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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2013)
august15 2013 VERNONIA’S volume7 issue16 www.vernoniasvoice.com reflecting the spirit of our community Columbia County Commissioners Will Seek Jail Operations Levy Commissioners discuss jail operations, more at Vernonia coffee event By April Bamburg $75 per bed, per day. “Without those beds, we would have closed the jail two years ago,” Heimuller said. This leaves 25 beds for individ- uals arrested inside Columbia County. The funding is not there to utilize the rest of the beds. “The jail was built with rentals in mind,” Hyde told the assem- From county furlough days to FEMA trailers and operation of the Co- lumbia County Jail, the July 26 coffee klatch with county commissioners Tony Hyde, Earl Fisher and Henry Heimuller touched on a wide range of topics. The event was held at the Black Bear Cof- fee Company in Vernonia. W i t h funds tight for the county, com- missioners de- cided several years ago to close the court- house to the pub- lic on Fridays, to accommodate 26 furlough days. County employ- ees work every other Friday, using the non- public contact Columbia County Commissioners Earl Fisher, Henry Heimuller time to catch up and Tony Hyde in Vernonia July 26 for a community coffee klatch. on tasks set aside during the non-work- bled group. ing Friday, Heimuller said. “They don’t In November, the commission- have to answer questions; they don’t ers will send voters a jail operation levy have to answer the phone. They can con- – approximately $.55 to $.60 per thou- centrate on getting their work done,” he sand in assessed property value. If ap- said. proved, that funding will be earmarked Although the public may have strictly for jail operations, Fisher said. less contact with county employees, “There won’t be anything with Heimuller said that employees are learn- the sheriff’s office, no patrol funding [in ing to wear more hats and do more. this levy attempt],” Heimuller said. County jail operations Heimuller said that the jail is The 260-bed jail currently hous- operating on funding meant for 35-38 es 105 prisoners. The majority –80— are beds, and that there’s a lot that goes inmates that the U.S. Marshals Service into supervision and care for inmates houses in the Columbia County Jail for continued on page 6 inside 7 13 14 16 23 malarkey trail ride boosters day camp dairy princess fall sports schedules jamboree highlights free Veteran Service Provides Outreach Russ Clark, the new Veterans Service Officer for Columbia County has been on the job for a little over three months. And he is looking for more vets to help. Clark, who has an office at the Community Action Team building at 125 N. 17 th Street in St. Helens, has been doing monthly outreach visits to Vernonia, Clatskanie and Rainier in an effort to reach more veterans. “I’m not seeing as many clients as I had anticipated, to be quite honest,” said Clark during his most recent visit to the Vernonia community on August 6 th . “That is one of the reasons I want to do these outreaches-to try to get out into the communities to see more clients.” Clark provides services for vet- erans, claimants and survivors. He helps veterans get enrolled into the VA health system. He also assists veterans who were injured while in the service and have a current disability related to that injury. Clark helps them submit their claim and through the benefits process. Clark also helps veterans who may be eligible to receive a VA pension. “VA pensions are usually for veterans who, for whatever circumstances, are barely making it in the world,” says Clark. “The idea of the pension is to provide them with some assistance to allow them to survive and live.” Clark also helps veterans access the many educa- tion benefits that are available to them. Clark has committed to visiting each community in Columbia County once each month; currently he plans to be in Vernonia on the first Tuesday of each month. His next visit is scheduled for September 3 rd from 12:00 to 7:00 PM at the Vernonia Community Learn- ing Center, 939 Bridge Street. Walk-ins are encouraged. Clark has also been meeting with veterans over breakfast on the first Friday of each month. Those vet- eran breakfasts are held at the Village Inn in St. Helens at 8:00 AM. “This is a chance for them to ask me specific questions and also promote some cama- raderie among the local veterans,” says Clark. “I encourage anyone who wants to join us to come down.” Clark is making a real effort to reach out and find the veterans that need the assistance and services he is here to provide. “The biggest thing I want people to know is that I am available for the veterans,” says Clark. “I think in the past the Veterans Service Officers have not been very proactive about get- ting out into the communities to do out- reach,” says Clark. “That is one of the things I am trying to change.” Clark says that, not only is he visiting the communities to make it eas- ier for veterans to see him, but he is also willing to make home visits in order to reach vets that have mobility or travel issues. “My philosophy is that I shouldn’t require a veteran who lives more than fifteen or twenty miles away to drive to St. Helens just to do a claim,” continued on page 6 Health Board Receives $250K Grant The Vernonia Health Center Board of Directors has received notification that they have been awarded a $250,000 grant from The Ford Family Foundation. The grant award is one of many major steps for the Health Board as they continue to move forward with plans to construct a new health center which is out of the Flood Zone. The Ford Family Foundation grant award will go towards construction of the new health clinic which will be part of the Rose Avenue Project in Vernonia, which also includes a joint Senior Center/ Food Bank building. The current health clinic building, located on Bridge Street, is owned by the Vernonia Health Board and was severely damaged in the 2007 Flood. The Health Board has been offered a buyout from FEMA for their current property and building, which will be demolished after the buyout is complete. The Ford Family Foundation grant is the first of several applications the Vernonia Health Board has submitted to foundations in the hopes of securing funding for their project. They expect to receive a decision on an application from The Collins Foundation by the end of August and have also made applications to The Meyer Memorial Trust, The Samuel S. Johnson Foundation, and the Oregon Community Foundation. The Health Board is also reviewing several other grant opportunities to see if they would be a good fit for the project. The Health Board has been approved for their approximately $320,000 FEMA buyout, but have not yet been awarded the funds, as they are awaiting the allocation process by the U.S. Congress. The Health Board is also awaiting a decision on funds held by Providence Health Services which implemented a community giving campaign on behalf of the local health clinic immediately following the 2007 Flood. Providence has been waiting for an approved project to be brought forward by the Vernonia Health Board before releasing the funds and a decision to release the approximately $195,000 being held is expected shortly. The decision by the Vernonia City Council at their August 5 th meeting to approve a partial vacation of the east side of Weed Avenue was another major step for the new health center and the Rose Avenue Project. The property necessary for construction of the entire project has now been secured, after a reconfiguring of the layout of the project on the site reduced the amount of land needed. The project will be built in phases with the health center construction coming first. The Senior Center and Food Bank are currently in the planning stages for their project and will be phase 2 of the Rose Avenue Development. continued on page 7
