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CGSENTINEL.COM
Marijuana money
headed to cities
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
PHOTO BY GREG LEE
Former mayors and current mayor Jeff Gowing pose for a photograph during the second annual Mayor's Ball held on Saturday, October 14. Below, Gowing
and his wife take advantage of the live swing band and take to the dance fl oor.
MAYOR'S BALL
The fi rst event
ever
held in the
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove
armory was a
dance, in the summer of 1931.
Eighty-six years later in the chill of the
fi rst whispers of autumn, the storied drill
hall found itself under a canopy of tulle and
housing the who's who of the city.
The second annual Mayor's Ball brought
out the tuxedos and gowns on Saturday night
in an attempt to raise $300,000 to renovate
the exterior of the building in an ongoing
restoration effort that will eventually see
the entirety of the building made compliant
with the American Disabilities Act (ADA)
and restored for use as a community center.
"We are in desperate need of space,"
development coordinator for the project,
Christina Lund told the crowd. Lund was
hired by the city a little over a year ago to
steer the fundraising and restoration effort.
By Caitlyn May
Since beginning the project, Lund said there
has been 16 nonprofi t events inside the ar-
mory as well as 25 grants applied for and
more than 100 tours given. The windows in
the drill hall have also been completed.
"This will be the living room of Cottage
Grove," she said.
Before the building becomes a hub of
community events, the city must complete
the renovation, including lead abatement.
The city purchased the armory from the
military in 2004. At the time, lead tests
showed several areas that would need to be
addressed. As recently as this year, the is-
sue of lead exposure was fodder for public
comment with at least four locations show-
ing higher than legally allowed levels of the
substance.
After re-testing the areas and determining
that the lead-painted stairs were responsible
for the higher levels of lead, the city spent
nearly $30,000 to clean the stairs and re-test
the areas.
"We tested fi ve areas and do you know
what our level was? Zero," Lund said, Sat-
urday night.
According to Cottage Grove City Manag-
er, the actual levels inside the armory did
not actually test as zero, but rather below
the lowest level the test evaluates.
Meyers said the levels would be kept low
by housekeeping as the city continues to re-
onate the building with contractors licensed
to remove lead.
Fundraising efforts have been continuous
with donors being courted and events being
held. This summer, the armory held its fi rst
ice cream social, serving more than 900
scoops of ice cream and giving the public
the opportunity to see the building it may
soon use for social gatherings.
The plan to transform the armory cur-
rently includes a slew of ADA upgrades
including a new entrance with elevator ac-
Please see MAYOR'S BALL PG. A11
The city of Cottage Grove is
fi nally getting its fair share of
the pot.
The state announced early
last week that $85 million gen-
erated by Oregon’s marijuana
tax would be distributed to local
municipalities after a year-long
wait. Cottage Grove will be re-
ceiving $42,502.80.
“It’s in our account as a pend-
ing deposit,” Cottage Grove
City Manager Richard Meyers
said. “But we don’t have any
timeline yet on what that cov-
ers,” he said, noting that the city
received $11,000 from local
marijuana tax for the time pe-
riod between January and May.
“The state should have been
sharing the money with the cit-
ies a year ago so is this from a
year ago or a different time pe-
riod? We don’t know yet,” Mey-
ers said.
State law required 10 percent
of the money to be given to
counties for local law enforce-
ment and an additional 10 per-
cent was earmarked for cities
Please see MARIJUANA PG. A7
New lead tests on
armory revealed
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Another round of testing on
the Cottage Grove Armory ren-
dered lead levels of zero accord-
ing to development coordinator
Christina Lund.
Lund made the announce-
ment during the second annual
Mayor's Ball held on Saturday,
October 14. However, testing
levels revealed zero is not quite
an accurate number.
The city tested fi ve locations
inside the building and accord-
ing to Cottage Grove City Man-
ager, the report did not show
zero lead levels.
"It doesn't say zero because
the test only goes to 10," he
said. "We could have been zero
or we could have been fi ve but
it's well below the limit."
The latest tests come after the
armory found itself the center
of media attention which cited
the city's methods in dealing
with lead during the renovation
process. A test conducted earlier
this year, revealed that nearly
every location tested during the
time of the sale of the building
had decreased in its lead lev-
el--except for one.
The area immediately in the
entrance to the building had
jumped from 49 in 2004 to 90
during the testing this year-- an
issue Meyers said was caused
by the lead painted steps just
outside the door.
"It’s conceivable that, with
Please see ARMORY PG. A7
SLFR heads to
CA fi res
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Construction on 6th St. to begin
Residents will see work start on 6th and Mosby Creek Rd.
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove residents will soon see
their commute around down become a bit
more lively.
Construction on the 6th St. and Mosby
Creek Rd. is set to begin on October 23.
However, the construction is not expected
to close any of the main roads in the city,
COMMUNITY
but rather, take up just a portion of the road,
letting vehicles pass by and no doubt, cause
rubbernecking.
According to planning and community
development manager Faye Stewart, crews
will begin digging out soft spots on the road.
A second week of construction will see
the pavement ground down and replaced.
Weather permitting, the project should be
completed by November 9.
The Request for Proposal returned a cost
of $427,365.36 for the project, not includ-
ing the cost of fl aggers. The funds were
moved from covering bridge repair after the
state legislature passed a landmark trans-
portation bill that will see money fl ow into
the city's coffers in January to replace the
money meant for repairs to several bridges
around the city.
HEALTH
Carousel
LBGTQ support
The carousel makes its
community debut. PAGE A3
South Lane Mental Health
off ering LBGTQ support
group for youths.. PAGE A8
INDEX
By Caitlyn May
Calendar ...................................... B11
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
AD 6x2
Personnel from South Lane
County Fire and Rescue (SLFR)
have left for California.
Four members of SLF--in-
cluding chief John Wooten and
division chief Joe Raade--have
been deployed to the Santa Rosa
area as part of the Lane Strike
Team.
They join approximate-
ly 11,000 fi refi ghters from
around the country (including
fi ve strike teams from Oregon)
working to contain the wildfi re
that has claimed the lives of
nearly 40 people and injured
more than 100 others.
The origin of the fi res burn-
ing in California's wine country
are still unknown. However, the
Public Utilities Commission
reported on October 12 that it
would investigate PG&E--a
power company that services
the area--for its possible role in
the wildfi res.
Stories have emerged from
California detailing the severity
of the fi res including heartbreak-
ing tales of individuals seeking
refuge in their swimming pools,
cars catching fi re as they fl ee
and family members lost to the
fl ames as the fi res continue to
claim houses and lives.
SLFR released a statement via
its social media saying, "SLFR,
as part of Lane Strike Teams
one and two, continue to be en-
gaged on the lines of the fi res in
the Santa Rosa area. These are
fast moving, dynamic fi res. We
Please see ARMORY PG. A9
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
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VOLUME 129 • NUMBER 65