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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1990)
aaM M M M M M l November 28,1990, The INDEPENDENT Page 9 WOEC closes board room to public From page 1 for desks, computers and fil ing cabinets, Seuss said, and since business documents would be in the room over night, security was also a problem. He felt that locked desks and filing cabinets would not be secure enough. The board generally agreed that COOP use of the room took precedent over public use. The closure was ap proved on a 4-2 vote, with Di rectors Don Meiers and Rod McLean casting the "no" votes. Board President Bob Stacklie said that if, in time, it appears the board room is no longer needed for its new use, it will again be made available to the public. REA plans to do a field audit of WOEC, Seuss informed the board. Possible areas of con cern to REA include having two new general managers in two years; allegations that a form er employee misused COOP funds; the directive from the Public Utilities Com mission to brush the lines; or that the COOP has the high est rates in the state. Seuss characterized REA's contact as "friendly." The audit will take place January 22, with REA auditors and engineers scrutinizing both "inside" and "outside" operations. Each director is scheduled for a private inter view, which is "Standard pro cedure and nothing to worry about," Seuss added. The COOP'S new office manager, Art Fleming, and new consultant Don Amund son are now on the job. Amundson has had many years of experience in the power industry, including re cent work for the COOP Fi nance Corp. Part of his job will be to retrain the staff for greater efficiency. A contingent of Chapman residents attended the No vem ber board meeting to protest that the COOP'S pub lished minutes do not reflect what actually happened at the previous meeting. The board agreed with them on certain items, but did not move to change the minutes. [Not discussed at the board meet ing, is a petition being circu lated in the Chapman area to secede from the COOP.] In other business: • Seuss told the board that Rex Brown will be working with Don Holsey over the next 2 - 3 years to implement a com pu ter-a id e d -d e sig n (CAD) m apping system fo r the COOP. He said that the money would come from next year's budget. • Seuss agreed to send board members information on matters to be discussed at a meeting at least 5 days in advance of that meeting. • Seuss requested a policy requiring members to inform the COOP of what they want to say 5 days in advance of any meeting they plan to at tend, but the board declined to put restrictions on mem bers' spur-of-the-moment at tendance or presentation of petitions. • The board tabled a resolu- tion on employees' retirement BEST HOLIDAY WISHES THAN. YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE IN 1990 Chevron A nti-Freeze Heating Oil Call Jack 429-6606 accounts because the expla nation wasn't clear. • Ragsdale asked, on behalf of the Vernonia Chamber of Commerce, if the COOP could store, put up and remove the street Christmas decorations. General Foreman Lee DuVall said the COOP has no room to store the decorations, but would put them up. When asked if the crew would volunteer their time to do so, Duvall said he would ask, but he didn't think so. • Concern was expressed by Stacklie that a lot of the 700 chicken halves purchased by the COOP for the annual meeting, were both uncon sumed and unaccounted for. Art Fleming Art Fleming picked as new WOEC office manager Art Fleming has been ap p o in te d o ffic e m an ag er at West Oregon Electric Cooper ative, a position that has been vacant for several months. Fleming comes here from the Bremerton, Wash., Naval Yard, where he held the civil ian position of contract spe cialist. He holds a BS degree in management from the Univer sity of M aryland S chool of Business Administration, and a Masters degree in business adm inistration from Golden Gate University in San Fran cisco. This isn't Fleming's first ex posure to WOEC, however, as his father is the president of Ruralite magazine, in For est Grove. Initially, Fleming is working as part of a three person team along with General Manager D avid S euss and Don Amundson, a consultant. The team is analyzing WOEC ad m inistration w ith a view to w ard im p ro vin g e fficie n cy, econom y and c o m m u n ic a tion s. T h e ir recom m enda tions will be reviewed by the co-op's board of directors. Fleming and the office staff w ill then be responsible for the administration of the re- vised policies and systems, A single man, Fleming has moved to Vernonia. "Gift" employee helps Police with clerical duties, parking citations The two hour parking re striction on Bridge Street, in Vernonia's com m ercial d is trict, has been ignored as long as it's been in existence, but that could become expensive now. Floyd R agner, who has been working part-time in the Vernonia Police Department for nearly four months, is now writing citations for overtime parking. R a gn er w as C o lu m b ia County supervisor for Green Thumb, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program, until his position was eliminated. Now he is a police service aide and reserve officer at the local po lice department. In a good deal for local tax pa yers, G reen Thum b s till pays Ragner*s salary; it's not coming from the city's proper ty tax coffers. In addition to ticketing ille- g a lly parked cars, Ragner does clérical work and d is patching. In th e S e r v ic e Scott Buchholz Airman Scott R. Buchholz has graduated from Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. D uring the six w eeks of training, the airman studied the Air Force mission, organi zation and customs and re ceived special training in hu man relations. In addition, he earned cred its to w a rd an a s s o c ia te degree through the Communi ty College of the Air Force. He is the son of Robert E and Doris M. Buchholz of Ver nonia and is a 1990 graduate of Vernonia High School. Wishing you a Joyous Holiday... Tom S trand Hoping to serve you in the future. WILCOX & FLEGEL 720 Rose Avenue, Vernonia We support the Northwest Timber Industry and the Nehalem Valley Coalition regon O r e a lt y co Portland West Office 8652 SW Apple Way Pörtland, OR 97226 Bus: 503/297-2523 Fax: 503/292-6070 Res: 503/429-4300
