WATERLINE
Crews work to contain the water from a line break which
fl owed onto streets and into yards at a rate of 10,712
gallons per minute. Photo by Katie Hayes.
Katie Hayes also saw entrance to our drive-
damage to her property way so that we can use
and addressed the coun- it and hand shoveling
cil on Monday, praising the debris. Since that day
Stewart for his action on though, it's been a night-
Oct. 22 but questioning mare," Hayes told the
the city's actions since council that her home-
that day.
owners' insurance would
"Faye did the right not cover the damage.
thing," she said. "Since
According to Cottage
that day, Faye has done Grove City Manager
the right thing, fi xing the Richard Meyers, neither
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL NOVEMBER 15, 2017 7A
No home rule
Continued from A1
will the city.
Meyers told the coun-
cil that the city is not
liable for the damage if
there was no negligence
on the part of the city.
And according to City/
County Insurance Ser-
vices (CIS) there was no
negligence.
"As a board you can
say you want to pay for
this," Meyers said. "But
once you start down that
road, there's no backing
off of it. You will be set-
ting precident." Meyers
warned councilors that
if they offered to pay for
the damages on S. 14th
St. they would opening
themselves up to a legal
can of worms and the
city could end up on the
hook for damages caused
by other 'no-fault' acci-
dents or disasters.
According to Stew-
art, the time it took for
the city to shut the wa-
ter off is directly related
to redundancies within
the city's system. Mey-
ers supported Stewart's
assessment by noting
that, "When you turn
these valves you're turn-
ing them 32 times to get
them to move an inch."
He also informed the
council that turning the
water off for the entire
city was not an option on
Oct. 22.
Six crew men and
Stewart were able to get
the system back online
a little after 9 p.m. the
same day.
"CIS performed an
investigation of the wa-
terline break/repair and
found the city not to
be at fault or liable for
the incident," Stewart
wrote in a report to the
council. "Since CIS is
a pool owned by cities
and counties, the Board
of Trustees set a policy
to compensate home-
owners for reasonable
expenses incurred to re-
move the water and dry
out the fl ooded buildings
provided the owner signs
a release to conclude the
claim."
Hunter said it took
10 days of high pow-
ered fans and heaters to
dry out her home while
Hayes said the money
offered by the city's in-
surance was "pittance" to
what it cost to repair her
home. "It was informa-
tive to hear how long it
took to turn the water off
but that doesn't mitigate
my damages," she told
the council. "Most of
us don't have thousands
of dollars in the bank to
pay for this. Our only re-
course is to take the city
to court which is more
money we don't have."
Councilor Jake Boone
spent his time during
council member com-
ments to question Mey-
ers and the city attorney
on what the board could
do to help homeowners
affected by the incident.
"This sucks," he said
after Meyers informed
him that the city could
not obtain better insur-
ance without tripling
water bills and that any
move by the board to
cover the costs would
be seen as precident for
future incidents which
could lead to the city's
bankruptcy in the event
of a natural disaster.
Oregon gets $2.6 million in road repair
Today, the Ranking Democrat on the
House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) an-
nounced that the United States Department
of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $2.6
million in emergency relief grants to rebuild
and repair roads in
Oregon .
“Two weeks ago,
I urged the Secre-
tary of Transporta-
tion to immediately
Stoc
k up
befo
r
they e
’re
gone
!
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sign critical Emergency Relief grants that
have been inexplicably stuck in the DOT
bureaucracy for months. These non-con-
troversial grants will help states and federal
land management agencies rebuild roads
impacted by severe storms, fl ooding, and
wildfi res. I am happy to announce that these
grants have fi nally been signed." For com-
plete story head to cgsentinel.com.
MARIE WILLIAMSON
PTA
303 Main Street, Cottage Grove OR
Phone: 541.942.6482
Fax: 541.942.6483
Douglas voters say no
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Douglas County will continue to operate under state rule after
76.33 percent of the vote to move towards home rule came back as
a resounding, 'no.'
Voters were tasked with deciding whether or not to implement
a local constitution that would come with a slew of changes for
Douglas County government. The fi rst and most distinguishable
from the current system was the potential change to county gov-
ernment.
The board of county commissioners would go from a three-mem-
ber board to a fi ve-member board. Those fi ve members would no
longer be "at-large" commissioners but districts would be formed
and each commissioner would represent a certain district. Commis-
sioners would also give up their salaries in exchange for a monthly
payment--reported at $500--that would be dependent on their atten-
dance at public meetings. They would also be considered part-time
rather than full-time.
The county would have also seen the installation of a county
manager who would oversee the day-to-day operations of the local
government, in much the same way city managers work with city
councils to handle the business of the city.
However, just over 23 percent of the vote saw a 'yes' on the ballot
to create a home rule charter in Douglas.
In total, nine counties around the state of Oregon have passed a
home rule charter in the form of a ballot measure. Nearly 20 other
Oregon counties have voted the issue down.
The issue, like many others this election cycle, found a footing on
social media with both sides of the vote casting stones before set-
ting out to cast ballots. Back-and-forth between the groups included
talk over monetary contributions, arguments against status-quo and
the enormity of the change to adopting a home rule charter.
Dutch Bros. raises
money for cancer
research
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, all Dutch Bros lo-
cations partnered with their communities to raise $220,000 for the
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and Albie Aware in support of the
advancement of breast cancer research and services for patients.
“We’re stoked to be able to contribute to the continued research
and services that these wonderful organizations provide,” said Tra-
vis Boersma, Co-founder Dutch Bros Coffee.
During the entire month of October, Dutch Bros locations donat-
ed $5 from the sale of each specialty “Be Aware” travel mug to raise
funds. The sales were in conjunction with Breast Cancer Aware-
ness month, and each purchase provided an opportunity to increase
awareness of this disease and its impact on those fi ghting it.
“We’d like to thank Dutch Bros and the Dutch Bros community
for their continued support of our effort to fi ght breast cancer,” said
Arpana Naik, M.D., associate professor for surgery in the OHSU
School of Medicine and breast surgical oncologist for the OHSU
Knight Cancer Institute. “Raising over $200,000 in just one month
is an impressive feat, and those dollars will support the research
and treatment underway here to make a difference for our patients
across the state affected by this disease.”
Dutch Bros locations across seven states raised $203,800 for the
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. The funds donated will support
their research into treatment and preventative methods for breast
cancer detection. They take an individual, personalized approach
with each patient’s care, utilizing cutting-edge technologies, includ-
ing DNA specifi c drugs and radiation therapies.
Dutch Bros locations in Sacramento raised $16,200 for Albie
Aware, a local non-profi t organization that works to bring aware-
ness, while also focusing on support services for breast cancer pa-
tients. Funds raised will directly benefi t Albie Aware as they provide
life-saving education, testing, patient advocacy and compassionate
care for individuals facing or fi ghting breast cancer.
Wish Week Nov. 19 – Nov. 22
shop Black Friday deals early
With a $5 donation to Make-A-Wish ® you will be able to shop
our Black Friday deals early. Family is very important to all of
us, so take the time over Thanksgiving to spend time with them,
and shop early with us while helping out a great cause that will
support deserving kids like Harper in your local community.
Harper, 5
leukemia
I wish to go
to ski school
We’ve teamed up again with Make-A-Wish ® this
holiday season to help grant life-changing wishes.
This year, our goal is to raise $1 million and grant another
100 wishes for deserving kids like Harper. Eligible wish kids,
right here in your community, are waiting for their one true wish.
Donate this holiday season and help us grant more
transformational wishes.
Between Nov. 2 – Dec. 31, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores
will donate 100% of customer donations to Make-A-Wish,
with a minimum guarantee of $200,000.