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C ottage G rove
Est. 1889
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018
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City council sets legislative goals for 2019 session
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Support of mental health
programs will be an important
focus for council.
On Monday, July 9, Cottage Grove City Coun-
cil members outlined their top legislative priori-
ties ranging from broadband infrastructure to an
investment in mental health services.
Th e action item was sparked by a request from
the Oregon League of Cities for municipalities to
rank issues in an eff ort to effi ciently utilize lob-
bying eff orts.
“…. Th e league does not have the resources
to pursue all objectives,” City Manager Richard
Meyers wrote in material given to the council.
“To help prioritize the objectives and be eff ective
during the 2019 Legislative Session, the league is
asking for assistance from its member cities.”
Council members were asked to submit their
top four objectives as well their bottom four
choices from a list of 29.
Th e objectives that appeared most oft en on the
councilors’ lists were selected.
“... Th e league is
asking for assistance
from its member cities.”
— Richard Meyers, City Manager
As top priorities, the city council chose legisla-
tion that seeks additional state support and fund-
ing for broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
Th e council also selected mental health invest-
ment as one of its top choices with background
information on the topic noting that, “the league
will seek to protect and enhance the investments
made to Oregon’s treatment of the mentally ill.”
An increase in mental health awareness has
been making headlines across the state and in
2015, the state funded housing assistance pro-
grams for those dealing with a mental illness.
However, information presented to the city
council noted that in light of an anticipated budg-
etary shortfall in 2019, the General Government
Committee was requesting that the League of
Cities works to retain those 2015 programs.
See GOALS 11A
Deadly force
used to stop
armed man
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Joey Loop, 40, died aft er
engaging in gunfi re with
Lane County deputies in
the early morning of July
12.
Loop, an employee at
the marijuana facility, One
Gro, was shot aft er deputies
arrived at the 78600 block
of Cedar Park Rd. just be-
fore midnight.
According to a press re-
lease from the agency, dep-
uties attempted to locate
Loop and were unsuccess-
ful. Shortly before 1 a.m., a
special response team was
called in for assistance.
“Deputies searched the
area and used a loud speak-
er to call into the building
on the property where it
was believed that the sus-
pect was located,” the re-
lease stated.
An artist's depiction of Main Street with improvements to improve public safety and incorporate amenities (below) as part of the refi nement plan.
See SHOOTING 7A
A look at the Main Street Refi nement Plan
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
T
he July 16 city council meeting
saw an unusually large crowd
and the majority of public
speakers addressed an agenda item
mentioning the Main Street Refi ne-
ment Plan. Th e council’s agenda called
for the board to consider giving city
staff permission to apply for a $10 mil-
lion grant to help fund the plan — not
approve the plan itself.
Th e Main Street Refi nement Plan
was approved in 2016 with an esti-
mated price tag that hovered around
$9 million. Speakers at last Monday’s
council meeting took issue with several
aspects of the plan including sidewalk
widths, trees and signage and urged
the council not to apply for the grant,
fearing it would lock the city into the
ap-proved plan.
However, city planner Amanda Fer-
guson told Th e Sentinel, “We are not
required to meet the letter of or install
every element of the Main Street Re-
fi nement Plan. It forms the nexus for
our applica-tion for the BUILD grant,
but is only our starting point.”
What’s in the plan:
Th e Main Street Refi nement Plan is
broken into four parts: planning and
concept development, preferred street-
scape concept, other opportunity areas
and funding and implementation.
How the plan was formed:
Several community organizations
took part in meetings throughout the
planning process which also included a
set community committee dubbed the
Plan Advisory Committee. Members
included the city engineer, members
of the historic landmark commission,
Ruth Linoz of South Lane Wheels,
Paul Tocco of Buster’s Café, an EBID
representative and city councilor Jake
Boone.
Cottage Grove Area Chamber of
Commerce Executive Director Travis
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Palmer was also on the committee and
spoke out during the July 16 meeting
asking residents to separate the plan
from the vote to allow city staff to ap-
ply for the funds.
Changes to streets:
Th e issue that garnered the most
FIRE INVESTIGATION
CGPD kennels
Zombie House fi re
Program gives lost or
abandoned pets a second
chance PAGE A5
Still no arrest in house fi re
PAGE A7
Sidewalk Sale
Thursday, July 19th - Saturday, July 20th
up to
INDEX
COMMUNITY
attention during public comment was
the plan’s outline of possible changes to
the streets in downtown. Currently, the
streets are not in compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act
See MAIN 8A
Calendar ...................................... B11
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
No heat records were
broken last week in Cottage
Grove but if you ask resi-
dents, it was a hot one.
According to the Na-
tional Weather Service,
temperatures reached 98
degrees on Th ursday, fail-
ing short of a record set
in 1961 that saw a sizzling
105 degrees. However, it
still managed to climb well
above the average tempera-
ture for last Wednesday of
82 degrees.
Forecasts show tempera-
tures in the 90s through to-
day when the heat will drop
See TEMPS 7A
cgnews@cgsentinel.com
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Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
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