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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2012)
city/area news At the August 6, 2012 City Council Meeting : Council Authorizes Update of Master Plan—Council authorized City Admin- istrator Bill Haack to sign an agreement with Tetra Tech for work to update the City of Vernonia Master Capital Plan (MCP). The work is not to exceed $68,111 and will come from the Parks, Water, Sewer. Storm and Streets Funds. Previously Council authorized spend- ing $10,000 for Tetra Tech to complete a scoping exercise for this work. The scoping exercise revealed weaknesses that indicated the MCP is out of date and does not provide consistent guidance for planning, the MCP does not serve the City budget process, and that the docu- ment needs to be compacted to increase use. The update will address these is- sues and will include work recently done to update the Transportation System Plan, Wastewater Treatment Facility Im- provement Plan and the proposed Parks Master Plan. Yeo Retires—City Administrator Bill Vernonia City News... Haack informed Council that long time Park Host Bill Yeo has retired. Yeo worked at Anderson Park for many years and most recently had served as Park Host at Vernonia Lake. ment to the agreement with Oregon De- partment of Transportation for the work currently being done on Missouri Ave- nue and along Highway 47. The amend- ment changed the total expected cost for the project from $3.8 million to $2.8 Police Report from Jamboree—Ver- million and allows the City to charge nonia Police Chief Mike Conner report- ODOT up to $15,000 for construction ed that the downtown population was support services. extremely low during Jamboree week- end and that only two arrests were made, Council Approves Data Sharing both not directly related to Jamboree ac- Agreement—Council approved an tivities. Conner reported that there were agreement policy for use of digital data several citations written. The Vernonia provided by the City of Vernonia to third Police Department was assisted through- parties which restricts the use of maps, out the weekend by enforcement officers reports and publications. from Scappoose PD, Warrenton PD, Columbia City PD, Oregon State Po- Council Approves Paving Project— lice, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Council gave their consent to a less ex- Columbia County Parole and Probation, pensive paving alternative using asphalt Oregon Liquor Control Commission. grindings to repair sections of A and B Conner said his intention was to scale Streets. Total cost for the project would back visibility during the weekend and be $27,950 as opposed to $65,993. that he received several comments that it was appreciated. Council Approves Resolution for Public Works Committee—Council Council Approves Amendment with approved Resolution 29-12 which up- ODOT—Council approved an amend- dates the powers and duties of the Public august14 2012 5 Works Committee. Ridge Riders Express Concerns-- George Bellingham spoke during Topics From the Floor on behalf of the Vernonia Ridge Riders group and stated that they were at the Council meeting on the ad- vice of the group’s attorney. Bellingham read a statement in which he expressed concerns about the lease agreement the group has with the City for use of prop- erty at Anderson Park at the horse arena. Bellingham noted that the Ridge Riders had recently received a letter from the City informing them of non-complinace issues in relation to the lease. Bellingham also expressed con- cerns about a new electric pole that had been installed without consulting the group by West Oregon Electric Coop- erative that gets in way of their practice riding. Mayor Josette Mitchell suggest- ed that a special workshop be set up be- tween the Ridge Riders and City Council to work on the concerns. Deadline for Mayor and Council Positions The Deadline in Vernonia to file to run for Mayor and two City Council positions is August 23, 2012. The Mayor position is for two years; both council seats are for four years. All three positions will be on the November 6, 2012 election ballot. Currently the Mayor seat is held by Josette Mitchell who has indicated that she would seek a second term, but has not yet filed her papers. The council positions are held by long time Councilor Randy Parrow, who has stated publicly that he will not run again and Councilor Kim Tierney, who was appointed to fill an empty seat last August. Tierney has submitted her papers to run for election. According to City Recorder Joann Glass, Tierney is the only citizen to file for any of the three positions. For information contact Joann Glass at 503-429-5291, extension 106. County Road Department Project to Begin August 13 Columbia County Chip Sealing is scheduled to begin August 13, 2012. The work will take approximately three weeks, with completion expected by September 3rd. During this time, residents and home owners, can expect short delays on those roads being treated. Work will begin on August th 13 on Barker, Elk Creek, and Apiary roads. The Scappoose and Warren area will be the focus of week 2 of the project, as the crew will seal parts of Kammeyer, Johnson Landing, Smith, Pisgah Home, Sierks Armstrong, Tarbell, Slaven, Hazen, and Berg roads. Crews will finish up the third week in St Helens, focusing on Robinette, Novella, Millard, Pittsburg, and Merril Creek and also do work in the Clatskanie area on some of the dike roads. In Clatskanie, the crew will place a finish coat on Barker and Elk Creek before sealing Shepard, Hall, and Collins Road. This is the largest chip seal project completed in the county in more then 5 years with 38 miles Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Look for our next issue on August 28. planned for treatment. Columbia County maintains over 550 miles of roadway, with over 300 miles of that being paved. Chip Sealing is a tool the county uses to help further the life of a paved roadway surface. The Columbia County Chip Sealing project funding available is $725,000 and is awarded to the County through the System Transportation Preservation Program. The funding comes from the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. For further information regarding Columbia County Chip Sealing, please contact The County Road Department office at 503-397- 5090. Vernonia’s Community Wide Garage Sa-e Saturday, August 25, 9 am-5 pm For more info ca-- He-en Bateman at 503-429-6203 The Columbia County Household Hazardous Waste Program Schedule Through March 2013 Due to continued decreases in revenue generated by garbage disposal fees at the Columbia County Transfer Station, the Columbia County Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program will be forced to reduce HHW services to the following dates: For more information regarding the Columbia County HHW Program, con- tact the Columbia County Land Development Services Director, Todd Dugdale at 503.397.7207 or todd.dugdale@co.columbia.or.us Need body work? Time to call Meyer’s Auto Body Meyer’s Auto Body 493 Bridge Street, Vernonia. 503-429-0248 Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures City Council Meetings are scheduled for 7 PM: Monday, August 20, 2012 Tuesday, September 4, 2012 Monday, September 17, 2012 Monday, October 1, 2012 City Closures are scheduled for: Monday, September 3, 2012 Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules
