This weekend I was blessed to attend a friend’s 80th birthday party outside of Mapleton, Oregon along the beautiful Siuslaw River. This is where I first landed when I moved to Oregon 50 years ago. What a déjà vu seeing longtime old friends and my first country living experience. I learned a lot in those years about what it takes to make a community.
A common definition of community is a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint action in a geographical location. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. Our city provides basic services that residents expect in exchange for taxes. Services require infrastructure to provide necessities such as sewer and water. User fees and charges are what help the city of Cave Junction maintain and upgrade these complicated facilities. From my experience meeting with other cities, Cave Junction has a very thoughtful and conservative approach to providing services.
Here is one thing you can do to help the longevity of our wastewater plant and keep our workers happy. Solids that don’t break down, such as coffee grounds, corn, baby wipes and other items don’t break down in water and sink to the bottom of the plant aeration basin. This must be cleaned by hand, and it is a very messy job! So don’t put any non-dissolvable things down your sink or toilet. They not only don’t dissolve, but they also jam things up. The city has to hire a professional maintenance company and that costs a lot of money
There is a lot going on that makes our city a great place to live. Rubber chips for the playground have been delivered and will be installed soon. The splash pad is beautifully painted, and the water features are here and ready for installation. We are still hoping for an end of June opening. The library expansion and renovation is moving along nicely.
Cave Junction is stepping out and showing off! Have you seen the beautiful electrical box wraps? There will be four altogether at stop light intersections. There are also plans for murals. Big Foot Printing has already started a mural on their north wall. The IVCDO Block Party last week was loads of community fun. Main Street Cave Junction is putting on a second Friday Art Walk June 14 on Main Street from 5-8 p.m. Come out and have some fun! And don’t forget Concerts in Jubilee Park Thursdays from June 20 until August 15!