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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1997)
1 - Rewritten sidewalk ordinance approved by council After careful review of lan guage authorizing the city to require property owners to re pair or replace existing side walks, or install new sidewalks, council members felt comfort able with a rewrite and ap proved the ordinance. The new ordinance now provides criteria to use in making the decision. No date has been set as yet for a town hall meeting on the municipal building. Though the council discussed the fact they had said the meeting would be held in September, they al ready have several meetings this month. Following the regular council meeting Sept. 15, the council will hold a workshop and, on Sept. 29, they will have a spe cial council meeting. The council discussed com plaints about the appearance of the Shay locomotive, which has been undergoing renova tion for a couple of years. One member of the audience said it qualified for a nuisance com plaint. The council agreed to in vite restoration leader Tim An derson to present his ideas. Vernonia Public library is one step closer to obtaining a major grant from the state. Word received this week said that Vernonia is next in line for consideration for the $80,000 grant. If it is awarded, the funds would go toward construction of the new municipal building, which includes space for the li brary. Leonetti appointed to city council Mario Leonetti was sworn in as the newest member of the Vernonia City Council at last night’s meeting to fill the va cancy left by the resignation of Tim Williamson. Leonetti is a local business man who was previously elect ed to the council but had to re sign because of health prob lems. He was also on the re cent charter review committee. Ministry of respite............ Pg. 8 Short Breeds from Gladys............ Pg. 7 Pee Wee Rodeo winners Pg. 8 it's time to Pack the Gym.......Pg. 12 Radio tests......Pg. 18 BULK RATE U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 37 Vernonia, OR 97064 FREE 4 Vol. 12, No. 17 Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley' New heights... Nucor Steel Co. makes offer to purchase site at Clatskanie By Noni Andersen The new sanctuary at the Vernonia First Baptist Church isn’t ready yet, but the steeple was placed last week by the crane pictured in the foreground of above photo. J J jo r ld s T O n tln u in ja ^ o lu n te e rs a r e a v a ila b l^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ City will function without administrator for a while Interim Vernonia Adminis trator Tony Paxton will leave the temporary position at the end of next week, before the city council can hire a new ad ministrator. The council will complete interviews with ap plicants this Friday. After com pletion of the interviews, the council must complete the hir ing process. Paxton’s contract is up Sept. 9, but he has agreed to stay through Sept. 12 because September 3, 1997 one persoh is on vacation In the meanhile, Leslie O’Leary, the city director of fi nance, will handle most of the day-to-day decisions, with the help of other department heads and advice from the mayor and city council mem bers. O’Leary made clear that she will not serve as “acting administrator,” but will accept responsibility for continuing ordinary operations. Nucor Steel, a major steel manufacturing company with headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina, has made an offer for the purchase of more than 300 acres of Port of St. Helens property at Point Westward, six miles north of Clatskanie. Although they previously backed out of negotiations with the Port of St. Helens a couple of years ago, Nucor’s continued interest in building a $300-million production fa cility in the northwest provided impetus for the state legisla ture to approve an unprece dented package of tax abate ments, tax subsidies and tax incentives during the recently completed legislative session. Coos County, which is also talking with Nucor Steel, was instrumental in the develop ment and passage of the leg islation. Another factor that may have influenced the legislation was a decision about three years ago by BHP Steel Com pany to locate across the Co lumbia River in Camas, rather than in Rainier, because of tax advantages offered by the State of Washington. In addi tion to Coos and Columbia Counties, Nucor is also con sidering a site in the Kalama area. The potential for approxi mately 300 jobs averaging $58,000 per year is a powerful incentive for local government to approve a moratorium or another tax structure that pro vides rebates as certain con ditions are met. Additionally, Port Westward is included in an Enterprise Zone, which would make Nucor eligible for any or all of the incentives provided in the new legisla tion. Because of the require ment that local government determine how the tax incen tives will be applied, Nucor’s ultimate decision will neces sarily be contingent upon sat isfactory negotiations with both the Port of St. Helens and Columbia County. Among problems that will have to be addressed by the port and the county is a road that would be adequate for the kind and quantity of traffic that would be generated (esti mated at 2-300 trucks daily) if Nucor locates at Port West ward. Beaver Falls Road, a narrow, winding, two-lane road, presently provides pri mary access to the area. The cost of an adequate road has been estimated as high as $17-million, but there are no firm figures at this time. Another potential stumbling block is the fact that Portland General Electric, which oper ates the Beaver Generating Plant at Port Westward, has a long-term lease on the prop erty. Considerations that would require successful negotia tions with the county board of commissioners would include determination of what kind of tax incentives would be ap propriate, how long they would be applied - the new law allows as much as fifteen years - and what require ments the county would im pose upon Nucor in return for those economic benefits. Enterprise zone regula tions require qualified busi nesses to fill most of the new positions with residents from the county granting the incen tives. In the case of Columbia County, this is particularly im portance because of the large labor force across the river in Washington. According to Commission er Tony Hyde, Columbia County lacks personnel with sufficient expertise in negotia tions of this sort and will hire outside consultants to review all of the possibilities of the situation if it becomes neces sary. Hyde said the board of commissioners would not un dertake any such decisions without expert consultants. The port has already retained private industry consultants to negotiate with Nucor. If negotiations appear to be fruitful, Hyde indicated that the county has economic de velopment funds available for necessary capital expendi tures. At a public meeting in Clatskanie last Wednesday, area residents supported the project even though they ex pressed concern about poten tial negative impacts such a large development could have on the community and the en vironment. Also attending were county commissioners Hyde, Jack Peterson and Joel Yarbor; Greg Jenks of the Oregon Dep’t of Economic Development, and represen tatives of state and local unions. Commissioners Hyde, Yar bor and, possibly, Peterson, will spend two days at Nucor’s South Carolina headquarters next week as guests of the corporation, along with Port of St. Helens Commissioners Betsy Johnson and Capt. Dennis Whidme, plus Michael Sykes of the port. Commissioner Peterson developed pneumonia follow ing leg surgery last Friday and is presently under care at Legacy Good Samaritan Med ical Center in Portland.
