Cottage Grove sentinel., September 16, 2015, Image 1

Halloween plan — 3A
Forest kindergarten — 7A
DUI stats — 7A
Barber shop's
closing ends an
era, page 12A
Soccer tops N.
Eugene, page
1B
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 127 • NUMBER 12
Amy Slay
takes the oath
of offi ce from
Mayor Tom
Munroe. Slay
was unani-
mously ap-
pointed by the
City Council to
its Ward IV po-
sition Monday
night.
Slay appointed to Ward IV seat
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
he Cottage Grove City Coun-
cil fi lled a vacancy in its ranks
Monday night with the appointment
of Amy Slay to its Ward IV posi-
tion.
The position had been vacant
since Kate Price resigned to move
her family to Eugene in late June.
On Monday, the Council held a
worksession prior to its regularly
scheduled meeting to interview
three candidates to represent the
ward, which takes in the southeast
portion of Cottage Grove. A fourth
candidate, Emily Robinson, report-
edly decided not to take part in the
interview process and instead opted
to gain experience by pursuing an
appointment to another city com-
mittee, according to City Manager
Richard Meyers.
Candidates Slay, Greg Ervin and
Chloe Beckes responded to a rapid-
fi re series of 14 questions aimed at
gauging their qualifi cations for the
position and views on city issues.
The candidates were asked about
their community activities, the role
they believe city government should
fi ll, how they might approach an
angry constituent and whether they
would have time to perform the
functions of a councilor.
Ervin, 29, has served on the
Please see SLAY, Page 10A
photo by Jon Stinnett
Traffi c study
outlines problem
areas
WINE
NOT
Main St./Highway 99 intersection
leads list of accidents
Table grapes vie for
local affection in a
winemaker's world
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
There’s the Vanessa varietal,
a red New York grape with a lot
of crunch. The Bronx seedless
grows well here, as does the Re-
liance, an Arkansas-based grape
that offers high production but
doesn’t tolerate much rain. The
Interlaken is a sweet variety that
some Oregon old-timers may re-
call.
“It’s a memory some people
have that they can’t recall until
he City of Cottage Grove has been monitoring traf-
fi c safety conditions at several locations around town,
and on Monday night, the information gathered thus far was
presented to the Cottage Grove City Council.
Last spring, a request for eight stop signs in a residential
area touched off a discussion of traffi c safety issues through-
out the community that drew comment from several attend-
ees at a City Council meeting. Since then, the City’s engi-
neering department placed traffi c sensors at 16 locations and
has been downloading and processing a mountain of data
from each of them.
“The purpose of the discussion at the Council meeting will
be to determine if the staff preparations are moving in the
correct direction and if any additional information is need-
ed,” City Manager Richard Meyers said in his memorandum
to the Council. He said that each of the traffi c analysis de-
vices, which take measurements through two tubes, was ex-
tensive and when printed, would take up a thousand or so
pages for each location.
Perhaps of most interest Monday night was a list of the top
10 locations for motor vehicle accidents in Cottage Grove
and the number of accidents at each between Jan. 1, 2009
and June of this year.
“You can see a trend where the accidents occur in areas of
heavy use,” Meyers said. “Were’ not surprised that they start
with the freeway, the connectors and 99 and Main.”
Topping the list was the East Main/Highway 99 intersec-
tion downtown, with 29 crashes during that span. Meyers
pointed out that the number of crashes there has declined in
Please see GRAPES, Page 10A
Please see TRAFFIC, Page 10A
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
or many in Oregon, the
autumn’s annual grape
harvest conjures images of pinot
noir and viognier and the crush
that leads to next year’s wine va-
rietals.
It’s the sort of ingrained per-
ception that Mike Satterstrom
has been working to augment
these past few years. Satter-
strom spent 25 years growing
pumpkins and Christmas trees
in California, but since coming
to Oregon about eight years ago,
he’s worked to bring the possi-
bilities of table grapes (and, of
course, the grapes themselves) to
the public consciousness. And to
hear him tell it, it hasn’t been an
easy task.
“People here don’t really eat
grapes, and I haven’t quite fi g-
ured out why,” Satterstrom said.
“People ask me, ‘What kind of
grapes do you grow? Where’s
your winery?’ Then they say,
‘Oh,’ like it’s something to look
down on.”
photo by Jon Stinnett
Mike Satterstrom picks a bunch of Vanessa table grapes. He said growing table grapes
in Oregon has largely been an experiment, but their potential is evident.
sell them differently.”
Table grapes are typically
larger than their wine counter-
parts, offering a lot more pounds
of fruit per acre. There are 13
varieties on Satterstrom’s Sagi-
naw-area farm, and the number
of varieties alone is surprising to
many.
California’s table grapes don’t
often like Oregon’s cooler cli-
mate, so a lot of the grapes Sat-
terstrom grows come from New
York or the Midwest.
For many, table grapes call
to mind the California variet-
ies found in the grocery store.
But according to Satterstrom,
everything about Oregon’s table
grapes is different, both from the
table grapes favored down south
and the wine varieties that domi-
nate local grape discussions.
“It’s a whole different world,”
he said. “You grow them differ-
ently. You take care of them dif-
ferently. You pick them differ-
ently, and then, hopefully, you
Wait for undercrossing over
Tunnel opens under Row River Road
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
photo by Jon Stinnett
A cyclists crosses under Row River Road on the Row River Trail Sunday. The
undercrossing was built to avoid additional fatalities at the intersection.
he popular Row River Trail, which
leaves Cottage Grove before skirting
Dorena Reservoir on a 34-mile loop, now in-
cludes an added feature for its many users.
On Monday, Sept. 7, an undercrossing that
brings trail users under Row River Road at
Milepost 4.0 opened for cyclists, hikers and
horseback riders, and though construction to
complete the $1 million project is expected to
continue into next week, the tunnel is being
viewed as a success by those responsible for
its planning.
“I think it looks great,” said Lane County
Planner Lydia McKinney. “There are always
surprises with any construction project, but
there’s been nothing major. We had to close
the trail the week before last for paving, but
for the most part it’s been open throughout the
summer, which was a goal because it sees such
heavy use. The gravel paths weren’t anybody’s
favorite, but they did help maintain access to
the trail.”
On Sunday afternoon, bicyclists cruised the
long, slow curves leading up to both sides of
the trail undercrossing, with some users seem-
ingly traveling there just to use the tunnel for
the fi rst time. The intersection also includes
Please see TRAIL, Page 12A
Rain Country Realty Inc.
L
IN!
B
A
C
OG
1908 E Whitaker
Been dreaming of a log
cabin? Here is your chance to
own one on a very pretty &
large city lot.Features large
rooms, new roof 2014,
carport/Shop (18 x 12). Jotu
Wood Stove. Four bedrooms
per county, 1 bath, large
upstairs area, historic Dr.
Wm. Spies home.
HO
ICE!
F
F
O
R
O
ME
Principal Brokers
Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735
Frank Brazell....................953-2407
Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838
505 Gateway
3bedroom ,1bath,
Close to everything!
Spacious one level
home with open floor
plan! Possible
Commercial business
location. Buyer to check
with City regulations.
Brokers
Laurie Phillip....................430-0756
Valerie Nash ....................521-1618
$134,900
$180,000
Licensed in the
State of Oregon
"
CONTACT US
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
WEATHER
CONTENTS
HIGH
LOW
63 48
Showers
Calendar....................................... 11B
Channel Guide ............................... 5B
Classified ads................................. 7B
Obituaries....................................... 2A
Opinion .......................................... 4A
Public Safety .................................. 5A
Sports ............................................ 1B
75 CENTS