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