city news At the July 5, 2016 City Council Meet- ing: City Gets Agreement to Fix Issues at Nickerson Ridge Estates – City Ad- ministrator Josette Mitchell told Council that she and City Planner Ryan Crater met with David Smejkal, Douglas Wolf, and a civil engineer and have received an agreement to a plan for the develop- ers of Nickerson Ridge Estates to install storm water catch basins and complete necessary sidewalk repairs. Mitchell said that once the developers submit a Surety Bond in the amount to complete the project, they could then begin to sell lots in the development again. If the de- velopers fail to complete the repairs the City would use the Surety Bond to com- plete the necessary upgrades. Council Discusses Downtown Tree Re- moval Plan – Council continued their ongoing discussion about adopting a plan for removal of trees in the down- town corridor. There is concern that the trees that are currently in place are not an appropriate species and will grow too large. Some trees have already caused damage to sidewalks and blocked busi- ness signage. Council was provided with a detailed map of the downtown area which identifies the first group of 21 trees to be removed, as well as the results from a survey of 24 downtown business owners asking what they would like to see happen with the trees. 8% (2) of business owners said they would like the trees to remain as they are now; 45.8% (11) said they would like the trees replaced with an appropriate spe- cies; 25% (6) said they would like the trees replaced with a planter container; 20.8% (5) said they would like the trees removed and not replaced. Council gave consensus to begin removing some trees after Jamboree this year. They have not settled on a plan on what to do once the Vernonia City News... trees are removed. cause of the loss of key members of the Committee this year, the request is late City to Replace Water Line on Noakes and there might be additional requests Road – Council gave the go ahead for as other events are finalized in the final city staff to move forward with plans to weeks. replace a vastly undersized water line serving the Noakes Road area. Accord- Council Approves Alcohol License for ing to a staff report, the City has been Jamboree – With approval from Police approached by several property owners Chief Mike Conner, Council approved and future property owners about getting a Temporary Sales License to Miranda City water service in the area. The cur- Nutting for Hawkins Park for August rent line is just ¾” and only serves three 5-7. The application stated no distilled properties. The City is currently getting spirits will be served. All alcohol sales estimates to install a 10” line that would will be contained in a fenced area and run approximately 2,500 feet up Noakes there will be food available for purchase. Road. City staff told the Council No- Chief Connor also asked Council to pre- akes Road would be an ideal location for approve a permit for the All In Pub, a new City water reservoir sometime in which has not been submitted yet, which the future and this line would help with Council approved. infrastructure. Costs are estimated to be Council Discusses Legislative Objec- around $80,000 for the replacement line tives – Council briefly discussed infor- and funding would come from the Water mation they received from the League of SDC account. Oregon Cities concerning the League’s Tierney Announces Candidacy for proposal to identify and develop a spe- Mayor – City Councilor Kim Tierney cific legislative action agenda for the announced that she will not run for her upcoming 2017 session. Council was City Council seat in the November elec- asked to review 29 suggested objectives tion, but will instead run for Mayor. that span a variety of issues, including Current Mayor Randy Parrow has al- Community Development, Energy, Fi- ready stated he will not run for the seat. nance and Taxation, General Govern- ment, Human Resources, Telecommuni- Council Hears Request from Jambo- cation, Transportation and Water/Waste- ree Committee for Use of City Prop- water. Council members were encour- erty – Ernie Smith, President of the aged to submit their top choices which Jamboree Committee, requested the would be collated by staff and submitted use of numerous city properties for the to the League Board of Directors. Vernonia Friendship Jamboree and Log- ging Show on August 5-7. The Jambo- Council Receives Update on Clerk ree Committee requested use of Spencer Training – City Recorder Stephanie Park and the parking areas across the Borst updated the Council on train- street, the old WOEC parking lot on Ad- ing she attended from June 5-10 at the ams Avenue, Shay Park, the Anderson Northwest Clerks Institute as part of the Park Horse Arena, Hawkins Park, Verno- Certified Municipal Clerk Program. In nia Lake, Adams Avenue, Bridge Street order to become certified a professional from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday, clerk must complete 120 hours of train- and Maple Street from 12:30 to 2:00 pm ing; Borst received credit for 40 hours on Saturday. Council approved all re- after completing a three page Knowl- quests. Smith told the Council that be- edge Transfer Action Plan, which was NOTICE OF POSITIONS OPEN CITY OF VERNONIA NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Election will be held on the 8th day of November 2016, at which time the legal voters of the City of Vernonia will be entitled to vote for candidates to certain city offices. OFFICES OPEN FOR ELECTION: VERNONIA MAYOR TWO YEAR TERM VERNONIA COUNCIL MEMBER FOUR YEAR TERM VERNONIA COUNCIL MEMBER FOUR YEAR TERM Election packets are available at the office of the City Recorder, 1001 Bridge St, Vernonia, OR 97064. Nominating petitions can be filed no sooner than June 1, 2016, and filed no later than Friday, August 26, 2016, by 4:00 pm with the City Recorder. For more information call Stephanie Borst, City Recorder at 503-429-5291 ext. 104. The City of Vernonia is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. TOO BUSY? Call your LOCAL bookkeeper R Y OLL A P PLUS LLC Edi Sheldon 503-429-1819 edisheldon@gmail.com Licensed tax consultant • Full service payroll Personal & small business bookkeeping • QuickBooks assistance CORPS, S-CORPS, LLC, Partnerships • Personal one-on-one service LTC #29629 - Oregon licensed tax consultant RTRP #P00448199 - designated as a registered tax return preparer by the Internal Revenue Service The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. For more information on tax return preparers, go to www.IRS.gov. Vernonia City Council Meetings and Closures City Council Meetings are scheduled for 7:00 pm: Monday, July 18, 2016 Monday, August 1, 2016 july7 2016 5 available for review by the Council. Councilor Commends Staff – Coun- cilor Bruce McNair took a moment to praise the entire City staff for the work they are doing to run and improve the City. “It is remarkable to see the chang- es that are going on in the office and in all the departments,” said McNair. “It’s really refreshing and I see some really good improvements. I, for one, really appreciate it.” Police Department Report – Police Chief Mike Conner told Council his de- partment is in the planning stages for Jamboree. He told the Council that his newest officer, Cody Pesio, has been working on his own and is doing well. He told Council background checks are almost complete and he expects to have another new officer hired in the next few weeks. City Administrator Report – City Administrator Josette Mitchell updated the Council on the Wastewater Treat- ment Plant Upgrade Project and told the Council that DEQ is going to require the City to install three temperature moni- toring wells as an additional part of the project. This comes after all plans that did not include these wells had already been approved and work to install the discharge pipes has already been com- pleted. Mitchell told Council she has asked DEQ who will fund this additional work, as it is not included in the project budget, and said she has not yet received an answer. Councilor Bruce McNair ex- pressed anger at DEQ, noting that these monitoring wells are strictly for the ben- efit of DEQ to gather data and provide no service to the City. “They are black- mailing us!,” said McNair. Mitchell told Council an ease- ment for the Rose Avenue Project has been secured and recorded and the next step for the project is to put out a State- ment of Qualifications (SOQ) and secure an architect. continued on page 6 The Vernonia Transfer Station is open on the 2nd and 4th Saturday City Closures are scheduled for: Monday, September 5, 2016 Labor Day July 9 & 23 August 13 & 27 September 10 & 24 Dates and times subject to change due to conflicts of schedules Dates are subject to change due to weather Vernonia Police Blotter June 14 - July 4, 2016 REPORTS TAKEN • June 17, 2016 Arrested on a warrant near Bridge St • June 17, 2016 Arrest near 1st Avenue for potential Domestic Violence and Menacing CITATIONS/OTHER • June 14, 2016 Cited for Expired Tags and Failure to Carry Registration/Insurance near Cougar St. and Rose Ave. • June 15, 2016 Cited for Failure to have Insurance near Bridge St and Rose Ave. • June 15, 2016 Cited for no Operator’s License near Bridge St. and Grant Ave. • June 15, 2016 Cited for Driving While Suspended and Uninsured near Washington Ave. and A Street Vernonia Police Department responds to calls that do not always end in Arrest, Report, or Citation. 06/15/2016 through 07/4/2016 VPD had 93 calls for service.