8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JANUARY 4, 2017
Year
in Review
Continued from A1
“The river bank between the
bridge abutment and the land
on the other side of the street is
eroding,” City Manager Richard
Meyers told the city council at
the time. He went on to describe
the damage as more of a “sink
hole” than a “pot hole.”
Cottage Grove had planned to
spend $400,000 to $500,000 on
repairing South 6th St. but coun-
cilors noted during the March
meeting that the new revelations
concerning the bridge would
“kill” that project.
The bad bridge luck didn’t let
up in 2016 with the September
closure of the Swinging Bridge
between Madison Ave. and Riv-
er Rd.
In a letter to City Engineer
Ron Bradsby, OBEC Consult-
ing Engineers wrote of a, “con-
versation regarding the critical
condition of this bridge and our
serious concern for the safety of
the public due to the potential
collapse of the bridge.”
It wasn’t the fi rst time is-
sues with the bridge had been
brought to the city’s attention.
According to Brad Larsen of
OBEC, the company had in-
spected the bridge in 2002 and
recommended repairs to the
towers as soon as possible. He
noted at the time that it was to
his understanding those repairs
were never completed. The
2002 inspection estimated the
decay in the towers to be at ap-
proximately 50 percent.
A November report from
OBEC stated that while there
was no statewide standard for
swinging bridges existed, the
formula used by the company to
evaluate the bridges condition
showed that none of the bridges
elements scored close to an ide-
al rating. The company recom-
mended that the bridge remain
closed until the proper rehabili-
tation could be completed.
In December, the city re-
ceived $415,000 to begin work
on three troubled bridges in
Cottage Grove.
MARIJUANA TAX
Earlier this year, Cottage
Grove residents joined the rest
of Oregon’s municipalities in
deciding how to handle the fi -
nancial aspects of recreational
marijuana. In Lane County
alone Veneta, Westfi r, Dunes
City, Florence, Eugene, Spring-
fi eld and Oakridge saw their lo-
cal governments exploring the
possibility of a three-percent
tax.
At its May 25 meeting, the
Cottage Grove City Council vot-
ed 6-1 to refer the recreational
marijuana tax of three-percent to
the voters who would decide if
the tax would join the statewide
tax on marijuana, which would
eventually be reduced from 25
to 17 percent in 2017. Voters ap-
proved the measure, creating a
revenue stream for the city.
BUSTER KEATON
In August, Bohemia Park
welcomed crowds to an outdoor
screening of the classic Buster
Keaton fi lm, “The General.” It
marked the 90th anniversary
since the silent fi lm had been
fi lmed in Cottage Grove and
the surrounding countryside.
The event captivated the town
but according to Oregon Film’s
Doug White, it was a year in
the making. The movie got a
new score by an Oregon com-
poser and showed around the
state including theatres in Coos
Bay where the Oregon Cultural
Trust allowed theatres to charge
admission for a fundraiser.
PAKTECH
City Manager Richard Mey-
ers announced in July that the
city would be fi lling one of its
largest industrial spaces after a
Eugene business purchased the
former Kwikee building.
The
80,000
square-foot
building on Davidson Ave. was
purchased by PakTech; a com-
pany that manufactures injec-
tion-molded packaging handles
and in-line automated applica-
tion equipment for food and
beverage and consumer goods
industries. At the time, the ex-
pansion project was expected to
create 35 immediate job open-
ings and an additional 100 once
the facility was fully operation-
al.
FIRE ON MT. DAVID
South Lane Fire and Res-
cue Chief John Wooten did not
mince words back in August
when discussion the impact a
helicopter had on the efforts to
suppress a fi re on Mr. David.
“The helicopter saved our ba-
con,” Wooten told the Sentinel at
the time. “There’s no question if
the helicopter hadn’t been used
we would have had a much larg-
er, more intense fi re. They saved
the day,” he said.
The fi rst call concerning the
fi re came in just after 4:30 p.m.
with then Cottage Grove Inter-
Mayor Q&A continued
If I have to donate a Satur-
day night to join the commu-
nity watch to get more people
involved then I’m willing to do
that.
One of the most frequent
complaints around town is the
condition of the roads. A pro-
posal to increase the gas tax
and use the funds to repair
the roads was voted down in
November. Where do we go
from here?
We do have a gas tax, it’s three
cents a gallon. We tried to get it
to six which is what Eugene and
Springfi eld have but they voted
it down. The other option is to
get a bond in and that has to go
to the voters again. I was against
the bond from the start because
the people that complain to me,
they live out of town but come to
town every day. A bond would
affect me but not the people out
of town. The tax effects every-
one so the out-of-town people
would contribute the same as
in-town people. What I want
to do is talk to legislature and
see about the trucks because it
bothers me the trucks that come
We strive to off er
you, our customers
quality products,
as well as our
friendly, courteous,
and helpful service
from our staff
members.
through town, they come down
main and turn and make their de-
livery. That 80,000-pound truck
is doing more damage than my
car or motorcycle. Their PUC
tax doesn’t go to the roads, we
get no money off of commercial
vehicles. Also, a lot of the roads
people complain about are out
of our hands, the Hwy. 99, the
connector over the overpass,
passed Walmart, all that is state,
it’s ODOT that owns it.
One of the proposals that
did pass in November was the
implementation of a tax on
marijuana. How do you think
that is going to impact the
community?
I think the amount of money
is going to be relatively low. It’s
not going to be the equivalent to
the timber tax dollars we were
getting in the ‘70s. It’s not go-
ing to do that kind of revenue.
I think it’s a good thing that it
did pass. In my lifetime, that’s
all I heard was to legalize and
tax it. They got their wish to le-
galize it and the chance to tax it.
The way it’s going, it might be
awhile before we see tax dollars
Clean Burn
Wood Pellets in Stock
from it because when they put it
in place, the state had no plan on
how to fund this so they had to
borrow money from the liquor
pot and now they’re paying that
back and it has to be paid back
before we see any revenue.
What are your plans for
your fi rst 100 days?
I plan on doing, in January, a
goal setting session weekend.
I’m not a sit back and let other
people do person. I’m going to
lead my way in and see how it
goes. I try to be active in the
community.
What’s your vision for Cot-
tage Grove?
I just want to continue to be
a community that people like to
live in, they feel safe that they
can walk around the streets at
all hours and they don’t have
to worry about walking to the
store or someone coming to
their backyard. I just want it to
be a nice community. We have
a lot of activities in the sum-
mertime and it’s nice to be able
to show off your town when
people come in. I was born and
raised here and I stayed here by
choice.
A last word?
I’m just a regular guy. I’m not
a politician. I’m an elected of-
fi cial. We don’t get paid and I
wouldn’t do it if there was money
involved. In a town like Cottage
Grove you’re doing it to better
the community, not to make a
personal gain or a resume out of.
You should be doing it because
you love this community. That’s
why I got involved. I don’t plan
to go on to any political offi ce
after this. I’m going to do my
time as mayor and then sit back
and relax.
2015
e Grove
Cottag
ber
m
a
h
C
merce
of Com
Douglas G. Maddess, DMD
FAMILY AND GENERAL DENTISTRY
Brightening Lives One Smile at a Time
The 2016 election cycle came
to a close in Cottage Grove with
a new mayor emerging from
the race. Jeff Gowing, who had
served on the city council since
2009, beat out Mike Fleck and
Jake Boone for the spot. The
election also saw Bob Ehler to
the city council dias and sev-
eral new legislative actions and
ballot measures that carried
consequences for the city. A
three-percent tax on recreation-
al marijuana was approved, cre-
ating a revenue stream for the
city. However, a ballot measure
to increase Cottage Grove's gas
tax failed in November, leaving
few options when considering
the repair of the city's roadways.
Cottage Grove
Sentinel
www.cgsentinel.com
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Cottage-Grove-Sentinel
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ELECTIONS
The city council has yet to meet
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