COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL December 30, 2015
Many of the Sentinel's top stories of 2015 will
continue to make headlines in 2016 and beyond.
Here are some of the year's most impactful
articles and how they'll continue to shape the
future of Cottage Grove:
Down
on Main
Street
‘15
School District's A.L.I.C.E.
training replicates active shooter
situation
S
outh Lane School District offi cials say that
neighbors of Cottage Grove High School may
hear the sound of gunfi re and notice a police pres-
ence at the school on Monday, Jan. 4 as part of a
scheduled training exercise for district employees.
A change in approach to active shooter situations
in schools will bring personnel with the Lane Coun-
ty Sheriff’s Offi ce, Cottage Grove, Eugene, Spring-
fi eld and other agencies to CGHS on Monday for
training in the “A.L.I.C.E.” method of response.
A.L.I.C.E., which stands for “Alert, Lockdown,
Inform, Counter and Evacuate,” refl ects evolving
thinking with regard to active shooter situations in
schools, according to South Lane School District
Superintendent Krista Parent.
“In the past, you would generally lock yourself in,
close the windows and wait,” Parent said. “Now, the
best thinking says that there are other procedures
that can be used to counter and confront a shooter.”
Monday is not a school day for South Lane stu-
dents, but Parent said staff members will witness
seven different scenarios in seven different class-
rooms, with two offi cers in each room to lead the
exercises. Offi cers will use blank rounds in real
weapons and Nerf guns for live practice situations,
and Parent wished to caution those living near Cot-
tage Grove High that they may hear the sound of
shots fi red and witness an intense police presence
during the drills.
TOP STORIES
M
uch as they had in 2014,
deliberations over Cot-
tage Grove’s Main Street Refi ne-
ment Plan, a comprehensive plan
to redesign Main Street downtown
between its historic buildings,
dominated the local discussion
early this year. The Cottage Grove
Planning Commission recom-
mended approval of the extensive
document last year after work-
sessions that packed the Council
chambers at City Hall with those
wishing to share their input on the
plan, which aims to level the pro-
nounced “crown” of Main Street,
improve access for those with dis-
abilities and add outdoor utilities
downtown.
The issue of whether or not to
include the trees that currently line
Main Street in the plan polarized
opinion on both sides of the issue,
and the Planning Department de-
cided to shelve the tree issue for
a later date. A group calling itself
Friends of Main Street formed in
opposition to the Main Street Re-
fi nement Plan, particularly its non-
inclusion of the trees and plans to
alter All-America City Square at
the corner of Seventh and Main
Streets.
The City Council got its fi rst
look at the MSRP at a worksession
held in early February. An exten-
sive public hearing was held on
Feb. 23, a hearing held over to in-
clude more public testimony. The
Council postponed a vote on the
plan at its March 9 meeting, opt-
ing to schedule another workses-
sion on March 16. At that meeting,
Training exercise
to include police
presence, gunfi re
The year’s
Refi nement Plan
ignites local discussion
Sentinel fi le photo
City Councilor Jeff Gowing
examines a copy of the Main
Street Refi nement Plan at a
February worksession. The
Council approved the plan
in April.
the Council worked through a list
of the plan’s 22 basic components,
though much of the discussion in-
volved only the fi rst component:
the cross-section of Main Street
and the plan’s recommendation to
widen sidewalks from eight feet to
12 ½ feet; increase parking lane
width to eight feet and decrease
the travel lane width from 16 feet
to 12 feet. The Council appeared
deadlocked on the issue of widen-
ing the sidewalks and decreasing
the width of Main Street and in
the end voted not to make changes.
The Council recorded its fi rst ‘yes’
vote for approval of the plan on
March 23, then adopted the plan
without much fanfare at its April
13 meeting.
By the end of April, a group
hoping to refer the MSRP to local
voters in a September election had
begun gathering signatures for a
petition to place the plan on the bal-
lot, further intensifying the conver-
sation surrounding the plan, partic-
ularly on social media outlets. The
group worked to gather about 600
signatures from local voters in a
three-week span. Petitioners were
c o n fi -
dent that they had gathered enough
signatures as the deadline loomed,
though the effort eventually fell
short by 55 votes, with many sig-
natures deemed invalid after it was
discovered that those who signed
resided in the wrong district or
were not registered to vote.
What’s next
The Cottage Grove Planning
Department will now pursue grant
funding to implement the changes
spelled out in the Main Street Re-
fi nement Plan. The City Council
will hold a public hearing on Cot-
tage Grove’s Transportation Sys-
tem Plan, or TSP, of which the Re-
fi nement Plan is a major element,
at its Monday, Jan. 11 meeting.
More on
marijuana
Legalization of
recreational marijuana
draws crowds to local
dispensaries
Coun-
cil did not take action to ban busi-
nesses that do not comply with
state and federal laws, a move that
could have prevented medical
marijuana dispensaries from
opening here. The Council later
voted against attempting to place a
local tax on recreational marijuana
sales.
By March of 2014, the fi rst dis-
pensary opened in Cottage Grove,
and by the end of the summer of
2015, the number of dispensaries
in the City Limits had swelled to
four. Oregon’s Measure 91, which
won voter approval in November
of 2014, legalized recreational
marijuana use for those over age
21 and allowed individuals to pos-
sess up to four mature plants or
eight ounces of the drug; many of
its provisions kicked in on July 1,
2015.
The Oregon Liquor Control
Commission opted to allow estab-
lished medical marijuana dispen-
saries to begin recreational sales
of the drug on Oct. 1, a day that
found crowds lined up outside dis-
pensaries in Cottage Grove prior
to their opening. Sales topped $11
million statewide during that fi rst
weekend.
String of holiday car
break-ins reported
T
he Cottage Grove
Police Depart-
ment said a string of car
break-ins occurred over
the Christmas holiday
weekend,
break-ins
concentrated in one
area on the south end of
town.
Dispatcher
Dawn
Loshbaugh
reported
that six car break-ins
had been reported near
Arthur and Johnson Av-
enue area in southern
Cottage Grove just off
Sixth Street between
Christmas
morning
Please see 2015, Page 11A
In 2013, the Cottage Grove City
ore
We Fetch You M yo
ur door!
…and deliver it all to
3A
(Friday) and Sunday af-
ternoon. One involved a
bag of Christmas pres-
ents reported stolen on
Christmas morning that
was recovered on Sun-
day.
Loshbaugh said the
break-ins share a simi-
lar lesson for local car
owners.
“It’s all about not
leaving valuables in
your car,” she said.
“We shouldn’t have to
be worried about it, but
that’s the way it is.”
Has Your Home Seen Better Days?
You may qualify for a 3% interest
No-monthly-payment Rehab loan with help from
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County, Inc.
Call Andy Clay TODAY
NMLS 791356
541-687-5820
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