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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 2010)
january 5 2010 V E R N O N I A’ S reflecting the spirit of our community free volume4 issue1 Dog Salmon and Rutabagas The Oregon Way Still Has Life By Scott Laird The Oregon Way Advisory location, was initially placed on the Group convened on December 14, 2009 short list of projects the Governor in- in Portland to discuss Oregon projects, tended to assist through The Oregon including the “Rebuild Vernonia” proj- Way, and remains on the list of priority ect, targeted to receive federal funds as projects. part of the economic stimulus package The Oregon Way has been seen known as the American Recovery and as an opportunity for Oregon to create Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Or- egon Way, initi- ated by Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski by executive or- der in February, 2009, committed the state to focus- ing on renewable At a meeting of the Oregon Way Board State Senator energy, sustainable Betsy Johnson, Columbia County Commissioner Tony development and Hyde and Vernonia School Superintendent Ken Cox clean technologies spoke on behalf of the Vernonia School Project. in its use of ARRA funds. He went on to appoint the Advi- a unified approach to seeking stimulus sory Group to assist state agencies and funds and build upon Oregon’s national other partners seeking federal competi- and international leadership in renew- tive grants. able energy development and sustain- The Advisory Group, made ability to create jobs and restore pros- up of public and private sector leaders perity. with sustainability expertise, has been At the meeting in December, charged with identifying signature proj- the Advisory Group heard updates from ects across the state that will showcase seven projects they have identified as Oregon’s green leadership to the nation, target projects to assist in receiving helping to bring long-term job growth federal stimulus funds. A delegation to the state. representing Vernonia, that included “Rebuild Vernonia,” centered State Senator Betsy Johnson, Columbia on moving Vernonia Schools to a safe continued on page 7 Regional Stories Live on in Music Recently a long-time Vernonia resident handed me a music CD. All he said was, “I think you should listen to this.” So I did. And I’m sure glad, because what he handed me was a real treasure. Dog Salmon and Rutabagas is a CD of music that features songs about the Vernonia region. The CD was titled Dog Salmon and Ru- tabagas, Songs of the Northwest by Hobe Kytr and Dave Berge. Originally record- ed in 1984 and re-released in 2008, the music, and especially the liner notes that accompany it, proved to be a jewel-- a time capsule of Vernonia and regional history, local characters and personali- ties, and stories about the 1970’s and the heydays of Keasey, outside of Vernonia. The music is a mix of folk and old-time music, with banjo, mandolin, fiddle, autoharp and guitar added to vo- cal harmonies. The songs and lyrics tell inside 2 brrrrrr... 18 barnyard news 23 the nutcracker stories about life in Vernonia and the surrounding area-- songs about logging camps, fishing on the Columbia, the Ore- gon-American mill, the Tillamook Burn, and growing up in the region. It is fas- cinating listening and amazing reading, especially for someone who has heard about some of the names mentioned in the notes, but wasn’t here for those good old days. According to the CD liner notes, Hobe Kytr and Dave Berge were first in- troduced at the 1975 Vernonia Friendship Jamboree by local music legend John Cunnick. Cunnick and his wife Kim- berly lived in an old timber-camp bunk- house at the old Keasey Camp about nine miles outside of Vernonia. Cunnick was to have a profound impact on Kytr. I had the pleasure of speaking with Hobe Kytr, who now lives in Asto- ria, and talked with him about his music and those now long-gone days of life out at Keasey. Kytr, a native Oregonian, went to college in the sixties in Ohio, but didn’t like it and came right back to Or- egon. He was living in Gearhart as a, in his words, “self-underemployed” artisan and musician. “There was a group of us that survived through what we called the ‘traveling potluck’-- whoever had food was the host that night,” said Kytr. “One gentleman who knew of us said it looked like we were taking our retirement ear- ly,” said Kytr, with a chuckle. It was during this time that Kytr became interested in “collecting stories,” continued on page 12 Stimulus Funds May Still Find Their Way to Vernonia WOEC Moving Forward With New Facility The Board of Directors of West Oregon Electric Cooperative (WOEC) have decided to move for- ward with construction of a new headquarters facility that will be out- side the flood plain. According to General Man- ager Marc Farmer, WOEC has reached an agreement to purchase property at the south end of Vernonia at the corner of Highway 47 and Ma- ple Avenue, previously the site where FEMA trailers were situated. “We think this will be a mor- al booster for Vernonia-- to see some- thing new being built,” said Farmer. WOEC has put out a Request For Proposal (RFP) for a construc- tion contractor, and expects to choose that contractor at their January Board meeting. “This is on a fast track,” said Farmer. “If everything goes perfect- ly, we hope to occupy that building by December of next year. We’re be- ing very aggressive. That may be un- realistic, but we’re going to push for it.” In November of 2009, the WOEC Board was notified that they would be required to relocate outside the floodplain to be in compliance with a City of Vernonia Ordinance and FEMA and Oregon Emergency Management requirements. They were also told they would not be given the option of flood preventive measures because they are consid- ered an essential service, thus pre- cipitating the need to move. Farmer stated clearly that WOEC intends to hire local builders and use local products and services as much as possible for the project. “I’m not worried about jobs in Port- land, I’m worried about jobs here,” said Farmer. “We’re going to do ev- erything we can to stimulate the local economy with this project.” WOEC considered three properties for the site of their new fa- cility, and, according to Farmer, the selected site was by far the best op- tion. Based on surveying information WOEC has completed, the new site sits at least eight feet above the high water mark from 2007. WOEC received initial cost estimates for construction of the new facility for $4.6 million, but due to current construction market trends, have now received estimates of around 2.8 million. According to Farmer, WOEC expects to be offered $1.078 million through a flood mitigation grant to as- sist with the relocation. Farmer says he expects to fi- nance the balance of the construction costs, hopefully over fifteen years, and to use a rate increase to WOEC customers of around three dollars per month, per meter, to pay for that fi- nancing. There are still a few hurdles that need to be overcome that could slow down the aggressive timeline Farmer is hoping to achieve. Envi- ronmental quality studies may be needed for the proposed property; and questions about access to the de- velopment from Highway 47 need to be worked out with ODOT.