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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1997)
Vernonia ambulance service assigned to Metro WestliNSiDE: If If o \/ o rn n ru o residents in in tH the Vernonia Rural Are Protection District need a paramedic or an ambu lance, they will find that, offi cially, there is no longer a Ver nonia Volunteer Ambulance service. But they shouldn’t be surprised when Vernonia vol unteer EMTs or paramedics ar rive. Although Metro West Ambu lance of Hillsboro has received approval from the Columbia County Board of Commission ers to provide ambulance ser vice to Vernonia, local volun Vol. 12, No. 10 ____ .î_ iî___ >i teers will be providing the same skilled help they did pre viously. Since most of the volun teers work full time at other jobs, it became nearly impossi ble for them to provide 24-hour service in the district. That situ ation, combined with internal conflicts in the ambulance as sociation, helped the fire dis- More fire district news may be found on page 20 . • . ■ . . . . trict board of directors decide that help must be obtained. Initially, the district contract ed with Metro West for daytime coverage, with volunteers tak ing night calls. Now, with coun ty approval, the company will operate out of Vernonia using a Vernonia ambulance that Metro West has agreed to pur chase. Volunteer EMTs will contin ue to provide local service. The only difference is that Metro West now has responsibility for the volunteers’ training and di rection. The recently approved con tract is for only six months, at which time the ambulance franchise will open for bids. VRFPD is still without a fire chief, since Steve Weller re signed in April, but the board is in the process of interviewing candidates and hopes to make a selection soon. In the meantime, Don Webb, who has more than 40 years as a volunteer firefighter in the district, has been direct ing operations. "Voice o f the Upper Nehalem River Valley" Special VHS graduation section.. ..........see pgs. 9-12 Jamboree is nearly here....... see pg. 17 Area graduation dates..... see pg. 18 May 21, 1997 WOEC board hears engineering report Smooooth... By Jim Buxton iiooa aeiayea me project for a year, when Rose Avenue was finall paved the combined sighs of relief from people who use the well-traveled street wer probably sufficient to cool the hot asphalt. Anderson Park also benefited from a nei paving job. Citv will sell trees, some land A crumbling city hall that has more liabilities than it has space has forced the Vernon ia City Council to make an un comfortable decision: They have authorized cutting 60 acres of timber, plus another 20 acres within the city limits, which will then be offered for sale. The plans displayed in the city library have been reduced in size in order to reduce the $1.5 million estimated cost of a 10,000 sq, ft. municipal building down to a mere $1 million. Only some of the city’s tim ber is old enough to bring top prices, so it is estimated that the sale will bring in about $750,000. Grants and loans will provide the remainder needed. Remodeling the present Pro Rally returns to Vernonia .................see pg. 5 building isn’t feasible. The clay tile that forms the outside walls soak up water every time there is rain (71+ inches in 1996). Then the water slow ly leaks out of the tiles and across the floors. Other problems include in sufficient space for all of the departments that must be housed there, a single, an cient bathroom that will never meet ADA standards, and a back wall that was con demned many years ago. City administrator takes Redmond job Vernonia City Administrator Vergie Ries will not renew her contract with the city because of an offer she couldn’t refuse. The Bend resident, whose four-month contract started three days before the Febru ary 1996 flood, will become city manager in Redmond. She has already taken the position and is returning to Vernonia as needed to help with the budget process and other ongoing situations. The council is presently in terviewing for an interim ad ministrator. They will then start the process of finding a permanent replacement. Charter review set Mayor Art Parrow recently appointed seven people to serve on a Charter Review Committee. The appointees are Ken Bateman, Shirlee Daughtry, Elroy Miner, Mario Leonetti, Sharon Parrow, Su- sann Ragsdale and Noni An dersen. The initial meeting of the committee has not yet been set. bution tap lines are fused. 8. BPA, which supplies Rex Brown, consulting power to WOEC, has made engineer to West Oregon several gross billing errors, Electric Cooperative, and Del prompting WOEC to consider McGinnis, the COOP’s installing its own meters at the Operations Manager, present BPA connection points. Brown ed an “Engineering and reported that BPA has agreed Operations Update” to the to update their system to board of directors at the May “RMS” metering which, he said meeting, Tuesday evening. “is very accurate”. The WOEC Among the items presented to office would be able to get daily the board were: readings using a telephone 1. The elimination of a hard- line. For that reason, Brown to-maintain power line in a recommended that WOEC not canyon near the tunnel on the install its own meters. Sunset Highway by replacing it 9. McGinnis told the board with a new-style buried cable that he thinks "System along the edge of the highway. Automation” might be neces 2. The rerouting of a power sary in the future. Manager line near Fishhawk which Russell Green said that there crosses the Nehalem River, a was no staff recommendation field and some forest. The line at this time, he just wanted it to was inaccessible during the be part of the engineering dis recent flooding. cussion. 3. Studying the feasibility of 10. McGinnis listed several helicopter right-of-way line other projects which will be tak clearing in certain parts of the ing place this summer. WOEC service territory. It has In other business, the board been reported to be cost-effec discussed the use of credit tive for certain other utilities in cards for payment of electric the Pacific Northwest. bills and decided that it is worth 4. Building a new higher- trying. capacity substation in Vernonia They voted to implement using new and used equipment two policies: No. 212, estab at bargain-basement prices to lishing a “Ready to Work” drug- back-up and perhaps eventual free workplace at the COOP, ly replace the aging substation, and No. 108, a rewrite of the which has been running at Director’s Fees and Expenses nearly full capacity. policy. More policies will be 5. Continuing to replace old reviewed at future meetings. wire that is too small to effi At one point, a member in ciently carry the load, thereby the audience asked if a further cutting “line loss”. Brown rec rate cut could be made if the ommended that, as old distrib COOP stayed in a relatively ution transformers are re profitable position. Manager placed, the COOP consider Green answered that the using “low-loss” transformers, COOP’s present financial even though they are more goals were to pay off the short expensive. term line of credit with CFC, 6. Continuing to replace and then build up a cash fuses in the line with “re reserve. The board might want closers”, which are like auto to retire some capital credits. matic circuit breakers. Another rate reduction would 7. Making sure that all distri have low priority at this time,
