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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2011)
city news Vernonia City News... At the October 17, 2011 City Council Meeting: Council Holds Water Rate Study Work Session—City Council held a joint Work Session with members of the Public Works Committee to discuss revised data for a Water Rate Study the Council is considering implementing. Based on information contained in the study, the Council discussed the need to implement a rate that combines a base rate, plus a tiered usage rate. Council asked for additional information and a recommendation from the Public Works Committee, which is scheduled to meet on October 26; Council will discuss the issue further at their November 7 meet- ing. 15, 2012 to meet the requirements of their Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and complete the road access to their busi- ness. The Conditional Use Permit had previously expired and planning rules forbid the Planning Commission from granting further extensions. At the July 18, 2011 City Council meeting, Council chose to allow DAD’S Recycling to con- tinue to work to complete their project and set certain requirements that had to be met by October 16, 2011. DAD’S has met all the requirements Council had es- tablished, but the road is still not in good enough condition and needs additional improvement to meet the terms of the original CUP. will help the City of Vernonia determine whether a biomass boiler concept is a feasible component of the Rose Avenue Project. The second contract would assist the Vernonia School District to develop a research and demonstration boiler as a component of the school’s natural resources curriculum. These two design contracts are being paid for with a $25,000 USDA Forest Services grant that the City was awarded in September 2011. City Administrator Outlines Process for Emergency Declaration—City Ad- ministrator Bill Haack provided Council with a document outlining the process the City would use if the need arose to Council Approves Contracts for Bio- declare an Emergency due to a natural mass Boiler Design—Council approved disaster event or threat. According to Council Extends Deadline for DAD’S two contracts with International Wood- the process outlined, Council must meet Recycling—Council agreed by consen- Fuels, LLC for the design of two bio- and pass an Emergency Declaration Res- sus to give DAD’S Recycling until April mass boilers projects. The first project olution and then direct the City Admin- istrator to follow the process to notify Colum- bia County and The City of Vernonia continues to review Quality (DEQ) National Pollutant Discharge Elimina- the State of Or- changes and improvements in their public works wa- tion System (NPDES) permit. Per their NPEDS Per- egon Emergency ter, sewer and stormwater facility plans. mit, the City is restricted from releasing third stage Management At this time the City is embarked on a water water discharge into the Nehalem River for a period Departments. rate study that will lead to a modification of the water of time due to the differential in temperature between utility rates. This discussion has been of interest to the lagoons and the river in the warmer months of the the City Council since 2007 and the City has sought year. For the majority of the year, however, this is Council Hears professional input three times to support the work of not a problem for DEQ and the City discharges to the First Reading the City Engineer and the Public Works Committee. river during those months of the year. of Two Ordi- Earlier this year the City engaged Oregon This past week Jon Forrester, representing Association of Water Utilities (OAWU) to take the the City contract engineer (HLB OTAK, Gearhart OR) City’s ideas and put them into a framework for our made a presentation to City Council that described the review. City’s revised plan for the wastewater facility. Fol- The core assumptions of the study are as fol- lowing a meeting with DEQ last month, HLB OTAK lows: has initiated a plan to redirect the discharge from the • The base rate should cover 60-75% of the third lagoon to an underground sand and gravel lay- annual operating costs for the water fund budget er below ground. This is called hyperoic discharge. • Rate structure should be fair and equitable After a meeting with DEQ it became clear that this to all classes of users model is a great use natural groundwater to cool the • Rate structure supporting users outside of discharge prior to reintegrating with the flow of the the City limits should pay a consumption cost com- river channel. The add information to the study of mensurate with users who live within the City limits this model, the City hired Shannon and Wilson, a geo- • Rate structure should forecast future adjust- technical engineering firm, to bore test wells to assess ments in the rate structure on an annual basis the feasibility of this concept. The City hopes to have • Rate structure should include reserve ac- their report in December 2011. counts to make debt payments and to establish a capi- Lastly, the City needs to develop a stormwa- tal improvement program ter management plan. It is clear that in developing •Rate structure should be professionally re- the final plan for the wastewater facility we will need assessed on average every five years by a third party to develop a related plan to better manage surface wa- The members of the City Council and the ter that all too often finds its way into the wastewater Public Works Committee are reviewing a draft water lagoons. The City will begin to address this by com- rates schedule and plan to have a public hearing in the pleting an Inflow and Infiltration (I & I) Assessment near future on the proposed changes. in the next six months if we can secure resources for As the City has reported in the past, they are this project. As is clear throughout Vernonia, dur- actively working on a plan to modify the wastewater ing major rain events, this additional surge of water facility to further their plan to both be a good steward can consume the capacity of sewer pipes resulting in of the environment and to be in compliance with the home backups and overflows into creeks and surface Safe Drinking Water Act. streets. An I & I assessment will identify where the The City is currently out of compliance with problems exist throughout the community. the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Water, Sewer and Stormwater Rates Update Terry’s Gym Your LOCAL property management company TRAIN LIKE A CHAMPION! Joni Jackson Owner/Principal Broker Real Estate Sales • Residential • Commercial • Vacant Land www.RelianceRES.com We take Pride in our Quality, Personal service 5 nances—Council approved the first reading of Ordinance 878, updating powers and duties of the City Budget Committee and repealing the 1924 docu- ment which had previously established the Budget Committee. Council also ap- proved the first reading of Ordinance 879 which repealed Ordinance 852 which in February 2008 had been adopted to al- low temporary structure to be placed in the General Commercial Zone—specifi- cally allowing FEMA to place units for persons displaced by the flood of De- cember 2007. Council Approves Acquisition of Two Flood Properties—Council ap- proved the use of CDBG D08030 funds and HMGP funds for the acquisition of properties at 715 Maple Street (the old WOEC building) and 2379 Mist Drive, as part of Acquisition Project 2007 Flood Events. City Receives Planning Grant—City Administrator Bill Haack notified Coun- cil that the City has been successful in an application and been awarded a State Technical Assistance Grant. The grant funds will be used to augment the salary of City Planner Carole Connell and will allow the Planning Department to imple- ment a rezoning project for properties throughout the city. According to Haack the project will start almost immediately. Vernonia Coffee Roasters “QUALITP COFFEE ROASTED TO PERFECTION” Call now to Transfer Your Prescriptions! 503-429-0591 Check out our website: www.vernoniarx.com Real Estate Service with a plan of ACTION! 859 Bridge Street • Vernonia, OR 97064 Better Service, Less Wait, Same Co-Pay 2011 Come on in for your flu shot Property Management • Residential • Commercial • Vacation Rentals 503-956-0445 Joni@RelianceRES.com VERNONIA PHARMACY october25 INBA World Champion Collin Moeller works out at Terry’s Gym - You can too! 503-901-1705 16720 Noakes Rd. 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