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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2014)
6 city news november20 2014 City Department Updates: November 1-13, 2014 without having to rely on maps. • Public Works staff finished the ground truthing of all water meters this week. Now staff will finish updating customer accounts with the meter’s information. • Street sweeping continues as time and weather allow. We thank the citizens for their patience and cooperation. This time of year this is a very time consuming job. • Public Works has been cold patching streets at least once a week as time allows. We are trying to address the streets with the most traffic first and work towards getting as many streets patched as possible. • The Parks Department continues to deal with all of the leaves at the lake and other parks. We are on a twice weekly schedule for leaf removal. • Public Works Department was notified that the City will be receiving an award from the National Weather Service for maintaining the Weather Station located at Vernonia’s water plant and for sending monthly reports to the Weather Service. Vernonia Public Works has been responsible for this task for a long time; this award is for 50 years of service! Current staff has been doing this since 1996. • Public Works staff is working with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to replace the intake screen at the water plant. They are hoping to provide some cost sharing to improve the structure. This may involve installing a finer mesh screen and provide automatic back flushing which could eliminate leaves and debris from clogging the screen. This could help to eliminate some staff time in the fall when leaves are a problem. • An abnormal amount of water consumption was detected over the weekend on the west side of Rose Ave. It was found to be the sump pump stuck in the run position at the Corey Hill Booster Pump Station pressure reducing valve. • Staff began inventory and organization of water repair parts this week. This is to assure we are able to repair a water leak in a timely manner. There are various types of water lines in town and we must have parts in stock to repair all of them. • Public works staff winterized park facilities that are not in use during the winter months. All water and sewer buildings have also had portable heater reinstalled and turned on. • Anderson Park had an RV space with a broken water pipe that had to be excavated and replaced. These are frost free yard hydrants, but it had not been drained after use causing the water in the line to freeze and crack the pipe. • Public Works would like to remind home owners to insulate their outside pipes or to leave some water dripping if the weather is below freezing. Also homeowners should know where the water shut off to the house is located and be able to access it. • The Vernonia Lake pump was primed and started this week. We are struggling with the alder leaves plugging up the intake screen on it so we are monitoring it closely. We hope to be able to have the pump run for a couple of weeks before high water requires it to be removed for the winter. Planning / Building • City Council has approved the “Lincoln School property zone change” from Residential “R” Zone to General Commercial “GC” Zone (with conditions). Carole Connell, City Planner, at the regular Planning Commission meeting, reported back on the City Council decision not to accept the zone change recommendation of the Commission for the Lincoln School property. Carole used this time as a training session and to answer any questions the Commissioners had to understand what the next steps are in the process. • Permits have been issued for wood stoves, gas heaters, and electrical reconnects. Police Blotter November 1-12, 2014 REPORTS TAKEN • November 1, 2014 Arrest on Warrant near Bridge St. and Jefferson Ave. • November 4, 2014 Suspect taken into custody in the 900 Block of Rose Ave. • November 6, 2014 Arrest on Warrant in the 400 Block of Bridge St. • November 10, 2014 Informational Report taken in the 700 Block of Jefferson Ave. TRAFFIC/OTHER CITATIONS • November 12, 2014 Citation for No Operator’s License near Bridge St. and Grant Ave. Vernonia Police Department responds to calls that do not always end in Arrest, Report, or Citation. • 11/01/2014 through 11/12/2014 VPD responded to 79 calls/ incidents. Library • Elijah Ferguson was the winner of the “Guess the number of candies in the jar” contest. Congratulations Elijah! • Circulation statistics- 435 pieces of material were checkout from October 31 through November 6. • Baby and Toddler Time with Shannon was really fun this week, it made staff want to join in. Please join in the fun with Shannon on December 10. • Circulation statistics- 373 pieces of material were checkout from November 6 through November 13. • Please help City Hall and the Library with their efforts to collect gelatin and pudding for Vernonia Cares holiday boxes. Others in our community need our support, please consider helping. Thank You • November 24 is book discussion night. Book club will have a lot to talk about with the book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. They always have room for other book lovers. City Clerk / Administration • The Unofficial Election Results are as follows: Josette Mitchell has been re-elected as Mayor for another two years. Jill Hult and Mike Seager have been elected as Council Members for the next four years. They will be replacing Councilor Donna Webb and Councilor Bruce McNair. The newly elected Councilors and the Mayor will be sworn in at the January 5th City Council Meeting. Congratulations to all and Thank You to Councilor Webb and Councilor McNair for volunteering their time and for their commitment to the City during the last four years. • Walk your Wheels signage on Bridge Street will soon be a reality thanks to the Lyons Club. Paula Hanson has spearheaded this project supporting the well being and safety of all those that patronize the local businesses. City Council, Chief Conner and City Staff will be meeting with the businesses to discuss location of these signs. • Volunteers are needed to serve on various City Committees and Commissions. Participating on a City Committee or Commission is a rewarding experience, providing an opportunity to learn and share your skills and knowledge and an opportunity to become involved in local government. A list of volunteer positions and the application are on the City Web Page or you are welcome to stop at City Hall and pick up an application and return to the City Recorder. Volunteer positions are appointed by the Mayor with Council approval. DM e rm an call Kim D Vernonia Dental 291 A Street Lovable service at a reasonable price • Bathing • Haircuts • Nail Clipping • Nail Polishing • Specialty Shampoos . Dr continued from page 5 ri h C s he p to r M . S e ch u 622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064 phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881 City Administrator / Administration • City Administrator and Public Works Foreman met with Maggie Payton (Executive Director of Upper Nehalem Watershed Council), Greg Apke (Fish Passage Coordinator – ODFW) and Martin Olson (Screens Coordinator - ODFW). The group met at Hawkins Park where ODFW is in the process of investigating the summer dam being an obvious obstacle to migrating fish. The dam could block both the downstream movement of juvenile fish to the waters where they will spend their adult lives and returning salmon and steelhead. The group will reconvene periodically to draft potential solutions that could offer a compromise between ODFW and the City of Vernonia’s need. • The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project is ready to bid and it only needs a final review of compliance from USDA. It is anticipated that the project will begin in early March 2015. • City Administrator met with Councilor Donna Webb (Library Committee Liaison). The Library Board has been discussing the opportunity to expand the Library services and programs, and it is currently considering the opportunity to establish a “Books on Wheels” program that could deliver books to people who cannot come to the library. • The City Administrator met with Mike Pihl (Mike Pihl Logging) to discuss cutting two dead trees from City parks, and to have a professional estimate about a potential comprehensive logging program at City owned properties. Over the past two months, staff identified, and was notified about trees in unsafe conditions (dead/dangerous). These trees are creating a risk of harm to the public at large. A final report for Council review, and discussion, will be presented at Council meeting in the following weeks. • The City Administrator and Scott Laird (Chair of the Parks Committee) toured the City’s parks system. While visiting the different parks, and aided by the Vernonia Parks and Trails Master Plan, the Chair briefed the Administrator on the different projects, and their priorities, anticipated to occur at the different parks. • The City Administrator met with Larry Snethen (Lake Park Host) to talk about the Host concerns and potential issues about the Lake. During the week the restroom at the lake had been vandalized. The conversation was about closing the restrooms at the lake during the winter months. A recommendation will be presented to City Council for final decision. Randstad is hiring immediately for great jobs in the Solar Panel Manufacturing Industry! Entry level (no experience necessary) production workers needed to work at SolarWorld in Hillsboro. These positions will be 18 month assignments with the opportunity to get hired on based on excellent attendance and perfor- mance. This is a great opportunity to get your foot in the door in the manufacturing industry. We offer both day and night shifts on a compressed work week schedule. Day shifts pay $10 an hour and night shifts pay $11 an hour. Every shift will have about 1.5 hours of overtime! Interested applicants please contact the Rands- tad branch at SolarWorld (503-693-5265) and you will be provided a link to the application.
