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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2019)
6A | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Council from A1 and traffi c fi nes from cur- rent data. “I fi nd it surprising be- cause I stopped fi ning peo- ple and somehow it result- ed in more money,” Fisher said. In detailing crime trends, the report noted that crimes of criminal trespass and theft III (theft of items valued less than $100) are typically refl ections of pov- erty. Both off enses have seen a downturn in recent years. “I don’t have an answer for that, but that’s encour- aging,” said Fisher. Fisher also reported a successful change in the court’s schedule as it has moved all non-En- glish-speaking defendants to a quarterly fi ft h Th urs- day docket. Th ere are three fi ft h Th ursdays in a year. “We don’t get a large number of non-English speakers, but it’s enough that when you have one, you need to have an inter- preter present and there’s a minimum 2-hour fee for that,” he said. “If I called in an interpreter every time, it would cost a small fortune, so we consolidated it all into a single day.” Fisher said about four people on average show up on the quarterly dockets. Th e judge also said the court is looking to include a Mam interpreter, which he said would service about 70 percent of the non-English speakers. Mam is a Mayan lan- guage spoken by a signif- icant subset of Cottage Grove’s immigrant popula- tion. In other developments, Fisher reported that at the end of the year the city will lose its local Alcohol Drug Evaluation Service provider who could provide in-town mandatory exams for DUII defendants with already suspended licenses. While the city searches for a replacement, Cottage Grove DUII defendants will be required to fi nd their way to Eugene for the evaluation. Th e court re- port noted a higher failure rate for DUII diversions and more probation viola- tions when this had previ- ously been the case. Lastly, Fisher reported that, “We are in the earli- est of early stages making moves toward creating what is essentially called a ‘Mental Health Court.’” Fisher anticipated this court could aid people with mental health problems which contribute to their criminal activity. “And that’s actually a pretty fair number of peo- ple here – probably a quar- ter, maybe a third,” he said. In other City Council news: Aff ordable Housing Th e council returned to an ongoing discussion about city assistance with aff ordable housing projects such the Cottage Village Coalition and Legion Cot- tages. A draft proposal was presented to the council for review in a bid to negotiate and develop a future res- olution which could help housing projects with sys- tem development charges (SDCs) and building per- mit fees. Among recommenda- tions, the draft proposed that the city may contrib- ute up to $25,000 a year for building permit and in- spection fee assistance and $75,000 for assistance with SDCs. Under the proposal, projects with a higher num- ber of units would be eligi- ble for higher percentage of SDC assistance. Councilor comments were mainly in agreement with the draft proposal. “It’s certainly good enough to start with and see what works and what doesn’t,” said Councilor Jake Boone. “I love this idea, what it will do and the intent be- hind it,” said Councilor Greg Ervin. “My hang up is, this feels like charity at our discretion and its pub- lic funds.” City Manager Richard Meyers suggested intro- ducing a three-year sunset period to the program. Th e program would be eligible only for nonprofi t or government agencies. Th e council then re- ceived an informational presentation from City Planner Amanda Ferguson detailing the Code Audit Committee’s recommenda- tions on ways to increase aff ordability and availabili- ty of multiple-family hous- ing. Th e committee recom- mended using a MUPTE (Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption) program to incentivize redevelop- ment of residential prop- erties. Th e program allows new multi-family units (three or more units) to avoid prop- erty taxes on the value of new residential construc- tion for up to 10 years. Th e property continues to pay taxes on the land value and any commercial portion of the property. Developers applying to the MUPTE program would have to qualify by meeting certain public ben- efi t standards such as day care facilities, open spac- es, recreation facilities and dedication of land for pub- lic use. A public hearing on a draft ordinance for a MUPTE program will be held at the City Council meeting on Dec. 9. schedule to include a con- venience fee for the use of credit and debit cards. Currently, all city fees may by paid cash, check, money order or cashier’s check. Payment by use of credit or debit cards, how- ever, has not been an op- tion due to costs charged by card processing companies. Th e resolution amended the fee schedule to add a convenience fee associated with the payment of any fee by using a debit or cred- it card. Fees will not apply to recurring utility billing payments or utility billing payments taken online or at the fi nance offi ce. “We’re trying to avoid having to increase all of the fees for everyone by charging that convenience fee for that person who wants to use a credit or deb- it card,” said Finance Direc- tor Roberta Likens. Supplemental Budget Th e City Council vot- ed unanimously to adopt a supplementary budget as the city has received grants, insurance proceeds and bond proceeds which were not anticipated at the time the 2019-20 municipal budget was created. Oregon Revised Statues requires the city to hold a budget hearing when any fund is increased by more than 10 percent. State and local grants totaling $121,500 will be allocated toward transpor- tation improvements and safety enforcement while a grant expenditure of $3,000 was authorized for the Shop with a Cop program in col- laboration with the local Walmart. Following the comple- tion of bond fi nancing in September, about $1.1 mil- lion in bond proceeds will be allocated toward water meter upgrades around the city and $1 million will fund rehabilitation of the Cottage Grove Armory. 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