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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2001)
The INDEPENDENT, April 18, 2001 Page 3 Letters to the Editor Voters should watch what county is doing created. As I see it, there are three problems with this plan. One, the county coffers lose revenues by waiving the fees; To the Editor: two, there’s no guarantee the Does anyone wonder why miners will fill the holes, even if only basic road repairs are be they do get the fee waiver; and ing done? Is anyone con three, why are the County cerned about the future condi Commissioners ignoring the tion of our roads and bridges? adopted Surface Mining Ordi Over the past couple of nance reclamation plan? years, aggregate mining deple Maybe our County Commis tion fee revenues (for the Road sioners are becoming addicted Department) have been drop by the big bucks presented by ping, while aggregate mining more mining companies com depletion fee revenues (for the ing into the county creating Land Development Services more mines - as the schools Department) have gone up. have become addicted to The County Commissioners Coca-Cola big bucks. are catering to the wishes of In 1996, the people ap the miners - to the detriment of proved a 2-year Road Levy for the county coffers. This is evi $500,000 annually to maintain denced by the levy measures our roads and bridges. Be presented to the public for ap cause of Measure 50, the levy proval in both 1996 (passed) became permanent. Some and 2000 (failed). thing is rotten in Denmark This May, the County Com somewhere? The Road De missioners are again present partment has never received ing a measure requesting your the full $500,000 annual rev approval to waive the reclama enue. It’s been $450,000 or be tion fee on fill material, which is low each year. Now, the Road currently required by the Sur Department has been informed face Mining Ordinance for the levy money could stop at reclamation plans in the hopes the whim of the County Com miners will fill the holes they’ve missioners and go directly to the General Fund. According to the levy AND STATE ORS, these funds are dedicated only to our County Roads, not the General Fund or anything else. If one wants to view the 1996 Road Levy, you may obtain a copy at the County Elections Office located in the Court house. Voters: Demand to know what your County Commmis- sioners are doing. Read pro posed levy measures and make sure the requirements of the levy passed are carried out. Thelma Bonar Warren Street work is good, but not in all ways To the Editor: In addition to the two ques tions in the recent citizen sur vey that I mentioned at the City Council meeting March 13, one other question bothered me. Paraphrased, it asked if we ap prove and/or appreciate the street work done in Vernonia. (Yes. Streets downtown look Betwoon the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library Library patrons— Beware! All accrued fines must be paid before further library materials may be checked out. These fines did not disappear, nor were they forgotten just because the materi als were returned, so do not be surprised, if, when preparing to check out further materials, you are told that your debt to the library must first be paid. Patrons have been enjoying the lovely Easter Lily on the circulation counter. This was a recent gift from Jo Ricker, whose husband, John, passed away this last year. John was an avid reader whose name can be found on many book cards, as he used the library with regularity. John was a member of the 41st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army Sunset Division, which was honored when U.S. Hwy. 26 was dedicated as The Sunset Highway. He was also an enthusi astic collector and restorer of gas-powered en gines, saws, etc. It was always an occasion for a pleasant conversation when John visited the li brary and having this lovely lily in the library re minds me daily of my friend, John, and the thoughtfulness of his wife, Jo. The library is lucky to have some very nice books recently donated by Diane Varner of Yamhill. Surprise, surprise—one of these enti tled, Peace at Heart, captures the ordinary joys and blessings of country life in_Oregon’s Yamhill Valley. Another, Gem Trails of Oregon, lists sites for rockhounding in Oregon. It gives travel de scriptions to sites, describes points of geological interest and includes maps of the surrounding areas. Another is Dungeness Crabs and Blue berry Cobblers. Along with recipes for foods in digenous to the area, author Janie Hibler has in terwoven fascinating pieces of lore, history, ge ography and personal reminiscences of some of the delights that the Pacific Northwest has to of fer. These and the other donations by Ms. Varn er are very welcome additions to the library. If you are looking for something just a little dif ferent from the “happily ever after” or the “per fect people” or the “predictable” in your next book, try reading Anita Shreve or Jodi Picoult. Shreve’s novels include The Pilot’s Wife, Strange Fits of Passion, Resistance, The Weight of Water, and Eden Close. In The Weight of Wa ter, the question, “If you take a woman and push her to the edge, how will she behave?" is posed. Two separate, but similar plots are combined in this novel to answer the question, but each read er might have a different opinion of just how, when pushed to the edge, she might react. Eden Close was Andrew’s next-door neighbor and best childhood friend. Seventeen years after the tragic night in which Mr. Close is killed and Eden is blinded, Andrew returns to his home town to attend his mother's funeral, and is drawn into the tragic legacy of Eden. As the truth of Eden’s past comes to light, the grisly truth of thwarted family love is revealed and Andrew’s attraction to Eden is reawakened. This novel also poses some intriguing questions of how each of us, as individuals, would react in similar situations. Jody Picoult’s novels include Plain Truth, Saving Grace and The Pact. I think you will find these equally enjoyable and thought provoking. New acquisitions include Lone Eagle by Danielle Steel, Murder One by William Bern hardt, A Common Life: The Wedding Story, by Jan Karon and Witness for the Defense by Jon- nie Jacobs. The newly initiated display area has been a remarkably successful project. Currently on dis play are items relating to mothers and Mother’s Day. These are items from the stacks pertaining to mothers and, yes, they certainly may be checked out. To date, 8,802 titles and 9,132 copies are ready to be searched and checked out electron ically; there are now 913 active library patrons. The Friends of the Library organization is ac tively recruiting members and ideas for fund raising projects. The next meeting will be Tues day, May 8th, at 1:00 p.m. in the library. Every one is welcome. Anyone interested in helping with any aspect of Summer Reading is especial ly encouraged to attend or to contact the library. Orissa will continue conducting story/craft sessions on Monday afternoons at 3:30 through the end of the school year. Plans for a question/answer computer class are taking shape. A sign-up sheet is on the counter in the library for anyone interested. Date and time will be arranged shortly. The library’s circulation continues to increase with this past March’s record-breaking 1,692 pieces of material circulated. The library continues to be a busy, exciting place. Come and check it out. Vernonia Library 701 Weed Avenue Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues., Thur. 2 p.m.-7 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Preschool Story Time, Mondays, 10:30 a.m. Phone: (503)429-1818 great.) I have a complaint against one contractor. A couple of years ago when paving in my area on Rose Avenue and they were putting in culverts, I ques tioned this gentleman as to whether there would still be good drainage in front of my home, for it didn’t appear so to me. I have underground drainage tile and ditches to drain my property into the ditch by the road. He assured me there would be good drainage. Several weeks later, I ap peared before the City Council to complain he was wrong, that water flowed into the ditch, but not out of it. Shortly after that, I discovered when this contrac tor installed the adjacent neigh bor’s culvert, the 4-inch pipe used by this neighbor for a cul vert was not removed. The contractor simply laid the cul vert on top of the pipe. This pipe can still be seen. Had this pipe been removed and had the area been scooped out pri or to putting in the new culvert, it certainly would have better drainage than what it has now. This is inferior work. I believe this contractor felt he had only to please the ad ministration of Vernonia. I felt, and feel, he “humored” me and then ignored the situation. Ver nonia is a family community and in Vernonia, every citizen is important. Dare I suggest another citi zen survey at some point in the future? With space for, and consideration thereafter, of added comments? Jetta Gomes Vernonia Thanks, regrets at leaving position To the Editor: It is with a mix of regret and anticipation that I write this let ter. I have accepted another position as Director of the Con nections Project for Astoria School District. I will begin this position, full time, in early May. This is a newly funded position charged with designing and im plementing a summer and after school program for all students in the Astoria School District. I have worked hard over the past 5 years to make Caring Options program services meet the needs of our commu nities. This time period has seen many important changes in the way Oregon regulates childcare and the need for childcare by working families. Caring Options has been effec tive in meeting these changing needs. I am proud of the sup ports currently available to providers and the quality refer ral process now in place through our toll free access number. Over the past three months, we have expanded awareness by businesses and community partners through in creased Rotary and Chamber of Commerce presentations. These services are helping us to raise awareness in our communities about the critical need for qualitly, affordable and accessible childcare. Commu nity Action Team, the lead agency for Caring Options pro gram, is committed to main taining program integrity through this transition. Please see page 13 Salem Soene By Rep. Elaine M. Hopson Second District On Thursday, April 5, the House considered House Joint Memorial (HJM) 13. HJM 13 summary statement says: “Urges President of United States, Senate and House of Representatives of U.S. and Administrator of United States Environmental Protection Agency to enforce environ mental laws equally between government bodies and those in private sector." The essence is to ask the federal govern ment to balance its imposition of penalties as they are as sessed to public entities (for example: cities and counties) and private entities (for exam ple: businesses and ranchers). The HJM focuses on Port land and mentions our largest city by name over five (5) times; no other public entity is mentioned. I voted against this Memorial for several reasons. First, such memorials are a waste of time and money. They pass on our opinion and may be helpful occasionally but most often are put in the wastebasket. Second, I felt this was an other rural/urban fight. Al though I realize the challenges we rural folks face as we chal lenge the dominance of the ur ban areas, I don’t believe this type of a fight is productive. Third, when we send such statements to the federal gov ernment from Oregon, I believe they should be representing the state as a whole and not showing divisiveness among our various constituents. We are ALL Oregonians; we may fight within our “family” but we are still family. We need to have the world see us as that and not hold up a member of our family as the “bad child.” A “minority report” was de veloped that eliminated the specific Portland accusations but still contained the same message to the federal law makers. I supported that as I do believe there needs to be fair and consistent implemen tation of the rules and there may be a need to reconsider some of the rules in place. That was voted down on the floor and the original Memorial was passed out. As we work to ap preciate and acknowledge the need for additional rural/urban cooperation, I feel it was nei ther beneficial nor appropriate to support and send this Memorial. Rep. Elaine Hopson H-376 State Capitol Salem, OR 97310 Phone: 503)-986-1402 email: ehopson.rep @ state.or.us
