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-
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Voice reserves the right to edit, omit,
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Monday of each month. Email: scott@
vernoniasvoice.com or mail to: Letters,
PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064.
Vernonia Weather
June 2018
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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.