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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2012)
city news april10 2012 Vernonia City News... At the April 2, 2012 City Council Meeting: Council Discusses Sewer Rate Increase—City Council discussed a recommendation from the Vernonia Public Works Committee to modify the sewer loan rate on the City utility bill to fully pay current debt service on DEQ Loan 96342. Council asked staff to prepare more information and will discuss the issue at their May 6, 2012 meeting. (See full story on front page.) Council Approves Water Funds to Replace Meters—Council voted to authorize City Administrator Bill Haack to develop a Water Meter Replacement Program for the City of Vernonia. Haack told Council that through this program the City plans to replace 7% of the meters each year, or sixty meters, beginning in July of 2012, with the entire water meter system being updated every fifteen years. In his report to Council Haack noted that the City is aware of a 35% loss of water delivered through the system and that old meters that are not accurately reading amounts of use could be part of the problem. The cost to replace meters is projected to be $250 for each meter. Funding would come from the existing Water Fund. Council Approves Purchase of Automated Pay Station—Based on a recommendation from the Vernonia Parks Committee, Council authorized the City Administrator to issue an RFP for the purchase and installation of an automated pay station at Vernonia Lake. The proposed cost is $15,000 and funds would come from Parks System Development Charges. Council Approves Utility Easement for WOEC—Council approved a request by West Oregon Electric Cooperative for a perpetual easement through City property at Anderson Park for power lines. Council Approves Adoption of Safety Manual, Sewer Maintenance Policy— Council approved the adoption of a City Safety Manual and a Sewer Maintenance Policy based on templates provided by the City/County Insurance. The City will receive a $1,000 credit on their insurance premium for adopting these policies. Council Hears Presentation about Morrow Pacific Project—Council heard a presentation by representatives from Ambre Energy concerning the proposed Morrow Pacific Project which would ship coal by train from the Powder River Basin to the Port of Morrow in eastern Oregon, then move the coal by barge to the Port of St. Helens where it would then be transferred to oceangoing City of Vernonia Begins Budget Process The City of Vernonia began de- liberations on April 3, 2012 on the pro- posed Fiscal Year 2012-2013 Budget at the first Budget Committee Meeting. costs. We have been able to do this by finding efficiencies, reassigning some costs to more appropriate funds and by keeping costs as low as possible.” Vernonia City Administrator and Budget Officer Bill Haack presented the Budget Message to the ten member Bud- get Committee. The 2012-13 Budget is proposed at $3,599,971 compared to $4,048,284 in the current year, a reduction of elev- en percent. The General Fund, which includes Administrative services, Li- brary, Planning and Police is proposed at $1,855,585, a reduction of nine percent. Current year property tax revenues are planned to decrease by $11,676, a .017 percent decrease. The Budget Committee is made up of the five members of the Vernonia City Council and five community mem- bers. Susan Wagner was previously elected to Chair the Committee and Brett Costley was selected as Vice Chair. The other community members serving on the Budget Committee are George Tice, George Guyette, and Gary Taylor. In his Budget Message Haack stated, “The proposed budget maintains existing service levels in spite of rising Haack noted in his Budget Mes- sage that the City has seen a great deal of progress in the current budget year. He specifically mentioned forward progress on the new school construction and the wetland mitigation project. He noted that Columbia County Flood Recovery (CCFR) has set up for acquisition or el- evation all FEMA approved buildings. He also noted the completion of the new West Oregon Electric Cooperative head- quarters. And he mentioned the comple- tion of a City Water Rate Study, progress on planning for the Wastewater Facility Update, and efforts to repurpose grant funds for a parks Master Plan. In the upcoming year Haack notes as significant to the City’s in- terests the opening of the new school campus, the demolition of the existing school campus and the completion of Phase I of the Spencer Park replace- ment park construction; the completion of the wetlands mitigation planting and the completion of ODOT road improve- ments at Missouri Avenue; the comple- tion of CCFR work in the community; and a Sewer Rate study to be completed by the city and the acceptance of a final City Expects to Increase Sewer Rate Administrator Bill Haack told Council that $31.00 was the amount staff has calculated as needed to fully fund repayment. Haack suggested that Council direct him to negotiate with DEQ for an alternative repayment schedule and that part of those negotiations include exploring the possibility that the needed increase could be spread over several years. In his written report provided to Council at that April 2 meeting, City Administrator Haack noted that by approving the recommendation to increase Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures Upcoming City Council Meetings are scheduled for: Monday, April 16, 2012 Monday, May 7, 2012 Monday, May 21, 2012 Upcoming City Closures are scheduled for: Monday, May 28, 2012 Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules 5 vessels. Council Makes Committee Appointment, Accepts Resignation— Mayor Josette Mitchell, with approval from council appointed Nicholas Galaday to the Public Works Committee. The Council also accepted the resignation of Deloris (Dede) Webb from the Parks Committee. Mrs. Webb has served on the Parks Committee for sixteen years. Council Approves Request for Pioneer Cemetery Memorial—Council approved a request from the family of Raymond Keasey to allow a memorial to be placed in the Keasey Family plot at the Vernonia Pioneer Museum. Raymond Keasey was the youngest child of Carroll and Bertha Keasey and was born in Vernonia in 1913. Mr. Keasey passed away in Everett, WA in February 2012 at the age of 98. plan and the start of construction on the Wastewater Facility Update Project. “As in previous years, I view the financial future of the City with cautious optimism,” stated Haack in his Budget Message. “With this in mind, I directed the budget preparation to minimize sur- prises during the upcoming fiscal year— with the central goal of keeping the City’s finances in order. The Budget Committee will meet to discuss the budget on Tuesday evenings at the Vernonia Community Learning Center, starting at 6:00 PM. A Public Hearing to hear Public Comment has been scheduled for April 10 th . The Budget Committee has also agreed to hear limited Public Comment at the start of each of their meetings. continued from front page rates, “...Council fully acknowledges both the need to begin paying principle and interest and to make this repayment palatable to the consumers by allowing us to step into this fee increase over two or more years if DEQ will allow this approach.” Haack also noted that the Wastewater Facilities Improvement Project is not yet complete and final costs are not yet known. The City and their engineers are currently studying design options for the project, with a goal of approving a final plan and going to bid for construction in November of 2012. During the discussion all Council members expressed concern that the public needs to be made aware of the impending increase. After the discussion Council chose to take no action on the recommendation, but directed City staff to develop a press release, timeline and information sheet for the public. 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