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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2009)
16 january vernonia’s voice community 2009 Vernonia Flood Stories Part II: The City (continued from page 1) Even County Commissioner Tony Hyde, who was the Ver- the City Council. The Unmet Needs Committee became Colum- ence in funding and project management to the table in Vernonia. Haack has inserted himself into the community, working ini- nonia Mayor during the 1996 flood, and had experience dealing bia County Flood Relief and has been operating from the Com- with this kind of operation, munity Learning tially with flood relief and with Columbia County, and is currently was unable to reach Vernon- Center building, employed as the Economic Recovery Manager for Columbia Pa- ia, having left early Monday although they were cific Economic Development District. He is providing strategic to attend a Governor’s eco- expected to move business-planning to the City of Vernonia and Columbia County nomic summit in Portland. out at the end of by helping access Federal and State disaster recovery funding. He Hyde was unable to reach the year and reduce is a member of the Oregon Solutions Team that is helping plan Vernonia until Tuesday. their staff consider- new schools in Vernonia, and is working with a variety of private foundations to attract attention to provide funding to the Vernonia “The initial leadership ably. came from the Fire Depart- Also new at Health Board, Vernonia Senior Center and Vernonia Cares. He is ment and Emergency Re- City Hall-- Carole also working with West Oregon Electric Cooperative, is the Grants sponse people,” said Mayor Connell was hired Administrator for the City of Vernonia, and has led recent Town Sally Harrison, reflecting in September to be Hall meetings as well. He has also been hired as the Vernonia Pre- back one year. “The Fire and the new Planning vention Coalition Coordinator, where he will manage the $250,000 Rescue folks were the hub Consultant, and grant that they just received. He has even rented an apartment here those first few days-- there Susan Spicer-Pond in town, so he can stay and work late and not have to travel back to really wasn’t much else the is working as Fi- his home in Tigard every night. Downtown Vernonia on December 3, 2007 So now you know why every time you turn around in Ver- city could do. We did work nancial Director. to provide clean water, and help keep the lights on and provide It appears that the city government has weathered the storm, nonia, you are likely to hear the name Bill Haack, or even find central services, but, mostly, we just turned city hall over to emer- so to speak, and is moving forward. There are still major issues to yourself sitting at the table with him. Haack arrived in Vernonia after a long and varied career. He gency service personnel.” be dealt with: updating our sewer and wastewater treatment fa- The City Council quickly established that there was a need cilities, whether some kind of water diversion upstream to control spent sixteen years as a carpenter in the seventies and eighties, for someone to take control of the city situation, and named City future flooding is feasible, and a very tight budget that has cut into and then worked as a Housing Specialist, Director, and Consul- Planner Aldie Howard as Interim City Administrator, replacing manpower in the public works, police, Community Learning Cen- tant in numerous communities over the last twenty years. He Kline, who agreed to resign. Howard, whose gruff and at times ter, and administrative staffs. The city continues to partner with recently worked as a Community Development Block Grant pro- intense personality rubbed some people the wrong way, was able local and outside sources to get all Vernonia residents back into gram consultant for the City of Beaverton, providing oversight to establish some order in the chaos, and over the ensuing weeks their homes, and to solve the issue of what to do about schools that of housing rehab, downtown storefront improvements, owner- occupied repairs, accessibility repairs worked with local flood relief, state and federal emergency agen- currently sit in the flood zone. and multifamily construction projects. cies, local government resources and volunteer organizations to But Vernonia is nothing if not He served as a Planning Commissioner begin the long road to recovery. resilient, and there is hope that in Tigard from 2002 to 2006. The city has been criticized about how they handled initial things will begin to get back to In his spare time (what spare time, flood recovery in the first few months, including complaints of normal in the coming year. you might ask?!) Haack enjoys reading poor communication to citizens, difficulty in getting a straight As an additional note-- and creating pastel art. answer, and delays and confusion around permits to begin repair the Christmas snowstorm of So, next time you hear or see Bill, say work. There were also questions about the city’s preparedness for 2008 identified some short- hello. He is here to help Vernonia. handling this disaster. But there were also many heroes, and many falls in the city’s ability to things that went right. The immediate establishment of the Un- meet the needs of the com- Emergency Preparation-- Are We met Needs Committee, which began gathering data and matching munity in a disaster. Mayor Ready For Another Disaster? flood victims with resources, was instrumental in the success in Harrison was adamant that The recent resignation of Vernonia meeting needs the first few weeks. The number of local volun- the city needs to secure more teers who dropped everything to assist victims was overwhelm- resources and be better pre- Crowds showed up for Town Hall meetings immediately after Rural Fire District Chief Paul Epler in the flood December left many unanswered ques- ing. The State provided the services of Department of Corrections pared to fend for itself in a cri- inmates, who helped with clean-up, repairs, debris removal and sis situation. Johnson and Harrison were both in agreement that tions about Vernonia’s Emergency preparedness. The recent a host of other chores-- expediting the recovery in many ways. the City’s Emergency Operation Plan needs an overhaul. Chief snowstorms over Christmas emphasized that Vernonia has not The ability of the city Kay is already examining possible sources for heavy equipment done as much as might have been expected to be better prepared administration to find and vehicles that would make the city more self sufficient and in the event of weather-related events. The Fire District had taken some steps to be better pre- outside resources and able to deal with emergencies. pared-- they had made arrangements to obtain a large generator bring on board Grants to power an emergency shelter that was ordered and was to be Administrator Bill Public Works-- Keeping Things Running Haack, and Public Jeff Burch, the Vernonia Public Works Foreman, was one of placed at Cedar Ridge Camp-- home of last year’s shelter. But Works Engineer Dale the true heroes of the Flood of 2007. First of all, Burch’s home that generator had not arrived in town when Vernonia declared a Merrill has made a was flooded with close to three feet of water, which left him with State of Emergency on December 22 of this year, and the city was huge difference in the responsibility of making sure his family of five was safe and forced to rent a generator to power their shelter. No new rescue funding our recovery. secure. Without a Public Works Director in Vernonia, Burch has apparatus has been secured-- last year, rescue operations were The sacrifices made by been forced to fill the lead role in his department for a number hampered by underpowered private boats trying to reach citizens city staff to be avail- of years, and found himself on his own with his crew immedi- through heavy river currents. Complaints that citizens were not able to help is often ately after the flood. Burch and his crew worked tirelessly those informed about impending floodwaters last year raised questions overlooked-- Joann first few days, trying to make clean water for the community that about whether a siren could be used to notify citizens of a disas- Glass, Jeff Burch and needed to clean out inches of mud from their homes, and needed ter-- nothing was ever done about that. None of this is meant to the rest of the Public drinking water. Burch also was responsible for initial clean-up of degrade the heroic efforts of the department last year during the Works crew, Vernonia public areas, including campgrounds at Anderson Park and Air- flood. As a group, they worked tirelessly, putting themselves in Community Learning port Park that suffered severe damage; neighborhood streets that personal danger to provide help to local citizens. Synda Allen, one of the many volunteers “There is always room for improvement,” said Fire District Center Director Jesse were damaged or needed to be cleaned up; and sewer lagoons that who helped with flood relief Jones, and Howard all were flooded. Burch was able to begin producing water a week Board President Steve Weller. “As a Board, we are moving in a direction to make improvements.” spent countless extra hours on the job, working for our commu- after the flood, just as the city was about to run out of its stores. In defense of the Fire District, funding shortages, limited re- nity. Local Police, Firefighters and EMS volunteers all worked In the past year, Burch and his crew have been busy. There beyond the call of duty for weeks after the initial rescue efforts. was a large street repair project that was undertaken this past sources, and major expenses that were incurred during the flood “It took a few days to get organized and figure out who was summer, with a number of streets that were flood-damaged be- have hampered their ability to make improvements. Deciding going to do what,” said Harrison about the city’s role in the re- ing repaired and repaved. In September, the sewer lagoons were how to best spend limited funds that could be available is always covery effort. “The public works crew worked incredibly hard. drained and dredged, an operation that was needed to remove a tough call. Spending money on rescue boats that really only I don’t think Joann Glass has taken a single day off yet. Aldie flood debris and silt that was deposited there. Putting the parks have one use in Vernonia-- during a flood event-- might not be the Howard really stepped up for us, and, of course, the Police and back together has been a major undertaking, but they were all op- best use of funds, and Weller noted that training requirements for water rescue are difficult to keep current. Weller also mentioned Fire folks were outstanding. There were also countless local vol- erational this past summer. unteers like Synda Allen who took time off from her job to man- The addition of some temporary help through the MTC that they have made promotions from within their ranks, elevat- age donations at Lincoln School and Robb Wilson who organized Works program, gave the Public Works Department some extra ing Ben Davis and Dean Smith to Deputy Chief and have Dan supplies and volunteers. There were so many faith-based groups help through the spring and summer. The City also contracted with Owens, Kristina McCord, and Luke Ellis in training to join Tom and volunteers who came and worked to make sure people were Dale Merrill, an engineering consultant who specializes in public Ramsey as Lieutenants—to provide more leadership--and the getting help. There were just so many heroes.” works projects, and who has been instrumental in securing funding department and board have made valiant efforts to recruit more volunteers. Things look a little different at Vernonia City Hall, one year for numerous projects, including the street repairs “We have worked to make sure that we have after the Flood of 2007. Howard has resigned and been replaced by and lagoon dredging, has also given the city need- systems in place to take care of our volunteers Interim City Administrator Jim Johnson-- a consummate profes- ed leadership in managing those projects. Merrill and their families in an emergency, so they are sional who has brought knowledge and stability to Vernonia, and is also advising the city on how to proceed with available to help the rest of the community. It is leading the Council in the process of choosing his permanent upgrading its wastewater treatment facility. gives us more resources.” said Weller explain- replacement. Police Chief Mathew Workman has left for a new ing another improvement. “During this last position in Warren, and been replaced by his Sergeant, Mike Kay, Who is Bill Haack-- And Why Do You Keep snowstorm, our volunteers were ready to go to as Interim Police Chief. A search for his permanent replacement Seeing Him Everywhere in Vernonia? work, and they performed well.” will begin once the permanent City Administrator has been hired. One advantage that came out of the Flood The hope is that this latest emergency in Mayor Harrison ran unopposed and was re-elected in November. of 2007 was the availability of new resources that Vernonia will provide incentive to try to se- Councilor Whiteman chose not to run for his position and has Vernonia had the opportunity to tap into. One of cure additional resources and make some ad- been replaced by Kevin Hudson, who moves over from the Plan- those resources has been Bill Haack-- a housing ditional improvements. ning Commission-- meaning there is not really much change on and grants specialist who brings loads of experi- Bill Haack