S ERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF C OTTAGE G ROVE , C RESWELL , D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON , L ORANE AND Y ONCALLA
C ottage G rove
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State of City addresses challenges, accomplishments
The City also joins
local leaders in
denouncing events in D.C.
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
WEATHER
Partly sunny with a
high of 59 and a low
tonight of 43.
Full forecast on A5
COLUMNIST
Mayor Jeff Gowing delivered the
State of City Address at Monday
night’s city council meeting, out-
lining the peaks and valleys of tu-
multuous year.
Gowing spoke of the city’s many
challenges last year and noted that
despite a historic pandemic, wild-
fires and the passing of a council-
or, the community exercised resil-
ience and adaptability as it found
ways to move forward.
“I was so proud of the way the
citizens of Cottage Grove respond-
ed to all the challenges of 2020,” he
said. “It really makes me proud to
call Cottage Grove home.”
Though starting 2020 off on a
DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Members of council who were voted in last November took their
oaths of office during Monday’s city council meeting.
high note with the city’s giveaway
of hundreds of trees to replace
those lost in the previous year’s
snowstorm and the rebirth of
the South Lane County Resource
Guide, this was soon starkly con-
trasted with a public health crisis
which fundamentally changed the
community’s social and economic
architecture.
“Some of the changes we’ve
made will likely endure beyond the
pandemic,” said Gowing. “One of
the changes that I hope does not
become permanent is the closure
and damage of our local small
businesses. Those small business
represent real community mem-
bers, parents, friends and neigh-
bors to all of us, whether they are
owners that have a dream to run a
small business and serve the needs
of the community or employees
[who work] at those businesses.”
The mayor entreated the com-
munity to continue supporting lo-
cal businesses to help restore them
to pre-pandemic stability.
Gowing also praised the city for
swiftly moving to mitigate local fi-
nancial insecurity as the pandemic
hit.
The city designated $100,000 in
loans last year and used a portion
to match state funds for grants for
local businesses.
“We were able to provide 11
grants to Cottage Grove
See CITY 7A
SLSD adopts
‘All Students
Belong’ rule
Mary Ellen’s Tips ‘n’
Tales
B1
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
HUMOR
James Kazad
ponders ‘Post-It
dependency’
B1
• RECORDS
Obituaries
Official releases
A2
• LORANE NEWS
B1
• CLASSIFIEDS
Listings and public
notices
B5-B6
PHOTO COURTESTY OF THE CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE
City workers were forced to unclog the wastewater treatment plant’s screen last week.
City reminds residents that ‘wipes clog pipes’
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
FOLLOW US FOR THE
LATEST NEWS :
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541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax
P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
A recent issue surfaced at Cot-
tage Grove’s Wastewater Treat-
ment Plant that left city workers a
bit flushed. The issue?
Tissue.
According to the city’s state-
ment, the crew at the treatment
plant had been struggling the pre-
vious week to treat the high flows
of wastewater coming to the plant.
Upon investigation, the crew
discovered a screen had become
plugged with disposable wipes and
other non-biodegradable items re-
stricting the flow of wastewater.
During a break in the rain,
the crew began to clean out the
plugged screen and discovered the
extent of the problem – the screen
was covered with a blanket of ma-
terial one foot deep by five feet
wide and 10 feet long.
As a result, an expected flow of
25 million gallons of water per day
had been reduced to about seven.
Fortunately, the flows to the
plant had receded and the plant
was able to process all the waste-
water that came through the sys-
tem.
In the interest of preventing fu-
ture flow problems, the city issued
a simple reminder to the commu-
nity: “wipes clog pipes.”
The message stressed that city
residents hooked to the city sewer
system not flush items down the
toilet that don’t belong in the sani-
tary sewer system.
The wastewater treatment plant
is designed to treat waste such as
urine, feces and toilet paper only.
The city is asking residents not
to flush paper towels, facial tissues,
disinfectant wipes, diapers, baby
wipes, fats, grease or oils even if
the products have been marketed
as flushable.
City Manager Richard Meyers
said he understands that the inclu-
sion of facial tissues on the list may
come as a surprise.
“Facial tissues and Kleenexes are
not supposed to be flushed and can
plug up the system because they’re
a little more fibrous. They’re a little
See WIPES 6A
In the wake of intense
clashes on the streets of
the United States last year
sparked by the death of
George Floyd at the hands
of Minneapolis police, pub-
lic education policy in Or-
egon has shifted to address
concerns of discrimination
on campuses.
On Monday, South Lane
School District (SLSD) of-
fi cially took action to move
in concordance with devel-
oping state policies.
During its Jan. 11 meet-
ing, board members voted
to adopt the state’s “All
Students Belong” policy, a
temporary rule in Chapter
581, Division 22 in the Or-
egon Secretary of State Ad-
ministrative Rules.
Among its stipulations,
the All Students Belong
rule prohibits hate symbols
and specifi cally targets the
swastika (outside of a reli-
gious context), the Confed-
erate fl ag and the noose.
“This issue is probably
one of the most critical
things we can address in
meeting our commitment to
the young people that we’re
here for,” said SLSD board
member Jerry Settelmeyer
during the board meeting.
The state’s temporary
rule took effect on Sept. 18,
2020, and required districts
to adopt and implement
policies and procedures that
prohibit the use or display
of hate symbols within any
program or school-spon-
sored activity except where
used in teaching curricula
that are aligned with the Or-
egon State Standards by
See SLSD 5A
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