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Big fi nish!
Track team posts
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$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016
SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
Marijuana tax to
appear on
November ballot
VOLUME 128 • NUMBER 48
Processing
facility
approved, with
conditions
M EASURE 20-240
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
Planning Commission gives
OK to marijuana processing
business
L
et the people decide.
The Cottage Grove City Council declared as
much Monday night with a vote in favor of placing a
three-percent tax on recreational marijuana purchases
on the ballot this November. A large crowd and repre-
sentatives from several television news outlets viewed
the proceedings, with attendees adding many com-
ments supporting a vote on the tax and a few in op-
position.
The Council had indicated a similar disposition re-
garding the potential tax at its fi nal meeting in April,
and City Manager Richard Meyers pointed out this
time that, contrary to some news reports, Cottage
Grove should be far from the fi rst or only city in Or-
egon exploring a recreational marijuana tax.
“This resolution has been taken from a sample used
by other cities,” Meyers pointed out.
In April, the Council indicated enough interest in
referring the tax to voters that Meyers included pro-
ceeds from the tax in the City’s budget for 2016-17.
He calculated $15,000 in tax revenue from an estimat-
ed $500,000 in sales of recreational marijuana, though
he and Finance Director Bert Olsen indicated during
budget hearings that those numbers were basically “a
guess” and a “placeholder.”
As had occurred in April, City Councilor Jake
Boone was again outspoken on Monday night in his
opposition to the tax.
“Because our dispensaries are going to be compet-
ing with Eugene and Springfi eld, we’re going to be
putting our people at a disadvantage,” Boone said,
adding that a tax on a minority to benefi t the majority
typically has the support of the majority.
“When you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, you can
count on the support of Paul,” Boone said.
Mayor Tom Munroe said he approached the possi-
bility of a recreational marijuana tax simply.
“Why should we not get our fair share?” he asked.
“People ask why we should have the tax. I say why
not?”
Darby Valley, majority owner of the Apothecaria
dispensary in Cottage Grove, said that his business
had “no objection” to a three-percent recreational
marijuana tax.
“The average sale amount is $45, so you’re looking
at a tax of $1.20,” Valley said. “You can’t get to Eu-
gene and back for $1.20.”
Valley encouraged the Council not to dedicate the
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
photo by Jon Stinnett
Supporters of Measure 20-240 use a variety of devices to monitor the bond's
progress at Stacy's Covered Bridge Restaurant on Election Night.
Voters approve Harrison bond
'Now the work begins,' Superintendent says
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
measure in an election that featured a 54.97
percent voter turnout and also saw voters sup-
port a levy for the OSU Extension Service and
its 4-H programs.
Supporters of the South Lane bond met in
an air of cautious optimism at Stacy’s Covered
Bridge Restaurant downtown on election night,
with many hoping that they would not need to
work to pass the bond again if it failed.
“We did a good job,” said Joel Reiten, a
member of an organizing committee dedicated
to the bond. “I just hope we never have to do
it again.”
Parent, South Lane Communications Co-
ordinator Garrett Bridgens and Darby Valley,
head of the political action committee that
worked to garner support for the bond, thanked
the crowd of supporters. Valley said that the
S
outh Lane School District Superinten-
dent Krista Parent wasn’t convinced by
the fi rst round of election returns. So she wait-
ed for another. And then another.
By 3 a.m. the morning after Election Day,
Parent said she was satisfi ed that the results of
Oregon’s Tuesday, May 17 primary showed
that the District’s voters had supported Mea-
sure 20-240, a $35.6 million bond to replace
the aging Harrison Elementary School build-
ing, make security and technology upgrades
throughout the District and tackle deferred
maintenance projects.
Results calculated by 3 p.m. Friday indi-
cated that the measure earned the support of
3113 voters, or 56.79 percent of those who
cast ballots. A total of 2369 voted ‘no’ on the
Please see BOND, Page 11A
he future of a mostly vacant lot on 10th
Street drew a large crowd to the Council
chambers in Cottage Grove on Wednesday, May
18, and many attendees there had a lot to say
about a proposed new business on the lot.
The Cottage Grove Planning Commission
reviewed an application for a Conditional Use
Permit related to light manufacturing use for a
marijuana processing facility on the lot at the
corner of 10th Street and Adams Avenue, which
has sat unused for years and contains a small
garage-type outbuilding on an asphalt slab.
The applicants, Paul Hampshire and Ruby
McConnell, spoke fi rst in favor of the operation
and later answered additional questions related
to specifi cs. Members of the public then lined
up with their concerns and/or opposition during
the public hearing.
Hampshire and McConnell said the facility
will host the extraction process of essential oils
from marijuana, a process that they said can fi t
inside the small building already standing on the
lot. It was a plan that irked many of the site’s
neighbors. City staff said that a number of let-
ters in opposition to the proposal dealt with the
site’s location across the street from Bohemia
Park.
“It is about the children,” said Mickey Pat-
tingale, who operates an auto dealership nearby.
“This type of operation does not belong across
from a family park.”
Parking and traffi c at the site were also a con-
cern, though Hampshire and McConnell said
they will only be allotted three parking spaces
and trucks will not be required to haul material
into and out of the site.
Neighbor Jane Rapier said she worried about
odors from the site, in addition to its location
near Harrison Elementary School.
“I volunteer at a school, as does my husband,”
Rapier said. “I don’t think it’s to our advantage
Please see PLANNING, Page 10A
Please see TAX, Page 10A
Changes for downtown park proposed with sticky notes
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
P
photo by Jon Stinnett
Ruth Linoz and Travis Palmer discuss aspects of All-
America City Square at a public meeting held Tuesday,
May 17 to help plot the park's future. Suggestions for
changes were examined at a subsequent meeting.
ost-It notes stuck to the
walls of a room inside the
Cottage Grove Armory are ex-
pected to provide a road map of
sorts for the future of a down-
town park nearby.
On Tuesday, May 17, an
ample crowd joined Cottage
Grove City Planner Amanda
Ferguson and architect David
Dougherty to discuss the future
of All-America City Square,
also known as Opal Whiteley
Park, at the corner of Seventh
and Main streets. Guests shared
their hopes and expectations,
including changes they would
like to see (or not) on dozens
of sticky notes, which Ferguson
explained that she would use to
inform a design charrette the
following week.
Ferguson explained that the
deterioration of the fl agstone
pavers in the park led to the
meeting, which she said was
designed to tackle other “is-
sues” that have come to light in
its nearly 10 years of existence.
The services of Dougherty were
secured with a $3000 grant, and
Ferguson said any plans for
change would likely have to be
funded with another grant.
“We have heard concerns
expressed over the fl ag stone
fl ooring, traffi c fl ow, safety,
lighting, use, signage, mainte-
nance, etc.,” Ferguson wrote in
a press release announcing last
week’s meeting, during which
she asserted that the City has
“no preconceived notions” re-
garding the future of the park.
The sentiment was later echoed
by Dougherty.
“If you would like to change
nothing at all, that’s fi ne, too,”
Ferguson said.
Marston Morgan, architect
of the original All-America
City Square redesign, was on
hand to assert that he and others
(Morgan said he represented the
Friends of Main Street, a group
founded in opposition to 2015’s
Main Street Refi nement Plan)
wished to see the park remain
largely as it is today, though he
also read from a lengthy list of
updates he felt could enhance
the park, including the possible
repurposing of the restrooms,
which he said “attract the wrong
type of people.” Morgan said
that the park “stands alone as a
piece of sculpture” and is “beau-
tiful unto itself,” and as such the
City should not be overly wor-
ried about its usability.
After two hours of Post-it
commenting, a list of desires for
the park began to emerge. At-
tendees seemed to love the idea
of lighting the park at night,
in addition to refurbishing the
Opal Whiteley mural and add-
ing interpretive signage detail-
ing its signifi cance. Opening
up the back of the park to the
nearby parking lot was suggest-
ed, as was seating in the form of
benches. The removal of a cir-
cular planter at the center of the
park was also a frequent sug-
gestion. Permeable pavers were
suggested to replace the aging
fl agstones, though other materi-
als were also suggested. More
native plants were suggested for
the park’s landscaping, as were
more garbage cans, containers
for cigarette butts, security cam-
eras and a refl ecting pool.
A design charrette was sched-
uled to take place at the Armory
on Tuesday, May 24.
Principal Brokers
Rain Country Realty Inc.
Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735
Frank Brazell....................953-2407
Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838
Have a Happy, Safe and Sane
Memorial weekend, but keep in mind...
if it was not for our soldiers
we would not be free to do that!
CONTACT US
www.cgsentinel.com
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By telephone
(541) 942-3328
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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In person
WEATHER
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State of Oregon
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Calendar....................................... 11B
Channel Guide ............................... 5B
Classified ads................................. 7B
Obituaries....................................... 2A
Opinion .......................................... 4A
Public Safety .................................. 5A
Sports ............................................ 1B
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