Vernonia Fire District seeks voter approval for bond
Voters in the Vernonia Rural
Fire Protection District will be
asked to approve a bond issue
of $320,000 on the March 10
mail ballot.
If the measure is approved,
the property tax rate in the dis
trict would increase by 33-
cents for each $1,000 of value,
for a total tax rate of $1.16 per
thousand. This would amount
to slightly less than $100 per
year for a property valued at
$85,000. The Vernonia Fire
Voi. 13, No. 2
District presently has the low
est rate in Columbia County.
For a comparison, the tax rate
in the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Pro
tection District is 98-cents per
thousand; in St. Helens it is
$3.16 per thousand.
The VRFPD board of direc
tors reluctantly agreed to seek
the bond issue because of
safety issues and aging equip
ment. The district’s newest
truck is a 1980 model. A new
fire engine will cost $240,000.
The remainder of the bond
amount would be used to pur
chase a new chassis for the
district’s rescue vehicle, to con
vert an older vehicle into a wa
ter tender, and to pay bond is
suance costs.
The reason for a new chas
sis is that much more equip
ment is carried in a rescue ve
hicle today, so it weighs more
and requires much more space
than previously. This creates
potential transportation prob
INSIDE:
lems in getting equipment to
the scene of an emergency
and, when response time is ur
gent, it may slow down putting
the equipment into operation.
An additional concern stated
by the board is the need to get
firefighters off the old, tradition
al tailboard. Because of safety
problems, it is now illegal to
purchase a fire engine that re
quires firefighters to ride out
side. New engines are built
with crew cabs.
“ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Jamboree planning
starts.......See pg. 5
Journalize with
art............. See pg. 7
Band members
perform.. See pg. 10
Marijuana found in
search.... See pg. 16
January 21,1998
Emergency planning
worked during storm
By Noni Andersen
County hazard plan underway
Columbia County is holding
meetings throughout the Coun
ty to allow citizen participation
in its Hazard Mitigation Plan
ning project. County citizens
are encouraged to attend one
of this series of public meetings
to share their ideas regarding
projects that may eliminate or
reduce the impacts of future
disasters on their communities.
It is the County’s hope that
local citizens, knowledgeable
of their community and its past
disasters, will provide the
needed information. Local gov-
ernments and emergency re
sponse officials have been in
vited to these meetings to
share their knowledge and
ideas.
While the focus of the coun
ty’s plan will be on those areas
outside the cities, all informa
tion received will be used. Spe
cific information regarding haz
ards within cities will be passed
on to the cities for their hazard
mitigation planning efforts.
Meetings have already been
held in Mist and Rainier. Fol
lowing for additional meetings.
C o u n ty s u rv e y o r fin ed by state
Columbia County Surveyor
Phil Dewey will pay $3,000 in a
negotiated settlement with the
Oregon Government Stan
dards and Practices Commis
sion (GSPC) over his failure to
submit fees to the county, as
required by ordinance, then
submit a bill for the fees to the
county treasurer.
Dewey has maintained that
he did no harm in bypassing
the procedural requirement
and the county has said that
his accounting for the unsub
mitted funds was adequate.
The GSPC found Dewey in
violation on nine counts of us
ing an official position for finan
cial gain. Payment of the fine
will settle the case.
St. Helens: Thursday, Jan.
22, 7:30 p.m., St. Helens High
School Commons.
Scappoose: Tuesday, Jan.
27, 7:30 p.m., Scappoose High
School Cafeteria.
Vernonia: Thursday, Jan. 29,
7:30 p.m., Vernonia Fire Dis
trict Fire Station.
Clatskanie: Thursday, Feb.
5, 7:30 p.m., Clatskanie City
Council Chambers.
City meeting for
flood damages
Owners of houses in Ver
nonia that were “substantially
damaged” in the flood plain or
floodway during the 1996
floods need to attend a meeting
tonight at the Vernonia Fire
Station to get applications for
reimbursement of costs associ
ated with elevating their
homes.
Those property owners who
are seeking to relocate also
need to attend the meeting.
The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.
Last week’s winter storm
brought enough snow to
delight the children and close
school for a day. It also created
potentially hazardous travel
conditions.
Locally, most people weren’t
concerned about the weather
until several days of heavy rain
were forecast. Because of the
snow and ice in the hills, that
forecast created anxiety in
many people who were flooded
out of their homes in February
or April of 1996, when condi
tions were somewhat similar.
This time, however, Vernon
ia wasn’t going to be caught by
surprise. The snow started on
Saturday evening, Jan. 10, and
continued through Sunday and
most of Monday and, while it
was still snowing, weather
forecasters were predicting
heavy rains. Everyone in
volved in Vernonia’s emer
gency plan was called to a
meeting at the Fire Station
because of possible flooding.
At 6:00 p.m. Monday, Jan.
12, sixteen people arrived,
ready to review the plan devel
oped during and after the 1996
emergency...and ready to initi
ate any part of it deemed nec
essary. Firefighters had al
ready placed river gauges in
the Nehalem and Rock Creek
and were monitoring the
water’s rise. Among the con
siderations were evacuation
routes and evacuation centers,
communications, supplies, and
potential problems such as
locked gates on logging roads.
Before the meeting ended,
everybody understood their
areas of responsibility and
everybody at the meeting left
with tasks to follow up on.
A second meeting was held
Wednesday evening, Jan. 14,
with many more people. By this
time all of the people who
needed to be involved in case
of an actual emergency had
been contacted. The initial
contacts had been made for
evacuation centers, the Red
Cross was ready, emergency
services (police, fire, medical)
were ready, sand bags and
sand were available, evacua
tion routes had been checked
and a ham radio station had
been set up.
At this time, it appeared
there would be little, if any,
flooding. Nevertheless, the
group continued working on
perceived weaknesses in the
plan and made a few additions
or changes.
A third meeting was held, on
Friday, for a final review. Peo
ple in Vernonia and the sur
rounding area should be
assured that a workable emer
gency plan is in place and will
be updated as needed.
Red Cross offers
disaster training
Beginning and advanced
training courses for Red Cross
disaster responders in Colum
bia County will be held Satur
day, March 7, from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. (beginning) and Satur
day, March 14 from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. (advanced) at the Ver
nonia Fire Department.
Participants in the course
will learn the procedures
involved in assisting displaced
residents, regardless of the
cause.
People interested in attend
ing the courses can call (503)
284-0011, ext. 273.
Claudia Johnson and Gayle
Shriver of Vernonia, Janis
Fletcher, Carolyn Grice, Terry
Grice and Ginnie Donner of
Rainier, and Bonnie Harris of
Columbia City have all com
pleted training, making them
able to assist their neighbors
in times of disaster.
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