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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2015)
city news At the May 18, 2015 City Council Meeting: Council Passes Resolution Opposing LNG - Council unanimously approved Resolution 07-15, declaring the City’s concerns and opposition to the Oregon LNG and Oregon Pipeline Projects. The resolution stated that the City supports economic growth that does not jeopardize the environment or citizen’s health or safety; opposes construction of the LNG terminal and pipeline and calls on all county state and federal agencies to reject the proposed project because it is in conflict with public safety and public interest; and requests that Oregon LNG notify citizens of all risks, meet periodically with local citizens to address regional concerns, mitigate potential environmental health and safety hazards, and submit an emergency environmental cleanup plan. Council Approves Water Billing Change - Council approved a request from staff to eliminate the practice of using door hangers to notify utility customers forty-eight hours prior to their water being shut off for lack of payment. According to the staff report, the process is time consuming and customers have complained the practice is embarrassing. Council directed staff to return with an Ordinance amending the current “Payment of Bills” section. The current City Ordinance states that bills are mailed each month and customers have twenty days to pay before a 6% penalty is added. Accounts are shut off at thirty days. Councilor Jill Hult said she did not believe this is enough time and is not fair. Council held a lengthy discussion about changing the length of time for payment and/or the length of time before shut off, but took no action. Council Holds Public Hearing on Street Vaccation - Based on an application from Steve Weller, Council considered a request to vacate a portion of H Street. Weller is one of eight property owners adjacent to the proposed section to be vacated. The reason for the request is to resolve an issue with improper setbacks Vernonia City News... of structures on adjoining properties that infringe on the public right-of-way, which would be allowed to stay. Weller would also like to construct a storage shed in the current right of way. Bruce McNair, who has been helping the City assess timber on City owned property told Council that there is merchantable timber in the right-of-way. Council approved the request to vacate with the condition that they be allowed to cut the timber first and set a timeline of sixty days to take that action. Council later tabled the approval of Ordinance 904 which would have officially vacated the section of H Street, until they can determine if they have the rights to harvest the timber on the property. Council Approves MOU for Courtyard - Council approved a letter of consent allowing the Vernonia Senior Center to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Blue House Café. The MOU provides for use of a portion of the courtyard attached to the Vernonia Community Learning Center (VCLC). The Senior Center is currently leasing the VCLC from the City. The MOU allows the Blue House Café to place tables, chairs, benches and flower pots on one-third of the courtyard. Any of the three parties can terminate the MOU at any time, for any reason. Council to Explore Smoke-Free Parks - Council directed staff to move forward with drafting a proposal to ban all smoking in City Parks. According to the staff report on the issue, over 500 cities and towns nationwide and sixty- four cities and counties in Oregon have laws mandating smoke-free parks. Council Approves New Application - Council City Department Updates: May 4 - 15, 2015 Administration/Utility Billing • As of May 15, 2015 the outstanding balances on active accounts were: 90 days $17.59, 60 days $88.95, 30 days $650.03 • Shut offs will on May 28, 2015 • 3 electrical permits and 1 building permit were issued, 1 new water/sewer accounts, and 3 electrical reconnect permits were issued. Police Department/ VPD • The total number of calls for service and officer initiated activity in April 2015 was 221. • April 30th, 2015 – May 13th, 2015 – The total number of Calls for Service and Officer initiated activity was 108. • Stop Kids Impaired Driving (SKID): VPD participated in the SKID event on May 06, 2015. SKID is a traffic safety and underage drinking prevention program used to educate young people about the tragic consequences of teen drinking and driving. SKID is a very graphic and realistic dramatization involving wrecked vehicles and injured “victims” who are portrayed by students from the host school. Finance • Finance Director will be calling for bids on the removal of some or all of the trees along Bridge St. The trees have begun to do damage to the sidewalk and need to be removed. At this point we are only researching the cost of removal and potential replacement. • The Budget committee approved the budget for fiscal year 2015-2016 and have recommended it to Council for Adoption. A public hearing is scheduled for June 1st at City Hall and will be held as part of the Council Meeting to adopt the budget. • Staff attended a pre-bid meeting on Tuesday for the WWTP project. It was a full house and we are optimistic that we will get many competitive bids for the project. • Finance Director reviewed plans for another new house on Nickerson Loop. There have been several new homes built already this year. This is good news for Vernonia’s economy. continued on page 12 approved a new application presented by staff for potential Committee, Board and City Council applicants. Council Receives Information About Computer Backup - Council received three options presented by ISOutsource to upgrade the City and Library computer systems to provide needed back up and recovery capabilities. The three options range in cost from $1,686 to $6,775. Council questioned staff on where in the budget the funding would come from, what would be the ongoing maintenance costs for the back up system and whether the City could implement a portion of the project now and then add on to it later. Council tabled a decision until they have more information. Council Extends Contract With OTAK - Council extended their contract for one year with OTAK who is currently serving as the City engineering firm. Council Approves Support for CCRider - Council approved a letter of support for CCRider’s Transportation Growth Management grant application may21 2015 5 to be used to update their Community Wide Transit Plan and US 30 Transit Access Plan. Police Report Squatters Have Been Removed - Police Chief Mike Conner reported that an ongoing issue with squatters occupying an abandoned home at 158 A Street has been resolved. Mayor Accepts Committee Resignation, Appoints Members - Mayor Randy Parrow, with consent from Council, accepted the resignation of Sally Harrison from the Public Works Committee and appointed Harrison, Ilene Grady and Lila Harrison to the Cemetery Committee. Topics from the Floor - Sally Harrison provided the Council with some suggestions for beautifying the cemetery and said as a new Cemetery Committee member she would begin working on these ideas. Steve Calhoun thanked the Council for their action in officially opposing the Oregon LNG and Oregon Pipeline projects.
