COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • OCTOBER 31, 2018 • 3A
Saginaw mill meets with city, plans to rebuild
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
On May 27, the Whitsell Man-
ufacturing mill burned to the
ground. Five months later, some-
thing is rising from the ashes.
According to Cottage Grove City
Manager Richard Meyers, city ad-
ministration met with employees
from the Lane County Department
of Taxation and Assessment and
Whitsell owner Walter Whitsell to
explore future options for the com-
pany surrounding Enterprise Zone
credits. Traditionally, enterprise
zone credits exempt businesses
from property taxes for a specifi c
amount of time. According to an
update posted by the city manag-
er’s offi ce, the Cottage Grove/Cre-
swell Enterprise Zone allows three
years of property tax exemption if,
“new qualifying investments pro-
viding the business increases their
employment by a minimum of 10
percent.”
At the time of the fi re this past
spring, Whitsell employed an esti-
mated 100 workers. Th e fi re, which
destroyed the 180,000 square-foot
mill was ruled an accident but was
described by South Lane County
Fire and Rescue Chief John Woo-
ten as “the fastest growing fi re” he
had seen during his career.
According to the city manager’s
offi ce release, the meeting was cen-
tered on discussing the Enterprise
Zone credits available to Whitsell
to rebuild. Th e release also noted
that Whitsell has started purchas-
ing equipment and hoped to be
back in business by June of next
year.
And while a new building is a
little less than a year away, Whit-
sell has continued operating. Four
months ago, the company was
granted use of a space in Cottage
Grove to continue managing its
business aft er Cottage Grove Area
Chamber of Commerce Director
Travis Palmer made a phone call.
“I gave them a few days to get
their heads to stop spinning,” he
said previously. But once they
had, he reached out and asked
what the chamber could do to
help.
“One of the owners, he men-
tioned they’re currently trying
to maintain some sort of busi-
ness out of his living room and
it wasn’t working well because it
wasn’t set up for business with
faxes and phone lines,” Palmer
said.
So, he made another call.
Paktech, a manufacturing
company that provides han-
dles and application equipment
to food and beverage compa-
SENTINEL FILE PHOTO
nies, expanded its business to The scene on May 27 as emergency personnel responded to the fi re at
Cottage Grove last year aft er it Whitsell Manufacturing.
moved into the former Kwikee
swing, the offi ce spaces were empty. time.
building on Davidson Ave.
While the exact location of Whit-
Until owner Scott Diehl received a
Th e company originally brought
sell's grand rebuilding was not an-
phone call from Palmer.
approximately 35 jobs to the area us-
“I think there’s 10,000 or 12,000 nounced, the city manager's release
ing its in-line automated application
feet of offi ce space up there and they noted that the company was hoping
that provided a 100 percent recycla-
were operating out of dining rooms to re-establish its presence in Sagi-
ble product.
and things like that so I off ered them naw--the area the mill was built 40
And while the factory space at
the space to see if that would help years ago.
the new Paktech building is in full
them get started,” Diehl said at the
Training meeting to be held for Beds for Freezing Nights volunteers
Beds for Freezing Nights
(BFN) opens a shelter at the
First Presbyterian Church
when the average overnight
temperature is 29 degrees or
below from Nov. 15 through
March 31. Two-plus volun-
teers are needed to staff the
shelter during each of the
following shift s: 6 to 11 p.m.,
10:50 p.m. to 4 a.m., and
3:50 to 8 a.m. '
Responsibilities include
setting up/taking down shel-
ter supplies; checking guests
in and out; and super-ising
the shelter. Volunteers are
required to undergo a $10
background check and at-
tend the training meeting
on Saturday, Nov 3, from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Presby-
terian church 216 S Th irrd
St.
Volunteers will be as-
signed a shift according to
their availability when the
shelter is activated. To vol-
unteer, or for more infor-
mation, contact Christine
Moats at 541-521-8816 or
visit
www.freezingnights.
com for volunteer applica-
tions, a policy manual and
more information.
Tax deductible cash do-
nations may be sent to BFN
(checks made out to Beds for
Freezing Nights) at P.O. Box
1110, Cottage Grove, OR
97424.
its parking lot from 4 to 7
p.m. Come, decorate your
trunk and hand out treats.
Th ere will be soup and ci-
der for people to enjoy while
there.
• Th ursday, Nov. 1, Lorane
Grange meets at 7 p.m. for
its regular monthly meeting.
Th e next spaghetti dinner
and bingo at the grange is
scheduled for Friday, Nov.
16, starting with dinner at
5:30 p.m.
Maybe you’ll even win the
large progressive blackout
amount!
• Th e next Rural Art mov-
ie night is Saturday, Nov. 10.
• Th is coming Sunday,
Nov. 4, it’s time to set your
clocks back, so remember to
“fall back” to standard time.
• A special “Th ank You”
to all who worked on and
came to the Fundraiser at
Crow Grange, to help Cody
Tripp beat his cancer.
By all accounts, it was a
great turnout with lots of
love for Cody and family.
Anyone still interested in
donating to help, contact
Angela Tripp.
• Our Crow High School
Band leaves on Nov. 8 to
March at the Parade of He-
ro’s in Washington, D.C.
Mark Simonsen has the
honor of playing Taps at all
three memorials on Satur-
day, Nov. 10.
In that light, the drawing
for the guitar with hard case
is on Halloween.
Proceeds go to help the
band with travel expenses.
LORANE NEWS
• Today, Oct. 31, as we go
about our day, let’s watch out
for all the little ghosts and
goblins moving around, es-
pecially at dusk and later.
It could be dark tonight.
• Lorane Christian Church
is hosting a Trunk'n' Treat in
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