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
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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
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