july6 2017
VERNONIA’S
volume11 issue13
reflecting the spirit of our community
www.vernoniasvoice.com
City Council Considers
Plan for Street Repairs
Friends of the Scout Cabin
Contemplate Their Future
Public Meeting
Scheduled for July 11
to Discuss Management
Plan
The Cabin In Vernonia
has been the site of many mem-
ories, as it has been the location
of numerous weddings,
birthday parties, memo-
rial services, community
events, and public meet-
ings.
Now the future
of this versatile commu-
nity treasure is in ques-
tion.
Formerly known
as the Scout Cabin, the
facility is owned, man-
aged and maintained by
the Friends of the Scout
Cabin, a 501(c)(3) non-
profit. A small group of
local volunteers do the
maintenance and management
of the facility. That group is
dwindling as its members have
been slowed by age and their
ability to maintain the building
has decreased.
The Friends of the
Scout Cabin invite anyone in-
terested in joining the group to
attend the quarterly meeting on
July 11 at 7:00 pm to be held at
the Cabin In Vernonia located in
Hawkins Park. They are hope-
ful that there are more people in
the community who are looking
for volunteer opportunities and
would like to offer their time
to help maintain the inside and
outside of the building, along
with general operations to al-
low future generations to en-
joy this wonderful community
amenity.
The Cabin In Vernonia
is a beautifully restored log cab-
in nestled among huge trees in
Vernonia’s Hawkins Park. The
Cabin has a full kitchen, river
rock gas fireplace, wrap around
deck and tables and seating for
100 people.
and has been unable to assist
in cleaning and preparing the
cabin for guests. Long-time
community volunteers Don
and Dede Webb, though still
hearty and willing, do much of
the maintenance of the build-
ing and they need support. Julie
Prohaska and Margy Prout are
The Cabin is accom-
panied with a wonderful story
about its restoration. Built in
1928 and used by local Scout
troops for decades, the cabin
was obtained by the City of
Vernonia when it fell into dis-
repair in the 1980s. It sat un-
used and was damaged in 1996
by a severe flood. A group of
local volunteers, spearheaded
by longtime resident Shirley
Daughtry, organized the friends
group, developed a business
plan, fundraised, and rebuilt the
cabin over a three year period.
The end result is the
handsome and functional com-
munity center. The Friends of
the Scout Cabin rent it out and
continue to maintain the venue
with the proceeds.
D a u g h t r y,
who originally en-
visioned the project
and rallied the com-
munity to save the
iconic building, is
now in poor health
also board members.
Kathy Larsen is a new-
er volunteer with the Friends of
the Scout Cabin who joined the
group a few years ago to assist
Daughtry. Larsen manages the
reservations utilizing an online
reservation system on their
website www.CabinInVerno-
nia.com.
“People in our com-
munity don’t realized that this
facility is managed and main-
tained mostly by a group of
people in who are all now in
their eighties,” says Larsen.
“They do a wonderful job, but
we need to start finding the
next generation of volunteers to
keep this facility operating as a
community resource.”
Larsen points out that
youth activities and functions
are held free of charge at the fa-
cility and fees for other events
are very reasonable with the
goal to keep the costs afford-
able while keeping the facility
in good condition.
inside
3
salem report
7
where do you
read the voice?
15
where in the world?
15
4th of july parade
free
Council discusses
current conditions,
estimated costs, and
potential funding
options in workshop
The Vernonia City
Council discussed the need for
street repairs in the city limits
during a workshop held follow-
ing their regular City Council
meeting on June 19, 2017.
At question was how to
deal with aging infrastructure,
deteriorating surface street con-
ditions, and limited funding op-
tions for repairs.
The City Council was
presented with a comprehen-
sive and detailed report from
Planning Department staff
member Ben Fousek, which in-
cluded detailed maps and data
on current conditions for all
streets in the City, along with
an analysis to help the Council
and staff prioritize future re-
pairs.
According to the re-
port, there are 24 miles of
streets, alleys, access roads,
and trails within the Vernonia
city limits that fall under the
jurisdiction of the City of Ver-
nonia, Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT), Or-
egon Parks and Recreation De-
partment (OPRD), Columbia
County, and private entities (in-
dividuals, home owner associa-
tions, etc).
The report was pre-
pared following an extensive
inventory of all streets, with
surface conditions graded us-
ing the following five point
scale based on the Vernonia
Transportation System Plan:
1. Poor - Pavement is in poor
to very poor condition with
extensive and severe cracking,
alligatoring (a pattern of crack-
ing in all directions on the road
surface), and channeling. Rid-
ability (a measure of surface
smoothness) is poor, meaning
that the surface is rough and
uneven.
2. Marginal - Pavement is in
fair to poor condition with fre-
quent cracking, alligatoring,
and channeling. Ridability is
poor to fair, meaning that the
surface is moderately rough
and uneven.
3. Fair - Pavement is in fair
condition with frequent slight
cracking and intermittent,
slight to moderate alligatoring
and channeling. Ridability is
fairly good, with intermittent
rough and uneven sections.
4. Good - Pavement is in good
condition with very slight
cracking. Ridability is good,
with a few rough or uneven
sections.
5. Excellent - Pavement is in
excellent condition with few
cracks. Ridability is excellent,
with only a few areas of slight
distortion.
While the overall av-
erage surface condition of all
streets for which the City is re-
sponsible was 3.2, which indi-
cates the streets in Vernonia are
generally in fair condition, the
report recommended address-
ing the issues with poor and
marginal condition streets, and
establishing a 5-10 year plan to
maintain the streets rated in fair
and good condition.
“The majority of our
streets are not in horrible con-
dition,” said City Administra-
tor Josette Mitchell following
the workshop. “We do have a
large number of them that are
considered ‘marginal,’ which
need to be addressed before
they become ‘poor,’ because
then you end up in an upside
down cycle where the majority
of your streets are ‘poor.’”
City staff identified 10
areas for street improvements
continued on page 3
Burright Named Interim Director of Columbia 9-1-1
Brian Burright, a retired Divi-
sion Chief at Columbia River Fire and
Rescue, has been named the Interim
Executive Director of Columbia 9-1-1
Communication District.
Burright served with Columbia
River Fire and Rescue from 1982 until
his retirement in 2013. Following his
retirement, he worked for The Special
Districts Association of Oregon, ful-
filling various assignments around the
state, including Interim Executive Di-
rector for Western Ambulance District.
Burright takes the position fol-
lowing the unexpected resignation of
former Executive Director Steve Wat-
son in April following an internal inves-
tigation concerning sexual harassment
from several years ago, as reported in
the South County Spotlight in April.
That investigation also involved Tyler
Miller, a reserve deputy with Columbia
County Sheriff’s Office who was also a
candidate for the Columbia 9-1-1 Board
of Directors. Miller had been doing
consulting work for the 9-1-1 District.
A report of the investigation indicates
Miller had threatened to expose Wat-
son’s past sexual harassment if he was
not given more consulting responsibili-
ties.