Water, energy conservation top Council concerns INSIDE:
Following a Town Hall meet
ing on June 25, Vernonia City
Council approved a special
residential summer water rate
schedule at their July 2 meet
ing and is actively pursuing a
strategy to reduce the city’s
electric usage.
The city’s goals, explained
Director of Public Works Robyn
Bassett at the town hall meet
ing, are to eliminate wasted en
ergy and utilize resources in a
cost-effective manner.
While the city may get
through this dry year without
difficulty, increased water con
sumption during the summer
also requires increased elec
tricity to process the water. If
the usual seasonal increase in
consumption can be averted,
water and electricity will both
be conserved and costs will be
reduced.
Public comments at the
town hall included the follow
ing:
• Let lawns dry out when the
weather is hot and dry because
they’ll turn green again when it
rains.
• Water flowers with a con
tainer instead of with a sprin
kler.
• Eliminate car wash fund
raisers this summer.
• Praise for Vernonia Pride’s
decision to use imitation flow
ers in public areas this year.
• Ask the Fire District to limit
volunteers’ use of water to
wash their personal vehicles.
A suggestion was made that
citizens who greatly reduce
Affp-
Larson
The cooling waters of Vernonia’s Rock Creek swimming pool were made even more en
ticing by a few days of warm weather.
Fire Season restrictions now in place
Vernonia man killed in car wreck
Robbie Baska, a 22 year-old
Vernonia man, was killed in a
single vehicle accident shortly
before midnight June 30.
According to Sandy James,
Washington County Sheriff’s
Office spokeswoman, Baska
was in the front passenger seat
of a car that went off the right
shoulder of Highway 47 south
of Top Hill, landing about ten
feet down. Baska, who was not
wearing a seat belt, died of
head injuries when the car’s
roof was crushed.
The car’s driver, 21 year-old
Dustin Kofstad, also of Vernon
ia, was taken to Emanuel Hos
pital with minor injuries and re
leased the following day. He
was wearing a seat belt.
Kofstad’s blood-alcohol was
measured at 0.18, according to
Sgt. Marlene Gaskins of the
sheriff’s office, more than twice
the legal limit of .08. Investiga
tions are underway by both the
sheriff’s office and the Wash
ington County District Attor
ney’s office.
Health News
...................pg- 6
Summertime
recipes..... pg. 7
BHS, VHS Honor
Rolls...... pg. 8-9
County Fair
time.... pg. 10-11
FREE
July 5, 2001
Board will seek $14.9
million school bond
Summer has arrived...
nomah, Tillamook, Yamhill, Co
lumbia and Clatsop counties.
According to Mike Simek,
Protection Unit Forester at Co
lumbia City, woods workers are
required to have fire prevention
and fire fighting equipment at
Business
Notes.... pg. 4-5
PRESORTED STANDARD
U .S . P o s ta g e P a id
V e rn o n ia , O R 9 7 0 6 4
P e rm it N o. 37
‘Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
16, No 13
Fire season went into effect
at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July
2 in Northwest Oregon. This in
cludes private, state, county
and BLM forest lands protected
by the Oregon Department of
Forestry in Washington, Mult-
water consumption be com
mended, and a concern ex
pressed that the city’s actions
should be more aggressive.
The summer water rate
schedule applies to residential
users only, from July 1 to Sept.
30. The summer rates leaves
the basic monthly charge of
$28.00 for the first 2,000 gal
lons of water used, but limits
the $1.25 charge for each addi
tional 1,000 gallons of water to
a maximum of 1,000 gallons. A
Please see page 16
their operation site and provide
a watchman on each operation
after equipment is shut down.
Fire season rules also pro
hibit smoking while in or travel
ing through any “operation
area,” and prohibit the use of
fuses and caps for blasting on
forest land. In addition, all de
bris burning sites and burn bar
rels must be inspected and ap
proved with a written permit pri
or to any burning.
Fire season is declared
each year based on weather
conditions and fire danger. As
forest vegetation dries due to
warmer temperatures and less
rain, fire danger increases. Ex
tra precautions need to be tak
en by forest users and forest
workers to prevent fires from
starting, Simek explained.
Please see page 12
A recommendation to re
place Vernonia’s crowded and
deteriorating schools, was
adopted by the Vernonia
School District Board of Direc
tors at their special June 28
meeting, setting the stage for
voters to decide in November
whether they will support a
$14.9 million bond issue.
On behalf of the district’s
Long Range Facilities Commit
tee, Dave Söderström, of Sö
derström Architects, presented
the innovative proposal -
which eliminates the need to
purchase additional property -
to the school board at their
June 7 meeting.
Appointed by the school
board in February, the commit
tee was composed of chairman
Dan Brown, other community
members Randy Aultman, Re
becca Brookins, Chris Cota,
Michelle
Gilbertson,
Rick
Gwin, Ralph Keasey, Jim King,
Steve Landers, Kari Moeller,
Jim Prpich, Jacqueline Ram
say and Janelle Serafin, board
members Jeff Blum and Tim Ti
tus, district personnel Jane Mc
Clellan, Larry McClellan, Kirk
Sherrill and David VanMeter.
The committee’s task was to
review the current status of the
district’s buildings and develop
a recommendation for long
range planning.
Previous plan reviewed
After reviewing a facilities
plan that was completed just
before the flood in 1996, the
committee divided into work
groups to study five areas of
concern— available/possible
sites, educational program
ming and grade level align
ment, economics and bond
costs, marketing and selling
strategies, administrative and
legal considerations.
At about the same time, in
order to get some idea of com
munity attitudes on school fa
cilities, a questionnaire was
sent home with students and
was also available in a few
places around the district. Re
turns showed an ovewhelming
concern for safety, with 84 per
cent of respondents listing it as
the primary objective. More
than 50 percent also ex
pressed support for new
school and athletic facilities.
Regarding how age/grade
levels should be divided (grade
level alignment), respondents
clearly preferred a configura
tion that would place kinder
garten through fifth grades,
sixth through eighth grades,
and ninth through twelfth
grades in separate buildings.
Seventy-six percent of those
who returned the survey indi
cated a willingness to support
a tax increase for improved
school facilities. Seventy-three
percent of respondents were
parents of current students.
Safety becomes focus
Meanwhile, engineers sur
veyed the structural, electrical
and mechanical condition, as
well as ADA accessibility, at
Washington Grade School and
Vernonia High School. The en
gineering report revealed the
need for major repairs and up
grades in all areas in both
schools. Mist and Lincoln
schools were rejected by the
committee early in the process
as inadequate for the educa
tional program.
Although the district has
done only minor additions and
remodeling since the last
school building was construct
ed in 1950, the committee ex
pressed concern that the com
munity was generally unaware
of the buildings’ deficiencies.
Remodeling performed after
the flood was limited by FEMA
regulations to replacing what
existed prior to the flood. Be-
Please see page 12