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that indicated the MCP is out of date and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
