Vernonia's voice., December 17, 2015, Image 1

december17 2015
free
VERNONIA’S
volume9  issue24
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
Area Suffers Damage From Storm

Local residents, businesses and city
infrastructure suffered minor damages during heavy
rains that fell during Tuesday, December 7 into
Wednesday, December 8, 2015.

The Nehalem River crested at just under
14.5 feet at 1:30 am on Wednesday morning and
Rock Creek continued to rise, reaching a height of
14.7 feet. The Nehalem River crested at over 19
feet in December of 2007.

Heavy rains and saturated ground caused
the most problems. The USGS Nehalem River
station recorded rainfall of approximately eight
inches from midnight December 6 through midnight
December 8, with 3.5 inches falling in the five days
prior.

Several business in the Vernonia downtown
were affected by water flows coming from
overflowing streams beginning around 8:00 pm
on Tuesday. Run off from Bear Creek, which
travels through the south end of Vernonia through
numerous culverts underneath city streets, did
overflow and sent water running on the surface
inside
3
the spirit
of christmas
7
the good ol’ days
16
vhs winter sports
19
vernonia rural fire
protection district
through downtown.

Wednesday morning found water backing
up from the confluence of the Nehalem River and
Rock Creek. RVs at Anderson Park were evacuated
on Tuesday and water surrounded the
American Legion Hall where the Vernonia
Cares Food Bank operates.

Spencer Park, the site of the
former school campus, was also partially
submerged with water, deeper water
covered Greenman Field where Vernonia
High school plays their football games as
well as the school softball and baseball
fields, which are still at the old campus
location. Deep water crossed Bridge Street
requiring a temporary street closure and
detour.

Hardest hit with flooding were
homes on the “tree streets,” along Highway
47 on the north end of Vernonia. Homes
in other low lying areas throughout the
region were once again affected, including
residents in outlying areas on Lone Pine
Road, Timber Road and along Highway 47
in the Mist area.

Vernonia City Administrator
Josette Mitchell noted that some homes
received water damage when vehicles
traveled through standing water and created
wakes that pushed water higher and onto Vernonians celebrated The Spirit of Christmas on December 12.
For more photos and contest results go to page 3.
properties.

The City of
Vernonia officially
declared a State
of Emergency at 8:00 pm
on Tuesday, which was
followed by Columbia

The City of Vernonia has been Community Foundation. Community
County declaring a State of
awarded
a Community Development Action Team received this grant
Emergency the following
Block Grant for $2 million for through the Meyer Memorial Trust.
day. Oregon Governor Kate
construction of a new Senior Center,
In addition, the project has
Brown declared a State of
which
will
also
house
the
Vernonia
$120,000
in value for the land where
Emergency in 13 counties
Cares Food Bank.
the facility will be built, along with
hit by winter storms on

The
new
Senior
Center
will
$100,000 from the Vernonia Senior
Thursday, December 9,
join
the Vernonia
Health
Clinic
at
the
Center FEMA buyout and $80,000
including Columbia County.
Rose Avenue site at the south entrance
from Vernonia Cares.

The
City
of
to town and will be developed by the
The total estimated budget
Vernonia, the Vernonia
City of Vernonia in partnership with the
for
the
project is $2.55 million.
Rural Fire Protection
Vernonia
Senior
Center
and
Vernonia
Construction
is scheduled to begin
District and Columbia
Cares.
in May of 2016 and is expected to be
County established a joint

The
project
was
also
recently
completed before the end of December
Emergency Management
awarded
$250,000
from
the
Oregon
2016.
Incident Command at
City Receives $2 Million for
Senior Center Construction
continued on page 23
City Approves Livestock Regulations

The Vernonia City Council
has voted to approve amendments to
their municipal code that regulates the
raising of livestock and domesticated
fowl within the city limits.

Council approved a first
reading of Ordinance 909 at the City
Council meeting on December 7, which
amended Title 3, Section 3-06, Public
Protection of the City Code. A second
reading of the ordinance will take place
at the December 21 meeting and it will
take effect 30 days from that date.

The amendments clarify
language in the previous code and sets
limits on the number of animals that can
be kept based on the size of the property
where they are being raised. It defines
the required open space and minimum
dimensional requirements for pasturing.
All livestock and poultry must be
confined within an enclosed fenced
area.

Animals that are in violation
at the time the ordinance takes effect
will be required to be removed within
six months. Owners have six months
following the birth or hatching of
any new animals to conform to the
regulations.

The amendments to Title
3, Section 3-06 follows months of
discussion by the Council and included
several workshops to hear input from
local residents.

For poultry, a minimum of 25
square feet per bird is required with
a maximum of four birds on a 5,000
square foot lot, six birds on a lot up to
10,000 square feet and, a maximum of
nine birds on any larger lot; more than
nine birds may be allowed by permit.

The
ordinance
defines
Miniature Livestock to include smaller
versions of cows, horses, ponies, sheep,
Vietnamese Potbellied pigs under 95
pounds and pygmy goats. The amended
ordinance also adds a definition for
rabbits. A maximum of three Miniature
Livestock animals are allowed.

For rabbits, a maximum of five
animals on a 5,000 square foot lot is
allowed, with up to a maximum of 12
animals on a lot over 5,000 square feet.

Standard livestock, defined
as horses, bulls, cows, calves, heifers,
goats, sheep, donkeys, and llamas are
allowed only on lots over 10,000 square
feet for the first animal with an additional
continued on page 8