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.
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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.
