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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2015)
city news july2 City Department Updates for June 15-26, 2015 Administration/Utility Billing • As of June 26, 2015 the outstanding balances on active accounts are as follows: 90days-$13.38, 60 days- $300.66, 30 days- $2,174.39. • Reminder: Starting this month no door hangers will be posted for late accounts as a reminder to pay their water bill. • Staff is updating, and sending out, business license forms for annual renewal. • 2 electrical permits issued, 1 mechanical permit issued. Police Department-VPD • The total number of calls for service and officer initiated activity in May 2015 was 242. • May 29th, 2015 – June 16th, 2015 – The total number of Calls for Service and Officer initiated activity was 97. • June 17th, 2015 – June 25th, 2015 – The total number of Calls for Service and Officer initiated activity was 75. • Nuisance Violations: 228 Total Violations, 119 Completed, 109 Pending. Finance • Interviews for the public works position were held and the position was offered to Tyler Dougherty. Tyler has previous experience in public works and will make a great addition to the staff. • Final approval from the funding agencies has occurred this week and the Notice of Award should be going out to the contractor that was chosen for the WWTP. We hope construction will begin soon. • Staff is researching online reservation programs for Anderson Park. All State and County parks utilize online reservations and payments which save a lot of time for the park host and staff. We are hoping to have a program ready for use before the end of the summer....or for next season. • Finance Director attended the Council meeting on June 15 in order to have the Vernonia Police Department Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) approved. It will be signed by all parties and will cover the next three years. • Financing for the new tractor that was approved in the budget is in place. We have ordered the equipment and it should arrive in early July. The payment will be shared by several departments as it will be used for many different purposes throughout the city. • The dam at Hawkins Park is up and the pool is open. Drew will be on lifeguard duty in the afternoons. Please keep in mind that children under 11 must be accompanied by an adult or older sibling. Anyone who doesn’t follow posted rules may be asked to leave the pool. Public Works • Public Works staff has been moving sprinklers at new Spencer Park. After a week of fine tuning the task is becoming much easier and less time consuming. • Public Works met with the new water master to confirm the Rock Creek gauge is functioning properly. The gauge is very important as it determines the flow of Rock Creek in cubic ft. per second. The flows determine if we need to implement water curtailment measures. The 1st level of water curtailment occurs at 14cfs which is voluntary water conservation. The second level occurs at 12cfs which means odd / even days of outdoor watering. The 3rd level occurs at 10cfs which prohibits any outside watering. Rock Creek is currently flowing at 23cfs. • Staff has been spending any extra time this week weed spraying all City properties. • Water plant operations take up more staff time this time of year as water consumption almost doubles. Normal water use for a single day is about 190,000 gallons and a water plant run time of 5-6 hrs. Water use now is about 300,000 gallons per day with a water plant run time of 10-11 hrs. Library • 67 kids signed up for the library Summer Reading Program in the first 3 days of sign- ups. That is a record! Summer Reading participants keep track of time reading and get a prize drawing ticket for every hour. Kids who turn in their reading log between July 27 and August 15 get to choose a free book and enter a Grand Prize Drawing. 77 kids are now signed up; children can still sign up, now through the end of July. • The library hosted the first Summer Reading event of 2015 on Thursday, June 25. Historic Heroes: The Weeds of Vernonia, a presentation by Tobie Finzel. 21 people attended. • Library staff handed out 74 free books to kids at the Summer Meal Program on Friday, June 19. Books were provided by a non-profit organization called All Together Now. • Free WiFi is now available at the library! Thank you to the Friends of the Vernonia Library for funding and supporting this project. • The library now has a people counter installed at the entryway. This counter will give more accurate statistics for the required Oregon State Library report, and be useful for in house statistics. Parks • Our Parks staff, assisted by the PW crew, rebuilt the dam at Hawkins Park. The kids’ pool and the surrounding area were pressure washed. • A lot of focus is still on New Spencer Park where we have begun a watering schedule for the grass which involves moving the two different watering systems to ensure proper water coverage. We have been doing fence post installation and trees were trimmed so that our mower could get to a few unreachable spots. • Staff corrected a problem with one of the docks at the lake. The dock was unstable and starting to lean into the water. We pulled the dock farther back under the ramp by about 6-8 feet to give it better support. • Our summer temporary employee, Mathew Harris, has been doing a lot of weeding and landscaping around town including locations such as the lake and around the grounds at City Hall. • Regular parks upkeep and maintenance is ongoing. • Parks department filled in ruts at Ora Bolmier Park along the roadside adjacent to the park. • Staff performed routine maintenance on parks equipment. • Routine mowing and weed-eating is ongoing at all parks and all the City’s empty properties. City Recorder/Administration • City Recorder met with Eagle Scout Jared Medearis regarding a potential Eagle Scout project to improve the New Spencer Park playground and covered play shed area. • City Hall will be CLOSED Friday, July 3rd, 2015 in observance of Independence Day. • Completed ODOT permit for the 4th of July Parade which will start at Weed Avenue and end at State Street. Parade line up on Weed Avenue at 5:00pm, parade starts at 5:30pm. The middle area of the New Spencer Park will be open to citizens for watching the Vernonia City Council Meeting for July 22, 2015 has been canceled due to lack of a quorem. Vernonia Police Blotter June 16-30, 2015 REPORTS TAKEN • June 25, 2015 Arrest on Warrants in the 700 Block of Riverside Dr. Vernonia Police Department responds to calls that do not always end in Arrest, Report, or Citation. 6/15/2015 through 6/30/2015 VPD had 139 calls for service. 2015 5 Fireworks. Fireworks start at dusk. • REMINDER: The new sports fields (at the New Spencer Park) are closed until Saturday, August 8th, 2015. The City would appreciate it if citizens would stay off the fields, and refrain from allowing pets on the fields as they may pollute the areas where kids will play. • Met with Vernonia Booster sports leaders, Superintendent Aaron Miller, Finance Director Angie Handegard, and Bill Langmaid regarding scheduling for use of new sports fields at New Spencer Park. The new sports fields activities will be scheduled by City Staff, while the stadium area, football field, high school baseball and softball field area activities will be scheduled by the school district. The school district has a long term lease for that area, and will retain usage until replacement fields are built at the new school site. • City Council accepted applications, until June 30th, for those interested in being appointed to City Council. Candidates will be interviewed on July 8th – 6:30pm at City Hall. • At the City Council meeting on June 15th the City Council voted unanimously to amend Resolution 14-08 the Master Fee Schedule. The amendment addresses a correction to the Sewer Loan Repayment Fee. The prior language stated a Sewer Loan Repayment Fee of 57.00, when in fact the fee is “per equivalent residential or commercial unit per month.” Some property owners have multiple residential units and should pay for each unit. The City Recorder drafted a letter that will be sent to property owners of multi- residential properties notifying them of the City Council decision to amend Resolution 14-08 in regards to Sewer Loan Repayment continued on page 6 Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures City Council Meetings are scheduled for 7 PM: Monday, July 6, 2015 Monday, August 3, 2015 City Closures are scheduled for: Friday, July 3, 2015 Independence Day (Observed) Friday, August 7, 2015 Closed at Noon for Jamboree Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules Terry’s Gym Need more room? Accidents happen That’s why it’s so important to have the right auto coverage for your vehicle. COUNTRY offers a wide variety of plans to choose from, and a variety of ways to save on your premium. Let us help you build a tangible plan for financial security. 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