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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2018)
T he C olumbia P ress 1 50 ¢ C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper 503-861-3331 Library plans to get technical with grant The Columbia Press Warrenton Community Library plans to get up to speed, so to speak. Digital books, catalog resource sharing with neighbor cities, even an automated check-out sys- tem have been out of reach for the technologically challenged little library. The City Commission voted Tuesday night to partner with the city of Seaside in an application for a Library Services and Technology Act grant, federal funds that the state distributes to local communities. Terms of the grant require the city to spend the money first and be reimbursed. Thanks to the library levy, which voters approved last year, the city will be able to do that. “I see nothing but benefits for us,” Mayor Henry Balensifer said. Added Mayor Pro Tem Rick New- ton: “I don’t see a downside to this at all.” Library site manager Nettie-Lee Calog presented two plans to the commission, one in which the city goes it alone at a cost of $32,300 the first year and $10,800 in subsequent years. The second plan is a joint venture with Seaside in which the automation would be shared. It would be $20,500 the first year and $5,000 in subsequent years. About half of the first-year costs would be reim- bursable by the grant in either scenario. “Seaside has been a great partner for us in many things in addition to this,” Balensifer said. He vol- unteered to write a thank-you note to the city on behalf of the commission. Warrenton will hire The Library Company, a West Virginia-based library automation company that works with more than 4,500 libraries worldwide. What will the city get? Book check-out and check-in done by bar-code scanning. The library currently uses a hand stamp. Training for all library workers and volunteers. The city library’s books and other offerings will be digitally catalogued and shared first with Sea- side and, eventually, with Cannon Beach, Clatsop Community College and Gearhart. If Astoria jumps aboard, plans are for all the entities to share the digital catalogue. Readers can order books from any of the libraries just by clicking a button. Digital download of audiobooks through a pro- gram called “Library to Go.” March 16, 2018 Vol. 2, Issue 11 Committed to teaching job skills WHS prepares to build tech-training center on campus b y C indy y ingst Senior Brandon Williamson stands with Warrenton High School teacher Josh Jan- nusch, who won a grant to build a career and technical education building on cam- pus. The maintenance shed behind them will be replaced with a large steel structure. The Columbia Press Brandon Williamson doesn’t see him- self going to a lofty university to learn philosophy or economics. But the 18-year-old Warrenton High School student does plan to get training in a trade. A $436,000 state grant the high school won recently will pay to build a new ca- reer training building at the north end of campus and properly certify teachers. The building will house a machine lab, auto shop, welding area and, eventually, a place to learn wood-based construction trades, such as home-building. “Really, almost anything that’s going up here I’m stoked for because I’m a hands-on kind of guy,” the teen said. “I See ‘Building’ on Page 3 City’s goal to prepare for big one and be encouragers The Columbia Press City leaders have four big goals this year: build up the commu- nity, update the vision plan, im- prove Main Street and get every- one prepared for an emergency. No small task, any of them. The five city commissioners gathered for a recent weekend “retreat” at the Masonic Lodge. But it was all work and little play. Together they came up with the primary things they want to work on: concrete goals that realisti- cally could be accomplished in a year. The goals were presented at Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting, but won’t be voted on until the next meeting because Mark Baldwin was absent and the mayor wanted the commis- sion to present a united vote. C ommunity building “We want to craft a narrative of what our city is doing,” May- or Henry Balensifer said. “This would be giving advanced notice to folks.” The city’s website will be a bet- ter resource for residents, notify- ing them of activities, meetings and things like road work and planned power outages. A monthly column about city work that affects residents would run in The Columbia Press. City departments would be more open to citizen involve- ment and volunteers would be better recognized. Police Chief Matt Workman would work with other cities and the county on a citizen po- lice academy that would serve as the eyes and ears of local public safety agencies. Applications are expected to be available in April. V ision plan The city’s visioning plan, which was done in 2001, is outdated and, well, lacks vision or at least a modern vision, commissioners said. City ordinances (Warrenton’s laws and rules) and the compre- See ‘Goals’ on Page 7
