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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2012)
10 5th anniversary june26 2012 A Look Back at Five Years of Vernonia’s Voice From our first issue in June 2007 On December 3, 2007 Vernonia and surrounding communities were hit with a devastating flood that impacted residents, local services and flooded all three schools. The community rallied together and with the help of volunteers, worked to rebuild the town. Children are an important part of our community—and they are very photogenic! In August of 2008 we spent a day in the woods with a logging crew and learned about logging in Stub Stewart State Park opened in the pacific northwest. 2007, 10 miles from Vernonia. Postal Customer Vernonia School District Voters to Decide on Measure 5-197 This past August, the School Board of the Vernonia School District 47J voted unanimously to place Bond Measure 5-197 on the November 3 election ballot. If approved, these general obliga- tion bonds would raise $13 million towards capital construction of a new school campus through in- creases in local property taxes. The total cost of the new construction is estimated at $37 million. Specifically, the bond measure would provide funds for construction, and to furnish and equip elementary, middle and high school facilities on an insurable site above the flood plain; purchase property and pay any related demolition and site improvement costs, and pay fees associated with issuing the bond. “The amount of money dedi- cated to the bond, in terms of debt service, can- not be spent on anything but capital construction of that school,” says Tony Hyde, Columbia County Commissioner, and Vernonia resident. “It can’t be used for operations and maintenance of the exist- ing schools. It can’t be used to rebuild the schools at the current site. It can’t be used to give to the city for a new sewer plant. It can only be used for the new construction of a school, out of the flood zone.” The bond was initially scheduled to ma- ture in approximately twenty-six years, but the dis- trict recently received word they were approved for the Qualified School Construction Bond Program, part of the Stimulus Bill, making them eligible to receive very low-interest loans to back the bonds. This would substantially reduce the total amount of debt that taxpayers are obligated to pay. Details of how the program would be applied to this bond measure are still being worked out. The School District has already gone through a lengthy process to locate a suitable site for the project and has acquired rights to twenty- two acres of property on OA Hill at what is being called the Boot Site. Already underway are ex- pansion of the city Urban Growth Boundary and needed zoning changes to accommodate the con- struction. The additional funding to complete this $37 million project is expected to be secured from a variety of sources including: grant applications for federal stimulus funds for specific portions of the school construction; other state and federal sources including federal earmarks; a Capital Cam- paign that will solicit private donations; and grant applications to private foundations. Bill Haack, Economic Recovery Coordinator for Colpac has been working to develop the plan for securing those funds. “Vernonia is in an unusual situation,” says Haack. “Usually when a community goes out for a bond to replace schools, they have been plan- ning for it for many, many years. In Vernonia, this is not planned. This is a disaster. We’re working under a different set of rules.” The planned school facility is designed to hold 750 students, with the ability to expand to hold 1,000. The design incorporates innovative technol- ogies that would make the school campus a model for sustainable construction practices and one of the most energy efficient and “green” schools any- where in the United States. “What we are targeting is about a sixty percent reduction in energy use,” says Chris Linn, a principal with BOORA Archi- tects, who created the design of the building. A group of local citizens have formed a School Bond Campaign Committee, chaired by local resident Sharon Bernal. They have worked to raise awareness about the bond measure and de- velop support for its passage. “We need to look at passing this bond as our ‘down-payment,’ just like if you were buying a house,” says Bernal, a local real estate agent. “When house-hunting, first you pick out the house you want-- we’ve already done that. Then you make sure you have your down pay- ment. Then you go get financing to pay for the rest. This bond is the communities’ down payment.” Election Ballots will be mailed in mid-Oc- tober to all registered voters and must be returned by November 3rd. A drop-box will be available in Vernonia at the Public Library. New School Design Is Both Practical and Innovative Plans would make the Vernonia School the first Leeds Platinum Certified public school in the nation The plans that architects are developing for the proposed new $37 million school campus in Verno- nia will make ex- tensive use of new and innovative en- ergy-saving tech- niques and tech- nologies. But it is also a simplified plan designed to keep construction costs down and provide a first-rate facility in which children will learn. C h r i s Linn is a principal at BOORA Ar- chitects, the firm hired by the school district to design the new facility, who has been actively involved in the Verno- nia project from the very beginning. Linn has been with BOORA for eighteen years and has worked exten- sively designing schools and other types of larger facilities, working mainly in concept design-- how a facility will be organized, what it looks like, how it’s built. “I am typically juggling programs, sites, needs of the community and the cli- ent-- putting all those things together into a cohesive package,” says Linn. Linn is working with a large team within his office that works on technical details, as well as outside consultants working on engineering and other facility require- ments. “You would be surprised at how many people it takes to put together a big, complex project like this,” says Linn. From the beginning, Vernonia school officials have intended to build a sustainable facility using “green technol- ogies”, not only for the potential energy and cost savings, but also in the hopes of attracting federal grants that support sustainable and innovative design. “One of the reasons we were really attracted to this job was that Ken (Vernonia School District Superintendent Ken Cox) and the board set a very high goal for sustainabil- ity on this project,” said Linn. That goal included a LEED Plat- inum Certification which, if achieved, would make the Vernonia School the first LEED Platinum public school in the country. LEED Certifications are designated by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), and is the accepted standard for designing and veri- fying green buildings. “It’s one thing to say ‘My building is green,’-- it’s another thing to go and measure how it performs, prove it and show you’re actually meet- ing the targets,” says Linn. There are four levels of LEED Certification-- Cer- tified, Silver, Gold and Platinum, and Vernonia and BOORA are targeting the highest level. Among those green design ideas, energy use has been targeted as a way to lower operation costs over the life of the building. “Energy costs are bills you pay forever,” says Linn. “And for every dollar you put into energy use, that’s a dollar out of the classroom.” Ex- tensive use of day lighting is a big com- ponent of the plan, which brings natural lighting into the classrooms, hallways, gymnasium and cafeteria, and is done in very scientific ways. “We have day light- ing computer modeling programs and a day lighting specialist through the Uni- versity of Oregon who helps us locate the windows, size them properly, and orient the building in the right way,” says Linn. Other features being incorporated into the design that will increase efficiency and reduce utility costs include: daylight sensors on light fixtures; radiant heat in the floors; photovoltaic panels on the roof to make use of solar energy; rainwa- ter collection which can be used to flush toilets; and natural convection ventila- tion, and heat recovery systems. “What we are targeting is a sixty percent reduc- tion in energy use from a typical school building,” said Linn. “And that will equate to tens of thousands of dollars a year in savings on utility bills.” Linn explained that the school district has applied for a US Department of Energy grant for a ground source heat pump, a technology that uses ground wa- ter that comes from wells at a constant temperature to either heat or cool the building. “It’s a very inexpensive source of heat and cooling, and this element tied to the radiant floor are just made to work together,” says Linn. That combined sys- tem, said Linn, would also be one of the first of its kind in the country. Linn says the intention is to use as much local materials as possible, espe- cially locally-harvested wood products, which would reduce transportation im- pacts and costs. He also explained that indoor air quality is part of the consid- eration in the design. “No volatile adhe- sives or finishes will be used-- all natural materials will be used to create a healthy indoor environment for kids to learn in.” Concern about increases in ini- tial costs for a construction project that incorporate these green design features is a big factor for some members of the community. “A lot of these systems do have a higher first cost,” explains Linn. For clients like school districts who will be long term holders of the property-- this will be Vernonia’s school building for the next 100 years or more--there is time to recover those costs. “For a LEED Platinum building there is usually about a three to five percent extra cost,” says Linn. “But most of those features will pay back those costs within six years--then you are saving money. And when you project that over the life of the building, the savings are enormous. And remember too, that utility rates are constantly going up. So even if there’s a savings today, it will be much, much more later. “Over the life of the building, you will pay more in the cost to operate it than in the initial cost of construction of the building,” says Linn. He notes stud- ies done by General Services Adminis- tration, who build federal courthouses and other large public buildings. Those life-cycle analysis studies of their build- ings have shown that over a forty-year life span the energy costs are ten times the initial cost of construction. In addition to energy efficiency and sustainability, BOORA has designed the school so that it could be expanded to hold up to 1,000 students with additional classroom construction, which could be done without disturbing operations. The current design can hold 750 students. The cafeteria and gymnasium are initial- ly designed to hold 1,000. BOORA has also designed the building so an audito- rium could be added in the future. Concerns about housing grades K-12 all in the same building have also been addressed. “We’ve created four separate, independent age-appropriate ar- eas within the building,” says Linn. “The areas are safe and secure and easy to su- pervise.” Grade schoolers will be on the ground floor, older students on one wing, younger students on another. Middle and high school students will be upstairs in separate wings. Access will be through a central area and stairwell that will be monitored by office staff. “The adminis- tration area is located right in the middle, with great visibility up and down the cor- ridors and stairwell, so they can see who is moving from one side to the other.” The are two gymnasiums-- an elementary gym and a high school gym. The plan is to have one large library but with distinct areas and two separate en- trances. The cafeteria has been designed to have two separate aged areas with moveable dividers and will act as an auditorium, as well. There are separate outdoor play areas for different grades. “There has been a lot of thought that has gone into how to keep the kids separate, but not duplicate a lot of facilities, which saves us square footage and costs,” ex- plains Linn. “This design is a very commu- nity-oriented design,” says Linn. “We’re zoning the building so parts of it can be used at night by the community. We’ve tried to design not only a great school, but a community center as well,” says Linn. “The community has had a lot of great ideas about sustainability and about how the school would be organized,” said Linn in closing. “We’ve had great com- ments from the community. This town is really interested in this project-- they’ve been vocal and had great ideas and ques- tions. And I think all that input has made the project a better piece of architecture.” In October of 2009 we published a 4-page special edition to help inform voters about the upcoming school bond election. Vernonia students celebrate the passage of the school bond with a rally and balloons. Spring time 2009 at Vernonia Lake. Lowell J. Mitchell In our January 5, 2010 issue we featured regional stories that have been put to music, including the music of local legend John Cunnick who, along with his wife Kim, wrote the songs in the Timberbound Songbook. In our July 27, 2010 issue we covered a reunion in Keasey of the band Timberbound, with members Dave Berge, Hobe Kytr, Mark Loring and Kim Cunnick Fergus. Guitars & Vocal Entertainment, Production, Lessons & Bookings (503) 235-8996 www.loweljmitchell.com lowelljmitchell@gmail.com buyer and seller of musical instruments In our March 9. 2010 issue we featured the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District and their volunteers. WELLER & SON’S STEVE HM: 503-429-3400 CELL: 503-313-9006 SELF LOADER LONG LOGGER CUSTOM LOGGING DENNIS HM: 503-429-2810 CELL: 503-313-9044 1264 G ST. VERNONIA, OR 97064 O.P.L. CERTIFIED O.P.L.H. 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