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,