Relay recap, page 8A
'Mass Appeal,'
page 9A
Cars and
Chili, page 3A
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 5
Eugene's PakTech purchases former Kwikee building
on Monday.
Based in Eugene, PakTech
manufactures injection-molded
packaging handles and in-line
automated application equip-
ment. According to the release,
the company “provides handles
and application equipment to
food and beverage and con-
sumer goods industries, aiming
to make it easy for consumers to
grab, carry and release multiple
products using a simple, low-
waste, 100 percent recyclable
handle.”
The expansion is expected to
Expansion expected to bring about 35 jobs to
town right away, 100 over time
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
A
Eugene business will be
expanding its operations
into Cottage Grove, and the City
is expected to soon fi ll one of its
largest industrial building va-
cancies, City Manager Richard
Meyers announced via press re-
lease on Monday.
The City has helped market
the former Kwikee building, an
80,000 square foot behemoth
at 230 Davidson Avenue, since
the manufacturer of steps for
recreational vehicles closed up
shop here in 2007. In May of
this year, an announcement was
made that a buyer had likely
been found, and the City shared
more details of that arrangement
bring 35 jobs to town in the near
future and up to 100 jobs as the
utilization of the Cottage Grove
facility is fully realized, accord-
ing to PakTech President Jim
Borg, who spoke to the Sentinel
Monday afternoon.
Borg said his company has
seen its largest growth recently
in the craft beer market, and its
handles can be seen atop the four
and six-packs of many of the ar-
ea’s microbreweries, though the
company also sells its products
internationally.
“We have 1600 companies us-
ing our handles now, and we’re
expanding in Europe, New Zea-
land and Australia,” Borg said.
“We hope to fi ll that market
from here as much as possible.”
First, though, will be the re-
placement of the roof of the
Kwikee building, which Borg
said is “at the end of its life.” A
substation will also need to be
installed nearby by the Emerald
Peoples Utilities District to ful-
fi ll PakTech’s need for power,
which is reportedly already in
the works.
“Emerald strives to be a good
economic partner to the cities
and communities we serve,”
said Scott Coe, Emerald PUD
general manager. “The addition
of this customer has allowed us
to advance planned capital im-
provements. Although it will
take a signifi cant commitment
of time and resources, we are
committed to rising to the chal-
lenge.”
Without the infrastructure im-
provements at EPUD, Borg said
his company could max out the
use of power in that area.
Please see PAKTECH, Page 10A
Council votes to
place gas tax hike
on ballot
G IVING IT A T RI
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
T
he City Council moved a step closer Monday night
to placing an increase in the City’s fuels tax on the
ballot this November.
The Council voted 6-1 to direct city staff to draft a bal-
lot measure for the Nov. 8 election that will ask voters
to approve a three-cent hike in the tax the City receives
at the pump. If approved, the increase would set Cottage
Grove’s fuels tax at six cents per gallon.
By law, gas tax revenues can only be used to fund street
repairs, and while the Council voted overwhelmingly to
support placing the tax on the ballot, many councilors
also acknowledged that the increase could not be the
ultimate solution to an estimated $9 million backlog in
needed maintenance to Cottage Grove’s streets.
On Monday night, City Manager Richard Meyers pro-
duced a graph showcasing the City’s gas tax revenue over
the past 13 years.
“You can’t get any more fl at than that,” Meyers said,
describing revenue that has hovered around $300,000 per
year throughout that span. Another graph, this one includ-
ing a line with a much more upward trajectory, described
the increase in construction costs for streets over that
same time period.
Meyers pointed out projects such as improvements at
photo by Greg Lee
From left, Aleck Norland, 10, Mike Hill, Pam Fairchild and Drew Marsch power their pedals during the second leg of
Saturday's Tri at the Grove Triathlon, held at Cottage Grove Lake. More on the triathlon can be found on page 1B.
School District pleased
with Harrison bond sales
Local man perishes
in logging accident
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
riends and family are
mourning the loss of a
55-year old Cottage Grove man
who perished in a logging acci-
dent last week.
PJ Patterson has been de-
scribed as a man who loved his
God, his family and hunting —
in that order — above all else.
“He was the happiest man I
knew, the greatest man I knew,”
said his son, Jeffrey Patterson,
on Monday. “This is a loss that
will never be forgotten.”
Brendan Patterson shared the
same praise for his father.
“His prayer life was one of
the best I’d ever seen,” Brendan
Patterson said. “For the past 12
years, he called me every morn-
ing to pray, and it was the same
Please see TAX, Page 10A
with my brother.”
Patterson was owner/opera-
tor of his own business, PJ Pat-
terson Cutting, Inc. His family
chose not to dwell on the details
regarding his passing Thursday
morning, except to say that the
accident occurred while he was
cutting logs for power poles in
the Layng Creek area on a con-
tract with the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice. They’ve instead chosen to
focus on the positives of a man
who inspired and uplifted those
around him.
“Anybody that ever talked to
him was treated as family,” Jef-
frey Patterson said. “He never
held a grudge; he was one of the
most forgiving men that ever
was. If you ever talked to him, it
was obvious how much he loved
his God and his family.”
Patterson also said that, to his
Construction cost estimates have risen, however
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
S
PJ Patterson
father, his mother Jeanie was
“his everything.”
“He set the bar pretty high for
everybody,” he said. “No matter
how bad he hurt in the morning,
he still got up and went to the
job.”
Well-wishers will celebrate
Patterson’s life this Saturday,
July 30 at 11 a.m. at the Cottage
Grove High School football
fi eld.
outh Lane School District offi cials trav-
eled to Portland last week to sell a group
of bonds that will furnish the District with the
almost $36 million approved by voters to re-
build Harrison Elementary School and make
security and technology upgrades.
The District sold the bonds on Tuesday, July
19, and according to Superintendent Krista
Parent, the District couldn’t have fared much
better in the process, securing a low interest
rate that should allow South Lane to structure
the bonds to the District’s advantage over their
25-year life span.
Voters approved the bonds by a comfortable
margin last fall, and South Lane hopes to start
the 2018-19 school year with a brand-new Har-
rison School. Parent said she was thrilled that
the District would be working with an interest
rate just under three percent after the sale of the
bonds, which should allow it to levy an annual
rate of under $2 per $1000 of assessed property
value.
“We were working hard to get under that $2
per $1000 threshold,” she said. “We won’t know
the exact rate until we hear from the County
Assessor in October, but we hit the market so
perfectly that it looks like it only gets better
from here.”
Parent said that Piper Jaffray, the fi rm that
has worked on the District’s behalf to sell the
bonds, entertained multiple offers for each
bond. She said South Lane will be able to as-
sess taxpayers at $1.90 per $1000 until 2030,
at which time the rate could drop to $1.32 per
$1000. The assessment could drop even further,
however, if growth in the number of homes that
the District is able to tax is greater than the 2.75
percent that has been anticipated.
The expected drop in the assessment could
Please see BONDS, Page 10A
R AIN C OUNTRY R EALT Y I NC .
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Calendar....................................... 11B
Channel Guide ............................... 4B
Classified ads................................. 6B
Obituaries....................................... 2A
Opinion .......................................... 4A
Public Safety .................................. 5A
Sports ............................................ 1B
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