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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 19, 2018)
letters to the editor/community bulletin board july19 4 2018 Upcoming Events Upper Nehalem Watershed Council Joint July/August Board Meeting - Thursday, August 2, 5:30 pm at the UNWC office, 1201 Texas Ave. 2018 Vernonia Friendship Jamboree & Logging Show - Friday, August 3 - Sunday, August 5 Senior Picnic - Friday, August 17, 11:00 am, 12:00 lunch at Anderson Park. Bring a side dish. Hamburgers, hotdogs, beverages provided. Bear Creek Run - Saturday, August 18, 9:00 am start at Anderson Park. Reg- ister at www.RunSignUp.com. West Oregon Electric Co-op Annual Meeting - Saturday, August 18, 11:00 am at the Vernonia Schools Com- mons. TOPS Group (Take Off Pounds Sensi- bly) meet Fridays at the Mist-Birken- feld Fire Dept. 8:30 am weigh in, 9:00 am meeting. (503) 429-7505 HOW TO SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Vernonia’s Voice welcomes and re- quests your thoughts, opinions and ideas. Please include your name, ad- dress and phone number, limit your letters to 300 words or less. Vernonia’s Voice reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted. We will print letters space permitting. Deadline is the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. Email: scott@ vernoniasvoice.com or mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064. Vernonia Weather June 2018 DATE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Ave/Tot HIGH 68 80 65 66 70 76 68 60 59 55 70 77 65 62 68 76 87 84 88 90 74 74 73 89 67 73 72 71 75 73 LOW 42 47 42 38 36 47 45 44 40 44 39 39 50 46 48 44 43 53 49 56 55 54 46 50 46 40 40 41 41 52 PRECIP 0 0 0 .03 0 0 0 T .08 .24 0 0 T 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 T 0 .10 .02 0 0 0 0 0 72.5 45.2 0.47 Weather data is collected at the U.S. Weather station at the Vernonia Water Plant Readers Lend Their Voices... To the Editor, Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and neighbors, I find no joy in writing this letter, but I also feel you have a right to know. In 1998 the then Board tried to expand W.O.E.C. territory. An honor- able endeavor though ill fated. PGE paid W.O.E.C. $2,000,000 in reparation. Yeah ! Now the dark odyssey begins. The Board and management decided they would try to invest in a for-profit business. Being a non-profit, W.O.E.C. can’t legally do that. So they had a meeting of the members to get a vote. If I remember right about 200 came of the 4,000 members. They then received a majority of those attending to invest in a for-profit company. West Oregon Services was born. Why it then became Columbia Broadband is unknown to me. During an Oregon Co-op meet- ing, a gentleman from Central Oregon Co-op said, “There’s a company called Washington Noah Net, a broadband that is making money hand over fist!” After much discussion, I assume, they decided that an Oregon Noah Net was the thing to do. They decided that W.O.E.C. i.e. West Oregon Services, i.e. Columbia Broadband would invest $1.5 million and co-sign a bank note for $13 mil- AA Meetings Open Meetings Mondays & Thursdays 6:30-7:30 pm Vernonia Christian Church 410 North Street Women’s Meeting Tuesdays 6:30-7:30 pm Vernonia Christian Church 410 North Street lion. Things went well until the third banknote payment was due. What had happen was, another PUD, specifically P.G.E., had their own broadband and undercut Oregon Noah Net. Noah Net couldn’t make their pay- ment. At a meeting with the bank, Noah Net proposed they pay X amount on the dollar and save the bank from having to sue them and maybe not getting any- thing. A deal was struck. Noah Net was still in financial trouble. The Board put their heads to- gether and came up with a plan. 1. Scrap the name Oregon Noah Net off the door. 2. Change hats. 3. Become Light Speed Inc. taking all of Noah Nets assets and customers but none of its liabilities. 4. For the past 10 years or so, W.O.E.C., i.e. West Oregon Services, i.e. Colum- bia Broadband, was given a 12% stock in Light Speed Inc. There have been no dividends of consequence returned. Also Vernonia doesn’t have broadband as promised. Apparently there is no way to recoup any of our investment according to all the discussion I’ve had with the Board Robert VanNatta is on the Board of Light Speed. Standard prac- tices for W.O.E.C. has been to pay $150 + mileage for meeting attendance. Re- cently, Light Speed decided to pay its Board members $1,500 for each meet- ing. W.O.E.C. Board decided that Van- Natta could keep the $1,500 and they would forgo the $150. You decide. The official debt load number that I’ve been able to get is $19,570,747 including the $1,351,341 still owed on the headquarters building. There’s talk of taking out an additional loan of $8+ million There was also mention of pri- ority information. We aren’t suppose to know. The Oregon Noah Net debacle was made and decided by a different manager and mostly a different Board. The only one I know was on the bBard at that time was Robert VanNatta. The debt will keep rising. Being debt free is not an option. Our rates will continue to go up. The same complaints will be voiced. The same excuses will be given. Sally Harrison Vernonia Get Ready for Jamboree and Logging Show! The 62 nd Vernonia Friendship Jamboree and Logging Show will take place August 3-5 this year. The Jamboree Committee has released a schedule of events, including the big news that the Logging Show will return to Hawkins Park on Sunday after a one year hiatus. Once again the parade will take place on Saturday at 11:00 am and there will be a Car Show, Motorcycle Show, and Lawn Mower Races. The Ridge Riders Horse Gaming competition will take place starting Sunday morning. Columbia Humane Society Featured Pet Duce is a neutered male, pit bull mix. He weighs about 80 lbs. and is brindle with some white. He is a playful, smart, and very sweet boy. We don't feel that Duce would be a great match for other dogs or kitties and would prefer for him to go to a home alone. He tries to stay clean in his kennel, and he would probably do best with someone who doesn't leave him alone too much. Duce has been at the shelter now for just about 8 months. We would love to find this kid a place to call home. In the best interest of the pets in our care CHS does not have the kennels open to the public. CHS is committed to making sure that both our pets and our adopters are successful. If you are interested in adopting a shelter pet, please don't hesitate to call or email. We like to get to know our adopters before we have you meet our pets. We feel that if we can talk to our adopt- ers, we will be able to better assist them in finding that perfect family member. 2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens, OR 97051 Phone: 503-397-4353 E-mail: info@columbiahumane.org Web: www.columbiahumane.org The Kids Zone will be hosted by the Vernonia SK8 Park group and will include bouncy houses, reptile petting zoo, an obstacle course, sno cones, raffles for skate gear, and a skate demonstration by UNHEARD Skateboarding on Saturday. All proceeds go to support Vernonia SK8 and Vernonia’s new skate park. The Library Book Sale will be held at the Vernonia Grange this year. Vendors will be located on Adams Avenue and at Spencer Park. A program with all the details on this year’s event will be available the week prior to Jamboree. Upper Nehalem Watershed Council Board Meeting July/August joint meeting 5:30 pm on Thursday August 2, 2018 at the UNWC office 1201 Texas Ave. Suite A. Entrance is around the back of the building For more info call (503) 396-2046 or email maggie@nehalem.org Vernonia’s Voice is published twice each month on the 1st and 3rd Thursday. Look for our next issue on August 2.
