community news
april26
7
Judgment Nullifies 5-209 but
Hospital Project is Ended
2011
Recovery Act Funds Energy
Efficiency Improvements in Columbia
County
Energy-efficient retrofitting is set to
start on two projects awarded a total of $758,073
in federal funds by the Oregon Department of
Energy. The Columbia County Courthouse and
the Columbia County Rider Transit Facility
received funding for installation of new energy
efficient heating and ventilation systems and
weatherization. The projects are funded by
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) awarded through the State Energy
Program (SEP) and Energy Efficiency and
Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program.
These funds are designated for energy
efficiency and renewable energy projects
in public buildings. The US Department of
Energy administers the funds, approves the
projects and reviews the state’s progress.
Expected annual energy savings
for each facility from the energy efficiency
improvements are:
Columbia
County
Courthouse:
$57,000
Columbia County Rider Transit
Facility: $1,000
Tony Hyde, Chair of the Columbia
County Board of Commissioners commented,
“As a county, we are facing significant revenue
shortfalls. The energy savings from these
efficiency improvements will not only help us
mitigate some of the shortfall, but provide long
term savings.”
“We are pleased to have made these
awards to the Columbia County Courthouse
and Rider Transit Center,” said Paul Egbert,
manager of the Oregon Department of Energy
ARRA team. “These facilities have high public
use, and these improvements will save energy
each month and provide a more comfortable
environment for occupants.”
The Oregon Department of Energy
received more than 1,100 letters of interest,
representing requests of over $2 billion in
Recovery Act funding.
Local WIC Program
Receives Honor
The Columbia Health
District WIC program has been
chosen to present at the National WIC
Association’s 28th Annual Education
and Networking Conference, May
1-4 in Portland.
“ Te c h n o l o g y
Innovations in Providing WIC
Services,” is the topic on which
Public Health WIC (Women, Infants
and Children) Coordinator Jana
Mann will speak. She has been with
Public Health in Columbia County
for 23 years, and WIC Coordinator
since 2009.
“They’re interested in
our remote dietitian project,” said
Mann. She explained that keeping
a Registered Dietitian on staff is not
cost effective.
“The RD works with
our high-risk participants and their
families, such as those with diabetes
or other medical condition,” said
Mann. The RD also counsels for
feeding concerns, such as tube
feeding.
When a dietitian is
needed, the local clients access
services through technology, such as
Skype, Mann said, and as technology
changes our services will take
advantage of that – conferencing via
smart phone is one possibility.
The annual conference
is expected to have 1,200 attendees,
with 250 at concurrent sessions.
Recent
Columbia
County Facts issued by the State WIC
program show that in 2010, local
WIC served a total of 2,254 clients,
including infants and children under
age 5, and pregnant, breastfeeding
and postpartum women. 967 families
were served.
WIC certifiers travel to
five cities in Columbia County to see
families, and WIC issues $728,000 in
food vouchers to families annually.
The vouchers are redeemed at eight
stores, five farmers at two farmers’
markets and one farm stand.
DON’T FORGET! MARK YOUR CALENDAR
St. Mary’s
“Spring Clean”
Rummage Sale
Friday, April 29 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday, April 30 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
St. Mary’s Church
960 Missouri Ave.
Vernonia
Questions?
Call Maria at (503) 429-1069
or St. Mary’s at (503) 429-8841
“Unconstitutional and
unenforceable in its entirety”
Circuit Court Judge Steven Reed
declared Columbia County Local
Measure 5-209 in a summary
judgment recently issued.
The decision was
rendered after the Columbia
Health District filed for a
judgment on the validity of the
Measure, which voters approved
in November 2010.
Measure 5-209 was an
initiative petition to stop all work
on the CHD’s hospital project,
to stop levying any hospital
tax and to give back all of the
money collected for the hospital
project since 2004, when voters
approved a measure to build a
hospital.
CHD Board Chair
Jay Tappan called it a “moral
victory,” because the Board
stopped all work on the hospital
immediately following the vote,
and has no plans to levy further
tax. The judgment settles the
issue of how to return funds that
were legally levied and spent.
In a letter issued with the
order, Judge Reed said he had
received no formal opposition to
the motion and no material issue
of fact, since he had received no
other affidavits or declarations.
He said he had received
a letter from the chief petitioner,
Thelma Bonar, whose citations
were inapplicable to the
motion and another copy of a
handwritten letter from a group,
without return address or legal
basis. Neither the County nor the
State opposed the petition.
The judgment validated
the CHD Resolution 2011-01,
which was approved by the
CHD Board on Feb. 3, 2011.
The Resolution says that the
CHD Board would not continue
with the hospital project, would
attempt to sell the hospital
property as an offset to any
future taxes and would do a
supplemental budget for FY 2011
to effectuate the Resolution.
