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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018
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State
withholds
marijuna
tax totals
CGSENTINEL.COM
Grove falls
short of
Toga record
Helping hands
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Th e air, which had
been tinged with ex-
citement, went out of
the room Monday night
when Cottage Grove
Area Chamber of Com-
merce Executive Direc-
tor Travis Palmer an-
nounced that the city
had fallen short of taking
back its world record for
biggest toga party.
“Did we set the re-
cord? No,” Palmer said
to an audible collection
of sighs and groans.
Th e
announcement
came during Monday
night’s city council meet-
ing and Palmer’s annu-
al report to the council
where he called the re-
cord attempt a “success-
ful failure.”
Th e city needed to
herd more than 3,700 to-
ga-wearing partiers into
Bohemia Park to beat the
current record held by a
school in Australia.
Cottage Grove’s at-
tempt was waylaid by
several factors, accord-
ing to Palmer. He in-
formed the council that
30 percent of the tick-
ets sold online prior to
the event were never
scanned.
“We know those peo-
ple showed up,” he said.
“You don’t lose 30
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Th e city council’s Aug.
27 agenda listed a tax
report from the state of
Oregon’s Department of
Revenue in regards to
recreational marijuana,
but failed to include the
tax receipts for the city at
the direction of the de-
partment of revenue.
In November of 2016,
Cottage Grove residents
voted to implement a
three percent tax rate
on recreational marijua-
na sold within the city’s
boundaries. Th is was in
addition to the 17 per-
cent tax issued by the
state which would, in
turn, distribute funds
back to cities aft er col-
lecting the entirety of the
tax funds.
Cottage Grove City
Manager Richard Mey-
ers noted that the state
has been slow to release
those funds as it contin-
ues to pay state agencies
and rules surrounding
marijuana continue to
evolve.
However, he told the
council that he believed
the amount the city re-
ceived this year would
be indicative of what
it would receive in the
future if consumption
stayed relatively even
and cities that did not
legalize recreational dis-
tributors within their
boundaries did not at-
tempt to enter the pool.
He did note that con-
sumption may decrease
as the “newness” of le-
galized marijuana wore
off , and that the exact tax
revenue was redacted by
the department of reve-
nue — essentially mak-
ing it diffi cult to even
know how much the city
made this year.
Th e state of Oregon
prohibits tax revenue in-
formation for cities with
fewer than 10 dispen-
saries from being made
public citing privacy for
the retailers.
An individual retailer’s
profi ts could be
See TAX 7A
CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
O
n Friday, Aug. 24, more than 300 community volunteers lined 10th Street to help the staff of Harrison
Elementary School move an estimated 9,000 books to the new Harrison Elementary School library
located a quarter of a mile up the road. Volunteers passed books down the line from the old library to
the new library, managing about one quarter of the books in just over an hour. South Lane School District
Communications Coordinator Garrett Bridgens said the books would most likely not be completely moved to
the new school by the time the event ended near mid-day, but said he was was impressed with the turnout and
community support. The new Harrison Elementary School is scheduled to open in time for the 2019-20 school
year and was built with the lion’s share of the $35 million bond passed in 2016. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the
school will be held tomorrow, Aug. 30, beginning at 5 p.m.
Voters will have a full
docket of choices as fi eld for
council positions grows
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
When former councilor Amy Slay
forfeited her council seat in Febru-
ary of this year, it left Cottage Grove
without a single woman in local
government. Th is November, three
women will take a stab at fi lling the
gap.
Jill
Hermansen,
Candace
Lamb-Solsbee and Ashley Rigel
have fi led to run for seats on the
Cottage Grove City Councilor with
Hermansen and Lam-Solsbee chal-
lenging sitting councilor Garland
Burback from Ward 3, and Rigel
running for the councilor-at-large
seat currently held by councilor
Mike Fleck.
Burback is also facing a challenge
from Raymond Ackerman.
Mayor Jeff Gowing and councilor
Jake Boone will run unopposed.
Also running unopposed is Greg
Ervin, who was appointed to the
seat formally held by Slay aft er her
resignation.
According to election fi lings, Her-
mansen currently works as a speech
therapist and obtained a master’s
degree from California State Uni-
versity, Fresno. She lists no previous
governmental experience.
Solsbee, who has been active in
the local chamber of commerce
CAITLYN MAY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
See ELECTION 7A
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Ice Cream Social
CG Theatre remodel
Community turns out for
second-annual Ice Cream
Social at the CG Armory
The Cottage Grove Theatre
announces remodel plans,
new season of shows
PAGE A6
PAGE A5
Rain Country Realty Inc.
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Licensed in the
State of Oregon
See RECORD 9A
Election fi lings show crowded races for council seats
INDEX
COMMUNITY
For a complete six-
day forecast please
see page A5.
RainCountryRealty.com • raincountryrealty@gmail.com
1320 Hwy 99 • 541-942-7246
Council members listen to citizen input during Monday night's meeting.
Calendar ...................................... B12
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
cgnews@cgsentinel.com
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove
_______________
VOLUME 130 • NUMBER 45
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