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
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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.
