Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
$1.00 C ottage G rove S entinel PERSONAL i BUSINESS i BENEFITS i SURETY (541) 942-0555 PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Sports teams are gearing up for the spring season PAGE B1 WED 56º H 41º L THURS 57º H 38º L FRI 59º H 49º L SOUTH LANE AND DOUGLAS COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL CGSENTINEL.COM Cottage Grove Half Marathon sees Eugene winner Orin Schumacher wins men's division with a time of 1:12:10 Eugene resident Orin Schumacher was the fi rst person to cross the fi nish line during the Cottage Grove Half Marathon held Saturday, March 11. Clocking in at just over an hour, Schumacher plans to run the Eugene Marathon and has qualifi ed for the Boston Marathon later this year. Schumacher was followed by second-place winner Justin James-Long, also of Eugene. Have a pothole? CVC secures E. Madison for tiny homes Call it in By Caitlyn May New residents, old residents and city of- fi cials all have one conversation in com- mon throughout their day: potholes. While the subject may not rise every day, it certainly is a sore spot for residents and local government alike. This year, the city has announced that it has already placed eight tons of material into local potholes and the season is just getting started. Winter was unusually harsh this year with several snow storms closing area schools and wreaking havoc on the city's already trou- bled roads. In the city's Friday Update, a newsletter sent to local subscribers, Cottage Grove Manager Richard Meyers noted that, while the city is working on the issue, it could use some help. "We locate many of the potholes by driving around but it will take the crew a while to drive all 45 miles of city streets. To help speed up the process citizens are invited to call in their favorite (or not so favorite) potholes or use the city’s webpage to report pot- holes," Meyers wrote. Residents can utilize "Pothole Spotter" on the city's website to re- port a particularly troubled area or continue to use the city's public works' contact to speak to a live person. According to the city, fi lling potholes is "never ending" and the process in Cottage Grove may differ from other cities. "The city crew uses a product called “E-Z Street” instead of tra- ditional cold patch. E-Z Street is a hardening-type cold patch that sets-up and can be installed when it is wet or cold. Traditional cold patch does not hold-up well in wet weather or freeze/thaw situa- tions. Traditional cold patch can be “blown-out” in as little as one week. E-Z Street lasts much longer and provides a semi-permanent surface. The down-side of E-Z Street is cost, storage life, and local availability. The product is only available in Portland and we have to send a dump truck to pick it up," Meyers wrote. cmay@cgsentinel.com Chamber reports to the city COMMUNITY has been hard at work all year promoting the city of Cottage Grove. Listed among the group's ac- complishments: 10,000 brochures about the city's covered bridges sent out, the tourism committee, and the "Bridges and Be- yond" campaign launched by the chamber. A local neighborhood may be getting a tiny bit bigger after Cottage Village Co- cmay@cgsentinel.com alition (CVC) purchased property on E. Madison Ave. on March 8. The group has been at the center of a controversial development plan that would call for 13 tiny homes to be built at 1430 E. Madison to house what has been described by CVC as anything from homeless individuals to those in danger of becoming homeless to single mothers to those who simply wish to live an alternative lifestyle. The group earned the attention of sur- rounding neighbors by announcing their plans during a community meeting held after it placed an offer on the property. “We were pleasantly surprised to be able to purchase this proper- ty when it appeared that we did not have suffi cient funds from our grant to do so,” Sharon Jean, a CVC member said in a press release. Confusion has reigned over the project since December when CVC announced the plan to construct anywhere from 13 to 14 tiny houses on the 1.2 acre property on Madison. During a community meeting, CVC representatives were unable to answer the majori- ty of residents’ questions concerning the project including worries over sewer, water, electricity, parking, policing and eviction poli- cies. However, due to the nature of the sale, CVC is under no legal ob- ligation to inform the community or earn its approval for the proj- ect, planned for private property. "The Coalition claims they have been transparent, but the con- fl icting information sent to neighboring home owners, coupled with By Caitlyn May Please see CHAMBER PG A9 the one year delay in involving the community in the planning, con- fl ict with their perception of reality," said neighbor Elizabeth Gally. Neigbors had a few days of reprieve when CVC announced via a press release that it was no longer pursuing the Madison prop- erty and had opted to expand its search. However, days later on March 2, members held a public meeting disputing allegations that it had “abandoned” the property despite the initial report sent out by CVC member Allan Jones. Instead, members insisted they had never taken Madison off the table. At the same meeting, the group noted it was looking at an indeterminable number of properties ranging from one to three. However, the group declined to reveal the location of those properties. A press release announcing the purchase of the property on March 8 stated, “After deciding to suspend the original purchase agreement and to broaden the search, the seller for the Madison property agreed to extend the closing date and dropped the price $35,000. The purchase was closed and re- corded for $200,000.” SquareOne Villages, a non- profi t based in Eugene, pur- chased the property with a grant awarded to the group and has partnered with CVC to bring the project to fruition. SquareOne currently operates Opportunity Please see TINY HOUSES PG A9 BUSINESS Half marathon held No layoffs in CG More than 200 runners competed in Saturday's race. PAGE A5 PeaceHealth's mass layoff won't aff ect Cottage Grove. PAGE A8 INDEX Exec- cmay@cgsentinel.com utive Direc- tor of the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce, Travis Palmer and pres- ident, Candy Solsbee presented their annual report to the city council on March 13. In the report, Palmer noted that the chamber By Caitlyn May Cottage Village Coalition is planning a low-income, tiny house village for the property it recently purchased at 1430 E. Madison Ave in Cottage Grove. Calendar ...................................... B11 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 AD 6x2 cgnews@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-3325 ph • (541) 942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove _______________ VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 35