december21 2017
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
Vernonia, Ten Years After the Flood:
Part 2 – The Recovery
Ten years after the December 3,
2007 flood, we take a look at what
Vernonia has done to recover
By Scott Laird
free
VERNONIA’S
volume11 issue24
meetings were held and the community
discussed the future of the school district
and school buildings. The Vernonia City
Council and Planning Commission met
and discussed the financial implications
for the City, important infrastructure re-
pair, mitigation planning, and economic
recovery efforts. Columbia County
Flood Relief, a newly formed organi-
zation under Community Action Team,
Rock Creek and the Nehalem River
were isolated incidents, or 100 year
floods, was being dispelled. Inten-
sive logging and forest management
practices within the Upper Nehalem
Valley was thought to be a factor in
the “flash flood” conditions that hit on
December 3. The possibility of mov-
ing homes and the schools out of the
flood zone and allowing the free flow
The flood waters that inundated
Vernonia homes, businesses, and much
of the community on December 3, 2007,
quickly subsided, but left in their wake a
community with a lot of work and plenty
of questions about how to
move forward with our re-
covery.
Ten years later, as
the City gets ready to break
ground on the new Senior
Center/Vernonia Cares Food
Bank facility in the spring of
2018, the community is in
the final stages of that long
recovery process that saw
heroic efforts in fundraising,
demolitions, new construc-
tion, and a lot of waiting.
Many Vernonia resi-
The ribbon cutting ceremony at the August 2012 opening of the new Vernonia Schools
dents and community groups campus featured (right-left) County Commissioner Tony Hyde, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden,
State Senator Betsy Johnson, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, U.S. Representative Suzanne
initially stepped forward to help
Bonamici, and Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski.
their neighbors, and outside vol-
unteers and donations poured into the established a permanent headquarters at of more water through the community
community. The Cedar Ridge Confer- the Vernonia Community Learning Cen- in case of another high water event,
ence Center served as an Emergency ter and began assisting the 650 Vernonia also took hold. Creating wetlands and
shelter for three weeks following the residents who registered with them to “natural valley storage” to improve the
flood, housing and feeding displaced res- navigate the “victims assistance” pro- ability to catch, hold, and slowly release
idents. The Vernonia Lions Club helped cess and repair their homes and busi- heavy rain and snow melt was also dis-
out in many ways, bringing in supplies, nesses. Community services that were cussed.
providing legal and accounting services, directly affected by the flood - like West Making Progress
and helping find unused motor homes Oregon Electric Cooperative (WOEC),
In February volunteers from
and trailers that could be used as tempo- the Vernonia Health Center, the Verno- Christian Aid Ministries, an Amish and
rary homes. Vernonia Cares was cleaned nia Senior Center, and Vernonia Cares - Mennonite service organization, arrived
out and reopened, providing emergency began to consider how they would deal in Vernonia and spent 6,000 hours over
food and supplies.
with protecting themselves against fu- two months sharing their construction
Big Decisions
ture floods.
and administrative skills to help approx-
Once initial needs were met,
Future floods were on the minds imately 40 families repair their damaged
like emergency food and shelter for of most of the community as they con- homes. They returned one year later and
those displaced, government leaders sidered long-range recovery options. spent another month helping the Verno-
had to come together and start planning After experiencing two floods within nia community. In April a group of 11
the long-term recovery process. Public 11 years, the idea that flooding along young AmeriCorp volunteers arrived
Highlights from the
Spirit of Christmas
in Vernonia
on page 22-23
and spent five weeks working in the
community; a second team of Ameri-
Corp volunteers followed the first group
and stayed for six weeks.
In March FEMA placed 21 man-
ufactured homes in Vernonia on an emp-
ty lot on Weed Avenue (where the new
WOEC headquarters is now located) and
provided local housing for residents who
were unable to occupy their homes. That
temporary housing village would remain
in place for 18 months as homeowners
waited for funds to repair or buyout their
homes.
Elementary School students
were able to reoccupy Washington
continued on page 9
Special Election Held Tuesday, January 23, 2018
inside
7
the good ol’ days
16
vhs winter
sports report
22
spirit of christmas
highlights
Drop sites and Public
Certification Test Announced
A state wide Special Election
will be held January 23, 2018 for all
of Columbia County. Approximately
37,000 registered voters will receive a
ballot.
The sole content of the election
will be State Measure 101, a referen-
dum ordered to ballot by petition of the
people. Election details can be found
on Oregon Secretary of State’s website
www.oregonvotes.gov and navigating
to the Current Election webpage. Ad-
ditional information can be found on
the Elections department page of www.
co.columbia.or.us. A statewide voter’s
pamphlet will be produced by the Sec-
retary of State’s office and mailed to all
households between December 27 and
29.
The main mailing of ballots
for Columbia County will be between
Wednesday, January 3 and January 5.
Overseas and out-of-state ballots will
be mailed at an earlier date.
Verify registration/absentee voting -
Voters can review and update their reg-
istration information at www.oregon-
votes.gov by clicking the “My Vote”
tab.
Returning voted ballots - Ballots must
be received by the county clerk no later
than 8:00 pm on Tuesday, January 23,
2018 - postmarks do not count. The
United States Postal Service has stated
that ballots could take up to 5-7 days to
reach county elections offices once they
are put in the mail.
It is advised that if you can
not put your ballot in the mail before
January 18, you should plan on return-
ing your ballot to a drop site. Further
consideration should take into account
possible inclement weather conditions
that could hamper your ability to travel
to a drop site on Election Day. Please be
safe and plan ahead.
Drop sites for the election will
be as follows:
• Columbia County Courthouse
Elections Department 230 Strand St, St.
Helens
24-Hour Drive-up Drop Box
Lower parking lot
• Clatskanie Library
11 Lillich St
• Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD
12525 Oregon Highway 202
• Rainier City Hall
106 B St West
• Vernonia Public Library
701 Weed Ave
• Scappoose City Hall
24-Hour Drop Box
33568 E. Columbia Ave
Public Certification Test - The Pub-
lic Certification Test of the counting
equipment for the Special Election will
be held on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.
The testing will begin at 10:00 am in
the County Elections Department. The
public is welcome to attend.
