community news
october19
2017
City and Developer Deadlocked on Nickerson Ridge
Heading to Court
The Lindauers have
regularly been in attendance at
City Council meetings through-
out this process. Both Gretchen
and Terry have addressed the
Council on several occasions
during August and September
of 2017, asking the Council to
find some type of resolution to
the stalemate, to fix the drain-
age issues, and allow them to
build their shop.
The Vernonia City
Council met in Executive Ses-
sions, which are not open to the
public, at both their September
5 and September 19 meetings,
to consult with their attorney.
A Writ of Mandamus was made
public following that first Ex-
ecutive Session, which notified
the City of Vernonia that Robert
Smejkal had filed a complaint
with the Circuit Court of Or-
egon in Columbia County, and
that the City would be required
to issue building permits, or
show cause of why they refused
to issue any permits. Following
the September 5 Executive Ses-
sion the Counsel directed their
legal counsel to issue the build-
ing permits, but under protest.
Following the Execu-
tive Session on September 19
the City Council indicated that
they had changed their mind
and would fight the court’s di-
rective to issue any permits.
Sharon Bernal is a local
real estate agent and is also the
niece of James Smejkal. Bernal
has listed and sold several of
the lots and homes built in the
development. She attended the
Vernonia City Council meet-
ing on October 2, 2017 and ad-
dressed the Council on behalf
of the current residents in Nick-
erson Ridge Estates.
“Your City Administra-
tor has spent the last two and a
half years trying to completely
recreate from the beginning of
the subdivision and its final plat
sign-off in June of 2000 and to
prove that 17 years ago items
were done incorrectly by the
developer,” said Bernal.
Bernal noted that Terry
Goodrich was the builder on the
houses and had nothing to do
with the original development.
She also noted that the planner
for the City of Vernonia signed
off and allowed the construction
to take place. Bernal said that
broken sidewalks have been
replaced as new homes were
built, although the replacement
remains at street level instead of
being raised and do not assist in
holding or directing storm wa-
ter run-off. Bernal said that any
new homes built would contain
fire suppression sprinkler sys-
tems and said the three property
owners whose homes are built
My Top 10 Reasons for Driving Electrically
9. EVs Mean Cleaner Air in General
Besides the environmental concerns as-
sociated with global warming, this is
about all the other public health issues
and associated costs of burning a fossil
fuel. Economists call the consequential
health and social costs of smog, haze,
toxins, particulates, and all the other
emissions of fossil fuel burning, “exter-
nalities;” a sterile-sounding word for a
nasty and costly reality.
Quantifying the cost of these
externalities, such as increased lung or
Cougar Management Plan
some against the Plan, and one commis-
sioner (Gregory Wolley, Portland) voted
against adoption.
The Commission also adopted
new fees for recreational and other li-
censes that will take effect Jan. 1, 2018.
These fees were already approved by the
Oregon State Legislature when it passed
ODFW’s 2015-17 budget. Typically,
ODFW raises fees once every six years
but during this six-year cycle, fee in-
creases are staggered with a more mod-
est fee increase every two years. The first
allergy health issues, including lost time
on the job, has been elusive. And, it’s
likely more than anyone really wants
to pay. One investigation in June 2011
did attempt to nail the price of gas that
would include all externalities, at $15
per gallon.
10. EVs Promise for National Energy
Security and Balance of Trade
Even if your EV is assembled overseas,
though most are made in the U.S., its fuel
is 100-percent made in the U.S. You
will never see a massive tanker pulling
into port with a load of electricity. In the
U.S. the transportation sector accounts
for 70 percent of petroleum usage. What
a difference we can make!
It’s time to consider driving
electrically. To join the roughly 11,000
other Oregon drivers who have already
plugged in, you can view and schedule a
test drive in a Chevy Bolt, Ford C-Max
Energi (Plug-in hybrid), or Nissan Leaf
at the “Go Forth Electric Showcase,” lo-
cated in the World Trade Center (PGE
hdq.) at 901 SW 1 st Ave., Portland, OR
97204. Call ahead for an appointment:
(503) 724-8670 or stop in at select local
dealers for information about their plug-
in lineup: Audi, Cadillac, Chevrolet,
Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, BMW, Honda, Kia,
Hyundai, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan,
Porsche, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen,
Volvo and many others market plug-in
models through select local dealers.
For further information about driving
electrically contact: https://pluginamer-
ica.org/, or this author through West Or-
egon Electric Cooperative https://www.
westoregon.org/ or its Facebook page.
Vernonia
Dental
an
7. Charging Infrastructure is in Place
Now
EVs run on electricity and America is
fully wired to handle them. In fact, most
charging will be done at home and at
night when the grid is otherwise unde-
rutilized.
As for our public charging in-
frastructure, the Pacific Northwest is
well ahead of the rest of the nation in the
availability of public charging stations,
and is growing daily. Some are still free
such as the ones at my doctor’s office!
For public charging stations along your
route: https://www.plugshare.com/
8. EVs Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emis-
sions
EVs have no tailpipe emissions such
as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon mon-
oxide, (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx),
particulate matter (PM), formaldehyde
(HCHO), non-methane organic gases
(NMOG), or non-methane hydrocarbons
(NMHC). True, the electricity must
come from somewhere, but even if it’s
from a coal-fired power plant, it is still
cleaner to run an electric car or plug-in
hybrid. And as our grid energy progres-
sively gets cleaner and cleaner, so does
the operation of your EV.
continued from page 8
continued from page 4
stage occurred for 2016 licenses. Begin-
ning with 2018 licenses, the cost of an
annual hunting license will increase by
$1.50 to $33.50, an annual fishing li-
cense will increase by $3 to $41 and a
Combination License will increase by
$4 to $69. The cost of juvenile licenses
will stay the same as part of efforts to
make hunting and fishing affordable for
young people and their families.
The next Fish and Wildlife
Commission meeting is December 8 in
Salem.
e rm
EVs have one tenth the moving parts of
a car with an internal combustion engine
(ICE). There’s no engine, transmission,
spark plugs, valves, fuel tank, tailpipe,
distributor, starter, clutch, radiator, fan
or timing belts, muffler, filters or cata-
lytic converter. No more tune-ups or oil
changes either. And because they have
regenerative brakes, brake pads and ro-
tors last much longer. Less maintenance
also means more reliable as there is less
that can break down.
within the stream setback have
obtained deed restrictions on
their property.
“When you try to recre-
ate a subdivision that was plat-
ted and recorded for public re-
cord with the City, with Public
Works, at your planning depart-
ment, and with the County back
in 2000, you’re always going to
find something that was done
wrong or has changed in the last
17 years,” said Bernal.
Bernal asked the Coun-
cil why and how they changed
their mind between Executive
Sessions in regards to how they
are handling the legal complaint
filed against the City by Robert
Smejkal.
The City is currently
taking the position it usually
takes when involved in a legal
dispute and is declining to com-
ment publicly on the situation.
“I’m no closer to get-
ting my shop built now than I
was the day I moved in,” says
Lindauer. “What needs to hap-
pen is some kind of compro-
mise. Meet somewhere in the
middle and get it done. The
current members of the City
Council weren’t in there when
this started, but they are there
now, and this problem is out in
the open. So let’s get it fixed.”
D
built within that 50 foot setback
zone.
The Lindauers received
that variance, but in December
2015 the region had a flood
event which caused Knick-
erson Creek to overflow and
several yards in the neighbor-
hood were flooded, including
the Lindauers, along with the
lot where they planned to build
their shop. “That prompted the
further investigation that de-
termined there were drainage
problems and inadequate storm
water drainage from the streets,
along with the culvert being too
small” said Lindauer.
In April of 2016
Lindauer was told by the City
that they were in contact with
the developer and had provided
a list of items that needed to be
addressed in the development
before any new building per-
mits could be issued. Lindauer
says he has now been waiting
since August of 2016 for some-
thing to get done.
“Starting in January of
2017 it looks like there were
some letters between lawyers
that went back and forth, but no
action,” says Lindauer. “Then
in August I was told there was a
court date scheduled in Septem-
ber.”
continued from page 3
DM
was a professional firefighter
with Columbia River Fire and
Rescue.
“We made a decision to
scale down and get something
smaller, but one of my stipu-
lations was that I was able to
have a shop,” explained Terry
Lindauer in a recent interview.
“We probably looked for about
three years before we found this
place. The lot adjacent to us
was open and both the City of
Vernonia and Columbia County
assured us there would be no
problem with us putting up a
shop. Based on that, with the
local jurisdictions telling me we
were OK, I didn’t think I need-
ed to dig any further for any ad-
ditional information.”
Lindauer says theirs
was the eighth and final house
to be constructed in the devel-
opment of 18 total lots.
In trying to begin the
process to construct his shop
on the adjacent lot they own,
Lindauer says it was discov-
ered that he would be required
to obtain a variance and a deed
restriction because there is a 50
foot setback from the riparian
zone that buffers Knickerson
Creek bordering the develop-
ment. During that process it
was discovered that three of
the homes adjacent to Knick-
erson Creek had actually been
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622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064
phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881
