Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2015)
city news january1 City Department Updates: December 15-28 Administration / Utility Billing • Utility Clerk sent out 54 shut off notices. • Just a small “follow up” to our billing problem earlier this month when, because of a hiccup in the system, the water consumption portion of the bill was doubled for every account…. and the problem was not discovered until after all of the bills were mailed out. We would like to inform those of you who paid your bill in full, before a correction was made, that your account will be credited the outstanding amount you paid. Thank you very much for your assistance. Police Department - VPD • December 13th, 2014 – December 19th, 2014 – The total number of Calls for Service and Officer initiated activity was “61.” Details of the weekly activities will be outlined in a monthly report. Statistics are compiled at the end of the month and the official data is not available until the following month. Therefore, the monthly reporting will always be for the previous month. • Coming Soon: Vernonia Police Department Super Citizen Awards Program The purpose of the VPD Super Citizen Award is to promote good behavior in children and young adults. Through this award the Officers of the Vernonia Police Dept. will be able to interact with the town’s youth in a positive manner and reward those that go above and beyond to better our city. The project is fully funded by local business donations both monetarily and in goods. To be nominated for the Award children/ young adults must: • Display safe habits and attitudes • Be kind to others • Have no school and/or legal referrals • Strive to make the community a better place through their actions • Be referred by the school, a parent, regular citizen, or by an officer The Award includes: • Ride to and from school in a Police Car • Super Citizen T-Shirt • Certificate • Lunch with an Officer • Picture in Vernonia’s Voice • Staff has prepared for the possibility of heavy rains by fueling up of all generators, making sure that backup fuel is available, test fitting of the flood barriers for sewer pump station #1, and will be prepared to work overtime if needed. • Finance Director has successfully submitted the interim financing application for project funding to DEQ. The interim financing will be paid off with the USDA funds once the project has been completed. • Finance Director spent several hours assessing the Library computer issue and researching different options for addressing the problem. • First day for the new Library Director, Shannon Romtvedt, was Tuesday, December 16. Thank you to staff and community members for the warm welcome. • Library staff is happy to announce that all books from the “Adopt-A-Book” event have been adopted and will be added to the library’s collection. Thank you to our patrons for supporting the library by adopting books and to the Friends for sponsoring. Special thanks to Barbara Ward for all her hard work coordinating the event. • Circulation Statistics: 529 items were checked out December 10 – 18. Finance Public Works • Public Works replaced floats at pump station # 3. The floats are backup to the level transducer that controls the level at which the pumps turn on and off. • Work is almost complete on the modifications to raw water pump #1 at the water plant. We are waiting for one more part to finish the modifications. These modifications are due to parts that are no longer available for this pump. Once #1 raw water pump is put back in service the modifications will be duplicated on #2 raw water pump. • Generator repair was made at pump station #2 as it was found to not function properly last week when power was out. The problem was found to be a faulty fuel priming pump. This put the generator in alarm mode which meant staff had to override the alarms with jumper wires during power outage. IT’S TAX TIME Planning / Building • Jeff Goodman was appointed by the Mayor, with Council approval, to continue another term on the Planning Commission. Library City Clerk / Administration • Thank you Donna Webb and Bruce McNair for your commitment of time and hard work these last two years serving on the Council. Your work will not be forgotten. • Welcome Jill Hult and Mike Seager as you begin your commitment of time and work as a Council member. Welcome back Mayor Josette Mitchell and Thank You for all of your commitment of time and hard work. • City Recorder wishes everyone Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! • City Hall Closed: December 31 – Noon New Year’s Day January 2, 2015 • Next City Council Meeting January 5, 2015 7 pm. 2015 5 City Administrator / Administration • The City Administrator attended the League of Oregon Cities sponsored, “Small Cities Support Network” meeting. Thirty City Managers and Administrators from Portland Metro Region 2 attend this quarterly meeting. A presentation about a recap of the November election and the successful Ballot Measures was given by Craig Honeyman (Legislative Director, League of Oregon Cities). The next quarter meeting will be replaced by a combination of the Elected Essential Training, Regional and Small City Meetings. Full agenda and more information to come. • The City Administrator and City Planner (Carole Connell) discussed the need to create a specific code language to implement the Marijuana initiative (and medical marijuana should the City decide to treat that separately). The City has, in the past, adopted an ordinance putting a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries while waiting to see what would happen with Measure 91. Now that we know the results of the election, it would be advisable to start the process of putting some regulations in place for dispensaries, even though the legislative landscape is about to get complicated. The City Administrator anticipates, early in the next year, (2015) a conversation with the City Attorney (Ruben Cleaveland) and City Planner about the possibility to remove the moratorium and developing an ordinance. A recommendation would be presented to the City Council for review and direction on a preferred option. Possibly (should the Council direct) a joint planning Commission/ City Council meeting could review the ordinance proposed language. Call your LOCAL tax preparer R Y OLL A P PLUS 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 LTC #29629 - Oregon licensed tax consultant RTRP #P00448199 - designated as a registered tax return preparer by the Internal Revenue Service Vernonia Police Blotter December 13-29, 2014 • December 14, 2014 Report of Theft and Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle in the 600 Block of Bridge St. • December 14, 2014 Report of Theft and Trespass in the 200 Block of E North St. • December 20, 2014 Report of Theft and Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle in the 500 Block of Madison Ave. • December 15, 2014 Report of Theft in the 400 Block of Rose Ave. • December 26, 2014 Arrest on Warrant in the 900 Block of Texas Ave. • December 16, 2014 Report of Theft in the 800 Block of Bridge St. Vernonia Police Department responds to calls that do not always end in Arrest, Report, or Citation. The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. For more information on tax return preparers, go to www.IRS.gov. Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures City Council Meetings are scheduled for 7 PM: Monday, January 5, 2014 Tuesday, January 20, 2014 City Closures are scheduled for: Monday, January 19, 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules The • December 20, 2014 Report of Theft and Trespass on East B Street. Birk the old house of music Terry’s Gym “it’s not that far” www.thebirk.com JOIN THE TEAM! 503-901-1705 16720 Noakes Rd. Vernonia