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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2014)
city/area news City Department Updates: working out some bugs. You can review the page at vpd.vernonia-or.gov. If you have any suggestions on ways we can improve the page, please send us an email (either at the Police Department or at City Hall). • On Tuesday, October 7th, 2014 the Vernonia Police Department responded to a Vernonia High School call regarding a student that had brought a gun to school. It was determined that there was no threat of harm and the firearm, a rifle, had been secured in the student’s vehicle the entire time. The Department investigation revealed that the student intended to deliver the firearm to a relative prior to going to school but that, because of running late, had driven directly to school. A report has been forwarded to the Juvenile Department for review. Finance/Human Resources • Auditors from Grove, Mueller & Swank were here to perform the annual audit of financial statements and procedures. Staff was able to provide all requested information and the audit went smoothly. We should have a draft of the audit report by month’s end. • Finance Administrator checked in with Drew Davis (USDA) to get clarification regarding paperwork that needs to be processed for the loan the City is receiving to finish the Waste Water project. • Finance Administrator also prepared the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Waste Water Treatment Plant Project for Council September 29-October 10, 2014 approval. • We received three applications for the open Librarian position this week. The position advertisement is scheduled to be open until October 12th. We are optimistic that there will be a good pool of candidates to choose from. Public Works • Public Works staff has begun locating water meters for the ground truthing project. This job was started by volunteers from the Public Works Committee so that all relevant information to water meters in town are properly entered into the new billing system. The staff is recording meter serial numbers, meter size and location. • Public Works staff assisted the airport by delivering rock from the lake to the Vernonia Airport. They plan to have volunteers help spread the gravel to have a level spot for the pilots lounge. The pilots lounge is one of the old FEMA trailers that was listed as surplus by the County after the Flood Relief Center moved out of town. • A water leak was repaired on a customer water service located on 2nd Avenue. Public Work staff took care of the project. The leak was caused by a rusted out galvanized fitting. • Public Works crews will continue to flush and inspect sewer main lines. Also on our priority list is the task to begin the locating of water valves, exercising them and making sure they are accessible to use when Public Certification Test and Drop Sites for the General Election to be held Tuesday, November 4, 2014 The Public Certification Test of the counting equipment for the General Election to be held on November 4, 2014 will be held on Tuesday, October 28, 2014. The testing will begin at 10:00 AM in the County Elections Department. The public is welcome to attend. Drop sites for the election will be as follows: VERNONIA LIBRARY 701 Weed Avenue Oct. 15 - Nov. 3, During Library Hours Nov. 4, 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM RAINIER CITY HALL 106 B Street West Oct. 15 - Nov. 3, During Office Hours Nov. 4, 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM CLATSKANIE LIBRARY 11 Lillich Street Oct. 15 - Nov. 3, During Library Hours Nov. 4, 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM SCAPPOOSE CITY HALL 33568 E. Columbia Avenue Oct. 15 - Nov. 3, During Office Hours Nov. 4, 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM MIST BIRKENFELD RFPD 12525 Highway 292 Oct. 15 - Nov. 3, During Office Hours Nov. 4, 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM COUNTY COURTHOUSE ELECTIONS DEPT. 230 Strand Street St. Helens, OR 97051 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Mon. – Thu. Saturday, Nov. 1, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Election Day - Nov. 4, 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM A drive-by drop box is located in the lower parking lot. needed. Open ditch and culvert cleaning will also be occurring in the next couple of weeks to prepare for the coming rains. • Public Works crew continued on the ongoing process of cold patching city streets. • The water meter at the head of “Water Filter Number 1” at the Water Plant Facility was repaired by PW crew. During a routine maintenance, it was discovered that the meter, which is used to measure the amount of water that goes through the filter during a single day, was leaking. • Public Works crew is constantly checking for leaks at the location of water meters citywide. This week the PW crew checked for possible leaks not only on the public right of way side, but also on the private residence side. • PW crew periodically works on a routine maintenance of City buildings and was busy with general building maintenance of the Police Department Building. • The Public Works crew responded to a water leak located at 524 Weed Avenue. The leak was located on the private property side of the meter. Per City Policy, when the leak occurs on the private property side of the meter, it is the responsibility of the citizen/ owner to repair the leak. PW crew shut off the water so that repair could be made by owner, and eventually water was turned on. Planning/Building • The Building Department has given a final approval for the Monument that was placed at Spencer Park. • At the City Council meeting on October 6th, the City Council tabled the scheduled Public Hearing for the Lincoln School Zone Change per direction of the City Planner and City Attorney until the next Council Meeting on October 20th. This postponement will afford the City Attorney time to review the letter that Ross Day (the Attorney representing the applicants Bud and Sharla Dow) had sent, too late for review, to the City Council. • Building and Electrical inspections continue to move forward as housing projects continue to be worked on by the owners. Library • The “Book Discussion Group” met on September 29, 2014. The group discussed the book “A Town Like Alice” and had a lively discussion about it. The next book the group will discuss will be “A Tale For The Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki. The book discussion group always has room for more people. The next meeting of the Book Discussion Group will be October 27, 2014 at 5:30 at the Library. • The preschoolers enjoyed story time with Nancy on September 29, 2014. The books october16 2014 7 continued from page 6 about pumpkins were enjoyed by the children and parents alike. Five preschoolers attended story time. • October 8, 2014, was “Toddler Time.” Come have fun with Shannon Romtvedt with storytelling, bubbles, songs, rhymes and other games. The activities are mostly focused on kids between the ages of 0 and 3, but older children are welcome too (bring along an older brother, sister or friend). The “Toddler Time” group meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 11:00 – 11:30 am. • The Stamp Club meets once a month. Stamp Club is for young and old alike to get together and share knowledge about the hobby of stamp collecting. First Thursday of every month at 4:30 is when the club gets together. • We would like to thank the Friends of the Library for buying a storage cabinet for art supplies: “Thank you very much… it was very kind and gracious of you… and greatly appreciated.” The Friends of the Library will also be helping with the cost of having two Oregon Humanities speakers coming to our library and giving some interesting presentations and guide us through exciting and stimulating conversations. Everyone is welcome. If you need more information about this activity, please don’t hesitate to contact our staff. • Upkeep of the Library building is (almost) a never ending activity. After taking care of the grounds during the past weeks, we have focused our attention to the painting of the building. Finally, with the good weather we were able to complete the outside painting of the upper trim of the building. The painter did a wonderful job. It looks great. • Circulation statistics: 401 pieces of material were checked out at the library during the week of September 22, through September 26. • Please join us at the library every Tuesday from 3:45-4:45 for the After School Activity Program. There will be stories, snack, and crafts for the children to enjoy. This program is suited for children in grades K-5. The program is free of charge. Please call 503- 429-1818 if you have any questions. • Just a reminder that the next “Family Movie Night” will be October 21, 2014 at 6:00 pm. Come enjoy a movie and some popcorn. It will be fun for the family. Call for movie title or come and be surprised. We hope to see you here at the library. • Fun fact about Vernonia Library, the library checks out more material in a year than Rainier or Clatskanie. Vernonia Library checked out 23,047 pieces of material last year. WOW! Isn’t it great that the city of continued on page 18 TOO BUSY? Call your LOCAL bookkeeper R Y OLL A P PLUS LLC • Kitchen & Bathroom Remodels • Finish Carpentry • Ceramic Tile Work • Custom Home Construction • Additions • Commercial Tenant Improvements Jim Morrison, Jr. General Contractor CCB# 112057 Ph: (503) 429-0154 MorrisonRemodeling@hughes.net Vernonia, OR 97064 • Licensed • Bonded • Insured 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 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. For more information on tax return preparers, go to www.IRS.gov.
