city news
december1
2016
5
Vernonia
Council Prepares to Move
City News... Forward With Downtown Tree Removal
At the November 21, 2016 City Council
Meeting:
Council Approves Johns for Library
Board – Mayor Randy Parrow, with a
recommendation from the Library Board
and approval from the City Council,
appointed Ginger Johns to the Library
Board.
Council Approves Bond for Wastewa-
ter Treatment Project – Council passed
Resolution 07-16, providing for the is-
suance and sale of a revenue bond, not
to exceed $5,577,000, to provide a por-
tion of the costs to finance capital con-
struction and improvements to the City’s
wastewater system. (See full story on
front page.)
Topics From the Floor – Natalie Wil-
liams expressed concern about an inci-
dent that occurred on her property on No-
akes Road in September where she now
lives alone. Williams said she had issues
with family members at the property who
were making threats of physical violence
and called 9-1-1 to request police assis-
tance and had to wait 40 minutes for the
Sheriff’s office to arrive; the property is
not within the City limits. She said she
had previously contacted Vernonia Po-
lice Chief Mike Conner to tell him she
was anticipating trouble, and asked what
the role of the local police department is
in this type of situation and asked why
they did not respond when she needed
help. Chief Conner responded that his
department will respond to calls outside
the City limits if requested to do so by
the Sheriff’s Office, but said that each
circumstance is a little bit different. Both
he and City Administrator Josette Mitch-
ell said they would further investigate the
specific incident.
Council Agrees to Hold Just One
Meeting in December – The Council
agreed to only hold one meeting during
the month of December. Council chose
to cancel their regularly scheduled
meeting on December 19, but will meet
on December 5.
The Vernonia City Council
is preparing to move forward with a
plan to remove all the trees from the
downtown corridor.
The Council met in a workshop
on Monday, November 28, 2016 and
discussed the issue which they have
been wrestling with for several years.
Although no final decision was able
to be made at the workshop, by the
end of the evening it appeared the
Council is prepared to take action at
their December 5 meeting and move
forward with removing all the trees in
the downtown.
No date has been set for the
removal of the trees although it appears
the Council will ask staff to wait until
the new year before beginning the
process. Council does not appear to
have settled on a clear plan for what to
do after the trees have been removed.
The issue of the downtown
trees was first brought to the Council’s
attention when several business owners
began complaining about damage being
caused to sidewalks by the root systems
and also the size of the trees blocking
their signage. The current trees that
were planted as part of a downtown
beautification project about 20 years
ago have been deemed the wrong
species for the small sidewalk space the
City has, and tend to grow too large if
not regularly maintained.
Other concerns that have been
raised by business owners include the
removal of falling leaf and limb debris,
and trees interfering with parking.
would like to see the trees removed and
replaced with a planter, and 21% said
they would like the trees removed and
not replaced.
An August 2015 memo from
then City Administrator GianPaolo
Mammone indicated that staff research
had identified three species of trees
that met the criteria of trees that could
be planted in the downtown corridor:
Canadian Red Chokeberry, Japanese
Tree Lilac, and Zelkova City Sprite.
On June 13, 2016 Council met
in a workshop to discuss options for the
trees. At that meeting Councilors Bruce
McNair and Mike Seager, along with
Mayor Randy Parrow, advocated for re-
moving all the trees and not replanting,
while Councilors Kim Tierney and Jill
Hult wanted to see the trees replaced,
though less densely. All members of
Council agreed to immediately remove
several trees that were causing visible
damage to sidewalks and that the rest
of the trees should be removed within
two years. They agreed to wait to make
any final decision on what to do after
the trees are removed.
At the most recent meeting
on November 28, Councilors Tierney
and Hult again advocated for replacing
the trees, while Councilors McNair
and Seager said they thought the
downtown streetscape would be better
without trees and would like to see it
more focused on the architecture of the
downtown buildings. Council discussed
establishing some type of ordinance
continued on page 16
Wastewater Treatment Upgrade
project,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell said the Council
and Public Works Committee were
planning to set an annual date when
they would review rates and the size
of the customer base and use a rate
calculator to determine the cost to
operate and maintain the utility and
make any adjustments as needed. “If we
are able to lower the rates, that is when
it would take place, prior to us entering
the budget cycle,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell noted that both
Vernonia Police Blotter • November 15-28, 2016
ARRESTS / REPORTS
TAKEN
• November 15, 2016
Arrest for Driving While
Suspended Revoked near
Nehalem HWY South
• November 18, 2016
Report of an Abandoned
Vehicle near North St. and
Washington Avenue
• November 21, 2016 Arrest
on a Warrant near Keasey
Road
• November 22, 2016 Arrest
on a Warrant near Nehalem
HWY South
• November 22, 2016
Report of a Motor Vehicle
crash near East Bridge
Street
• November 24, 2016
Report of Disorderly
Conduct II and Unlawful
The expense incurred by the City to
maintain the trees has also been raised
as an issue by several members of the
Council.
Another concern raised by
City staff is that when new sidewalks
were installed around the same time
the trees were planted, gas and water
lines were also installed underneath
those sidewalks. There is concern the
tree roots will cause damage to those
underground lines.
Originally there were 43 trees
in the downtown corridor. Four trees
were removed initially and then the
City removed 16 more during this past
year.
Council and staff have
discussed and explored several options
if the trees are removed, including
replacing them with a more suitable
tree, replacing the trees with planters
that could contain the root systems of
either trees, shrubs or plants, or not
replacing the trees with anything.
A survey of downtown business
owners conducted by the City found
a split when asked about the trees and
what business owners would like to see
happen if the trees were removed. 33%
of business owners said the trees caused
“none to little trouble,” 25% said they
were “somewhat of an issue,” and
41% said they were “often to extreme
trouble.” 8% of business owners said
they would like the trees to remain as
they are, while 46% said they would
like to have the trees replaced with an
appropriate species. 25% said they
Use of a Weapon near East
Bridge Street
CITATIONS / OTHER
• November 16, 2016 Cited
for Failure to Maintain Lane
and Failure to Carry Proof
of Insurance near Rose
Avenue
• November 16, 2016 Cited
for Violation of the Posted
Speed Limit
• November 17, 2016
Cited for Driving While
Suspended and Uninsured
near State Avenue
• November 17, 2016 Cited
for Violation of the Posted
Speed Limit near Bridge
Street
• November 18, 2016 Cited
for Violation of the Posted
Speed Limit near Nehalem
HWY South Mile Post 65
• November 22, 2016 Cited
for Violation of the Posted
Speed Limit near Nehalem
HWY South Mile Post 63
• November 25, 2016 Cited
for No Operators License
near Rose Avenue
• November 25, 2016 Cited
for Failure to Obey a Traffic
Control Device near Grant
Avenue
• November 26, 2016 Cited
for Expired Registration
near Texas Avenue
Vernonia Police
Department responds to
calls that do not always
end in Arrest, Report,
or Citation. 11/15/2016
through 11/28/2016 VPD
had 172 calls for service.
the Water and Sewer accounts have
maintenance reserve accounts that
receive funding each year from the
budget, so that future improvements and
upgrades can have funding available
when needed.
“The members of the Public
Works Committee, who represent the
general public on projects like this,
have been very instrumental in pushing
the issues forward,” said Mitchell.
“Sometimes staff and the Committee
don’t always agree and there have been
some contentious things we’ve had
to work through together, but in the
end it provides a better product for
the citizens. They worked really
hard and are to be commended.”
Mitchell said the lower
interest rate on the bond will
allow the rate to stay stable
continued from front page
for longer and said that if the City
continues to add more customers, there
is the possibility that customers could
see a rate decrease in the next budget.
“We’ll know more when we look at
all the numbers in the spring.” said
Mitchell. “If we gain more customers,
then the pie is cut into smaller pieces.
We also have to consider inflation and
what things cost.”
“As a citizen, I like that we’re
analyzing these costs and charging what
we need to operate the utility,” said
Mitchell. “Sometimes people forget
that we’re all paying these bills too, so
we don’t want to make decisions that
increase our bills either. We do have
everyone’s best interest at heart.”
Vernonia City Council
Meetings and Closures
The Vernonia
Transfer Station
is open on the
1st and 3rd
Saturdays
in December
City Council Meetings
are scheduled for 7:00 pm:
Monday, December 5, 2016
(No meeting December 19)
City Closures
are scheduled for:
December 3 & 17
Noon on Friday, December 23, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
Christmas Holiday
Dates are subject to change
Dates and times subject to change