May18 2017
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
The Pages Keep Turning
at the Vernonia Library
Library Director
Shannon Romtvedt is
working to make the
Library a resource for
everyone.
By Scott Laird
Regular readers of Ver-
nonia’s Voice may have noticed
more content concerning the Ver-
nonia Library recently. That’s be-
cause Library Director Shannon
Romtvedt has been working hard
to expand programs and outreach
in the community and increase
circulation since she was hired in
2015.
Since her hiring by the
City of Vernonia, Romtvedt,
along with staff members Nancy
Burch and Brandy Fennel, have
had a subtle but significant impact
on library use. While the number
of active users of the Library has
increased only slightly and hov-
ers around 1,000, statistics show
that visits, circulation, programs
offered, and even volunteerism
have all risen. That’s because
Romtvedt has wholeheartedly
embraced the idea of the Library
as a community center and a re-
source that should be available to
everyone.
“It’s really important to
me that as many people as pos-
sible in the community find value
in the Library and find a way to
use it,” says Romtvedt. “A lot
of people who have just moved
to Vernonia look for and see the
programs we offer and then come
to the Library as a way to get con-
nected in the community. I love
welcoming new people into the
community through the Library.”
In an address to the
inside
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a mouse
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VERNONIA’S
volume11 issue10
Vernonia City Council in
November of 2016, Romtvedt
presented data from her annual
Library Statistical Report that
compared information from 2014-
15 and 2015-16. The data showed
that Library visits increased from
18,512 to 20,614 while total
circulation of materials increased
from 20,372 to 24,710. The
data also showed an increase in
attendance and the number of
programs being offered with the
number of children’s programs
increasing from 112 to 127 and
the number of persons attending
children’s programs increased
from 944 to 1,979; the number of
programs for adults also increased
from 25 to 35 while the number of
persons attending those programs
increased from 137 to 162.
But the numbers only
tell part of the story. It’s more
about the variety of activities and
the constant flow of visitors who
use the Library for a variety of
reasons. Stop by most days and
you might find patrons using the
computers, home schoolers doing
research, young families enjoying
a story time, craft project or mov-
ie, a book group or writers group
meeting, or there may be a special
event happening.
“My favorite days at the
Library are when we have our
Writers Group meeting, and we
have some families checking out
materials, and we have people
using the computers... when we
have that multi-use of the Li-
brary,” says Romtvedt. “It’s hard
to balance things sometimes and
think about the community as a
whole, versus thinking about the
smaller portion of people who
use the Library daily or weekly.
There is some trial and error in-
volved in finding things that will
draw more people in.”
Romtvedt
graduated
from George Fox University with
a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing
and Literature in 2005 and then
earned a Master’s Degree in Li-
brary Science in 2007 from the
University of North Texas. She
was working in the Washington
County Library system in 2010
when she moved to Vernonia
with her husband Brady. Since
then her family has expanded by
two children. As a young mother
Romtvedt started volunteering at
the Vernonia Library, initiating
the Baby and Toddler Time pro-
gram, which caters to very young
families. “Even before I knew
there was going to be a position
here in Vernonia I volunteered for
the Baby and Toddler Time be-
cause I had a baby that age and I
wanted to see more of those types
of opportunities in the commu-
nity,” says Romtvedt.
Because she has two
young children, as the new Li-
brary Director Romtvedt initially
focused on growing programs for
young children and has continued
the regular story time programing
Vernonia Voters
Approve
School Bond
Vernonia voters overwhelmingly approved the
Vernonia School Bond in the May 16 Special Election.
In initial results available on Wednesday morning,
Measure 5-265 had received 905 YES votes to 530 NO
votes, a 63% to 37% margin. That margin of victory stayed
steady throughout the evening as counts were released by
the County Elections Department at 8:15 pm at the close of
the polls, at 10:15 pm as ballots from the final days were
added to the count, and at 12:15 am at the close of counting.
Supporters of the Bond, including Bond Committee
Chair Sharon Bernal and other Bond Committee members,
gathered at the All In Pub to hear the release of the initial
numbers and celebrate the victory.
The passage of the $6.8 million bond will allow
the Vernonia School District to pay off the $4.5 million in
debt remaining from the construction of the new school
campus. The additional $2.3 million in bond funding will
be matched by the state of Oregon through their Oregon
School Capital Improvement Matching (OSCIM) grant
program and will provide funding for additional classrooms
and district maintenance and upgrades.
This was the second attempt by the District to
pass a bond to pay off the debt and take advantage of the
OSCIM funds. Voters rejected the first bond in November
of 2016 by a narrow margin.
School Board Chair Brett Costley took to social
media Tuesday night to thank voters and encourage them
to pay attention to, and participate in, the process as the
District proceeds.
In other election news, Costley, Susan Wagner and
Melissa Zavales all were elected to the Vernonia School
Board after running unopposed. No candidate filed to
run for Position 4, but two people, Del Allen and Stacey
Pelster, mounted write-in campaigns; there were 434 write-
in votes received for the position, although no results of
who received those votes were available at press time.
Incumbents Ben Davis and Mike Demeter ran
unopposed and were both elected to the Vernonia Rural
Fire Protection District Board of Directors.
Mike Kaminski narrowly defeated former Chief
David Crawford for Position 3 on the Mist-Birkenfeld
Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors, while
Rachel Wilcoxen and Barbara Smith were also elected after
running unopposed.
Crawford was elected as the Columbia 9-1-1
Director from Zone 4 after running unopposed.
continued on page 9
Commissioner Tardif Meets with Vernonians
New Columbia County Com-
missioner Alex Tardif met with Ver-
nonia citizens on April 18 at the Blue
House Café.
The event, called “Dish With
Your Commish” was organized by
Erika Paleck and featured an informal
conversation between citizens and
Tardif during an informal family style
meal.
Tardif fielded questions on a va-
riety of county issues that included the
possible closure of the county road de-
partment building in Vernonia, safety
issues on Highway 47, funding for
county roads, the Crown-Zellerbach
Trail, Columbia County Parks, tour-
ism, local economies, the NW Natu-
ral gas fields near Mist, spraying of
Round-up along highways and on log-
ging property near private residences,
and better communication from the
County Commissioners.
Tardif introduced Karen
Kane who is the new Public In-
formation Officer for Columbia
County.
He said he has directed
his staff to begin drafting legisla-
tion to get more funding for road
improvements and maintenance.
Tardif said they have
started a “Green Team” at the
County to help move towards be-
ing more environmentally friend-
ly.
Tardif said the gas fields
in Mist are used for storage before the
gas is sent to Port Westward. When
asked if there could be more oversight
on the project by the County, Tardif said
he would like to work on better commu-
nication with neighbors and better trans-
parency from NW Natural and, for all
county business.
He said the County is still
trying to find an acceptable route for
the CZ Trail to get from Knott Street to
Vernonia Lake, including a bridge over
the Nehalem River, and also mentioned
plans for development of the Chapman
continued on page 12