december7 2017
VERNONIA’S
volume11 issue23
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
Vernonia, Ten Years After the Flood: Part 1 –
Quick Rising Waters Have Massive Impact
On December 3, 2007 Vernonia
suffered catastrophic flooding.
Ten years later we take a look
back on the flood and what has
changed in the community in
this two-part series.
Vernonians prepare when waters start
to rise each winter has changed.
What happened on December 3
The fast rising waters caught
almost everyone by surprise. On
Monday morning reports began trick-
water from the Rock Creek/Nehalem
confluence began to back up across
the sports fields behind the Vernonia
School District property, and then en-
tered the school buildings themselves.
Volunteers, led by Superintendent
Ken Cox tried to salvage food from
By Scott Laird
On Saturday, December 1,
2007 Vernonians gathered to celebrate
the holiday season with a new all-day
event, The Spirit of Christmas in Ver-
nonia. The day’s festivities closed wth
a Lighted Parade up Bridge Street with
Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving and
helping to light the community Christ-
mas tree at City Hall. As the Vernonia
High School band performed, large
wet snow flakes fell from the sky -
holiday cheer in the form of beautiful
and wet precipitation.
That precipitation turned out
to be the start of two hurricane type
storms that, first pelted the Oregon
coast with high winds and driving
rain, and then parked itself over the
Coast Range and the Upper Nehalem
Valley, dumping almost 18 inches of
rain over the next 48 hours. The rain
continued to fall through Monday eve-
ning and caused both Rock Creek, and
then the Nehalem River, to overflow
their banks. The ensuing flood and the
damage it caused changed the lives of
many Vernonia residents and the com-
munity as a whole forever.
Ten years later a lot has
changed in Vernonia. Residents and
City leaders, along with numerous
state and federal agencies all worked
together to move vital community ser-
vices, residents, and businesses up and
out of the flood zone and onto higher
ground. Vernonia’s process for devel-
opment has been altered, and the way
inside
3
some things
you may not know
7
spirit of christmas
in vernonia
10
vhs winter
sports preview
ling in – first a flooded basement, then
water from Rock Creek backing up
where it enters the Nehalem River.
First Responders were activated and
started going door-to-door to encour-
age evacuations. Around 10:00 am
free
the cafeteria freezers and refrigera-
tors, wading through thigh deep water.
Around noon more calls came
in about high water, first on
North Mist Drive, then from
the Timber Road area as the
Nehalem breeched its banks
both north and south of Verno-
nia. Evacuation centers were
quickly established at the old
Lincoln Grade School build-
ing on the south side of town,
at St. Mary’s Catholic Church
on the north side, and at Cedar
Ridge Conference Center on
Keasey Road. Electric power
was cut off and then the phone system
went down, leaving many residents
unable to contact each other.
continued on page 5
Columbia County
Cancels Contract
with Columbia
Humane Society
The Columbia County Board of
Commissioners will resume its role in the
care of animals seized by county law enforce-
ment officers beginning January 1, 2018, af-
ter canceling their contract with Columbia
Humane Society (CHS) to manage the wel-
fare of stray, neglected, and abused dogs, or
licensing dogs within the county.
CHS’s mission is to assist the com-
munity in the successful re-homing and train-
ing of adoptable animals. The Holsheimer
Lamar Animal Shelter, where the CHS cur-
rently operates, was created in 1995 as a joint
venture between CHS and Columbia County.
The funding for the building was supplied by
a CHS donor, and the land was supplied by
Columbia County. For the past four years,
at the County’s request, CHS has provided
medical care, food, enrichment, and shelter
to the county’s animals until they could be
reconnected with their owners; those duties
will again now be managed by the Sheriff’s
Department and Animal Control.
The effects of the contract cancella-
tion on CHS will result in the following: re-
duced office hours (CHS will only be open
to the public Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday,
Noon - 5:00 pm); viewings and adoptions
by appointment only; loss of three staff po-
sitions; loss of fourteen indoor kennels and
eight outdoor kennels, approximately one
third of previous capacity; loss of one third
of their operating budget.
According to a press release from
Columbia County the contract with CHS was
terminated after a review by the Sheriff’s
Office showed inefficiencies in managing
the contract. The review also revealed com-
plaints from customers regarding the manner
in which CHS staff treated dog owners and
others interested in county-held dogs. Fur-
ther review with legal counsel also showed
that CHS had failed to uphold other terms of
Columbia County Commissioners
Approve Port Westward Rezone
Columbia County Commis-
sioners voted on November 29 to rezone
837 acres of agricultural land at Port
Westward to Industrial. The request to
rezone the land was made by the Port of
St. Helens.
The controversial decision
marks the latest development in a long-
running effort to expand the high-im-
pact industrial development in the Co-
lumbia River estuary in rural Columbia
County. Hundreds of citizens and local
farmers turned out to public hearings
over the last several months, urging the
county to protect high-value cropland
from fossil fuel and other heavy indus-
trial development.
The vote was two to one with
Commissioner Alex Tardif casting the
dissenting vote. “We are looking to the
past and continue to look at fossil fu-
els and industry to carry us to the future
time and time again,” he said. “We are
now in the imagination era headed into
the intellectual era, and for me, to re-
zone more than 4 percent of the remain-
ing primary agricultural land in north
county to industrial land is not looking
to the future.”
In addition to the amount of
acreage, Tardif later stated his concerns
about access to the dock at Port West-
ward, which is currently only accessible
via PGE land leased from the Port. “I
am not comfortable with the current
terms for this,” he said. “Not having
certainty that future tenants would have
access to the existing dock or rail lines
is not acceptable.”
The county commissioner’s
vote marks the Port of St. Helens’ sec-
ond attempt to remove agricultural
protection from farmland at Port West-
ward. The Port of St. Helens revived ef-
continued on page 6
forts to expand the industrial boundary
at Port Westward after farmer and busi-
ness owner Mike Seely and Columbia
Riverkeeper’s legal challenge to the
rezone prevailed at the Oregon’s Land
Use Board of Appeals in 2014.
“1000 Friends is disappointed
in the Board’s decision,” said Meriel
Darzen, attorney for 1000 Friends of
Oregon, which commented on the pro-
posal. “The agricultural lands in Colum-
bia County contain highly productive
soils and access to clean water. These
resources are limited and for that rea-
son are protected by Oregon’s land use
laws from conversion to nonagricultural
uses. The Board’s decision ignores the
grave implications of converting these
lands for fossil fuel development.”
Prior to the vote, Commissioner
Margaret Magruder said, “The intent of
continued on page 12