september11 2012
VERNONIA’S
reflecting the spirit of our community
Mist-Birkenfeld Gets
Fire Suppression Reservoir
free
volume6 issue17
First Day of School!
By Scott Laird
is the North Coast Basin Engineer who is overseeing
construction of the project for the Natural Resources
A new project that is nearly completed next Conservation Service (NRCS). According to Gray, the
to the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Station will provide the reservoir will be seven feet deep, and should take about
local firefighters with a welcome, year-round, easily thirty days to fill once it is complete. After the pond
accessible supply of water to fight fires.
is full any overflow will spill into the natural channel
The project, a 4 million gallon water reservoir below the dam and run into the Nehalem River. During
set on private property owned by Bruce Fleming, the fish runs and warmer months of the year the water
has been under construction for most of the summer. is bypassed around the reservoir to protect the fish.
Property
owner
Fleming has been trying
to build some kind of
water pond for about ten
years.
The project has
finally become a reality
with the help of several
governmental agencies and
many others, all working
together.
Securing
the
funding for planning and
construction took time and
eventually was brought
together through NRCS,
which not only provided
engineering and other
Engineers and wetlands experts discuss the construction of the Fleming Pond that will technical
support, but
provide a year-round water source for the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire District.
also some funding. Don
Mehlhoff, NRCS Columbia
Fleming is constructing the pond for his personal use to County District Conservationist, has been chaperoning
water his cattle, but he has agreed to let Mist-Birkenfeld the process for several years and says he is relieved to
Rural Fire Protection District (RFPD) have access to see the pieces fall together and the project unfold.
the water supply for use in an emergency.
Northwest Natural Gas provided a grant for
“If you had asked me a year ago if I thought a major portion of the funding for the construction.
this was actually going to happen, I would have told Kynsi Construction from Clatskanie is the contractor
you I wasn’t sure,” said Mist Birkenfeld RFPD Chief, for the construction.
David Crawford. “But we found the answers that we
Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD is paying for and using
needed to some issues and everything has just come volunteer labor to install a pumping system that will
together. There is a lot of credit that can go around to a include two 750 gallon-per-minute electric driven
lot of people for getting this done.”
pumps to access the emergency water supply at two
A man-made earthen dam at one end of the hydrants at the fire station. Chief Crawford estimates
reservoir will create a water catchment barrier for the the cost for the pump system to be around $70,000 and
natural stream bed that runs into the area. Roslyn Gray says his RFPD saved its Natural Gas royalty money
inside
10
endless
summer
11
fall sports
preview
11
facilities
facelift
Students arrived for the first day of classes in the new
Vernonia Schools on September 4, 2012.
For more photos go to page 19.
received over several years for the system. “It will be
money well spent,” says Crawford.
The permitting process for this type of
construction is especially arduous and turned out to
be one of the major stumbling blocks to getting the
project started. Finding a way to get both the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and
the Oregon Water Resources Department to agree on
regulations that both would approve took the help of
Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde before the
project could begin.
The Upper Nehalem Watershed Council
(UNWC) will provide assistance by maintaining a
Meet Your Police:
The Rookie, Brent Thompson
By Scott Laird
The Vernonia Police Depart-
ment is staffed with three patrol of-
ficers and a chief. Over the last few
months, Vernonia’s Voice has taken
time to sit down with the members
of the VPD and publish profiles of
the officers, giving the community a
chance to “meet” them. In March
we profiled Chief Mike Conner; in
June we met officer Shawn Carna-
han. This month we sat down to talk
with first year officer Brent Thomp-
son.
Vernonia
Police Officer
Brent Thompson is a homegrown
guy who grew up in Vernonia and has
returned after four years of college to
take his first paid assignment in law
enforcement in his hometown.
Thompson is a graduate
of Vernonia High School, Class of
2007. He was a three
sport athlete in football,
basketball and base-
ball. In baseball he was
a four year letterman
and in football he was
named First Team All
League his junior and
senior years. He was
selected to play in the
Shiners All Star Game
his senior year in La
Grande.
Thompson
moved to Vernonia in
1996 right after the
flood and graduated
right before the Flood
of 2007.
He spent
the next four years at Western Or-
egon University where he majored
in Criminal Justice with a minor in
Homeland Security/Community Pre-
paredness, graduating in 2011. He is
continued on page 9
twenty-three years old, (he will turn
twenty-four in September).
“It’s nice to be on the other
end and help people,” says Thomp-
son when asked what he likes about
continued on page 8
