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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2021)
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 | APRIL 15, 2021 | $1.00 In This Issue S entinel VOL. 132, NO. 15 • Est. 1889 Your Local News Delivered Your Way: In Print. Online. On the Go! More MUPTE applicants receive city council approval Get an insurance plan —not just a policy. Calls to explore affordable housing alternatives set tone for future discussion (541) 942-0555 By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel. com WEATHER Sunny skies with a high of 72 and a low tonight of 41. Full forecast on A5 HUMOR DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Residents in Cottage Village have narrowly avoid- ed a rent increase with the approval of the MUPTE program for the site. Two more Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) applications have been approved by the Cottage Grove City Coun- cil as a energetic conversa- tion continues locally about the way the city ought to address its housing needs. The two approved appli- cations were for Cottage Village, a development of 13 tiny homes managed by SquareOne Villages, and Harrison Village, an 80-unit project proposed by Hi-Valley Development Corporation. Following the meeting, Cottage Village Coalition Chair Bruce Kelsh told The Sentinel that he was very pleased with the decision regarding the tiny home project. “It really makes such a tremendous impact on the finances for Cottage Village going into the future,” he said. “I was impressed and continue to be impressed by the thoughtfulness and the deliberative process that the council members went through in making the decision.” He said he was also look- ing forward to future dis- cussions about other solu- tions to housing such as a Low-Income Rental Hous- ing Property Tax Exemp- tion (LIRHPTE) program. See MUPTE 9A Extraterritorial connections allowed under new code changes By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel. com The downside of men’s softball B2 SPORTS Elks wrap up solid six-man season B1 DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • RECORDS Obituaries Official releases A2 • LORANE NEWS Frequent testing of the city’s wastewater partially accounts for the utility’s costs of operation. City’s sewer rates set to rise July 1 A5 By Damien Sherwood • CLASSIFIEDS dsherwood@cgsentinel. com Listings and public notices B5-B6 follow us for the latest news: /CGSentinel @CGSentinel Wastewater rates for those on the City of Cot- tage Grove utility system will rise on July 1 this year by $6.44. The move to raise rates was voted on unanimous- ly by the Cottage Grove City Council on April 12, based on a financial plan presented on Feb. 22 from the city’s consulting firm FCS Group. The firm has per- formed a five-year finan- cial plan for the city every five years since 2010. Though an alternative version with lower rates was presented on Mon- day, councilors opted for the original plan after deliberating on the trade- offs. The Feb. 22 five-year utility financial plan from FCS Group made rec- ommendations for water, sewer and stormwater rates in the near-term. The detailed analysis See RATES 7A Th e Cottage Grove City Council on Monday adopted an ordinance which amends the City of Cottage Grove Munic- ipal Code regarding an- nexation standards and procedures for allowing extraterritorial connec- tions. Th e extraterritorial connections will provide utility service for prop- erties which are outside city limits, but still in the city’s urban growth boundary (UGB). Two ordinances were presented to the council on Monday for consider- ation. Th e council had dis- cussed the concept in its Feb. 8 and March 22 meetings and instructed city staff to prepare and present the municipal code change, asking that seven criteria items be in- cluded in the ordinance. Namely, the council requested that: the prop- erty must be in the UGB, utility service is adjacent or within 300 feet of the subject property, proper- ty owners must sign See CODE 10A Season officially ends for Community Sharing Warming Shelter By Damien Sherwood dsherwood@cgsentinel.com 541- 942-3325 ph • 541-942-3328 fax P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 The Community Sharing Warming Shelter has closed for the season and, despite getting off to a late start, has reported a successful first crack at becoming the city’s newest model of relief for those seeking shelter from the cold. “I think the impact was huge,” said Community Sharing Execu- tive Director Mike Fleck. “I think we absolutely met a need, even if it wasn’t huge numbers.” The site has a stated season- al opening period from Nov. 1 to March 31, however it did not open until late January as time was needed to jump start the newly created project by recruiting, cre- ating manuals, setting COVID-19 protocols and budget planning. In that time, the shelter activat- ed nine times. No data on the final activation was available at press EVERYONE DESERVES A GREAT SMILE! 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 GIVE US A CALL TO SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TODAY! time, but the previous eight activa- tions saw a total of 58 stays from 28 people, meaning the shelter saw returning clients. “The folks were all respectful and so grateful for the service,” said Fleck. Community Sharing assumed responsibility for the project last fall when local shelter provider Beds for Freezing Nights stated it would be unable to provide its ser- vices this season. It does, however, remain a supporting entity for the current program. The fenced Community Shar- ing Warming Shelter site at 224 N. 12th St. hosts 18 Pallet Shelters and maintains a total of 35 beds. Coming in two sizes, 64 and 100 square feet, the shelters are owned by Lane County and have ameni- ties including beds, electrical out- lets, a heater, an air conditioner, See SHELTER 5A WE ARE HERE TO HELP All services are completely free. LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICES Rural Program 508 E. Whitaker Ave. Cott age Grove Monday - Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm Offi ce & 24/7 Crisis Line: (541) 767 - 3823
