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
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S entinel
C ottage G rove
116 N. 6th Street, PO Box 35
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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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