Cottage Grove, Oregon

4 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 COTTAGE GROVE , OREGON most of our effluent out, using it for irrigation instead. We already irrigate our golf course that we own and operate, and we’ll be moving that irrigation water through the pond to other parks and facilities throughout the community. We’re reclaiming that water and reusing it in the community, so we don’t use treated drinking water – to be more sustainable and make our drinking water system last longer. The regulations on discharging into the river continue to get tighter, and our biggest challenge is temperature. If we water the park with it, the grass doesn’t care if the water is 65 degrees instead of 64, but the river temperature is important for fish and avoiding growing algae and other things that deplete the oxygen and harm the fish and aquatic life.” Highlighting another sustainability effort, Meyers describes an upcoming bridge project which will use beams from a temporary project by ODOT. He relays, “We didn’t purchase them, actually, ODOT had to get rid of them so they were giving them restored and turned into Bohemia Park, through a partnership with the Faye and Lucille Stewart Foundation, who own the land, but have granted the city a 99-year conservation easement on it. “That was so we could get grants through the city. We own it and they still maintain it, but we do a lot of other work with it and help with the maintenance. It has become a central activity place in the community and it is really well located.” Meyers reports. “They’ve applied for a grant through the EDA for a new entrance telling the history of mining, timber, and agriculture in the community, and also for a splash pad and other recreation there.” The park is currently home to a 2,000-seat amphitheater and a fountain pond. In other infrastructure projects, Cottage Grove has completed construction of a 12-million-gallon pond, as part of the wastewater treatment plant. Meyers explains, “We are the first municipality that’s discharging into the coast fork system in the beginning of the valley, and we’re pulling