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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1999)
Free dump day scheduled for Vernonia residents Another opportunity for Ver nonia area residents to get rid of unwanted items and debris around their homes is being Mark your calendar Sor FREE Dump Day Sept. 11 presented by Waste Manage ment, the City of Vernonia and Vernonia Pride, with a free dump day on September 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This free dump day is for Vernonia residents only, and anyone with a Vernonia ad dress on their driver’s license is welcome. This restriction was made necessary because of the tons of debris brought to Vernonia’s last free dump day by people from as far away as Clatskanie and Forest Grove. Licenses will be checked. To help the activity run smoothly, there will be sepa rate drop boxes between Ver nonia High School and Wash ington Grade School for scrap metal and appliances contain ing NO freon. The city will pro vide a site for burnable yard debris. The site hasn’t been determined yet, but watch for signs to indicate where yard debris should be deposited. All other items will go to the Waste Management Transfer Station off California Avenue behind Washington Grade School. INSIDE: There will be directional signs and volunteers pointing out the different sites. The following items will NOT be accepted during this free dump day: Tires, hazardous waste, appliances containing freon, or household garbage. Waste Management has of fered free dumping, but a cash donation is suggested to help the community projects of Ver nonia Cares Food Bank and Vernonia Pride. For more information, call 429-1204 or 429-5201. Fire Season regu lations........pg. 5 Senior news... pg. 6 St. Mary’s Church Quilt Fair.....pg. 7 Racing news., pg. 8 Banks Tractor Pull results..........pg. 9 BULK RATE U S Postage Paid Permit No. 37 Vernonia, OR 97064 A day to celebrate in Mist-Birkenteld area Going up... As children start back to school, a long-awaited, covered play structure is taking shape at Washington Grade School. When the project is completed, there will be a place for outdoor activities even during inclement weather. PGE injunction request denied By Noni Andersen Since the announcement last June that Portland General Electric (PGE) had agreed to sell most of its distribution area in Columbia County to West Oregon Electric Cooperative, supporters of the Columbia River Public Utility District (CR- PUD) have been working to stop the transaction, with the goal of annexing to CRPUD. As part of that process, peti tions were presented to allow residents of the affected areas - Scappoose, St. Helens, Co lumbia City and Rainier - to vote on whether they want to be annexed by CRPUD. In Rainier, the question of annex ation to the Clatskanie PUD (CPUD) will also be consid ered. Although a boundary hear ing, which is a legal require ment for questions of boundary changes, could not be set until Sept. 8, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners ap proved a September 21 elec tion. The date of the election means that the county Elec tions Department must mail the ballots before the boundary hearing is held. A concern raised by PGE to the Board of Commissioners is the possibili ty that ineligible voters may re ceive ballots or that eligible voters may not receive them. Based on the requirements for a boundary hearing, and also to gain time to present more information on the com plex proposal, PGE sought an injunction to stop the Septem ber election. Visiting Senior Circuit Court Judge Gregory Milnes pre sided over the hearing and, af ter a day-and-a-half of presen tations by attornies for PGE, CRPUD, CPUD and the coun ty, issued a ruling late yester day denying the injunction. Be cause of the lengthy hearing, reasons for the ruling were un available in time for today’s pa per. There are additional legal in tricacies affecting the proposed sale. Oregon law prohibits PUDs from interfering with the operations of an electric coop erative. It is the position of PUD supporters that, if the an nexation vote is favorable, that the non-interference statute wouldn’t apply because the Oregon Public Utilities Com mission will not hear PGE’s ap plication for approval of the sale until Nov. 22. Others question that inter pretation because WOEC has already entered into a contract with PGE, although the con tract is contingent on approval of both the PUC and the West Oregon membership. The Mist-Birkenfeld commu nity is going all-out, Sept. 25, to celebrate the opening of the new fire station that will serve as headquarters and nerve center for the Mist-Birkenfeld Rural Fire Protection District. To start the day off on a fes tive note, a parade with the theme “Past, Present & Future” will be held at 10:30 a.m. Norm Mueller and Art Laubach were selected as parade co-grand marshals because of their long and dedicated service to the community. Mueller was responsible for reviving the long dormant Mist- Birkenfeld Fire Department, which the board of directors of ficially reactivated in July of 1979. Mueller served as fire chief and, later, as a district di rector and on the 9-1-1 Board of Directors. His dedication to the community helped lay the groundwork for the Banzer Road Station. Laubach was chairman of the board of directors for sever al years. When natural gas was discovered in the area, he proposed House Bill 2069, which ensured that the Mist- Birkenfeld Fire District would get a share of the royalties from gas produced in the dis trict. This financial support made it possible for the district to acquire engine, ambulance and rescue vehicles in 1983, and has been an important ele ment in maintaining fiscal sta bility for the district. The Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD parade will start at the ODOT sand lot located on Highway 47, at milepost 11.2, and will continue through Mist to High way 202, turn around and dis band back at the sand lot. Service groups and individu als are invited to participate in the parade. There will be divi sions for adults, children, com mercial floats, court entries, civic groups, heavy equipment, horses (must bring clean-up crews), other animals, march ing units, cars - stock/pre 1950s and stock/post 1950s, non-commercial floats, motor ized, humorous child, and hu morous adult. Parade chairman Tim Rom- bach can be reached at (503) 755-2223. Open House at the new Mist Birkenfeld Rural Fire Protec tion District Main Fire Station will be from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The station is located at 12525 Highway 202. Lifelight will arrive at 2:30 (provided there are no emer gencies) and will bring Life Flight Membership information. The official ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Open House will in clude refreshments, balloons, and door prizes, plus drawings for 1999-2000 Fire Med Mem berships. Fire/Med/Life Flight Membership information, re newals and sign ups will be available. Also at the main station, Northwest Natural Gas will have a display celebrating their 20 years of activity in the area. Additionally, the day’s festiv ities will feature a celebration of the birthday of former Mist Store owner, Al Cavanaugh, from 12:00-2:00 p.m., at the store. Cavanaugh’s old friends and acquaintances are invited to bring their favorite stories, pictures and memories to be placed in the Mist Store memo ry book. As a bonus during this special event, owner Connie Fitch will roll back prices to to what they were in the 1950s, so folks can really enjoy the great Mist Store hamburgers and milkshakes. r k V * ' * « »
