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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2016)
December1 2016 VERNONIA’S volume10 issue23 www.vernoniasvoice.com Toy and Joy to Help Families this Christmas Applications Due December 12th The Vernonia Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services personnel are once again partnering to offer Toy and Joy to families in the Vernonia community. Toy and Joy is non-profi t and volunteer based. It is mostly run by local paramedics/ EMTs and fi re fi ghters and has been ongoing locally for over 20 years. Gift wrapping is also done by volunteer groups. The program will serve children in Vernonia ages 0 to 14 years old who would not receive toys otherwise. Toy and Joy applications are due December 12 and are now available. One application per family, please. Gifts will be delivered by Santa, or can be picked up, on December 21. Donations of new toys, gift wrap, children’s clothes, and gift cards are gladly accepted. Please call the Fire Department to drop off items or look for collection barrels at businesses around town, including Bridge Street Mini Mart, Wauna Credit Union, Black Iron Grill, True Value, City Hall, and US Bank. Go to their Facebook page (Vernonia Toy And-Joy) or email VernoniaToyandJoy@ gmail.com to contact them if there is a problem or special request they can try to fulfi ll, like special needs children’s requests. inside 7 mariolino’s new chef 8 vernonia fl orist blossoms 9 spirit of christmas in vernonia 13 vhs winter sports preview free reflecting the spirit of our community City Council Assists Vernonia Cares with Turkeys for Christmas Council and citizens donate $3,450 at meeting to help program At the November 21, 2016 Vernonia City Council meeting something amazing happened. Vernonia Cares Director Sandy Welch addressed the City Council during the Topics From the Floor portion of the meeting and explained to Council that the Vernonia Cares Board of Directors had reluctantly voted in September to discontinue their Holiday Food Box program for this year due to a lack of funds. This was reported in the October 6, 2016 issue of Vernonia’s Voice. The program provides a turkey and all the fi xings for a holiday dinner for Vernonia Cares clients. Welch said last year Vernonia Cares gave out 175 Holiday Food Boxes. The boxes are usually distributed on the Friday before Christmas. “The project costs anywhere from three to fi ve thousand dollars, depending on how much we are able to put in each box,” said Welch. She noted a high increase in the cost of groceries this year, especially on the price of turkeys, as one of the determining factors for halting the program. Welch also mentioned the tight budget that Vernonia Cares is currently struggling with when they decided to save their resources for regular operations of the Food Bank. Welch noted that she had suggested in that October Voice article that some other entities in the community might want to try and pick up the program and continue it, but that she had not heard from anyone. Following Welch’s statement recently elected City Councilor Bruce McNair asked the Council to suspend their usual rules which dictates that the Council not respond to items during Topics From the Floor. McNair asked the Council to consider fi nding some funds in their budget and help the program to at least provide turkeys for families in need. McNair said he just became aware of the situation during the past weekend and was surprised to learn there would be no Holiday Food Box this year. “I know this isn’t a rich community, but we’re not exactly broke either,” said McNair. “The fact that we can’t manage to pull this off is a disappointment to me personally. I realize times are tough, but they’re no more tough than they were fi ve or ten years ago.” McNair said he had met with the Lions Club Board of Directors who said the Lions Club would need to vote as a whole before committing any funding. “The notion that some people would have to go without at Christmas, because we get caught up in budgetary considerations for things that probably..., well I think this is a high priority,” said McNair in asking the City Council to consider donating funding. “I feel compelled to try and do something.” During the ensuing discussion, Councilor-elect Susan Wagner, who was in attendance at the meeting, and City Administrator Josette Mitchell, provided Welch with written pledges to help kick- off the fundraising effort. Those pledges were quickly followed by pledges from other Council members, including McNair, and then from several members of the small audience. Before the meeting was fi nished, Welch was holding pledges for $1,450. The City Council later voted to forgo their annual holiday party for staff and city volunteers and donate those budgeted funds, along with funds from the City Timber Fund, and made a one-time donation of $2,000 to the program. Welch said any citizen that would like to join in and contribute to help provide Turkeys for Christmas can send a check to Vernonia Cares, PO Box 126, Vernonia, OR 97064. Wastewater Treatment Upgrade Will Not Require Rate Increase City utility customers received some good news at the November 21, 2016 City Council meeting. The City of Vernonia has secured funding that will allow the Wastewater Treatment Upgrade project to be completed without requiring any rate increase. The City Council passed Resolution 07-16 at their November 21 meeting, providing for the issuance and sale of a revenue bond, not to exceed $5,577,000, to provide a portion of the costs to fi nance capital construction and improvements to the City’s wastewater system. According to City Finance Director Angie Handegard’s written report, securing bond funding at this time will lock in a rate of 1.875%, which is much lower than originally quoted, and will provide a savings of $51,699 annually to the City and local rate payers. $2.7 million of the bond will be paid to DEQ to pay down the current debt the City has for the project. $2.87 million will be used to pay for the recent new construction, which has been supplemented by grant funding received from USDA. Councilor Bruce McNair, who has been a key advocate for fi nding ways to reduce the cost of the project and protect rate payers from an increase, made the motion to approve the Resolution, stating, “I’m proud to do this and it has been a long time coming. We’ve managed to do this without an increase and that is pretty darn good. We’ve been battling this for over 30 years.” The project, when initially discussed by City staff and Council several years ago, was projected to cost as much as $10 million dollars, with a forecasted rate increase of around $60 per month. Diligent work by City staff, the Council, and the Public Works Committee led to researching and identifying a less expensive method of solving the issues that DEQ was requiring the City to address in their treatment and discharge of wastewater into the Nehalem River. The City also undertook a large rate study project in order to better understand the exact needs of the utility and what is required to operate, maintain, and fund it. City Administrator Josette Mitchell said the current sewer loan charge on customer’s monthly bill of $55.27 already includes the $5.5 million loan debt. “When we did the sewer rate study last year we incorporated the given debt we were going to take on to fi nance this continued on page 5
