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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1998)
Tri-City Fire District building committee is formed The possibility of a new fire station in Banks is being stud ied by a recently formed build ing committee. Items dis cussed at their first meeting, in December, included minimum space requirements for a new fire station, and how such a building should be placed on the existing fire station site. Tri-City Rural Fire District owns the property the fire sta tion is now on, as well as two adjacent properties directly to the east on Sunset Street. The district also has an option to purchase property to the south of the existing fire station. If the District were able to purchase the property to the south and combine it with the properties it currently owns, the site would total 49,668 square feet. Based on current and pro jected needs, an appropriately sized building is estimated at between 13,000 and 15,000 square feet. The existing fire station, built about 1910, mea sures just 5,220 square feet. Presently, it houses the admin istrative offices of the Tri-City Rural Fire District in addition to the Banks fire station vehicles and equipment. The district has hired the firm of Ankrom & Moisan Asso ciated Architects for assistance with design options and cost estimates. The next meeting of the building committee is set for tonight, January 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Banks Fire Station, 300 S. Main Streeet. The pub lic is invited to attend. VRFPD seeks voter approval for bond Vernonia Rural Fire District will ask voters to approve a $320,000 bond in the March 10 mail election, for one new and one remodeled truck. See the Jan. 21 issue of The INDE PENDENT for more informa tion. BULK RATE US. Postage Paid Permit No. 37 Vernonia, OR 97064 FREE 4 City receives grants; approves hardware Helping nanasTT. The Vernonia High School wrestling team made quick work of repairs to the parking lot at St. Mary’s Church after vandals dug holes in it with the wheels of their vehicle. Hazard mitigation meeting set The owners of houses in the Vernonia floodway or flood plain that suffered “substantial damage” (50-percent of the home’s value as determined by U.S. Federal Emergency Man agement Administration) during the floods of 1996, may finally be able to receive reimburse ment for elevating their homes, or may request that their homes be purchased so they can relocate. A meeting has been set for January 21 to hand out applica tions and get the process start ed. Though most homeowners started the work prior to Nov. 1, 1996, the City of Vernonia has been told that elevation work that was not completed by that date will be eligible for 75-per- cent reimbursement. Home- owners must pay the additional 25-percent. The value of properties to be acquired by the city and re moved from the floodway or flood plain, will be based on a z. • . * * * •% - t . • \ retrospective appraisal to es tablish the value immediately prior to the flood. Additionally, FEMA recog nizes that, in order to complete the hazard mitigation program, including all homes subject to reoccurrence of flooding, Ver nonia is in need of far more funds than the $375,000 re ceived initially (The City’s ap proved plan requires more than $900,000.). In order to meet the need, there will be subse quent rounds of funding, with a maximum disbursement of $375,000 per request. Also, some of the criteria used in the initial determination of eligible properties cannot be used. Family income level and a change of ownership after the flood may not be considered, so some changes must be made. Information packets will be available from City Hall starting Jan. 12, but it is necessary for all applicants to attend the pub lic meeting on the 21st. It will ’ »’.»l ‘/y *»«'.- • • !»'* K”' . ù*. • . . * <‘*^* * ♦ P* y *• be held in the Vernonia Fire Station meeting room at 7:00 p.m. This meeting does not apply to rural residents, only to those within the City of Vernonia. Columbia County has initiat ed a hazard mitigation study and meetings will be held in Mist, Jan. 20, and for rural Ver- nonians on Jan. 29 in Vernonia. Watch for time and location. The Vernonia City Council heard Monday night that two grants have been approved by the Northwest Oregon Eco nomic Alliance, a four-county consortium that handles eco nomic development and Re gional Strategies funding that comes through the Oregon Department of Economic Development. A grant of $70,000 was approved to open Bear Creek under the property on Weed Avenue that has been desig nated for a new city hall. Bear Creek currently runs through a culvert from the west side of Rose Avenue to the east side of Weed Avenue. The plan includes habitat and riparian zone restoration, plus public restrooms that can be accessed without going inside the new city hall. A grant of $40,000 was received for “Streetscape” improvements. This includes lighting, seasonal banners, trash cans and benches for the downtown commercial core. At the request of City Administrator Gordon Zimmer man, the council approved the expenditure of $7,800 for a file server, three computers that can be networked and an unin terruptible power supply. Before approving upgraded People invited to discuss criteria wanted for elementary principal A public meeting has been scheduled by Vernonia School District 47J to gather input re garding selection criteria for a new grade school principal. The meeting will be January 22, 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the school district board room. Community members are in vited to attend the meeting and help develop criteria to guide the district through the selec tion process. 5 Based on the criteria devel oped in this meeting, the dis trict plans to recruit candidates during the month of February, conduct screening and inter view finalists in March, and recommend an individual to the Board of Directors in April. The selected candidate will begin work in July, 1998. Longtime principal Randy Aultman is retiring at the end of the 1997-98 school year. V- software, the council asked for additional information about costs. A contract with MeterRead- ers was also approved, which will result in monthly reading of water meters once all details have been worked out. A MeterReaders employee will read the meters and enter the data on a handheld device. The data can then be trans ferred to a computer with billing software. The cost will be approxi mately 80-cents per meter, according to Zimmerman, for the 960 meters in Vernonia. Two factors triggered the change: One is a need to uti lize the three public works employees on more urgent jobs; the second is to change to a more efficient meter read ing and billing system. Bill and Mary Cota request ed Council permission to oper ate a concession stand at Ver nonia Lake. After lengthy dis cussion on how the request should be handled, the council instructed Zimmerman to obtain additional information and report back at a later date. At the request of The INDE PENDENT, the council ar.d city administrator explained an action taken late in 1997 to contract for further study on a location for city offices, even though a site has already been selected. The new study will look at empty buildings in the down town area to determine if they may be useable for municipal purposes. Among the buildings to be examined are the old the ater and Vernonia Sentry, both of which were flooded in the February 1996 flood. When asked why they were even being considered, the response was that the study could also eliminate them from consideration. JCf- •» v. • .-V «z-.fl «F .t-V \2L I '■ . . . » t • — F' » . »
