Citizens, news groups oppose new DEQ rules
The Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ)
is proposing new rules which
would substantially restrict
public access to public records
dealing with agency decision
making and make agency con
tested case proceedings secret
at the option of DEQ or parties
they are dealing with, accord
ing to testimony of representa
tives of public interest groups
and the Oregon Newspaper
Publishers Association.
Testifying at a DEQ hearing
on May 22, the opponents said
major changes in the rules
could have the following im
pact:
- Requests to see or copy
public records would have to
go to the individual DEQ staffer
with the records. If that person
is unavailable, even for vaca
tion or medical leave, DEQ
could refuse access until the
staffer returns.
- The rule changes would
permit the agency to delay
public
access
indefinitely
based on “staff availability" or
other factors.
- Any request that results in
more than 15 minutes of staff
time may be billed to the re
questing party at $30 per hour,
or $40 per hour if the document
is available only on disk. These
charges do not include the ad
ditional 25c per page for copy
ing, nor the cost of the comput
er disk. If the agency is unable
to locate the document, the re
quester could be billed for the
time required to find it.
- If DEQ thinks the docu
ment or file may include mater
ial that DEQ isn’t required to
provide under the Public
Records Act, it may send the
document or file to the Attorney
General’s office and bill the re
quester for the time the AG
takes to review it at $90 per
hour. This would be in addition
to charges for staff time and
copying at DEQ.
- The proposed rules pro
vide that “any participant” can
Please see page 3
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley’
Voi. 15, No 11
The Oregon Parks & Recreation Commission took a quick look at the proposed ex
tension of the Banks-Vernonia Linear Park, from Anderson Park to Vernonia Lake, dur
ing an unscheduled detour while visiting Columbia County. Visitors included Commis
sion Chair Betsy McCool, Commissioners Sara Vickerman and June Spence, Mike Car
rier, the new state director of parks, plus Acting Director Laurie Warner. Additional
parks department staff on the tour were park operations manager Tim Wood, Area 1
manager Jack Wiles, and business services manager Dave Wright.
Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde arranged the unscheduled visit. Includ
ed in the tour were Washington County Facilities Manager Larry Eisenberger, Susie Jor
dan and Judie James, both of the state Legislative Fiscal Office, and Harold Beisle from
the Oregon office of the federal Bureau of Land Management.
Change may extend commercial zone
Gwin and Sons Logging was
awarded the contract to thin
trees at Ora Bolmeier Park and
Airport Park. The city plans to
remove Douglas fir in Ora
Bolmeier Park and replant with
other species that are better
suited to park use. Sequoia
trees and other species are un
der consideration.
The white fir trees in Airport
Park are all dying, public works
director Robyn Bassett report
ed, a result of the 1996 flood.
They have no timber value and
must be removed before they
Smokin’
Chicken.... pg. 7
VHS Principal’s
awards..... pg. 8
Free swim
lessons... pg. 11
FREE
June 7, 2000
Tight school budget
will force changes
A stroll in the park?
The Vernonia City Council
has scheduled a public hearing
to consider a zone change on
the north side of Bridge Street
from Washington Avenue to,
and including, Vernonia Auto
Parts. The area is currently
zoned general residential and
is proposed for commercial
zoning.
Property owners have indi
cated approval of the change
but want more information on
potential tax impacts. The
hearing is set for July 24 at
6:00 p.m.
New owner at
NAPA....... pg. 4
BULK RATE
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 37
Vernonia, OR 97064
u n ix
Larson
u o Library-OMP
’ 299 University Of Oregon
Eugene, or
1
INSIDE:
become hazards, Bassett ex
plained. The city anticipates no
profit from the thinning project
and expects it to bring in only
enough to pay the contractor.
City Administrator Mike
Sykes informed the council that
he and representatives of Co
lumbia County Public Health
and Columbia Community
Mental Health been discussing
possible use of space in the old
city hall in order to provide
more services in Vernonia. The
council directed him to contin
ue discussions.
Vernonia Schools District
has managed to ride out the fi
nancial crunch created by tax
cutting ballot measures and a
stingy legislature— until now.
Available funds for the fiscal
year 2000-2001 will not stretch
to meet all of the needs, even
with fewer staff members, both
certified and classified.
A shortage of funds creates
the following problems at the
high school level:
- The district must follow a
state mandate and buy new
language arts textbooks for
grades 9-12 this year. The
$7,650 allocated will purchase
enough of the new textbooks
for each incoming freshman,
but not for ail students in
grades 10-12. Students in
those grades will be able to use
the textbooks only in the class
room; they will not be able to
take the books home because
there won’t be enough books.
- The district music pro
gram, which has grown rapidly
in recent years, in both num
bers and quality, will increase
by at least 50 percent at the
high school level. The pro
posed budget has an increase
of $2,512, from $21,355 to
$23,867. The district hasn’t
purchased instruments for
eight years so most students
must rent or buy their own.
- The science program will
be reduced by nearly $7,000.
- Drama is effectively elimi
nated, with $2,032 proposed to
produce one play.
- Social Studies will be re
duced by $20,000, but that fig
ure is somewhat misleading
because $10,000 went to text
books this year. Nevertheless
the actual reduction is approxi
mately $10,000.
In other 9-12 programs,
there will be some major reduc
tions as the result of personnel
changes, but overall, the pic
ture is grim.
One area that hasn’t been
cut, is extracurricular sports,
with a proposed increase of
$6,770, most of which will go
for new girls’ basketball uni
forms. The current budget is for
$116,343.
But the budget crunch may
affect student participation in
extracurricular sports if the dis
trict’s board of directors ap
proves a “pay-for-play” propos
al that will be discussed at to
morrow night’s board meeting.
The proposed budget in
cludes revenues of approxi
mately $16,000 from student
fees and athletic event gate re
ceipts. If this is approved, it
would be the first time Vernon
ia students have been required
to pay a fee for participation in
sports.
One undetermined element
of the proposed budget is com
pensation for district personnel.
The district is currently negoti
ating with unions representing
both certified and classified
personnel.
Burge, Corsiglia win nominations
The race for Columbia
County Commissioner, Posi
tion 1, stayed close throughout
the count, but the preliminary
figures held steady.
Winning the Republican
nomination was Scott Burge of
Scappoose, with 1,711 votes,
just 43 more than his oppo-
nent, Colleen DeShazer of
Warren.
Joe Corsiglia, of St. Helens,
held onto his lead on the De
mocratic ballot, finishing with
1,747 votes. Mike Avent, of
Rainier, had 1,685, and Warren
resident Carole Smith was
close behind with 1,645 votes.