COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 6, 2016
Cottage Grove Retrospective
CITY BEAT
A look back at a Sentinel story from 30 years ago
April 2, 1986
pied. Another is in the middle stag-
es of construction, while a fourth
start was initiated last week. The
four houses are all in the $55,000
to $65,000 range.
Two more housing starts in the
same area are planned for this
summer, added Reaksecker, who
is confi dent of the area’s ability to
attract home buyers.
“We’re betting on the future,”
he explained. “We think Cottage
Grove can be an attractive suburb
of the Eugene-Springfi eld metro-
politan area.
The interest rates would seem to
have a direct effect on that predic-
tion, particularly for a young cou-
ple or other potential homeowners
with moderate incomes. Accod-
ing to Butler, the monthly bill for
someone with a $50,000 loan on
a 30-year fi xed mortgage is now
about $150 less than when inter-
est rates were closer to 13 percent
last year.
Butler and builder Jack Bran-
don, both of Eugene, are the only
contractors who have developed
any sustained construction activity
in the Cottage Grove area.
While the falling interest rates
and the heightened public interest
pleases Butler, he remains skepti-
cal of the future. “I’m not going
to get all that excited,” he said. “I
POLICE BLOTTER
March 30
Traffi c Stop, Ash St.
A vehicle was pulled over at
the location, and the driver gave
consent for offi cers to search his
vehicle. Upon searching, offi cers
found a bag containing scales,
baggies and a loaded syringe.
Marshall Baskette was arrested
for possession of meth, delivery
of meth, manual delivery of a
controlled substance, and Dustin
Demarchi was arrested for para-
phernalia.
March 31
Burglary Alarm, Madison Ave.
April 1
Assault, HWY 99
A caller sounded hysterical over
the phone, advising police that
she woke up and found that she
was drenched in gasoline. She
has jumped in the shower but
the gasoline is also in her eyes.
Medics were dispatched and the
neighboring residents were noti-
BINGO COUPON
COTTAGE GROVE ELKS LODGE
755 North River Road
Information 942-3554
PUBLIC WELCOME
Every Wednesday (except Holidays)
Warm Ups 6:30pm Regular Games 7:00pm
Frequent Smoke Breaks, Exciting New Game Program
“Bingo Burger Menu” Available
2 PROGRESSIVE JACKPOTS
Bring this coupon and receive
a 2nd Warm-up Pack FREE
6
CG
-day
weather forecast
THURSDAY April 7
FRIDAY April 8
50° | 83°
48° | 72°
Sunny
Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY April 9
SUNDAY April 10
44° | 64°
44° | 62°
Mostly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
MONDAY April 11
TUESDAY April 12
45° | 63°
43° | 62°
Partly Cloudy
City Manager Richard Meyers attended the annual
Spring NW City Managers Conference in Stevenson,
Wash. Local government managers from Oregon,
Washington, Alaska and even Poland attended the con-
ference, which covered topics that included marijuana
legislation impacts, innovation in local government,
emergency response and preparation for communi-
ties, homelessness and ethics. Representatives from
the International City/County Management Associa-
tion attended from Washington D.C. and reviewed the
Code of Ethics. Additionally, the Spring Conference
also hosts the Annual Oregon/Washington Managers
Volleyball match that has a legacy and fame that leg-
end has it actually began the use of the phrase, “March
Madness.”
Construction workers Bruce Bergby and Terry Hughs
check foundation level at housing start on Jason Lee Av-
enue.
don’t think anything is going to expected.
change very much until the con-
Butler noted that one woan
tract is settled.
who had shown interest in one of
Butler was referring to the con- the new homes hedged on buying
tract between International Wood- mainly because of the uncertainty
workers of America mill employ- surrounding the wage issue.
ees and major employers such as
“She is indicative of the con-
Weyerhaeuser Co. and Bohemia cerns that many people have here,”
Inc.
he explained.
The contract, which affects
Monce echoed Butler’s com-
workers and timber fi rms through- ments.
out the Northwest, expires June 1.
“That’s the biggest deterrent to
To this point, neither IWA union the major decision-making,” he
offi cials or company representa- said.
tives have shown signs of compro-
mise, although negotiations are
Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504
An alarm of a house at the
location went off and the alarm
company contacted the police.
The police arrived at the location
to discover no one, but multiple
turkeys were located inside the
perimeter again.
Partly Cloudy
From the
City's Friday
Update
Northwest Regional City/
County Manager Conference
Building spurred by optimism and interest rates
While Cottage Grove may not
be destined to become a sprawl-
ing suburb in the style of South-
ern California communities, new
housing construction is beginning
to make a modest comeback here.
Everyone questioned about the
construction revival explained it
with three words: lower interest
rates.
“It’s really a key factor,” con-
fi rmed Al Monce, president of The
Cottage Grove Bank. “People are
becoming a little more enthusias-
tic to build… and there’s an air of
optimism that (interest rates) will
stay down.”
Added local realtor John Reak-
secker: “It’s really a help to get the
interest rates down.” Reaksecker
has seen tangible results of the
lowring rates, which have dropped
to near the 10 percent level.
His fi rm, Century 21-Nugget
Realty, has been involved in the
recent sale of new homes in a
small subdivision on Jason Lee
Avenue near Bohemia Elementary
School.
The houses are being construct-
ed under the supervision of build-
er Bob Butler, owner of Future B
Homes, who is also a real estate
agent out of the Nugget offi ce.
Two of the homes are nearly
complete, with one already occu-
5A
fi ed.
Unauthorized use of Vehicle,
Riverwalk Pl.
A complainant at the police
department advised that subjects
stole a safe and a motorcycle out
of his garage. The case was taken
for information at the time. After
further investigation the vehicle
was entered as stolen. The bike is
black and teal in color with black
leather saddle bags and two bees'
eyes on the front and a naked lady
sticker on the front of the fender.
Warrant Service, Main St.
A caller advised of a subject lying
partially on the sidewalk at the
location, possibly intoxicated. Of-
fi cers came out to the subject and
confi rmed he was intoxicated.
The subject was transported to
the police department for process-
ing and was cleared in lieu of
custody due to medical condi-
tions. The subject was dropped
off at Taco Bell.
April 2
Criminal Mischief, Kennedy
Alt. School
A complainant saw two subjects
pushing large rocks that line the
driveway of the school out onto
the street, then the subjects left on
bikes. The rocks were located and
rolled back into place.
or years, scammers have been
preying on people by sharing
unbelievable news of winning a lot-
tery prize worth millions. And for a
few hundred dollars and some per-
sonal or banking information, the
prize could be yours.
“The Oregon Lottery was recent-
ly notifi ed by a player stating that
someone from the Oregon Lottery
called to inform her she had won
$75 million and a Mercedes Benz,”
said Lottery spokesman Chuck Bau-
mann. “The caller told her that all
she needed to do to receive her prize
was provide personal information to
the caller. Luckily the player recog-
nized the caller was asking for an
unusual level of personal informa-
tion and ended the call. Scammers
often ask for identifying personal
or fi nancial information, which you
should not share if you do not know
who is calling.”
If a person does not have a ticket
for the game in question, there is no
way for them to win a prize from
that game. “A good test to use if you
get news like that,” added Baumann,
The restrooms at All-America City Square were
opened this week for the summer, and the City said
it will no longer be using the automatic locks on the
doors at Coiner Park or All-America City Square.
They say the restrooms will be closed each night
when our contracted cleaning company, Full Circle,
conducts daily cleaning. They hope this eliminates
people from circumventing the automatic locks and
spending the night in the restrooms. In the past the
overnight restroom guests would vandalize and trash
the restroom, making it unusable by others.
Park lights
City staff has been wrestling with the problem of
providing more light in Coiner Park. It said the cur-
rent electrical load in Coiner Park was over-loaded and
that adding even one additional light was not possible
without either a major electrical supply upgrade or
the removal of existing lights or equipment. Recently
several of the lights in the park needed to be repaired
and have the ballasts replaced. Staff explored the op-
tion of rather than replacing the burned out lights or
ballasts to retrofi t a new LED light into the existing
lights and reduce the load and increase their ability to
install additional lights. After consulting with their
contract electrician it was determined that the lights
could be retrofi tted for a similar cost, and it would re-
duce the electrical load signifi cantly to allow for ad-
ditional new LED lights.
One old light in the park uses nearly six times the
electricity that one comparable LED light would use.
Many of the lights in Coiner Park have been replaced
and additional lights have been installed in the pa-
vilion in Coiner Park. Even with the new additional
lights in the park, The City said it anticipates saving
over $1,000 dollars in electrical costs each year for the
Coiner Park lights.
Row River Trail Meeting
On Tuesday of this week, Fleet and Facilities Man-
ager Russ Kaleese, Parks Employee Chad Reel, Utili-
ties Supervisor Tony Kirk and Public Works Director
Jan Wellman met with BLM Recreation Planner Liz
Aleman and BLM Eugene District Engineer Jim Con-
dit at the site of the recently constructed Row River
Trail underpass to check the condition of the trail af-
ter the underpass fl ooded as the result of the recent
heavy rainfall. The fl ood water has receded to a point
where the trail surface and underpass approaches can
be observed. The fl ooding is of concern because of
bike rider safety and possible deterioration of the trail
surface. (Heavy rains that fi rst began in December of
2015 had fl ooded the underpass, and the BLM indi-
cated that it had anticipated such fl ooding.
Janet Mayer, Design Engineer with Lane County
Public Works, said it “would’ve been incredibly ex-
pensive” to design the underpass in a way that it could
be drained for all fl ood events, so the County and
BLM chose not to.
“We made the judgment call to allow the underpass
to fl ood in heavy rains since we already had a usable
at-grade crossing,” she said.)
There were also some cosmetic concerns with the
surface of the underpass structure that will be relayed
to Lane County Public Works by the BLM District En-
gineer. Trail maintenance issues were discussed by
both City and BLM representatives.
The City said that, all in all, this relationship has
been benefi cial for both the City and the BLM and
both entities are happy with the arrangement and want
to see it continue.
Lottery says don't be fooled by scams
F
Outdoor season has begun
“is to remember, if it seems too good
to be true, it probably is.”
When the Lottery notifi ed the Ore-
gon Department of Justice Financial
Fraud/Consumer Protection Section
of the call, the Consumer Protection
staff was not aware of scammers
using the Oregon Lottery’s name.
Most recently, they noted, scam-
mers have been using the name of
the Publisher’s Clearing House.
To protect themselves from being
scammed, the Department of Justice
suggests and encourages people to
not answer phone calls unless they
can recognize the number of the
caller. By letting the incoming call
go to their phone’s voice mail, the
call can be reviewed and deleted if
it is a scam.
Oregon Department of Justice
online complaint form:
https://justice.oregon.gov/forms/
consumer_complaint.asp
The Oregon Attorney General’s
Consumer Hotline: 1-877-877-9392
2015
e Grove
Cottag
er
Chamb
erce
m
m
o
C
of
Save for
a rainy
year.
s
Busines
e
of th
Year
LOW COST
Matt Bjornn ChFC, Agent
State Farm Agent
1481 Gateway Blvd
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Bus: 541-942-2623
541-942-0456
southlanewheels.org
APR*
Bank with a Good Neighbor ® .
CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION.
CALL FOR A QUOTE
No elgibility requirements.
1.20 %
6HWDVLGHPRQH\ZLWKDÀ[HGUDWHRIUHWXUQ,·OOEH
WKHUHWRVKRZ\RXUDWHVDQGWHUPVWKDWFDQKHOS
\RXUHDFK\RXUJRDO
Local & Metro Weekday Trips
Professional Caring Staf
Your Regional Public Transportation Service
Get a 15 Month
FDIC-insured CD
*Annual Percentage Yield as of 03/02/16. Advertised rates are subject to change at the
Bank’s discretion. The minimum balance required to earn the stated APY is $500 (rates apply
to deposits less than $100,000). A penalty may be imposed for withdrawals prior to maturity.
Special Term CDs renew automatically into the next highest Standard Term CD. Some
products and services not available in all areas. FDIC basic coverage amount is $250,000 per
depositor, per insured bank, for each ownership category. IRA and ESA CDs are not available
for terms less than 12 months. Callers who are hearing or speech impaired should dial 711 or
use a preferred Telecommunications Relay Service.
1501580
State Farm Bank, F.S.B.,
Bloomington, IL