june18 2015
VERNONIA’S
volume9 issue12
www.vernoniasvoice.com
Vernonia City Budget
Contains Several Changes
The Vernonia City Council
approved the 2015-16 Budget at their
June 1, 2015 City Council meeting.
The budget for the new fiscal year in-
cludes several changes from the previ-
ous year.
The biggest change, according
to City Finance Director Angie Hande-
gard, is the addition of funding for an
additional Police Officer. The Vernonia
Police Department has been operating
with just three officers, Chief Michael
Conner plus two patrol officers, since
2013. Last year the department added a
part-time administrative position. The
budget for the upcoming year continues
funding for the administrative position
plus funding to hire an additional patrol
officer. The additional funding mostly
comes from an increase in property tax
revenue.
Property taxes for 2015-16
increased by approximately 13% over
2014-15 to $663,029.
The total budget for 2015-16
is $7,619,083, which includes $2.7
million in wastewater capital improve-
ments.
Construction on the Waste-
water Treatment Upgrade Project will
be started in the upcoming fiscal year.
Council has accepted a bid from R&G
Excavating for $3.97 million for con-
struction of the project. The City se-
cured $2.7 million in interim financing
from the Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), which will be repaid
with a loan from the United States De-
partment of Agriculture (USDA) after
the project is completed. The City has
also secured a USDA Grant which will
fund the balance of the construction
project.
Additional USDA funds will
be used to refinance, at a much lower
interest rate, a portion of the current
debt obligation the City owes from pri-
or sewer rehab projects. The total out-
standing balance is just over $5 million,
with total annual payments of $460,000
per year and is made up of two USDA
inside
3
marijuana
ready or not
10
favorite fotos
15
summer fire safety
19
summer
meal program
free
Sewer Bonds and two DEQ Loans. Ac-
cording to Handegard, the City is also
budgeting funds to retire two of those
prior debt obligations, totaling almost
$550,000, over the next several years,
reducing the annual payment the City is
currently paying by almost $100,000.
Changes in personnel will also
be occurring in the new budget. Han-
degard says City Public Works employ-
ees are no longer part of a union. Early
in 2015 the City Council reclassified
several positions on the staff, including
changing the City Recorder position
to Assistant to the City Administrator/
City Recorder. A new position, Park
Superintendent, was also created.
The City has hired a new full
time Public Works employee and is in
the process of hiring one more, bring-
ing the total number of full time, per-
manent workers in the department back
to three. Last year the Public Works
Department had two temporary em-
ployees.
In addition, the City is current-
ly in the process of hiring for a Planner/
GIS/Code Enforcement Officer.
Other items of note in the
2015-16 Budget:
• Healthcare premiums are expected to
increase by 7% and healthcare expen-
ditures are expected to increase by 15%
with the addition of new employees.
• In the 2013-14 budget year the City
saw a 1% reduction in water revenues
of $12,649. Revenues for 2014-15 are
expected to be up by $101,316, 13%
over what was budgeted. This was ac-
complished through fiscal management
that included implementation of a new
billing system, and the Water Meter
Ground Truthing project which con-
firmed all water meters in the system.
• The City has budgeted for the pur-
chase of a new tractor which will cost
$25,753 and will be financed over 4
four years. The cost will be split be-
tween several funds including the Gen-
eral Fund, Parks, Cemetery, Water, and
Sewer.
reflecting the spirit of our community
Wyden Holds Town Hall
US Senator Ron Wyden held
a Town Hall Meeting in Vernonia on
June 11 th .
Approximately 50 people
attending the meeting at the Cabin
in Vernonia, where Wyden spent 90
minutes fielding questions from the
crowd.
When Wyden was first
elected as a US Senator from Oregon
in 1996 he pledged to hold a meeting
in each county every year to hear
the concerns of constituents. This
meeting in Columbia County was
Wyden’s 733rd Town Hall
meeting.
Wyden,
after
being introduced by
Vernonia City Councilor
Kim Tierney, wasted
little time on formalities,
and immediately began
taking questions from the
audience, which is the
usual format at his Town
Halls.
Wyden took time
part way through the
meeting, even though
he wasn’t directly asked
about it, to address the
Transpacific Trade Partnership (TTP),
which is currently a hot topic nationally.
Wyden has been targeted by opponents
of the trade agreement for his leadership
on this issue. Wyden explained that right
now Congress is working on the Trade
Promotion Authority (TPA), which are
the rules for the trade agreement and has
nothing to do with actually signing an
agreement. Once the rules are in place
then the details of the agreement can be
worked out. Wyden said he believes
trade done correctly is beneficial to
Oregonians because one out of five jobs
in Oregon depends on international trade
and trade jobs often pay better than non-
trade jobs. Wyden said raising wages
for middle class families is a priority.
Wyden explained that by 2015 there
could be one billion middle class people
in developing countries with disposable
income to spend on products produced
July 4 th Fireworks Viewing
The City Council approved the
non-play field area of Spencer Park to be
open temporarily for citizens to view the
July 4 th fireworks display sponsored by
the VRFPD.
The Public Works Department
has been fertilizing, mowing, and
preparing the new fields for fall youth
sports. Citizens are asked to refrain from
walking or siting on the new field areas.
The perimeters of the closed sections
will be marked prior to the 4 th of July.
The New Spencer Park will
be open following a Grand Opening
Ceremony Saturday, August 8 th at 9:00
am. The youth sports teams will hold
ceremonial first games at the new fields
prior to the Jamboree parade.
More details about the Grand
Opening to come.
in the US. He believes
it’s important that some
of those products are
made in Oregon and
for Oregonians to get
good paying jobs from
the production of those
products. “My philosophy
for the economy is, ‘Grow
it here, make it here, add
value to it here and then
ship it somewhere,’” said
Wyden. Wyden says there
are a lot of issues with
the trade agreement and
those against it have made
valid points, which he says
he has tried to address. He says he is
concerned about the secrecy around the
agreement. Wyden says new rules being
considered would require that any trade
agreement would have to be made public
for 60 days before the President signs it
and it will be public for an additional
30-60 days before the House or Senate
vote on it. “All this secrecy has been
ridiculous,” said Wyden.
Jim Buxton later raised concerns
about some of the details in the Fast
Track process, particularly a supposedly
sweet deal for drug companies. Wyden
identified Buxton’s concern as “the
expansion of the Donut Hole,” and
explained it as the part of Medicare that
is not covered - health care expenses
are covered early in the process and for
catastrophic loss, but the middle costs
are often not covered. Wyden says he is
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