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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2000)
Community Holiday festivities are getting underway Tree Lighting Friday night ia Realty and City Hall. Santa Claus arrives Saturday afternoon Come one, come all to the annual Vernonia Christmas Tree lighting on Friday, Decem ber 8, at City Hall. The high school choir will be performing, starting at 6:45 p.m., and they are an awesome group. The library will be open and serving refreshments from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The Community Christmas Tree is located on Bridge Street between Vernon Santa Claus will make his annual visit to Vernonia on Sat urday, December 9, at the Bridge Street Mall. Santa will arrive at 2:30 p.m. and he will be accompanied by Mrs. Claus. They will also have bags of goodies for all the kid dies under twelve. Downtown Open House Saturday Following Santa’s visit, downtown Vernonia merchants will host their annual Open House from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. In addition to many Open House Specials, there will be refreshments at many loca tions. Something Special The long awaited Grey Dawn Gallery will open Friday from 10 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be a very spe cial fund raiser on Saturday for Vernonia Cares-check it out! The annual sale of ceramics by Jeff Patterson will also be on Saturday, only at the Scout Cabin instead of downtown. This is also something very special! See pages 12-13 for more on the Downtown Open House. Join in the fun! •» “ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” ' A ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication will be held December 14 to celebrate completion of the Banks-Ver nonia State Linear Trail exten sion from Anderson Park to Lake Vernonia. The City of Vernonia has extended invita tions to everyone involved in the project, for the 1:00 p.m. ceremony. The public is also invited. The ribbon cutting will be at the east end of the trail extension, where it meets the lake. The City Council, at their Nov. 20 meeting, also decided to hold only one meeting in December. Instead of meeting on the fourth and the 18th, they will meet Dec. 11 at 6:30. At 7:00 p.m. they will recess the council meeting and re convene for a Public Hearing to consider a request for an nexation by developer Chris Liu. Liu wants to annex 30-plus acres of property within the Urban Growth Boundary adja cent to Mellinger Road. The Vernonia Planning Commis sion has held one hearing, as has the City Council. The Dec. 11 hearing is simply an exten sion of the earlier hearing. The council is seeking ap plications to fill a council va cancy in January, when Coun cilor Mario Leonetti assumes This adult bald eagle has been a visitor at Vernonia Lake for a few days recently...one more satisfied tourist. Do you suppose our national symbol is hiding out here until the election is over? Special Council meeting for Measure 7 landowners if action, such as zoning, by the government low ers the property’s value. The City adopted an emer gency ordinance that defines and implements procedures for applications for compensation under Measure 7. PCC plans, testing & classes.... pg. 10 Food Stamp regs. changed..... pg. 11 Remembering..Pg 16 FREE December 6, 2000 Dedication set for linear trail extension A winter visitor Vernonia City Council held a special meeting December 4 to deal with the requirements of Ballot Measure, the so-called Takings Law. Measure 7 amended the Oregon Constitu tion to require state and local governments to compensate VHS Renaissance Assembly..... pg. 9 BULK RATE U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 37 Vernonia, OR 97064 Attn: Leslie Larson -O M P Voi. 15, No 23 Christmas cooking with Gladys., pg. 7 The language of Measure 7 is not well defined, making it difficult for any local govern ment to know exactly how it ap plies. The League of Oregon Cities recommended quick preparations partly because of the ambiguous language. the position of mayor. Anyone interested in serving in the volunteer position is invited to pick up an application at City Hall. The council has indicat ed they will follow the same procedure as with previous vacancies, and hold public in terviews of all applicants. The interviews will probably be held on January 2, 2001, though that date wasn’t firmly set. The Council received a very positive audit report for the last year’s operations. The independent auditor noted no instances of non-compliance, no reportable conditions and no material weaknesses. Be cause of its responsible fiscal management, the City qualifys as low-risk. Oregon Department of Transportation informed the City that a project to improve Madison Avenue, between Bridge and Cougar Streets, has been approved for a $25,000 Special Cities Allot ment. The work will be done during the summer of 2001. In order to find out how well the City is meeting the needs of its residents, The council previously approved a Citizen Survey. The survey will be mailed to all residences in the near future, possibly next week. Vernonia Cares deadline to apply for Christmas Basket December 14 is the cut-off date for area families to apply for a Christmas Basket from Vernonia Cares. To find out whether you qualify, call Ver nonia Cares at 429-1414 on Tuesday or Thusday between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Anyone who wants to nomi- nate a family for a basket should call to find out what pro cedure is needed. The reqson for the early cut off, Lisa Edgar explained, is the need to know how much must be purchased in order to make the baskets complete. Edgar is the director of Vernon ia Cares.
