6A | MARCH 18, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Citywide automated water meter upgrade means improved service In early March, utility crew replaced the city’s fi- nal mechanical water me- ter with a new automated meter. The new automated water meters are meant to reduce operating costs, Boone from A1 from a variety of back- grounds. Applicants were awarded scores based on seven qualities: decision making and problem solving; organization and planning; written communication; oral communication; in- terpersonal relations; supervision and lead- ership; and composure and stress tolerance. In the first round of screening, the list was trimmed down to 10 candidates based on ap- plication forms, letters of reference and meeting minimum requirements. As one applicant dropped out, a short list of nine candidates were then given four assign- ments, which included tasks such as analyzing and solving real Cottage Grove issues and writing a press release. The work was judged by a six-member pan- el including Meyers, City of Cottage Grove department heads and Wes Hare, a former city alerting customers of po- tential waterline leaks and breaks, and allowing the utility crew to focus on making repairs and upgrades to other city in- frastructure. The project replaced 4,037 meters and took approximately 14 months to complete. The automated water meters send water usage totals every 15 minutes to the city utility billing clerk’s computer. In the past, two utili- ty crew members would physically read each me- ter in the city, which took about seven days on av- erage to complete. Now, the information is sent electronically to the Fi- nance Department allow- ing monthly water usage statements to be calcu- lated each month on the same day. The automated meters are programmed to send alarm notices to the utili- ty billing clerk when water usage is out of an account’s normal range. By working with customers directly, most of the issues are re- solved quickly, reducing the number of leak checks requiring a technician to perform a service request. “I’m really looking forward to trying to help with the city’s communications efforts. I think this will be a useful addition to what the city has to offer for its for its residents.” providers Charter Spec- trum and CenturyLink and tasked with putting together accessible in- formation on the city’s website regarding water, stormwater and sewer infrastructure. Other proximate as- signments will include looking at transporta- tion issues, researching human resources pro- grams, organizing the reopening of the Cottage Grove Community Cen- ter and making regular online updates to issues of city interest. “I’m really looking forward to trying to help with the city’s commu- nications efforts,” said Boone, pointing to a need for residents to have a place where ques- tions can readily be an- swered. “I think this will be a useful addition to what the city has to offer for its residents.” Boone is beginning his position at the bottom of the city’s pay range, which is $6,206 per month. He will be under a six-month probation- ary period, meaning he can be let go if he under- performs. Other applicants from the pool may be tapped for future city jobs as well, said Meyers. “Because we have some staff retiring at the end of this year and as a result of going through these applications, we have a few people — some of them are local — that we’ve actually en- couraged and said, ‘Hey, watch for this job, this is going to be coming open later,’” he said. Mayor Jeff Gowing reacted to Boone’s ap- pointment today and said he was pleased with the result. “I’m excited about it,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a really good fit, just because the council knows him, so there’s not really a learning curve. … The roles are different and the work relation- ship is different, but the respect and appreciation of each other is there, so it’s going to be a smooth transition.” — Jake Boone, Assistant to the City Manager manager who has served the cities of Oakridge, La Grande and Albany. Meyers said that this second screening round was done blindly. Following Boone’s res- ignation from his city council position and an- nouncement of his intent to apply for the assistant position, some Cottage Grove residents spec- ulated that favoritism could compromise the integrity of the selection to Boone’s advantage. To ensure a selection based on merit, Meyers said information which could indicate the iden- tity of the candidates was blacked out by someone outside the panel and the anonymized work was handed to the panel for judgement. Through this process, candidates were then re- duced to a final three: a Cottage Grove resident who works as a senior planner in Springfield; a court clerk from Utah; and Boone. Meyers said he conducted “grueling” 38-question interviews which factored into the scoring of candidates’ composure and stress tolerance. The final scores were extremely close, Mey- ers noted, but Boone’s breadth of experience in areas such as the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) placed him above the others. As well as serving as treasurer, vice president and president of the LOC, Boone has also represented the city on SWITCH TO THE Aut o CONVENIENCE OF AUTO PAY! Pay SAVE TIME & SAVE MONEY Use your Credit or Debit Card account to renew your subscription to the Cottage Grove Sentinel (includes online edition) by using AUTO PAY. Complete the credit card information on the enclosed billing notice and make your payment the easy way with Auto Pay. Bring in or send this ad back with your payment and save $5 OFF Yes, Sign me up for Auto Pay*! ✓ ❏ 10 Weeks = $6.50, (Reg $11.60) ❏ Digital Only $30 (Reg$35) BEST OFFER ❏ 1 Year = $38.50 ( Reg $43.50) Address: _____________________________________________ City:__________________________State:_____Zip: _________ Telephone Number: ____________________________________ Credit or Debit Card Exp. Date: __________________________ Security Number ______________________________________ Card Number: ________________________________________ Name on Card: _______________________________________ Signature of Card holder: _______________________________ S entinel C ottage G rove 116 N. 6th Street, PO Box 35 Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-3325 • cgsentinel.com *Auto Pay Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled. Future renewals will be at the current subscription rate. the boards of the Cot- tage Grove Community Foundation, the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency, the Cottage Grove Community De- velopment Corporation, the Lane Area Commis- sion on Transportation, and on both the General Government and the Fi- nance and Taxation pol- icy committees for the LOC. In the Cottage Grove City Council, Boone was elected by the council as council president in 2017 and was selected to continue as council pres- ident in 2019. As first orders of busi- ness on Monday in his new role, Boone will be put to work on negotia- tions of franchise agree- ments with internet Worship Directory COTTAGE GROVE: 6th & Gibbs Church of Christ 195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822 10:00am Christian Education: Pre-K through 5th Tim Baker, Senior Minister www.6thandgibbs.com First Presbyterian Church 3rd and Adams St 541-942-4479 Rev.: Karen Hill Worship: 10:00am Sunday School: 10:00am fpcgrove.com Calvary Baptist Church 77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290 Pastor: Riley Hendricks Sunday School: 9:45am Worship: 11:00am The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm Hope Fellowship United Pentecostal Church 100 S. Gateway Blvd. 541-942-2061 Pastor: Dave Bragg Worship: 11:00am Sunday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday www.hopefellowshipupc.com “FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE” Church of Christ 420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565 Sunday Service: 10:30am Cottage Grove Bible Church 1200 East Quincy Avenue 541-942-4771 Pastor:Bob Singer Worship 11am Sunday School:9:45am AWANA age 3-8th Grade, Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm www.cgbible.org St. Andrews Episcopal Church 1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050 Rev. Lawrence Crumb “Scripture, Tradition, Reason” Worship: Sunday 10:30am All Welcome Seventh-day Adventist Church 820 South 10th Street 541-942-5213 Pastor: James D. Boram Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40 Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00 Trinity Lutheran Church 6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373 Pastor: James L. Markus Sunday School & Adult Education Living Faith Assembly 9:15am 467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612 Worship Services Sundays: 9a & 11a Sunday Worship 10:30 am Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur Youth Worship Sundays: 11a (all 5:00pm TLC Groups ages welcome) Mondays: 5:30p (6th-12th grades) tlccg.com United Methodist Church Non-Denominational 334 Washington 541-942-3033 Church of Christ Worship 10am 1041 Pennoyer Ave umcgrove.org 541-942-8928 Preacher: Tony Martin “VICTORY” Country Church Cottage Grove Faith Center Sunday Bible Study:10:00am 33761 Row River Rd. Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913 Pastor: Barbara Dockery 541-942-4851 www.pennoyeravecoc.com Worship Service: 10:00am Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett www.cg4.tv Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Message: “WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES” Full Childrenʼs Ministry available St. Philip Benizi Services: 9:00am & 10:45am Catholic Churches CRESWELL: 1025. N. 19th St. Creswell Presbyterian Church Delight Valley 541-942-3420 75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419 Church of Christ Father John J. Boyle Rev. Seth Wheeler 33087 Saginaw Rd. East Holy Mass: Adult Sunday School 9:15am 541-942-7711 • Pastor: Bob Friend Saturday Vigil – 5:30 pm Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am Two Services: Sunday – 10:30 am 9am - Classic in the Chapel For weekday and Holy Day of website www.creswellpres.org 10:30am - Contemporary in the Obligation schedule see website Auditorium OLPHCG.net First Baptist Church 301 S. 6th st • 541-942-8242 Pastor: David Chhangte Sunday School 9:30am Worship Service 10:30am Youth Wednesday 6:30pm cgfi rstbaptist.com Confession: 4 PM to 5 PM Saturdays or by appointment St. Philip Benizi, Creswell 552 Holbrook Lane Sunday 8 am Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature. If your congregation would like to be a part of this directory, contact us today! S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 116 N. 6th Street Cottage Grove, OR