COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL August 12, 2015
First-ever
Emergency
Preparedness
Fair happens
Saturday
Habitat
homeowners
pay off the note
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
ree and clear — it’s the goal of anyone
working to pay off a mortgage, and for one
Cottage Grove couple, the goal became a reality
late last month.
On Saturday, July 25, current and former board
members with Cottage Grove Area Habitat for
Humanity joined James LeVar and Corinne Si-
monsen, the owners of the eighth house built by
Habitat in this community, for a mortgage-burn-
ing ceremony to celebrate the paying-off of their
debt on their 16th Street home. LeVar and Si-
monsen became the fi rst Habitat homeowners to
own their home “free and clear” after paying off
the balance of their mortgage earlier this year.
Also present at the ceremony was Sunny Ken-
nedy, president of the Habitat board during the
time of James’ and Corrine’s selection process
and house building, and Stephen Kneller, the
Eugene-based general contractor who served as
the general contractor for the construction of the
home back in 2005.
Habitat Executive Director Linda Oxley said
the couple’s ownership of the home is part of
“the ongoing vision of Habitat for Humanity to
provide a ‘hand up’ not a ‘hand out’ to families to
own their own simple and decent home.”
LeVar was fi rst informed by letter that he had
been selected to partner with Habitat to build his
three-bedroom home in 2000, and in the ensu-
ing years, Oxley said he volunteered more than
500 hours of “sweat equity” toward building the
home himself. The home was the fi rst built by
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
courtesy photo
James LeVar of Cottage Grove burns the promissory note for the mortgage on his
home, the eighth planned and built by Cottage Grove Area Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat to be entirely accessible and customized
to the needs of its owner, LeVar, a paraplegic who
lost his legs in a car crash in southern California
before moving to Oregon. Of LeVar, Oxley said,
he “has a wonderful spirit and is a hard worker in
everything he does.”
“James and Corinne proudly maintain their
home and beautiful yard and gardens, having
been selected at least twice in the last several
years, as ‘Yard of the Week’ by the Sentinel,” she
wrote.
“Habitat gave James a great opportunity,” said
Simonsen, who stated that a former Habitat board
member who has since passed on, Camy Walters,
was instrumental in LeVar’s selection.
“The experience was quite wonderful,” she
said. “Unfortunately, we’ve since lost some ter-
rifi c people that were instrumental and great to
work with.”
Simonsen said the couple decided early on to
get right to work paying off their debt.
“We decided from the get-go that these homes
are interest-free, but they’re not free,” she said.
“So we started doubling down on the house pay-
ments to return that money to Habitat so they
could go forward building other homes.”
Fire District exploring bond for new equipment
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
S
outh Lane County Fire and Rescue came
into being when the Cottage Grove and
Creswell fi re departments merged in 2003. The
District’s equipment, however, is older than the
District itself.
South Lane Chief John Wooten said that the
District’s “entire fl eet is aged out,” and a com-
mittee has been formed to explore the option of a
bond levy to replace it.
“There’s been no new equipment purchased
since the formation of the District,” Wooten said.
“The only new equipment is a new engine at the
Creswell station that was an insurance replace-
ment when the old one burned up.”
Wooten said that continuing to use aged equip-
ment may affect the District’s ISO rating, which
helps determine insurance rates for residents in
the District. A lower rating may correspond to
higher rates.
The District is looking to replace fi ve pieces of
equipment — two fi re engines, an aerial and two
tenders, Wooten said.
“The engines age out every 25 years, but the
guidelines from the National Fire Protection
Agency say that they should not be in front-line
service for over 15 years,” he said. “When you
try to comply with those guidelines, it puts you
in a different place fi nancially. These days, just
one engine costs $400,000, and an aerial is about
$1 million.”
Newer equipment, Wooten said, features op-
tions such as passenger restraints and collision
avoidance features not found on older apparatus.
“The amenities, I’m not interested in,” he said.
“The biggest risk I see is if our gear doesn’t have
Please see BOND, Page 11A
photo by Sam Wright
Offi cials with South Lane County Fire
and Rescue say their equipment pre-
dates the founding of the District in
2003.
ottage Grove is set to host its fi rst Emergen-
cy Preparedness Fair this Saturday, Aug. 15,
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a fair that will take place at
the helipad at PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Commu-
nity Medical Center.
Last month’s Independence Day earthquake cen-
tered near Walterville paired with an eye-opening
article from the “New Yorker” magazine about the
possibility of a high-magnitude quake from the
Cascadia Subduction Zone to put disaster prepared-
ness in the Pacifi c Northwest spotlight.
City leaders, though, say they’ve been working
on disaster preparedness scenarios for some time,
and they plan to introduce the fi nal draft of their
new Emergency Operations Plan to the City Coun-
cil this fall, according to City Planner Amanda Fer-
guson.
First, though, comes the fair, which will take
place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and include demon-
strations and interactive displays with many of the
agencies and organizations that will respond to an
emergency in southern Lane County.
“This family-friendly event will have lots of
hands-on, fun, educational activities that teach
you how to ensure your family is prepared for the
worst,” according to a recent press release. “Activi-
ties will include: prizes and games, helicopter and
fi re truck displays, hands-on fi re extinguisher train-
ing, a disaster obstacle course (for all ages), a disas-
ter wheel, Sparky the Fire Dog, an electrical safety
panel and more.
Partners for the event include: Life Flight, South
Lane County Fire and Rescue District, Lane Coun-
ty Emergency Management, Cottage Grove Com-
munity Development and Emergency Management,
Cottage Grove Community Hospital, Peace Health
Medical Services, Lane County Public Health, Pa-
cifi c Power, EPUD, StoveTec, NW Natural and the
Oregon National Guard.
According to a trailer developed by the City to
promote the event, the fair will include a natural di-
saster obstacle course and decontamination booth.
LifeFlight will also offer a look at one of its heli-
copters. Activities for many of the event’s partners
will take place in an air-conditioned tent. A raffl e
will be held for a 72-hour disaster preparedness kit,
and a “disaster wheel” meant to test locals’ knowl-
edge of natural disasters will also be available. The
trailer video is available on Youtube at: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm8swt3S4Xg&feat
ure=youtu.be.
Cottage Theatre presents
2015
A musical patchwork of pioneer life
August 14, 15, 16* • 20, 21, 22, 23* • 27, 28, 29, 30*
*matinee
Quilters
By Molly Newman & Barbara Damashek
Music and Lyrics by Barbara Damashek
Based on The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art
by Patricia Cooper & Norma Bradley Allen
Directed by Eliza Roaring Springs
Music Direction by Catricia Mayhue
E
R
O
T
S
E
R
NOW OPEN EVERY
SATURDAY
T UESDAY -S ATURDAY
10 AM -4 PM
We need volunteers for the
ReStore ~ a few hours
each month! Will you help?
Habitat Offi ce and Warehouse
2155 Getty Circle ~ Unit #1
Special Exhibit:
Cottage Quilts:
Piecing Together Our Past,
sponsored by:
3A
a collection of historic quilts on display
at the Cottage Grove Museum
throughout August.
Museum Hours (free admission):
Thursday 4–6 pm, Friday & Saturday 1–6 pm,
Sunday 1–4 pm. 147 N. H Street.
in the Cottage Grove Industrial Park
South on Hwy 99 past the High School
S
N
O
I
T
A
DON
S
AL WAY !
ME
O
C
L
E
W
Call 541.767.0358
for more information
Email
info@habitatcg.org