6
community news
february8
2011
Columbia Health District Board Makes Decisions
The
Columbia
Health
District Board of Directors took several
actions Feb. 3 to stop a tax for a hospital,
while protecting Public Health Services
and beginning work on a countywide
Health District.
With a motion made by Vice
Chair Gary Heide, the Board eliminated
any tax for a hospital, but set a levy of
$.0771 per $1,000 to protect Public
Health services from having to absorb
CHD Board costs.
The lower levy would cover
the costs of the CHD Board, such as
maintaining public access to records, the
annual audit, election costs, other costs
of doing business as the Public Health
Authority and acting as the Board of
Health for Columbia County.
Heide also directed staff to
begin investigation of a Columbia Health
District that would be contiguous with
the boundaries of Columbia County, and
continue to serve as the Public Health
Authority for the county.
“I want to look at the
possibilities of replacing the district with
a countywide district for public health
services only,” said Heide.
The
motion
passed
unanimously.
Resolution 2011-01
Earlier in the meeting the
Board approved Resolution 2011-01 that
memorialized the actions taken since
the passage of Measure 5-209: 1. The
hospital project shall remain abandoned;
2. CHD shall continue the public health
authority through an intergovernmental
agreement with Columbia County; 3.
The District will attempt to sell the
hospital property and 4. The District will
prepare and adopt a supplement budget
for the current year to effectuate the
Resolution.
The Resolution was adopted
unanimously by the Board, as was a
calendar for the Supplemental Budget.
Supplemental Budget
Thalia
Piano,
Fiscal
Manager, explained to the Board that
since the hospital project and all its
expenses are closed out, she is preparing
a supplemental budget, rather than a
“budget revision,” which normally
happens mid-year. She said she is
continuing to budget for minimal costs
associated with maintaining the site,
including security, wetland and irrigation
system maintenance.
A tax limit of $.38 per $1,000
was passed by voters in 2004 to build
a hospital. In November 2010 voters
approved Measure 5-209, reversing their
support of the hospital, following the
State of Oregon’s proposed denial of a
certificate of need.
Land Committee Appointees
In other business, the Board
appointed four community members to
the Land Disposition Committee – Larry
Karnoski, Pat Cunningham, Ellen Lager
and Dan Garrison. They join two board
members, Heide and Lisa Galovich.
Karen Ladd, Public Health
Administrator, reported to the Board that
the new Governor’s proposed biennial
budget is out, “and we are waiting for
more information from the State on how
Kitzhaber’s proposed budget impacts
our programs.”
The Board approved a
budget calendar for the upcoming year
and accepted the Annual Audit report for
FY 2010.
The Board also moved from
two meetings a month to one business
meeting on the fourth Thursday of each
month, 5:30 PM in the public health
meeting room at 2370 Gable Road,
St. Helens. Chair Jay Tappan said that
because the Board’s work has been
reduced, there is no reason to schedule
work sessions every month. They also
accepted the resignation of Board
Member Laura Tomanka, who wrote
that she had stayed on the board through
the end of the hospital project, but now
had pressing family issues.
Free Child Safety Seat Check-up
Columbia County Safe Kids, in
partnership with Alliance for Community
Traffic Safety (ACTS Oregon) and several
community partners will hold a child safety
seat check up event on Thursday, February
10, 2011, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. The
free clinic will be held in St. Helens at the
St. Helens Fire Station, 105 S. 12th Street,
St. Helens.
The clinic provides an opportunity
to have a child safety seat checked by
a certified technician, who can correct
misuse, help with installation and teach
you how to correctly install the seat.
Technicians can also check for seat recalls.
There is no cost to have a technician check
your child safety seats. Please plan to
spend 30-60 minutes at the event.
Additionally, through a grant
funded by the Oregon Department of
Transportation, Columbia County Safe
Kids is also able to provide low-cost child
safety seats to families in need. Families
who receive Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families (TANF) should contact
their worker about payment for a seat.
For more information about the clinic or
the Columbia County child safety seat
program, please contact the Commission
on Children and
Families at 503-
397-7211.
Flu Shots Available
Although it is late in the season, it is not too late to get
an annual flu shot.
Public Health has plenty of flu vaccine available
and is encouraging people to get their shots if they haven’t
already. Immunity begins about two weeks after a shot, which
would protect people during the winter/spring flu season.
Anyone wishing an appointment or more information
can call Mary Altenheim, immunization coordinator at Public
Health, 503-397-4651, ext. 2016.
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Vernonia Schools had a home removed from the new school construction site in late January. The home was
being transported to Scappoose, but ran into some trouble crossing the green bridge on Highway 47 in Vernonia.
The structure was too tall to fit the clearance on the bridge and, after becoming stuck, workers had to cut away
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