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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
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INDEX
City’s fi nances
get green light,
minus
wastewater
PERSONAL | COMMERCIAL
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Calendar ...................................... B12
Channel Guide ............................... B5
Classifieds ...................................... B7
Obituaries ...................................... A2
Opinion ......................................... A4
Sports ............................................ B1
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