COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Local Handguns Long Rifles Concealed carry classes Call for Schedules EVERYONE DESERVES A GREAT SMILE! CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR INITIAL CONSULTATION • 541.686.1732 EUGENE CRESWELL 622 E. 22nd Ave Suite C 195 Melton Rd. 541.686.1732 541.686.1732 or visit us at www.thornton-ortho.com We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two. #SeenItCoveredIt. Jim Goodling - Mike Grant 330 OR-99 Suite C • Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-0165 Free Appraisals I’ll Come to You! BUY & SELL Gold, Silver, Scrap, Men’s Jewelry, Costume Jewelry, Pieces & Parts. Even Junk! 25+ Years Experience 2001 Franklin #3 Eugene, Oregon The Jewelry Girl, LLC L ISA R USSELL (541)556-9598 from A1 through and to proceed on its action plan.” Based on the efforts the city has already made with local initiatives and its collection of an engaged group of stakeholders, Salazar said Cottage Grove made the cut above its competitors. “We hope to use the Local Foods, Local Plac- es initiative to connect and enhance the efforts of these two economic development initiatives – one focused primarily on food, the other primarily on place – into a powerful force for change in Cottage Grove,” read the city’s ap- plication to the program last September. The application empha- sized a strong emerging food sector exemplified by the supporting efforts of Bohemia Food Hub, a local food business incubator and co-working kitchen, and partnered urban re- newal projects which have worked to reduce commer- cial vacancies and invest in downtown improvements. “We saw that Local Foods, Local Places was the perfect mechanism of trying to link those two things: our economic de- velopment efforts as well as the local foods move- ment that is so focused on the amazing resources that we have in the Willamette Valley,” said City Planner Amanda Ferguson, who drafted the application. Local Foods, Local Plac- es has a record of partner- ing with communities by supporting local efforts to protect air and water quali- ty, preserve open space and farmland, boost opportu- nities for local farmers and businesses, improve access to healthy local food, pro- mote childhood wellness and engineer stronger local food economies. Work with other com- munities has seen projects which open year-round downtown markets, help schoolchildren grow their own food, plan cooperative grocery stories and devel- op community gardens. Cottage Grove Plan For Cottage Grove, a total of $25,000 in direct assistance will be made available to the city as well as a formalized structure to work with a broad range of agricultural, environmen- tal, public health, archi- tectural and economic de- velopment experts to help develop an action plan, set goals and identify local assets that can support the local food economy and contribute to downtown and neighborhood revital- ization. “There’s a pretty broad range of expertise we can bring in,” said Salazar. “They are also directly ex- perts in this process.” The first of a three-stage process is anticipated to begin toward the end of summer or beginning of fall. This stage will analyze the community by holding virtual conversations with a stakeholders and experts. The meetings will include a community-self assess- ment, goal-setting and workshop planning. “It will allow the techni- cal assistance team to un- derstand the community context to really meet the community where they are to address their needs around local foods,” said Salazar. Next, the community and assistance team will convene for a two-day workshop, one evening of which will provide the public with an opportunity to give input. A date for the workshop is still undeter- mined due to uncertainty surrounding the state of the coronavirus pandemic. “We’ll probably wait un- til we can hold the work- shop physically,” said Fer- guson, adding that virtual options will be available for those who would like to keep socially distanced. This may place the work- shop as late as December, “But that date is still fluid,” said Ferguson. Finally, based on the in- formation gathered from the first two phases, im- plementation will begin during which the range of program experts will still be available to work through the process. “Overall, the goals are to increase some community investment in the sustain- able, local foods economy, to build on the existing assets and infrastructure in Cottage Grove and then We’ll make sure your system is running eff ectively and effi ciently. Call for details and an appointment today, and beat the spring rush! Complete Heating & Cooling System Service Reasonable Rates All Work Guaranteed | MAY 21, 2020 | 7A to address the local food priorities … in a way that’s both good for the economy and good for the environ- ment,” said Salazar. Implementation of the program’s 2018 efforts in Anchorage, Alaska pro- vides a good example of what the program can do, said Salazar, who was in- volved in the project. The Anchorage project repurposed an abandoned hospital site, improved access to community gar- dens and increased a broad range of community in- vestment in the communi- ty’s goals, Salazar said. Another case study on the EPA’s website points to Huntington, W. Va., where a local foods market expanded to nearly three times its original size after using its Local Foods, Lo- cal Places workshop to help with planning. The expan- sion created space for a small commercial kitchen, cooking classes, agricul- tural workshops, sustain- ability programs and other community events as well as generating $2 million in sales over five years. As a member of the Local Foods, Local Plac- es steering committee in Cottage Grove, Ferguson is eager to build the city’s own catalogue of successes through the networking of a range of local stakehold- ers. “One of my personal goals for the city is to re- ally define what the city can do to help this process and help entrepreneurship around food,” she said. Potential Benefits Through setting up this architecture, the city is hopeful many of its initia- tives currently in progress will find fertile ground to grow. Projects focused on downtown revitalization, refurbishing the Cottage Grove Armory complete with a commercial kitchen and Bohemia Food Hub support for the local im- migrant community are on the list of potential growth areas. The assistance program is also likely to provide a space for groups and sec- tors representing a diver- sity of interests to work together. Salazar and Ferguson of- fered possibilities such as linking restauranteurs to local farmers, involving the area’s Guatemalan immi- grants, providing new ed- ucation options for youth and inviting developers interested in green spaces as some of the partnership opportunities that may be presented. Already, Bohemia Food Hub is leading a coalition of local organizations de- signed to plan and im- plement support for local entrepreneurs in the food and beverage sector – par- ticularly in the immigrant community. With funding from the Rural Economic Development Innovation initiative, area nonprofit Rural Development Initia- tives is providing technical assistance to the program. It’s hoped that work- shopping such projects already in place will allow new networks of diverse stakeholders to connect. In addition to the net- working, Hamlin said he saw opportunities for or- ganizations to increase efficiency and commit to waste reduction. “This effort lines up well with the EPA Administra- tor [Andrew] Wheeler’s priority on reduced waste,” he said. “Projects like this have at least an indirect ef- fect of reducing waste.” One of the possible chal- lenges of tapping into Lo- cal Foods, Local Place’s po- tential will be dealing with the anticipated continuing threat of the coronavirus pandemic, however Fergu- son sees a silver lining. “We’re still listed as ‘economically distressed’ in Cottage Grove and COVID-19 is only going to make that worse,” she said. “I think [the program] is going to provide us a pretty unique opportunity to re- cover from the coronavirus with some new tools and new ideas.” Cottage Grove food carts, for example, have been “overwhelmed” by increased attention since Oregon businesses began restricting service, ex- plained Ferguson. A grant from Business Oregon has enabled the South Lane School District and Bo- hemia Food Hub to work together to bring a pop-up food truck to high school students, offering a unique environment to teach en- trepreneurship. “In the short term, I can see that at least as a good example,” she said. Partnership opportuni- ties with local health ser- vice providers have also See EPA 9A Install, Service, and Replace Pumps and Water Filtration Systems Test Water Quality And Water Flow Rate For service after hours, Call (503)991-9159 Cottage Grove Sentinel Introduces... GUARANTEED Bonded Licensed Insured CCB# 225978 Brandon Ervin (Owner) www.jamesheating.com Tel: 541.649.8100 24 Hr. Service: 503.991.9159 Email: ervinfamilypumpservice@gmail.com 115 Lawrence St., Eugene, OR 97401 CCB# 47396 • 542-461-2101 HOME SALES CCB# 225171 5W^QVOQ[WVMWN\PMUW[\[\ZM[[N]T\PQVO[_MLWQVTQNMVW_ILL\WQ\[MTTQVOaW]Z PW][M ?M_IV\\WPMTXaW]_Q\PW]ZVM_ Real Estate Insurance Package! ?M_QTTZ]VaW]ZWVTQVMIL]V\QTQ\[MTT[NWZWVMTW_XZQKM /]ZIV\MML0WUM;ITM8IKSIOM1VKT]LM[" ?WZL[8PW\W]VLMZNMI\]ZML 0WUM[NWZ[ITMXIOMWVTQVM _WZLIL]VLMZKTI[[QÅML[WVTQVM 7^MZ]VQY]M^Q[Q\WZ[WVTQVM 7VTaIVLQ\Z]V[]V\QTQ\[[WTL Normal price is $45 for 4 issues, insurance is only $5. Weekly feature for an additional $20/per week Commercial and Residential SITE DEVELOPMENT • Excavation, Clearing, Grading • Rock Hauling • Residential Building Pads and Driveways • Trenching • Commercial Site Work • Demolition limit one listing +W\\IOM/ZW^M+TI[[QÅML5):3-<84)+- “Your 1 stop place to buy & sell real estate in the region” Call Today 541.942.3325 cgsentinel.com S entinel C ottage G rove * Nov’18-Jan.’19 **Must be paid at time of placement - Over 25 Years of Construction Experience - For Inquiries or a Free Estimate Visit Us Online at www.nwcbuilders.com Give Eric a Call (541) 802-9245 541-726-7689 541-942-9635 Eugene/Springfi eld Cottage Grove