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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2013)
city news february7 Vernonia City News... At the February 4, 2013 City Council Meeting: Council Authorizes Spending for Park Develop- ment-Council authorized the City Administrator to sign Agreement LGP0252-1 Spencer Park Develop- ment which will allow the City to draw funds from the grant for proposed improvements that will be part of the park replacement project at the former school cam- pus. The agreement for funds is for $175,432 and will be used to install a restroom facility and picnic shelter in conjunction with the Vernonia School District re- placement park construction process. City Administrator Updates Council on Projects- City Administrator Bill Haack updated Council on several ongoing projects that the City is working on. Haack and Council discussed the options for removal of the biosolids from the wastewater lagoons by Clean Water Services. Haack also spent time explaining the details of the wastewater headworks repair project. Haack also introduced the idea that the Library is run- ning out of storage space and may need to construct a 200 square foot building using grant funds. Haack also discussed that City Building and Grounds Main- tenance staff will be completing an assessment of City owned buildings and developing a maintenance plan. Council Authorizes Parks Master Plan-Council au- thorized the City Administrator to sign an agreement with Oregon Parks and Recreation to draw down funds on Agreement LGP0252-2 and allow the City to enter into a contract with Mackay & Sposito for work on the Master Park Plan. The contract is for $46,874. Council Authorizes Contract for Environmental As- sessment-Council authorized the City Administrator to negotiate a contract with Pacific Habitat Services (PHS) to complete an environmental assessment required by the Oregon DEQ. The assessment is a required ele- ment of the approval process for the use of Clean Wa- ter State Revolving Funds to finance the City’s Waste Water Treatment Plant facility upgrade project. The proposed cost of the work is $32,962 and will be paid with funds available through EPA State and Tribal As- sistance Grant. Council Approves Funds for Design of Repair-Coun- cil authorized the City Administrator to fund engineer- ing services with HLB OTAK, to complete the design work for emergency repairs to the Waste Water Treat- ment Plant Headworks. It was discovered in December of 2012 that the headworks and its discharge piping is unable to handle high flows during winter months. The At the January 22, 2013 City Council Meeting: City now needs to modify the headworks. Total cost is estimated to be $300,000 and will be paid for through a Public Works Committee Recommends No Rate DEQ CWSRF Loan that is available to the City. Increases-The Public Works Committee made a rec- ommendation to City Council that the City Council/ Council Approves Contract for Final Design-Coun- Budget Committee refrain from raising water or sewer cil authorized the City Administrator to negotiate a rates and budgets by holding or lowering operational contract with Tetra Tech Engineering and Architecture costs. The recommendation, which was passed by the Services to complete the Waste Water Improvement Committee by majority vote at their December 19, Project design engineering. Tetra Tech Engineering 2012 meeting, was given to Council at the January 22, was chosen for the project based on a recommendation 2013 meeting. from the Public Works Committee. City Administrator Report By Bill Haack The City of Vernonia is currently working on many complicated projects with many moving parts. As the City Adminis- trator I believe it is important to keep our citizens informed about the details of these projects and will be providing these brief re- ports that will include updates and some spe- cific details on what we are working on. If you have questions about any of the information in these reports please feel free to contact either your City Councilors or myself. WASTEWATER PLANT PROJECT TREATMENT DEQ APPROVES FINAL PLAN SUBMIT- TED BY TETRA TECH Oregon Department of Environmental Qual- ity conditionally approved the wastewater treatment plan facility improvements that will lead the City to build a hyporheic discharge infiltration model to handle wastewater year round. The project cost estimate is at $5.5 million, including a modification to the Head- works and the removal of bio solids required due to the elevation of the lagoons dyke system. OTAK, the City Engineer, will value engineering cost estimates and project ele- ments to ensure that we bid the best project that we are able to design. BIO SOLIDS PLAN In discussion with OTAK and Tetra Tech, we continue to carry on discussions with Clean Water Services to assess their ability to serve the City as a bio solids contractor to manage dredging and processing two lagoons. The current thinking is to extract the water turn- ing the bio solids into a “cake” which reduces the trucking costs significantly. OTAK is also looking at other options. Our geotechnical engineer (Shannon & Wilson) will review 2013 5 OLCC Renewals Given OK By Chief-Vernonia Po- lice Chief Mike Connor told Council he was giving a favorable recommendation for all OLCC License re- newals in Vernonia. License renewals were received from the following businesses: All In Pub & Eatery, Black Bear Coffee Co. & Bear Creek Pub, Blue House Cafe, Bridge Street Mini Mart, Cedar Side Inn, La Ca- bana Mexican Restaurant, New Hong Kong Restau- rant, Vernonia Sentry Market. Council Hears Update on Rose Avenue Project- Council heard an update from City Administrator Bill Haack on the current status of the Rose Avenue Project. The City has been working with the Vernonia Health Board, Vernonia Cares Food Bank, and Vernonia Senior Center since 2008 to relocate the three enti- ties which were all damaged in the 2007 flood. City Council previously approved an exchange of land with Oregon Parks and Recreation and accepted the land for the proposed site. Haack informed Council that the Health Board is working with an architect and are considering options for construction of a new facility. Haack says he will discuss with the Health Board the layout of the overall property and how much space they will need for their building, how much parking they will need, space needed to allow ambulance ac- cess to their building, approaches to Cougar and Weed Avenues and how much sidewalk, curb, gutters and street improvements the project will entail. A workshop with Council and all the parties involved in the project was scheduled for Friday Febru- ary 1, 2013. Mayor Appoints Two Citizens-Mayor Josette Mitch- ell, with approval of Council, appointed Lynn Fulgham to the Library Board and appointed Kathy Larsen to serve on the Planning Commission. these proposals. Costs for this project are eligible under the DEQ CWSRF loan. How- ever, if neither of these two options works, we may still have a hefty removal and pro- cessing costs if we are moving bio solids as liquids, as a land applied solution is costly. In all cases, the selected scope of work for removal and processing will be late Spring/ Summer 2013. Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures DYKE ROCK & ENGINEERED FILL MATE- RIALS The City Engineer had an informal discussion with Trails End Recycling and Custom Exca- vating, asking them to provide an estimate of the amount of gravel and rock the school de- molition site will yield. Shannon & Wilson will conduct an onsite review of the materials to provide a geotechnical assessment of these building materials. If this source of rock and gravel can be used, it should provide a cost City Closures are scheduled for: Monday, February 18 City Council Meetings are scheduled for 7 PM: Tuesday, February 19 Monday, March 4 Monday, March 18 Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules continued on page 6 For fast cash! 010412 IT’S TAX TIME Call your LOCAL tax preparer R Y O A LL PL P US LLC Edi Sheldon 503-429-1819 edisheldon@gmail.com Licensed tax consultant • Full service payroll Personal & small business bookkeeping • QuickBooks assistance CORPS, S-CORPS, LLC, Partnerships • Personal one-on-one service 2245 Baseline St., Cornelius (Across from Fred Meyer) 503-530-8119 State Licensed PB-0388 Open everyday at 9 a.m. LTC #29629 - Oregon licensed tax consultant RTRP #P00448199 - designated as a registered tax return preparer by the Internal Revenue Service The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. 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