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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2012)
city news Vernonia City News... At the November 19, 2012 City Coun- cil Meeting: Council Completes Re-Zoning Public Hearing-At the scheduled continuance of a Public Hearing regarding proposed changes to zoning in the City of Verno- nia, there was no new testimony against the proposal. Proposed amendments would rezone flood prone properties in the city, expand the mixed-use Down- town Zone into a currently residential neighborhood, and rezone land on Cali- fornia Avenue to Light Industrial. At the October 1, 2012 Public Hearing, resi- dents in the neighborhood that will be changed from a Residential designation to Downtown had requested that the City Council continue the Hearing until ques- tions they had raised could be adequate- ly addressed; Council agreed, and sched- uled the continuation for November 19. City staff changed wording in the pro- posal which states that a dwelling is a permitted use in the zone and removed several statements which limited how a dwelling might be permitted. Resident Donald Willard, who had previously asked for the continuance, stated that he was pleased with the changes and that staff heard the concerns of the citizens and responded to them. Staff will now finalize the amendments before bringing it back to Council for a final approval at a future meeting. Council Holds Public Hearing on CDBG Projects-Council held a Public Hearing to obtain input from citizens on three projects that had been funded through the Community Development Block Grant program. Two of the proj- ects involved flood recovery; one was for Rehabilitations-Grant # D08017, the other for Acquisitions-Grant #D08030. The third project under review involved planning for the city Wastewater Facili- ties Update project-Grant #D08018. Beverly Danner of Community Action Team, which managed the Flood Recovery Projects, gave a staff report and told Council that a total of forty- three households had been served in Vernonia and eighty total in Columbia County through the two projects-there were a total of nine rehabilitations and sixteen elevations In Vernonia with a to- tal cost of $1.57 million and eighteen acquisitions in Vernonia with a total cost of $3.15 million. Vernonia City Administrator Bill Haack reported that the CDGB funds were used for the Wastewater Project to develop several alternatives early in the planning process; City Council chose not to use any of the alternatives devel- oped through this program. There was no public testimony for or against any of the projects. Verno- nia City Councilor Kim Tierney stated, “I have seen Community Action Team do amazing work. I think the fact that eighty households were served and re- ally improved the lives of those families is pretty remarkable. I would like to say thank you to all the staff who worked on this.” Council Approves “Food for Fines” at Library-Council approved a recom- mendation from the Library Board for “Food for Fines,” a program that would allow library patrons a chance to pay off their library fines by a making a dona- tion of food at the Library for Vernonia Cares. For each item donated $1 will be credited toward a patron’s account of fines. The program will run from No- vember 26-December 10, 2012. Council Accepts Brownfields Fund- ing-Council authorized the City Admin- istrator to sign an Affirmation of Award for a Brownfields Assessment Grant awarded to the City of Vernonia from the Environmental Protection Agency for $200,000. The funds will be used to inventory, characterize, assess and conduct cleanup planning and commu- nity outreach for Brownfield sites in the Vernonia area including both hazard- ous and petroleum impacted properties. The EPA pays for 100% of the costs for the project. Council Authorized Contract City Information and Updates Available by Email At Meyer’s Auto Body we’ll take your order and give you great service. 010412 For fast cash! 2245 Baseline St., Cornelius (Across from Fred Meyer) 503-530-8119 State Licensed PB-0388 Open everyday at 9 a.m. 503-901-1705 16720 Noakes Rd. Vernonia Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures City Council Meetings are scheduled for 7 PM: Monday, December 3, 2012 Monday, December 17, 2012 City Closures are scheduled for: Monday, December 24 - Noon Christmas Day, December 25 Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules PaintCare thanks this local drop-off site for participating in the Oregon Paint Stewardship Program. Since 2010 we’ve recycled one million gallons of paint! Thanks to our local drop-off site, it’s easy to recycle our paint! VERNONIA HARDWARE AND SUPPLY 1026 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064 (503) 429-5651 JOIN THE TEAM! 5 Amendment-Council approved a contract amendment with Brown and Caldwell to complete an EPA/DEQ En- vironmental Assessment Report for the Wastewater Facilities Update project. THANK YOU! Meyer’s Auto Body 493 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503-429-0248 Terry’s Gym 2012 Council Approves Additional Soil Testing-Council approved an addendum to the contract with Shannon and Wilson Geotechnical and Environmental Con- sultants for additional soil testing near Council Approves GIS project for the wastewater facility headworks. The Cemetery-Council approved a request work is not to exceed $10,000 and will from the Cemetery Committee to spend be funded through an EPA STAG grant $2,500 from contingency to compile, or- which has already been secured. ganize and reconcile all available data from past management of the city cem- etery into a usable geographic database, as well as associate individual plot in- formation with a location for each plot. Citizens who wish to receive meeting information and updates can request to be placed on an email list at City Hall. Please contact Joann Glass at joann@vernonia-or.gov and asked to be placed on the “Citizen Notification List.” Need body work? november27 www.paintcare.org
