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 THURSDAY EDITION | JANUARY 21, 2021 | $1.00 S entinel VOL. 132, NO. 3 • Est. 1889 Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! Get an insurance plan —not just a policy. City reaches end of COVID relief allocation By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com (541) 942-0555 WEATHER Federal financial aid for address- ing the pandemic has about dried up for the City of Cottage Grove. The passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Secu- rity (CARES) Act last year estab- lished a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund to provide assistance for state, local, and tribal govern- ments. Cottage Grove was allocated $328,944 in relief funds and is cur- rently finalizing its last request for reimbursement. The CARES Act requires that the payments from the Corona- virus Relief Fund only be used to cover expenses that: are neces- sary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID–19; were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the state or government; and were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on Dec. 31, 2021. A Dec. 30, 2020 deadline for spending had previously been es- tablished, but was recently extend- ed to the end of 2021. Cottage Grove can seek reim- bursement for any qualifying ex- penditures since March 1, 2020 and is making a final request for the last of its allocated resources. In deciding on strategies for spending, City Manager Richard Meyers said the city focused on finding investments which could continue their benefits beyond a See FUND 5A Chance of showers with a high of 50 and a low tonight of 36. Full forecast on A4 SENIORS Boomers & Beyond A6 HUMOR James Kazad: Contempt for those in better shape first step to healthier you B1 • RECORDS Obituaries Official releases A2 • OPINION Letters and editorials A3 • LORANE NEWS B1 • CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices B5-B6 DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Construction on the Gateway Boulevard plot is preparing the site for a 40-unit, four-building cluster of multifamily units. ‘Gateway’ to more housing proposed By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com R ecent construction work has kicked up some dust on Gateway Boulevard, leaving many in the community to specu- late on the development. The nearly two-acre lot, nes- tled between the boulevard and Row River Trail, has been largely upturned as a result of the excava- tion, leaving little to resemble the previously undeveloped, lightly forested plot. The site is undergoing prepa- ration for a proposed 40-unit complex, a four-building cluster of multifamily units consisting of two eight-unit, two-story build- ings and two 12-unit three-story buildings. “Conveniently located within walking distance of three shopping centers, the post office, bus stops and city parks, this will be an ideal location for city living,” states the proposal from JDL Construction, which is managing the project. The project description includes landscaping throughout the site, open space areas with picnic tables and barbeque facilities at the rear of the project to provide occupants See GATEWAY 7A FOLLOW US FOR THE City Council to vote on SDC methodology amendment @CGSentinel By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 The Cottage Grove City Coun- cil is set to vote on a change to the city’s system development charges (SDC) methodology in its upcom- ing Jan. 25 regular session. The amendment to city code will incorporate meter size as a factor in calculating fees. D I N LICENSED N I SURE Test Water Quality And Water Flow Rate D ON E D Install, Service, and Replace Pumps and Water Filtration Systems In 2011, the Cottage Grove City Council adopted a methodology for calculating SDCs for water and sewer, which authorized calcula- tions to be based both upon fixture count and meter size. However, at the time, the coun- cil incorporated only the fixture count methodology into munici- pal code as its rule for calculating water and sewer SDCs for all de- velopments. D /CGSentinel B LATEST NEWS : SURE Bonded Licensed Insured CCB# 225978 Brandon Ervin (Owner) Tel: 541.649.8100 • For service after hours, Call (503)991-9159 For service after hours, Call (503)991-9159 Email: ervinfamilypumpervice@gmail.com A system development charge is a one-time fee imposed on new or some types of re-development at the time of development. The fee is intended to recover a fair share of the cost of additional capacity street, sewer, water, storm drainage and park facilities and for providing a fair share of the city’s cost responsibility for public im- provements. Oregon Revised Statute defines Quality Cleaning Certifi ed Green 541-942-0420 an SDC as the sum of two com- ponents: a reimbursement fee, de- signed to recover costs associated with capital improvements already constructed or under construc- tion; and an improvement fee, de- signed to recover costs associated with capital improvements to be constructed in the future. In order to maintain equity See SDC 4A