opinion
october23
2012
An Opinion: What a Difference a Year Makes
By Scott Laird
A little over a year ago the Ver-
nonia City Council welcomed three
new members when Bruce McNair,
Kim Tierney and Donna Webb were
sworn into office on August 29, 2011.
One week later the new Council met on
September 6th and voted to rehire Bill
Haack as City Administrator, bringing
an end to tumultuous year of politics in
Vernonia.
The past year, since the new
Council took office and Haack returned,
has been relatively quiet, at least as
far as any major controversy goes. Of
course, after a year which saw the fir-
ing of Haack, the recall of the three City
Councilors who voted to fire him, the se-
lection of three new Councilors and then
the rehiring of Haack, any year would
appear to be quiet.
But it has not been a quiet year
as far the work load goes for Haack, the
City Council and city staff. One year
later, the City of Vernonia is steadily
moving forward on many large scale
projects, thanks in large part to the guid-
ance of Haack and a Council that has put
a lot of effort into their volunteer job.
The new Council seems to be
working fairly well together under the
leadership of Mayor Josette Mitchell.
They have had their moments when
they have disagreed or dragged out dis-
cussions, but they have definitely been
willing to invest an immense amount of
time, meeting almost weekly and often
twice in a week in regular meetings and
in workshops designed to give them the
opportunity to educate themselves about
the issues. The work load they have cre-
ated for themselves has been daunting,
yet they have continued to plow ahead
and are accomplishing much. Three of
the Council positions are open for elec-
tion this fall and Mayor Mitchell and
Councilors Randy Parrow and Kim
Tierney have submitted themselves for
re-election. All are running unopposed.
The Council is doing good
work. This new version of the Council
has remained focused and has been able
to work through their differences for the
most part, continuing to do the work of
the city.
That work has moved forward,
in a large part thanks to Haack and the
staff at City Hall, along with the volun-
teers on the many City Committees. The
Planning Commission and City Planner
Carole Connell have been working on
several large scale endeavors including
parking issues and a huge rezoning proj-
ect that includes approximately 130 par-
cels of property within city limits. The
Public Works Committee has been espe-
cially busy with a water rate study that
led to a change in how the City charges
for water consumption and of course, the
wastewater facilities update project—a
major undertaking for the city.
All of these projects have been
fairly visible to the public. But behind
the scenes Haack has been even busier.
At the recent City Council meetings,
Haack has provided written update
reports to Council about some of the
projects he and his staff are currently
involved in. The following is an abbre-
viated review of just some of those proj-
ects:
FEMA NFIP--The City is grappling
with how to manage National Flood In-
surance Program (NFIP) compliance
requirements. This is a major problem
for the city as many houses in the flood
zone are not in compliance which could
affect the ability of all property owners
to receive flood insurance through the
national program.
CDGB Open Space--The City is now
the owner of over 40 properties, which
have been acquired through FEMA buy-
outs. The City needs to manage these
properties based on usage requirements
and must develop a policy as well as a
financial structure to do this.
Economic Opportunity Analysis--The
previously mentioned rezoning is part
of an update to the City Comprehen-
sive Plan, which has not been updated
since 1996. Any update requires an
Economic Opportunity Analysis (EOA)
report; City Planner Connell presented a
34 page draft of the report to Council on
September 17th.
The Vernonia Schools Project--The
City has been involved in the ODOT
road improvements along Bridge Street
and Missouri Avenue, the demolition of
the old school building site, the move
of the school administration building to
a new site and the wetland mitigation
project which sits on city property.
Master Capital Plan Update--The City
is moving forward with an update to the
current Master Capital Plan which has
not been done in over ten years. A draft
of the update is expected in November.
Leak Detection--The City Engineer and
Public Works crew has been working
with an outside company to locate and
begin repairs to what is believed to be a
35% loss within the city water distribu-
tion system.
Changes in Public Works--Haack has
had to make personnel changes in the
Public Works Department due to cuts
that Council approved in this years’ bud-
get.
Changes at the City Library--Hack
has had to find a replacement for long
time City Librarian Nancy Burch who
has voluntarily elected to move into re-
tirement.
Other Changes to Staff--The City has
replaced long time Park Host Bill Yeo,
who retired this year due to illness. The
City also found a new Park Host for An-
derson Park and has also had to fill the
position of Building and Grounds Main-
tenance. Long time Cemetery Caretaker
Synda Allen also retired this year.
Medical Services--Haack has been
closely involved with the Vernonia
Health Center Board in their attempts to
provide medical clinic services for the
community.
EPA Brownfields--Haack reports that
he has submitted a work plan that will
be part of an agreement with the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
begin the process of using EPA funds to
identify Brownfield sites for cleanup in
Vernonia.
Bear Creek Flooding--Haack reports
he is investigating a land management
issue with properties around Bear Creek
that have seasonal flooding issues.
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Mark Brown
Savannah Brown
Chip Bubl
Mackenzie Carr
Ben Fousek
Jill Hult
Photography
Judy Acton
Susan Ely
Scott Laird
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As you can see, Haack and the
staff at City Hall have been busy. And
this list is just projects that currently are
active and doesn’t include the Rose Av-
enue Project, a major Park plan for the
www.VernoniasVoice.com
continued on page 6
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