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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2019)
$1.00 S entinel C ottage G rove 3 Est. 1889 Serving the communities of Cottage Grove, Dorena, Drain, Elkton, Lorane and Yoncalla. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Cottage Grove’s 2018-19 Fi- nancial Grade Report has list- ed all funds as meeting or ex- ceeding expectations with the exception of the wastewater reserve fund, which received an “under supervision” grade. Th e report, released earlier this month by the city’s fi nance department, details revenues and expenditures contrasted to the year’s adopted budget. Now midway through the fi scal year, the wastewater reserve fund has a reported defi cit of $228,161 because the city has yet to bor- row the funds it had mapped out in the budget. Th e funds, which are ex- pected to help pay for a string of projects to improve Cottage Grove’s wastewater system may not be borrowed by the end of the fi scal year as planned, thus creating the 'defi cit.' “It’s under supervision because we did a number of projects al- ready this year and we made the expenditures and we have the money and the funds, but we were also supposed to bor- row some money to continue to do more projects and we haven’t borrowed yet,” said City Manager Richard Meyers. To make up for the shortfall, loans are being to sought to bring the budget back in the green. Th is year’s wastewater reserve budget has infl ated compared to previous years, caused most no- tably by projects to rebuild sewer lines and fund the designing of a wastewater storage unit. Most sizable among the proj- ects, Meyers said, is engineering the new design for effl uent stor- age. Th e city’s effl uent, which has been treated to remove contam- inants, currently has no long- term storage space and must be used for irrigation or discharged into the Coast Fork Willamette River. Th e city purchased Middle- fi eld Golf Course in 2006 for irrigation purposes, easing the burden on the temperature-sen- sitive river. Lack of storage has been a strategic challenge for the city. A large part of meeting that challenge involves managing temperature. For treated effl uent to be re- leased into the river, it must fi rst be cooled in order to reduce its impact on the ecosystem. Irri- gating the plant life on the golf course, however, requires no cooling and saves the city an ex- tra step. Despite this solution, last year the Department of See FINANCES 8A PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove SPORTS Head football coach Gary Roberts announces his departure from team. B1 WED 49º/40º For a complete six- day forecast please see page A5. CGSENTINEL.COM A night of celebration for Cottage Grove By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Students and community members were recognized for their contributions during banquet Saturday marked the 70th Annual Awards Banquet of the Chamber of Commerce. Th e night consisted of dinner, desserts, honors and awards for standout individuals and or-ga- nizations in Cottage Grove. To start the evening, Junior First Citizen Scholarships were awarded to two local high school students, Gwenyth Fisk and Day- na Jo Harris. Chelsea Armstrong, a recipient of last year’s scholarship, praised the students for their balance of volunteerism, school and work. “Being a high school stu- dent and working a part-time job is no small feat,” Armstrong said. Larry Sullivan, Interim Super- intendent for South Lane School District then presented awards to employees of the school district. South Lane School District Clas- sifi ed Employee of the Year went to custodian Brian Anderson, honoring his commitment to connecting with students. PHOTOS BY GREG LEE Russ McGuire, Anna Maria Dudley, Nadine Kelley, Mike Fleck and Richard Meyers are joined by students Gwenyth Fisk and Dayna Jo Harris during the 70th Annual Chamber Awards Banquet. Inset, chamber director Travis Palmer and Kelley. “Brian Anderson was hired in 2005 and has been the heart of Cottage Grove High School,” Sullivan said. “He arrives before everyone and creates a homelike environment for staff and stu- dents. … It’s not necessarily the job of a custodian to connect with students and make them feel valued, but that is what he does.” Also of the South Lane School District, high school teacher Mi- chele Hilton received the Teacher of the Year award for her devoted aid to English language-learning See BANQUET 6A Cottage Village project now 80 percent funded By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Th e houses may be tiny but the dream never was and on Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Lane County Commission helped Cottage Village Coalition (CVC) make a giant leap in seeing that dream be- come a reality. “Our group has been working long and hard to achieve this vision. We couldn’t be more excit- ed by this affi rmation of our work by our county leaders,” said CVC President Bruce Kelsh about the decision by the commission to award the group $500,000 through a Housing Improvement Plan grant. Th e award was part of a larger $2 million grant award for Lane County housing projects. “Approving SquareOne Villages’ grant applica- tion for Cottage Village will make a tremendous impact by providing the much-needed housing for low to extremely low income individuals in Cottage Grove,” Mayor Jeff Gowing wrote in sup- port of the group’s grant application. CVC partnered with SquareOne Villages — a nonprofi t based in Eugene — nearly two years ago to explore the possibility of building a com- munity made up of tiny houses that closely fol- lowed the neighborhood models developed by SquareOne in Eugene for low-income and homeless individuals. Th e community located on Madison Ave. in Cottage Grove will consist of 13 tiny homes, a caretaker’s home and a community space located in an existing storage shelter on the property. Last month, construction at the site began un- der the new county provisions that allow accesso- LOTTERY WINNER ry dwellings on property where a house already exists. Because the caretaker’s house was al-ready on the Madison property when CVC and Square- One Villages purchased it, the fi rst tiny home would qualify as an accessory dwelling. Accord- ing to Kelsh, that house will serve as a model to help garner additional donors to the project. “We are not only pleased with the tremendous support shown by the Cottage Grove community for this project,” said SquareOne President Dan Bryant, “but also that Lane County is partnering with us to demonstrate a model for how to do EPUD Scholarship A Cottage Grve lottery tick- et $3 million prize was won by a Springfi eld woman Area students can apply for 11th annual EPUD Scholarship PAGE A5 Mayor gives State of the City Address By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com Th ings are going well. Th is is according to Cottage Grove Mayor Jeff Gowing who gave the traditional state of the city address during the regularly scheduled city council meeting on Monday, Jan. 14. Gowing, who was elected in 2016, gave a detailed re- port of nearly every city department and a look at what’s ahead for the city — including infrastructure projects and changes sparked by the offi cial population boost to 10,000 residents. Population: “For the last few years our population has been creep- ing to the 10,000 mark,” Gowing said in opening his statement. “It almost felt like many were scared of this happening or it would be a bad thing. I’m relieved we fi - nally made it and now we can move on.” Cities with pop- ulations of 10,000 or more are required to meet certain standards regarding water and wastewater systems in addition to providing a certain number of trash services. Population numbers are also used to calculate munici- palities’ share of state revenues. Public works: During his 20-minute address, Gowing updated the public on the city’s public works department which un- derwent a change in 2017 when former Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart stepped down from his seat to lead the newly formed Cottage Grove Public Works and Planning Department. Stewart oversaw the creation of the city’s internal building permit inspection division which, according to Gowing, approved 76 plans and per- formed 793 inspections in 2018. Water: Over the summer, water was the hot topic as larger See MAYOR 8A See TINY 8A EDUCATION Mega Millions claimed PAGE A3 (541) 942-0555 FACEBOOK.COM/CGSENTINEL • TWITTER.COM/CGSENTINEL INDEX City’s fi nances get green light, minus wastewater PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL BENEFITS | SURETY Calendar ...................................... B12 Channel Guide ............................... B5 Classifieds ...................................... B7 Obituaries ...................................... A2 Opinion ......................................... A4 Sports ............................................ B1 Marriage & Family Counseling Learn to positively overcome confl icts and create stronger relationships for life. 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 _______________ VOLUME 131 • NUMBER 4 Quality Vision Care for You Comprehensive family, medical eyecare and optical services We provide exams for Cataracts, Glaucoma, Diabetic and Lasik Serving Cottage Grove since 2006 Alan D. Walker A Masters Level Christian Counselor Offi ces in Cottage Grove, Yoncalla, and Roseburg 541-817-6271 AlanWalkerPACO@gmail.com • AlanDWalkerCounselor.com Mon-Thurs 9M-5PM FRI 9AM-4PM 257 N. 8th St 541-942-5000 | www.PCVI.com