photo by Kim Larsen
Cottage Grove High School music director David Larsen
(saxophone) plays along with students Matthew Goes (key-
boards), Alistair Gardner (drums), Jacob Marsh (bass) and
Liam Onatis (guitar). After 10 years at Cottage Grove, Larsen
is leaving to pursue an opportunity at Spokane Falls Commu-
nity College.
been a bit of turnover at the music
director position. George Hutto was
in the middle of his second year at
Cottage Grove when he developed
an illness and could not continue
teaching. Thankfully he knew of
Larsen and recommended him for
the position. The school granted
Larsen an emergency teaching cre-
dential.
“We were very fortunate that Da-
vid was available to begin teaching,”
said CGHS theatre director Janet
Rust, who has worked with Larsen
during his entire tenure at the high
school. “In addition to the music
department, he’s been invaluable
to the theater, and he’s helped with
music and sound at many events.
He will be missed.”
At fi rst, Larsen, who was then 25,
came on as a long-term substitute
teacher, but by the end of that fi rst
year he had decided that Cottage
Grove was where he wanted to be.
“I was very content with what
I was doing,” he recalled. “I was
proud of what I was doing, and
thankful for the opportunity to work
hard. I knew that it would be a great
training ground for my future ca-
reer.”
Please see LARSEN, Page 10A
R
ural residents living near Cottage Grove re-
ceived a notice last week from Cottage Grove
Garbage Service indicating that this will be the last
week the company will be picking up recyclables at
their homes.
The reason, according to manager Tim Alverson, is
one of “simple economics.” Alverson said that, in the
“not too distant past,” the Garbage Service was being
paid $42.50 a ton for “commingle,” the mixture of
paper products such as telephone books, magazines,
tin, plastic and other materials picked up in 14-gal-
lon tubs at homes in the Cottage Grove area. Within
the last six months, he said, the formula changed,
and Alverson said the Garbage Service is now pay-
ing $35 per ton to Eugene-based Ecosort — a small-
er subsidiary of Sanipac, which is in turn owned by
Waste Connections, a globally traded company — to
take the recyclables.
“It’s basically cheaper to haul the stuff as garbage
than it is to take it to the processor,” Alverson said.
“Nobody wants it, and I asked a lot of questions
without getting a good answer as to why.”
Alverson said the dramatic reversal took place in
less than a year, and a recent announcement that the
price per ton went from $25 to $35 per ton made
the discontinuation of recycling service for rural cus-
tomers immediately necessary.
“We’re mandated by state law to provide recycling
service to the municipality of Cottage Grove, but
we’re not compelled by statutes to provide the
Please see RECYCLING, Page 11A
Principal Brokers
HOME
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