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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
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 35