june2009
free
V E R N O N I A’ S
reflecting the spirit of our community
volume3 issue1
vernonia
visitors
guide
Page 13
Vernonia Scout Cabin is a Real Gem
Rehab of Facility Was Truly a Community Effort
Vernonia Hires New
City Administrator
By Scott Laird
The City of Vernonia has hired Robert (Bob) Young as
its new permanent City Administrator.
Interim City Administrator Jim Johnson presented
the City Council with terms of the contract he has reached
with Young at an Emergency Council Meeting on May 26.
Councilors Randy Parrow and Brett Costley, along with
Mayor Sally Harrison were on hand to approve the deal to
hire Young.
Bob Young, a 1967 graduate of Summit Pacific Col-
lege with a degree in Theology, recently served as Mayor
for the city of Bonney Lake, Washington, from 1998-2005,
and was the acting City Administrator from 2001-2005. He
received a Master of Public Administration from the Uni-
versity of Washington in 2008.
In Bonney Lake, a medium-sized city of about 16,500,
Young supervised 125 employees.
Young’s contract will pay him a starting salary of
$75,000. He is scheduled to begin his employment in Ver-
nonia on June 22.
Most Vernonians have, at one time or another,
attended a function at the Vernonia Scout Cabin.
From wedding receptions to family holiday gath-
erings to class reunions to city government func-
tions, the facility has served as a meeting place for
just about any type of community gathering. But
how many of us know the story behind this won-
derful community treasure? Well, a large group of
people know the story-- they helped renovate an
old, unusable building into the gem we know to-
day. But a bunch of newcomers may not realize
what a tremendous community effort went into the
reconstruction. And most of us don’t realize what
it takes to maintain the building, week after week.
This is a treasure many of us might be taking for
granted.
Vernonia’s Voice recently sat down at the
Dede Webb and Shirlee Daughtry proudly show off the Vernonia Scout Cabin.
Scout Cabin to chat with Shirlee Daughtry and
Dede Webb, two of just a handful of Vernonians who make blueprints. The city turned the property over to a new group
up the Friends of the Scout Cabin, the group who owns and that was formed that called themselves “Friends of the Scout
maintains the building and rents it for community functions. Cabin.”
The facility really is special, with a full kitchen, a river rock
“We were meeting every week discussing this project,”
gas fireplace, large outside deck, and picturesque park set- said Daughtry. The group began fundraising, holding rum-
ting with a view of Rock Creek. And the setting in the city- mage sales and raffles, and writing grant proposals. They
owned Hawkins Park allows rental of the park Gazebo for received a grant for $10,000, and a few smaller grants, and
weddings. It is a unique and quaint facility, one this com- then received a donation for $50,000 from Tom Holce, which
munity is lucky to have.
gave them enough money to complete the construction. It
Daughtry was instrumental in starting the project back took almost four years from start to finish to complete. “No-
in 1996, just after a major flood devastated the town. She body thought we could do this,” said Daughtry. “We showed
told me about hearing that the city had some FEMA fund- how you can take something that looks pretty darn bad and
ing available to repair the building, and thinking they could turn it into something of quality.”
really spruce up the building with a few thousand dollars.
continued on page 14
“I was very naive, “ said Daughtry, laughing. “A hundred
thousand dollars later, here we are.”
By 1996, the building, built in 1928 for the Campfire
Girls, had fallen into disrepair, had no foundation and wasn’t
being used anymore. Daughtry was determined to renovate
the building and put it back in use. “There were a lot of
In a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, the Federal Emergency
things that happened,” said Daughtry, as she remembered
Management Agency (FEMA) agreed to give Vernonia fami-
trying to get the project moving. Key to getting started was
lies left homeless by the December, 2007, flood an additional
the recruitment of Norm Brown, who had some experience
four months to stay in their FEMA-provided manufactured
with commercial construction codes and ended up acting as
homes.
a sort of project foreman, and Don McLean, who provided
FEMA was planning to evict the families on June 8, but
in a letter sent to Dennis Hunsinger, FEMA deputy adminis-
trator for Region X, Wyden requested a delay to give the families
more time to finish rebuilding. In a response to Wyden, Hunsinger
said an extension to October 8, 2009, would be appropriate.
“FEMA deserves a lot of credit for doing the right thing for the
families of Vernonia who are still working hard to put their lives
back together following the flood,” Wyden said. “Now those fami-
lies have a little more of what they need most-- time to continue
picking up the pieces.”
Dan Brown, Flood Recovery Manager for Community Ac-
tion Team, was pleased to hear the news. “I appreciate what Ron
Wyden did. He took the lead in this, but everyone else has jumped
in and lent their support-- Representative David Wu, State Senator
Betsy Johnson, and others.”
Under FEMA regulations, there is an 18-month limit on the
use of the manufactured homes. The period began in December,
2007, when the disaster declaration was signed and ends on June
8 of this year. However, the manufactured homes did not arrive in
Vernonia until April 2008.
According to Brown, there are still fifteen families living in
FEMA-provided housing. Six of those families are awaiting fund-
ing for buyouts. “I hope that the families take advantage of the
additional time, particularly those making repairs.” said Brown.
“Four months can go by really fast.”
“I keep saying this is going to be a long recovery.” said Brown.
“But the bottom line is that when we’re done with this, probably
fifty percent of the homes in Vernonia that were damaged are going
to be mitigated against for future disasters-- which is a really, really
good outcome for this project when everything is said and done.
We still have some hurdles to get over. But we’re going to end up
with a lot of good things.”
FEMA Extends Deadline
for Vernonia Families
inside
a mascot
is born
9
11
12
spring
celebration
family
farming
Summer Returns To Vernonia
Some sure signs that summer is almost upon us in Vernonia... Boys
Baseball, Motorcycles along Bridge Street, and the annual Memorial
Day Ceremony.