The INDEPENDENT, January 3, 2001
Page 3
2000 was great for Vernonia and 2001 will bring more success
By Robyn Bassett, Director
Vernonia Public Works
The year 2000 was over in
the blink of an eye. The com
munity was very busy with the
completion of several improve
ment projects throughout the
city, plus the planning of pro
jects for 2001.
Projects completed in 2000
and projects proposed for 2001
have developed with the efforts
of volunteers serving on com
mittees such as Parks, Trans
portation, City Council Plan
ning Commission, Vernonia
Pride and Chamber of Com
merce. State, County, local
government and the communi
ty working together toward the
betterment of Vernonia has
been our greatest success.
Thank you all for the grandest
year ever and for the future
2001 projects.
Outlined here, are the pro
jects completed in 2000 and
the projects coming up for the
year 2001 :
Water System
Corey Hill Reservoir, located
at the top of Bridge Street adja
cent to Vernonia Memorial
Cemetery, has leaked approxi
mately 3,000,000 gallons of
treated water per year for many
years. In 1999, during the Wa
ter Distribution Rehab project,
we found that repairs needed
at the reservoir were far more
extensive than had been
planned, approx. $30,000. The
150,000 gallon reservoir re
quired a complete relining of
the in-ground interior concrete
walls. Funds were appropriat-
Banks Library column unavailable
Due to unforeseen circum
stances, there will be no report
from the Banks Public Library
this month. Everything should
be back on schedule next
month, with the Banks Library
column scheduled for February
7. For information about the li
brary and/or its activities, call
the number below.
Banks Public Library: 111
Market Street.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs.,
11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Fri. and
Sat. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Preschool Story Time,
Weds., 10:15 a.m.
Phone: (503) 324-1382
Internet: www.WILInet.wc-
cls.lib.or.us.
ed in the 2000-01 fiscal year
budget and the lining project
wassuccessfully vcompleted in
August 2000.
Stoney Point Reservoir re
ceived a thorough cleaning in
side, where debris had accu
mulated during past years of
operation from the old water
lines and the old treatment fa
cility. To prevent having to take
the reservoir off line and creat
ing a desperate shortage in the
water supply, divers were
called in to clean and inspect
the 1.2 million-gallon reservoir.
Wastewater
Discharge limitations placed
on the Nehalem River through
the Endangered Fish Species
Act created funding opportuni
ties for the city. As with any op
portunity for grant funds
through the state, the more you
are in non-compliance, the bet
ter your chance of getting
funds. Through the funding
process within Columbia Coun
ty, the city received first priori
ty in the Infrastructure category
for engineering design of the
Wastewater Treatment Facili
ties. The engineered design
will provide several phases of
improvements for the commu
nity in the next 20 years and
Special District Election is March 13th
From page 1
Position 4, held by Ulrich
Schockelt.
Position 1 is a two-year
term; the other two are four-
year terms.
Following are the openings
and filings, through January 2,
for area fire districts
Vernonia Rural Fire
Protection District
Position 1 is currently held
by Don Webb, who has filed for
re-election.
Position 5, held at this time
by Lyle Barker, who has not yet
filed nomination papers. For
mer district fire chief Steve
Weller has filed for Position 5.
Both are four-year terms.
Mist-Birkenfeld Rural
Fire Protection District
Position 3, currently held by
Paul Ramsey. No filing.
Position 4, held by Randy
Hansen. No filing.
Position 5, incumbent Ray
Kyser has filed for re-election.
All are four-year terms.
Tri-City Rural
Fire District
Position 1, held by Joe
Evers . Edward Evey has filed
for Position 1.
Position 3, incumbent Du
ane Spiering. No filing.
Position 4, presently held by
the age structure will slowly increase as the
herd grows. This increase comes as fawns,
which offset the number of deer surviving to
ages above the mean age of the herd. During
the moratorium, our deer herd grew by only one
percent per year.
If a herd suddenly develops a rapid increase
in age structure, this is an indicator that some
thing has gone wrong. This is what happened in
our area. The average age structure increased
by nine percent in 1999 harvest data. In order for
such a change to take place, a decline in
younger animals of about 70 percent would be
required. In fact, a 35 percent decrease in both
the fawn and yearling age-classes of the early
nineties herd-harvest-data brings us to our pre
sent age structure. The percentage of harvest
data for 1999 suggests that the fawn harvest
was down 50 percent and the yearling harvest
was off 20 percent from previous data sets.
While hunters this year harvested some very
nice bucks, there was one component missing.
Izaak Walton League Nehalem Valley
Chapter meetings are on the third Thursday
of each month at 7:00 p.m. The public is
welcome.
For meeting location, call (503) 429-7193.
Mark Schmidlin. No filing.
Positions 1 and 3 are four-
year terms; Position 4 is a two-
year term.
Elsie-Vinemaple Rural
Fire District
Three positions will be de
cided in the March election.
Position 2 is presently held
by Bill Stevens.
Position 3, held by Walter
James.
Position 5 is held by Jim
Morris.
All are for four-year terms.
The last day to register to
vote in the Special District
Election will be February 20,
2001.
Forked horn bucks were far fewer. The implica
tion is that the older bucks are a legacy from the
moratorium herd build-up and the lack of forked
horns in the harvest is a result of fewer offspring
from having fewer does and poor survival due to
weather and disease. This older buck harvest
will last only a couple more years, at best, and
then things will look very bleak.
The one bright note so far this year is that
there have not been any reports of the dreaded
hair-loss syndrome. It is a bit early in the year,
and the weather has been dry, but we have a lot
of winter ahead of us. At this point, we find the
deer herd down and ODF&W once again pound
ing the does for a Buck ($)!
The most discouraging aspect to me, though,
is the people who are partaking in these hunts. I
have half a notion to list your names so that your
peers know who you are. It is bad enough hav
ing to battle the professionals, without having to
battle the people for whom we are trying to cre
ate bettqrjiunting. We need to learn from histo
ry...and not wait for a crisis...before we sudden
ly realize a resource may be gone.
On a brighter note, Coho salmon were seen
spawning in Pebble creek in good numbers in
late December. Maybe we are turning a corner
on this particular crisis.
beyond.
The city has been moving
forward with a Wastewater Fa
cility Plan that was completed
December 29. Parties involved
in developing the plan were
Dale Webb, president of the
Izaak Walton League Nehalem
Valley Chapter, Maggie Pey
ton, coordinator of the Upper
and Lower Nehalem River Wa
tershed Councils, and Alan
Bogner of the Depart of Envi
ronmental Quality Partnerships
Team. The plan addresses the
needs and issues of the waste-
water facilities. The issues are
storage for the months of May
through October and odor con
trol. Projected improvements
for 2001 are aeration systems
withing the lagoon system for
odor control, and planting and
irrigation of poplar trees within
the city property surrounding
the lagoon area. A Public Hear
ing is scheduled for review and
comment January 16 at 6:30 in
City Hall.
Streets
A $25,000 Special Cities Al
lotment grant obtained through
ODOT enabled the city to com
plete, in July 2000, much need
ed pavement and pedestrian
improvents to Weed Ave. The
City has also received notifica
tion of another $25,000 grant
for the paving of Madison Ave.
from Bridge to Cougar. Com
pletion is projected for June
2001.
Also in July 2000, the city
obtained $450,000 in funding
for much-needed improve
ments to the residential street
system throughout the commu
nity. The Transportation Com
mittee has completed prelimi
nary design of the 2001 Resur
facing Project throughout the
community’s
residential
streets. The limited funding
available created a 5-year re
habilitation process. Final de
sign will be available for public
review and comment in Febru
ary 2000. Resurfacing will be
gin in June 2001.
Parks
For several years, limited
funding prohibited completion
of the Linear Trail extension
project from Anderson Park to
Vernonia. The determination
and perseverance of the Parks
Committee, ODOT, Oregon
Parks and Recreation Depart
ment, Columbia County and
community members brought
the project to successful com
pletion in October 2000.
Through these partnerships,
the city obtained $25,000 from
ODOT, $70,000 from OPRD
and $35,000 from Columbia
County.
In March 2000, the city re
ceived $3500 in State tourism
dollars and matched that
amount to fund the entrance
sign on the south end of town,
plus informational kiosks to be
located at Vernonia Lake and
Shay Memorial Park. Comple
tion of the entrance sign would
not have been accomplished
without the determination of
Donna Gehrke of Vernonia
Pride, who got volunteer labor
to excavate and grade the site
from Bill Sword, sign design
from Michael Snow, and elec
trical installation by Todd Sulli
van. The kiosks will hold infor
mation on history and busi-
nesses/services in the Ne
halem Valley. They are being
constructed by Hardwood Orig
inals in Vernonia and are
scheduled for completion in
February.
Improvements
to Shay
Memorial Park have been put
on hold due to funding limita
tions. Planned improvements
include placement of a new
fence and shelter around the
locomotive, landscaping and
seating areas. The city is pur
suing funding to complete the
project in FY2001-02.
In May 2000, the city was
awarded $38,000 for two ADA
accessible, floating fishing
docks. The project cannot be
completed until adequate rain
fall fills the lake. Completion is
Please see page 14
Letters to the Editor
Columnist’s numbers
really don’t add up
To the Editor:
Voters, don’t be confused by
the figures publicized by
columnist David Reinhard in
the Sunday Oregonian (Dec.
31, 2000). Citing a forthcom
ing study from Oregon Tax Re
search (OTR) Mr. Reinhard
says that Oregon schools
spent $7933 per student in the
1999-2000 school year.
The 47J School Board and
Budget Committee would be
thrilled to have that much mon
ey to spend on our students.
In fact, however, we will re
ceive approximately $4865 per
student this year (2000-2001),
a slight increase from last year
which is offset by a drop in en
rollment. Since the study cited
by Mr. Reinhard is unavailable,
it is impossible to examine how
the extravagant numbers he
uses were determined.
The more than three-thou
sand dollars difference per stu
dent - between what OTR re
portedly says we receive and
what we actually receive -
would go a LONG way to re
lieve our overcrowded class
rooms, provide needed pro
grams and improve education
in our district.
Schann W. Nelson
Board Member 47J
Vernonia
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