Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2012)
city news april24 2012 Vernonia City News... At the Special City Council Meeting on April 9, 2012: Council Approves RFP for School De- molition—Council discussed compli- ance requirements and directed City Administrator Bill Haack to sign docu- ments for the RFP for demolition of the current school campus. Council Approves Goals—Council ap- proved a list of goals for the City by de- partment. At the April 16, 2012 City Council Meeting: Council Approves Waiving School Construction Fees—Council autho- rized City Administrator Bill Haack to waive Water and Sewer connection hook-up fees for the Vernonia School District for the new school construction project. According to Haack, when the construction project first began the City and School District never established what those fees would be and conse- quently provided the School District with the assumption there would be no fees. According to Haack, the City has no record of why this happened. Haack told Council that the City usually charg- es new construction projects for staff time to physically make these connec- tions, but that the school project did all the work themselves with the City Pub- lic Works foreman observing the work. Council Approves Update to Mas- ter Capital Plan—Council authorized City Administrator Haack to negotiate a contract with Tetra Tech to update the City Master Capital Plan (MCP) and SDC Fee Schedule. According to Haack the current MCP was written in 1999 and MCP’ s should be updated every four to ten years. According to Haack several of the assumptions used to create the plan are no longer accurate, like pop- ulation growth estimates. Because of the Volunteers Needed for City Committees City’s interest in creating an alternative SDC fee schedule, it is prudent to update the MCP at this time. Haack also noted that work that has been either recently completed or planned to be completed in the near future will be used in the pro- cess, including the Transportation Sys- tem Update Plan, Wastewater Facility Improvement Plan and proposed Master Park Plan. The proposed scope of work presented by Tetra Tech lists four phases to the project. Cost for Phase I, which includes an initial scoping and review of how the City should use it’s MCP and establishes the sequence for updating the components of the plan, is to be no more than $10,000. Funding would come from City SDC Funds. Council Approves Application Exten- sion—Council approved a suggestion from City Administrator Haack to re- quest a six month extension on a DEQ Clean Water State Revolving Fund Ap- plication for $5 million. According to Haack, in 2009 the City submitted an application for a line of credit with DEQ for completion of the Wastewater Fa- cility Update project. That application was eligible for 36 months and expires in July 2012. This extension holds the City’s place with DEQ. The City already has a loan with DEQ for $8.6 million and has al- ready spent $4.3 million on Phase I of the Wastewater project. The City has a remaining balance of $4.3 million avail- able to spend on the completion of the project, but is still unsure of the final costs. If those costs exceed the balance on the current loan, the City could need to use additional funds provided by the DEQ line of credit. Council Discusses School Project SDC’s—City Administrator Haack brought forward to Council for infor- mational purposes a letter he sent to the Vernonia School District (VSD) con- cerning System Development Charges (SDC’s) associated with construction of the new school campus. The City 5 and VSD have been negotiating a final cost for approximately one year and have reached an agreement on the final figures. The negotiated SDC fee as- sessment is $139, 159, which is down from the original amount of $261,144, a reduction of $121,985. According to Haack’s report, the District will present this to the School Board, and it will be determined whether to pay this amount in full or to accept a payment schedule. Council Fails to Act on Traffic Pattern Change in Park—Council chose to take no action on a request from Police Chief Mike Conner to change the traffic pat- tern of a portion of the roadway through Anderson Park. The roadway is current- ly one-way –the proposed change would make a section of the road two-way. Chief Conner had been contacted by Bill Sword, an adjacent property owner, who travels through the park to reach his private property. Sword expressed con- cerns about safety issues with the current traffic pattern. Chief Conner told Coun- cil he found no concerns with changing the traffic pattern in the park. There was not enough Council support for a motion to make the change. Council Approves Resolution to Sup- port Pinchot Institute—Council ap- proved Resolution 12-12 supporting the Pinchot Institute Forest Health—Human Health Initiative. The Pinchot Institute recently launched the innovative initia- tive to address concerns by private forest landowner by connecting new markets for forest carbon credits with health care coverage options through sustainable management of forest land. The Pin- chot Institute has targeted Vernonia and Columbia County as a pilot area for the project. Vernonia Councilor Bruce Mc- Nair voted against supporting the proj- ect. Mayor Appoints Cedergreen—With approval from Council, Mayor Josette Mitchell appointed Janelle Cedergreen to the City Library Committee. The City of Vernonia will have three offices open for election in the General Election on November 6th, 2012: Vernonia Mayor Two Year Term Vernonia Council Member Four Year Term Vernonia Council Member Four Year Term Election Packets are available at the office of the City Recorder, 1001 Bridge St. Vernonia, OR 97064. Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Small and Large Animals Now Open Mon, Wed & Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call for Appointments (503) 429-1612 Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470 700 Weed Ave. Vernonia, OR Old, worn out and rusty? Need body work? Call... Meyer’s Auto Body •493 Bridge St• VERNONIA 503-429-0248 Original nomination petitions can be filed no sooner than May 30, 2012 and filed no later than August 23, 2012 by 4:00 PM with the City Recorder. For more information call Joann Glass, City Recorder at 503-429-5291, ext. 106. 291 A Street call Kim Lovable service at a reasonable price • Bathing • Haircuts • Nail Clipping • Nail Polishing • Specialty Shampoos
