city news
july19
2018
5
Vernonia City News...
At the July 16, 2018 City Council
Meeting:
Council
Reschedules
Greenman
Bleachers Work Session – After having
to cancel a scheduled Work Session with
the Save the Greenman Field Bleachers
Committee twice because the City didn’t
correctly notice the Public Meeting,
Council was informed by a Committee
Representative that the Committee could
not meet on July 18. Council resched-
uled the meeting for July 31 at 6:30 pm.
Council Renames Airport Park –
Council voted 3-2 to approve a recom-
mendation by the Parks Committee to
rename Airport Park. The committee
had proposed three options for consid-
eration. Council chose Nehalem River
Park & Campground as the new name.
The Parks Committee suggested the
change in an effort to make the park
sound more welcoming, to help attract
more visitors, and increase revenues to
help with developing and maintaining
the park. Councilors Bruce McNair and
Mike Seager voted against the change;
Councilors Susan Wagner, Jill Hult, and
Mayor Mario Leonetti voted in favor.
Council Approves New Personnel
Handbook – Council approved resolu-
tion 11-18, adopting a new Personnel
Policies Handbook for employees. City
Administrator Josette Mitchell told the
Council the new handbook was devel-
oped using a software tool provided by
the City’s insurance carrier that allows
state laws to be incorporated into the
policies and will allow for easier updates
in the future.
Council Approves Streets Grant Ap-
plication – Council approved Resolu-
Police Blotter
•
Reports/Arrests
• July 4, 2018 Report of DUII near Rose
Avenue
• July 8, 2018 Arreste on a Warrant near
Bridge Street
• July 10, 2018 Report of Restraining
Order Violation near North Mist Drive
• July 11, 2018 Report of Theft II near
Bridge Street
• July 12, 2018 Informational report on
burning near Maple Street
• July 14, 2018 Vehicle impoundment and
Driving While Suspended near Maple
Street
tion 12-18 allowing the City to apply
for a Small City Allotment Grant from
ODOT to pave City streets. The City’s
application calls for resurfacing of A
Street from Washington Avenue to State
Avenue, and B Street from Washington
Avenue across State Avenue to the end.
Council Meets in Executive Session –
Council met in Executive Session under
ORS 192.660 (2)(e) “To conduct delib-
erations with persons designated by the
governing body to negotiate real prop-
erty transactions.” Public documents
distributed during the meeting included
a draft Greenman Field Grandstands
Ground Lease prepared by the City and
a report on Negotiation Options from the
Grandstands Committee. The Negotiat-
ing Options report concluded that “the
[football] field and grandstands need to
always be rented as a unit.” The report
later noted, “Separating the field from
the Grandstands within the fee structure
is a non-starter for the committee.” Af-
ter returning to Open Session City Re-
corder Stephanie Borst announced that
Mayor Leonetti would present the agree-
ment and staff would update the agree-
ment with suggested changes from the
City’s insurance company and the City
Planning Department. Council took no
further action.
Council Receives Report on Park
Space – Council received a report pre-
pared by Ben Fousek from the City
Planning Department summarizing City
park and open space areas. The report
noted that the Vernonia City limits in-
cludes an area of 1,085 acres. The City
has a total of 172.6 acres of park space,
of which 37.65 acres are maintained.
The total also includes 53.2 acres in the
Mill Site that is zoned Public recreation
July 1-16, 2018
Citations/Other
• July 3, 2018 Cited for Failure to Carry
Proof of Insurance near North Mist Drive
• July 7, 2018 Cited for Driving While
Suspended, No Insurance, and Defective
Lighting near Bridge Street
• July 8, 2018 Cited for Driving While
Suspended near Rose Avenue
Vernonia Police Department responds
to calls that do not always end in
Arrest, Report, or Citation. 07/01/2018
through 07/16/2018 VPD had 122 calls
for service.
and is not a park or maintained. The
City also owns 9.5 acres of flood buyout
property which it maintains.
Police Department Report – Police
Chief Mike Conner said he and City
Administrator Josette Mitchell will try
to work with ODOT to find an alterna-
tive or an exemption to the new stop sign
that has been placed at the intersection
of Bridge Street and Rose Avenue at the
flashing light. Conner explained that
ODOT was looking for options to keep
drivers from cutting the corner from
Bridge to Rose heading south, when they
discovered that state statute requires a
stop sign be placed anyplace there is
a stop line. Councilor Bruce McNair
complained that the stop sign could pose
problems for large loads that need to get
a travel permit, and may force expensive
detours.
Conner told Council that two
new officers, Michael Walter and Abbie
Hanson are scheduled to attend Police
Academy starting August 13.
City Administrator Report – City Ad-
ministrator Josette Mitchell told Council
that three general contractor firms and
many subcontractors attended a pre-
bid meeting for the Senior Center/Food
Bank project on July 9. Mitchell said
Vernonia City
Council Meetings
and Closures
City Council Meetings
are scheduled for 7:00 pm:
Monday, August 6, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
City Closures
are scheduled for:
8-10 am Monday, July 30, 2018
Staff Meeting
Noon on Friday, August 3, 2018
Vernonia Friendship Jamboree
Dates and times subject to change
numerous calls have also come in ex-
pressing interest in the project.
Mitchell told Council that the
City has posted the job opening for the
Utility Worker I position. Applications
are due July 30 and interviews are sched-
uled for the week of August 6.
Mitchell told the Council City
Hall will be closed on July 30 from 8:00
am to 10:00 am for a mandatory staff
meeting to go over the new personnel
handbook and inform staff of the budget
and plans for the new fiscal year.
Topics From the Floor – Scott Laird
shared with Council the results of an
informal poll on Facebook concerning
the proposed renaming of Airport Park.
Laird reported that 53 people were in fa-
vor of a name change and indicated in
comments that they thought a change
would better reflect the park and could
help draw more visitors. 37 people said
they thought the name should stay the
same.
Laird also took time to thank
Don Normand and Linda Christopher-
son, who were in the audience, for their
help with mowing Spencer Park, and
Rick and Linda Hobart, who were also
in the audience, for their part in helping
clean up planted areas at the Post Office.
The Vernonia
Transfer Station
is scheduled
to be open on the
2nd and 4th Saturday
January - October
8:00 am - 2:00 pm
July 28
August 11 & 25
Dates and times are subject
to change due to weather
Join this movement
NOTICE OF POSITIONS OPEN
CITY OF VERNONIA
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the General Election will be held on the 6 th day of
November 2018, at which time the legal voters of the City of Vernonia will be entitled
to vote for candidates to certain city offices.
OFFICES OPEN FOR ELECTION:
• VERNONIA MAYOR TWO YEAR TERM
• VERNONIA COUNCIL MEMBER FOUR YEAR TERM
• VERNONIA COUNCIL MEMBER FOUR YEAR TERM
Election packets will be available May 30th, 2018 at the office of the City Recorder,
1001 Bridge St, Vernonia, OR 97064. Nominating petitions can be filed no sooner than
June 1st, 2018, and filed no later than Thursday, August 23rd, 2018, by 4:00 p.m. with
the City Recorder. For more information call Stephanie Borst, City Recorder at 503-
429-5291 ext. 105.
The City of Vernonia is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.
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