Perfection!
Lions down Elmira to go 8-0, page 1B
Cottage Grove Sentinel
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
SOUTH LANE AND NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889
VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 18
Engineer's report
describes a foot-
bridge showing
'advanced decay'
Landon's wish will
soon come true
Make-a-Wish Foundation to send
youngster to visit Harry Potter
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
City waiting for cost estimates,
exploring options
B
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
O
n Monday morning, Cottage Grove City Engineer
Ron Bradsby summed up the fi ndings of a report
detailing the condition of the Currin Swinging Footbridge
with just two words: Not good.
Bradsby received the report from OBEC Consulting
Engineers that described the bridge’s load rating, or its
capacity to handle the type of traffi c expected on a pe-
destrian bridge. On Sept. 14, the City received a letter
from OBEC in response to a request for analysis of the
popular bridge, which has spanned the Coast Fork of the
Willamette River between River Road and Madison Av-
enue since 1965. The letter cited “the critical condition of
this bridge and our serious concern for the safety of the
public due to” its potential collapse. The City closed the
bridge the next day, and it remains closed to all traffi c.
The most recent analysis of the structure includes
a recommendation that the bridge remain closed until
“appropriate rehabilitation or replacement measures are
taken.”
In the letter, OBEC stated that it had examined ele-
ments including the bridge’s fl oor beams, main suspen-
sion cables, suspender cables, tower legs and steel anchor
bars. A statewide standard for swinging pedestrian bridg-
es does not exist, according to the letter, and so OBEC
used a formula that established a maximum load of 90
pounds per square foot to calculate the bridge’s condi-
tion.
OBEC described the bridge’s load rating using the 90
psf calculation as the ideal load rating for the bridge on a
scale from 0 to one; thus, a rating of 1.0 would indicate
that the bridge’s element has adequate strength to handle
the 90 psf load.
None of the bridge’s elements, though, scored close
to the ideal rating: its main suspension cables scored a
.40, essentially meaning that the cables support 40 per-
cent of the needed capacity. The suspender cables scored
a .64; the tower legs scored just .36, and the steel an-
chor bars scored .77. In fact, OBEC stated that the bridge
could only be expected to handle a load of 15 pounds per
square foot, and the letter pointed out that the bridge was
not designed or built to handle the 90 psf rating in the
fi rst place.
“Repairing or augmenting the existing members does
not appear to be a feasible option,” the letter stated.
“If we replaced the suspender cables, we’d only get to
a rating of .47,” Bradsby pointed out. “We would need to
upsize the suspension cables.”
Please see BRIDGE, Page 10A
photo by Jon Stinnett
Brigadier General William Edwards provides keynote remarks during the
fi rst-annual Mayor's Ball Saturday.
Decked-out Armory hosts
inaugural Mayor's Ball
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
t’s likely that many of
those present at Satur-
day’s Mayor’s Ball had not
ventured inside the Cottage
Grove Armory for some
time, and some visitors had
probably never ascended its
steps and toured its halls.
Once
inside,
guests
viewed a building draped in
all its fi nery, with decora-
tions swooping down from
the ceiling and the big-band
jazz of the Emerald City
Jazz Kings wafting in the
air.
On Sunday, Christina
Lund, the development di-
rector responsible for rais-
ing the $3 million-plus that
will be needed to renovate
the Armory and return it to
regular community use, be-
gan fi elding phone calls.
“My phone was blowing
up with people saying how
much fun they had, that it
was one of the best parties
they had been to in years,”
Lund said. “They said that
they had no idea this venue
could do this, and that of
course was the whole point
of the evening.”
Lund, who will super-
vise a team of seven tasked
with writing no less than 80
grants to pursue renovation
funding, said that showcas-
ing the potential that a re-
vived Armory could hold
for Cottage Grove was a big
reason the Mayor’s Ball was
held, though the fundraising
dinner raised over $23,000
through attendance, a silent
y almost any measure, Cottage Grove’s Land-
on Butts appears to be the typical, shy almost-
seven-year old that he longs to be each day. This
weekend, though, Butts will get to live out the dream
of many a youngster.
His mother, Amanda, recalls that her son was born
six weeks premature with a condition known as aor-
tic stenosis, or the narrowing of the heart’s aortic
valve. At three months old, Landon’s heart started to
shut down, and he’s had more than a few surgeries to
install a new heart catheter “every once in a while,”
according to his mom. It’s a condition that will even-
tually require open-heart surgery, something his
family is trying to postpone until Landon is a little
older and a little bit stronger.
“Some days, he’s completely fi ne,” Amanda Butts
said. “But on his bad days, he’s just too tired. It wears
him out to eat or to run too much. He doesn’t really
like the kids to realize how much it effects him.”
At Harrison Elementary, where Landon is a stu-
dent, teachers and staff are “amazing” regarding his
needs, his mom said, allowing him to use safe words
to signify when he needs a break.
“He doesn’t want to be different,” she said. “He
wants to be like everybody else.”
One can bet that “everybody else” doesn’t get the
chance that Landon will receive this weekend thanks
to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. On Monday, Oct.
31, he’ll journey to Orlando, Fla., where he will
spend a week, fi rst at Universal Studios getting a
behind-the-scenes look at the “Wizarding World of
Harry Potter,” then on to Disneyworld.
Landon’s mom said that a preoccupation with
magic likely aids his fascination with the Harry Pot-
ter fi lm series, one of the few she said her family can
watch together.
“When we fi rst started watching it, I asked him
what he would do if he was magic,” she said. “He
said he would use it to make all the kids not sick
anymore.”
Landon Butts
dressed
like his idol,
Harry Potter,
at a party to
celebrate his
upcoming trip
to Universal
Studios and
Disneyworld.
courtesy
photo
Please see BALL, Page 10A
Beds for Freezing Nights prepares for cold temperatures ahead
Volunteer-run
organization provides
shelter when
temperatures dip
below 29 degrees
BY CINDY WEELDREYER
For the Sentinel
F
or unhoused individu-
als, a freezing night is a
long night — and potentially a
deadly one. Beds for Freezing
Nights (BFN), an all-volunteer,
nonprofi t organization orga-
nized in 2009, works to ensure
that there is a warm, safe place
for those who want to come in-
side when the temperature dips
to 29 degrees or colder between
Nov. 15 and March 31.
The group worked with the
City of Cottage Grove to cer-
tify two churches, Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Catholic Church
and First Presbyterian Church,
as offi cial emergency warming
centers. Operational procedures
and protocols are in place that
aim to assure the health and
safety of the volunteers and
their guests.
Volunteer Coordinator Chris-
tine Moats, assisted by BFN
President Ruth Linoz, Logistics
Coordinator Steve Thoreson and
Board Member Tom Gutmann,
along with several experienced
volunteers, led two training
sessions last week at OLPH
Catholic Church providing an
overview of duties and respon-
sibilities and some hands-on ex-
perience setting up and closing
up the shelter.
In 2010, Moats joined the
BFN organization as a shelter
volunteer and last year suc-
ceeded Janice Gutmann as the
volunteer coordinator. She said
she is impressed with the com-
passion and dedication of the
volunteers.
“The quality of BFN vol-
unteers is amazing,” Moats
said. “It’s hard on a freezing
cold night to leave your warm
home, get in your car and drive
to the shelter, carefully navi-
gating winter road conditions.
Yet, once you get there and be-
gin interacting with the guests,
you see how grateful they are
for your efforts. It’s personally
rewarding and you meet some
interesting people.”
Scheduling volunteers for
a minimum two-night activa-
tion can be challenging for ex-
tended activations or during the
holidays. There are three shifts
between 6 p.m and 8 a.m. that
require both a man and a woman
per shift. Moats said a larger pool
of people who don’t go out of
town during the holidays would
make scheduling an easier task.
More male volunteers are need-
ed for all shifts and someone to
do weather-watching to predict
when to open the shelter.
Ruth Linoz said there are
several ways to be involved
with BFN besides staffi ng the
overnight shelter. Tax-deduct-
ible contributions are needed
to pay for liability insurance
and shelter supplies. New board
members are needed to provide
administrative support and lead-
ership.
“This is a great organization
I’m proud to be a part of,” Linoz
said. “The success of BFN is
due to the dedication of a core
group of individuals who have
provided excellent leadership
for the past six years and given
us a solid organizational struc-
ture. We’d like to recruit some
new board members to serve in
key leadership positions so vol-
unteers who have helped out for
years can get a much deserved
break.”
Mary and Steve Nisewander
have volunteer experience with
other organizations and were
looking for a new opportunity
they could do together. They
decided to become BFN vol-
unteers for the fi rst time after
getting information from their
church pastor a few weeks ago.
Please see BFN, Page 10A
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