city news
june14
Vernonia City News...
At the June 6, 2011 City Council
Meeting:
Council Holds Works Session on
Floodplain
Enforcement—Council
held a special work session with
Christine Shirley from the Department
of Land Conservation and Development
and the Dennis Segrist from Oregon
Emergency Management to discuss
compliance with FEMA mandated
Floodplain Enforcement and Vernonia’s
continued eligibility for participation in
the National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP).
According to information
provided,
Vernonia’s
Floodplain
Ordinance allows property owners in the
community to purchase subsidized flood
insurance, but the community eligibility
depends on the City enforcing their
own ordinances. According to Shirley,
enforcement includes three main
areas for compliance: 1) a permitting
program and procedures that ensure
2011 Vernonia Summer
Meals Program
Vernonia will
offer a Summer Meals
Program for all children
in the community,
regardless of income
levels. The program is
a collaboration between
the Vernonia School
District, the St. Helens
School District, Pioneer
Baptist church and the
Vernonia Prevention
Coalition.
The team has
worked since January to
identify potential host,
meal sites and logistics.
All meals provided for
youth between the ages
of 1-18yrs are provided
free through the USDA
summer meals program.
In
Vernonia,
both
breakfast and Lunch
will be served from
June 20-Aug. 19th.
B e t w e e n
breakfast and lunch,
a calendar of events
is currently being
planned. To date, some
of the projects are music
exploration, gardening,
physical
activities,
talent discovery, library
program and more.
“The more opportunities
we give our kids to
explore their strengths,
the higher the protective
factors they develop to
meals with their child:
Breakfast $1.25 and
Lunch $2.00. All
proceeds go to the St.
Helen’s Summer Meals
program to cover the
cost of the meal.
If you are
hosting a camp, activity,
project or just a parent
please feel free to
contact us. Volunteers
are always welcome. We
also need groups to host
an activity during the
summer. Volunteering
is not necessary to feed
yours or other children.
Contact DeAnna Pearl
at (503) 369-7370 or
Cathy Meyers at (503)
522-5311 or (503) 429
8033. See you this
summer!
continued compliance with the NFIP, 2)
enforcement mechanisms that deal with
violations that have been identified, 3)
substantial damage and improvement
evaluations after disasters.
According to Shirley, FEMA
periodically does a Community
Assistance Visit (CAV) which is an audit
of floodplain enforcement procedures
and also an educational opportunity for
the City to learn about compliance. In
2006 Vernonia received a CAV which
identified some deficiencies in the
administration of the program and some
violations. According to Shirley, this
CAV has not been closed and needs
to be addressed immediately. Shirley
stated that if the remaining violations
and the Administration deficiencies
cannot be addressed to the satisfaction
of FEMA, FEMA could put the city on
probation for one year, which would
cause every flood insurance policy in
the city to receive a $50 surcharge. If
FEMA believes the City is not making
an effort to deal with the issues they
could suspend the community from the
NFIP, at which time no flood insurance
would be available in the city—no one
could purchase new flood insurance or
renew current policies.
Shirley said that she is available
to assist the City in developing a
Floodplain Enforcement Program and
that FEMA is expecting to see progress
by the City by this summer.
5
budget. The total budget appropriates
$4,622, 024.00 while imposing a tax rate
of $5.8163/$1,000 assessed valuation.
Council also approved accepting $15,000
in State Revenue Sharing Funds.
Council Approves Updated Rules and
Procedures—Council approved slight
revisions to the City Council Rules and
Procedures.
Council Approves License for
Temporary Staging Area –Council
approved an agreement for a license
for a temporary staging area for Five
Star Builders on property recently
acquired by the City from the State of
Oregon. The property is adjacent to
the site where West Oregon Electric
Coop (WOEC) is constructing their
new headquarters. Five Star Builders is
under contract with WOEC to construct
a power station and underground utility
lines around Vernonia and will now
lease the City owned site for the purpose
of a construction staging area for one
year. Five Star Builders was previously
leasing the site form the State of Oregon.
Council Approves Hiring of Code
Enforcement
Officer—Council
approved the hiring of Brent Thompson
as a temporary employee to do code
enforcement work.
Thompson has
already been hired by the City to serve
as a volunteer Reserve Police Officer.
Council Adopts Budget—Council
voted to adopt the 2011-2012 proposed
Columbia County to Hold CPAC
Elections
Columbia County
be more successful in
will
be
holding Citizen
their growing up years,
Planning
Advisory
“states DeAnna Pearl,
Committee
(CPAC)
VPC Director. “It is all
elections,
for
those
positions
about reducing the risks
whose term is expiring.
they face every day, and
C P A C s
increase their potential
provide
advice
and
by participating in
recommendations to the
healthy activities.”
County Land Use Planning
Families are
entities, including the
welcome to come
Planning Department, the
and participate in all
Planning
Commission
activities. However,
and the Board of County
children under the ages
of 10 need to have an
Commissioners.
CPAC
older sibling, parent or
members serve for two-year
guardian to supervise.
terms.
The summer meals
Each CPAC is
program will have
divided into neighborhoods.
volunteers
available
Members
represent
to help with meals
neighborhoods in which
and activities but the
they reside or own
program is not set up to
property. Residents and/or
provide day care.
Kids are free to
come and go but
the meal times are
set in stone. “We
? why did they
can only provide
kill someone
the meals during
to stop a war
posted
times
per the USDA
? will they
food
program
bring our
r e q u i r e m e n t s , ”
troups home
c o m m e n t s
Cathy
Meyer,
Summer Meals
C o o r d i n a t o r .
Parents and care
providers
are
able to purchase
property owners within the
neighborhoods elect their
CPAC members.
There
must be at least five voters
from each neighborhood
to hold an election for the
neighborhood.
In order
to be eligible to vote you
must show either picture
identification
proving
that you live in the CPAC
neighborhood where you
will cast your ballot; or a
tax statement proving that
you own property within
the neighborhood where
you are voting. You may
only vote once in your
CPAC area.
The
CPAC
elections will
be held in
the following
locations,
and at the
ptsd
GivE PeaCE a ChAnCE
following times:
Scappoose-Spitzenberg
June 14, 2011 @ 6:30PM
Scappoose Library
Upper Nehalem
June 14, 2011 @ 7:00 PM
Vernonia City Hall
1001
Bridge
Street,
Vernonia
For more information about
the boundaries of the CPAC
and the elections process,
please contact Glen Higgins,
Chief Planner;
Land
Development
Services,
County Courthouse, (503)
397-1501.
291
A
Street
call Kim
jOHN LENNON
Council Agrees to Interview Process
for City Administrator Search—With
the assistance of Jennie Messmer for the
League of Oregon Cities (LOC), Council
developed and agreed to a process to
be used for interviewing candidates for
the vacant City Administrator position.
The LOC has been hired to manage the
recruitment process; on May 17, 2011
Council reviewed a list of potential
candidates and directed that phone
interviews be held with the top ranked
group as an itial screening process.
At the May 31 meeting, Council
agreed to a format for the hiring process.
Interviews with final candidates have
been scheduled for June 23-24, 2011,
with June 23 being a social event for the
candidates along with tours of the city
conducted by Interim City Administrator
Jim Johnson. June 24 would include
panel interviews, with the use of three
panels: 1) the Mayor and Council, 2)
a Community Panel, 3) an Employee
Panel made up of city department heads.
The Community Panel would consist
of five members, with the Mayor and
each Councilor appointing one person
to the panel. After the interviews, the
Community Panel and Employee Panel
would report to Council with a summary
of strengths and weaknesses, but would
give no formal ranking of the candidates.
A travel stipend of $500 will be made
available to each candidate, payable
upon submittal of receipts for legitimate
travel expenses. Messmer and Johnson
will prepare instructions for the panels
and interview questions.
Council then moved to
Executive Session to discuss the results
of the phone interviews.
After returning from Executive
Session, Mayor Josette Mitchell
announced that the Council was moving
forward with three candidates; names
would not be available until after
background checks had been completed
and the candidates had accepted an the
invitation to the interview.
PeakDyslexicBird@aol.com
At the May 31 Special City Council
Meeting:
2011
Lovable service at
a reasonable price
• Bathing
• Haircuts
• Nail Clipping
• Nail Polishing
• Specialty
Shampoos
