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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2001)
The INDEPENDENT, August 1, 2001 VERNONIA INN Enjoy a quiet weekend with us. FILL SIZE, IN ROOM $55“ HOT TUBS REG. ROOM $45“ sso“ Queen Beds • Private Bath • Separate Entrance Cable TV • Phones • Handicapped Access CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 1-800-354-9494 / 503-429-4006 GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE 900 MADISON AVE., VERNONIA, OR 97064 Just one block off scenic Nehalem River Hwy. (Oregon 47) Engineering survey reveals dangerous deficiencies Other deficiencies noted in clude: • A lack of interior bracing necessary to transfer horizon tal load (shaking) from the roof or second floor of the building to the walls and ground. • Interior walls at VHS are built around the lockers and cannot transfer shaking in the roof to the floor. • Walls and roofs have straight board construction, in which boards are placed per pendicularly across joists and studs. Like a cardboard box that can be easily pushed out of its square shape; straight construction does not allow for side-to-side or up-and-down movement. • Walls and floors are not anchored together. • Unreinforced masonry (URM), i.e. brick, walls and chimneys, in both buildings would require support. Some are overstressed. • The beautiful brick exterior of WGS presents particular problems because it is not rein forced and it is not attached to the building. Studies of similar buildings after significant earth quakes show that this type of brick exterior literally falls right off of the building, like water off a duck’s back. (In contrast, the new play structure at WGS, From page 1 have remained constant, re cent geological studies in Western Oregon, and observa tion of building damage in past earthquakes, have resulted in a 50 percent increase in the earthquake force level for which a building must be de signed. Both WGS and VHS have a number of deficiencies, any one of which would be suffi cient to cause all or part of the building to collapse in the event of an earthquake, according to Söderström. For example, the window wall of the VHS library is no longer vertical but leans outward, probably due to ground settling. lew s PRIME RIB Fri. « Sat. FBl. & SAT. AUG. 3 & 4 9 PM - 1 AM Page 5 L eonetti s Lunch Specials Pizza & Grill Great Family Style Mon - Fri...$4.50 Italian Dinners D in n er Served 5:00-8:00 P M Banquet, Luncheon fit Catering Service Call 429-3751 for information 934 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064 W E DELIVER • PARTY PLATTERS AVAILABLE OPEN MON-SAT 1 1 - 9 * SUNDAY 1 2 - 7 721 Madison Ave., Vernonia • 503-429-5018 SEPTEMBER S M 5 12 19 26 VERNONIA 6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Mondays Alcoholics Anonymous 7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Saturdays Alcoholics Anonymous American Legion Post #119 2nd Thursday 627 Adams Ave./ 503-429-4000 2:00 p.m., City Library 2nd Thursday Arts & Crafts Society 7:30 p.m., VHS Library 2nd Wednesday Boosters 7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Tuesdays Boy Scout Troop 201 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Wednesdays Boy Scout Troop 860 7:00 p.m., Leonetti’s Grill Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday Noon, Lew’s Place 2nd Wednesday Chamber of Commerce 1:00 p.m., Senior Center 4th Tuesday Doll Club 6:30-8 p.m., Christian Church Thursdays Girl Scouts For location call 503-429-7193 3rd Thursday Izaak Walton League 6:30 p.m., Lew's Place 1st & 3rd Tuesdays Lions Club 6:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Fridays Narcotics Anonymous For Info Call 503-429-4074 Nehalem Valley Car Club 10:30 a.m., City Library Mondays Preschool Story Hour For location call 429-2401 Upr Nehalem Watershed Council 4th Thursday 7:00 p.m., City Library Vernonia Airport Committee 3rd Wednesday For location call 503-429-1414 Vernonia Cares Directors 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia City Council 1 st & 3rd Mondays Noon, City Hall Vernonia Comm. Dev. Corp. 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall 2nd Friday Vernonia Grange 6:00 p.m., 510 Bridge St. 2nd Thursday Vernonia Health Center 7:00 p.m., City Hall 1st Thursday Vernonia Planning Comm. For Info Call, 503-429-5201 Vernonia Pride 7:00 p.m., City Library Last Thursday Vernonia Ridge Riders 7:00 p.m., Fire Station 2nd Tuesday Vernonia RFPD Board 8:00 p.m., District Office 2nd Thursday Vernonia School Board 1:00 p.m., Senior Center 1st Friday Vernonia Sr. Center Board 7:00 p.m., Fire Station 2nd Monday Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 7:00 p.m., WOEC 3rd Tuesday WOEC Directors which looks like brick, is actual ly constructed of a type of block with a brick-like face, similar to cinder block, with the center hollows reinforced with re-bar and filled with concrete. • Examination of the walls at WGS also revealed that they were constructed of locally made hollow clay tiles, instead of the material called for in the plan. The hollow clay tiles have virtually no load carrying ca pacity according to Söder ström. Söderström said that studies of this type bring a moral re sponsibility to the engineers and architects who work on a project. Even if parts of the building were retrofitted suffi ciently to survive an earth quake, the building still could not really be considered safe. The best that could be hoped for would be to provide the ca pacity for children to exit the buildings in relative safety. Ac cording to Söderström, the bricks will still fall off, the chim neys will still collapse, and the library wall will still fall in a shower of glass. Söderström concedes that WGS, in particular, is the most beautiful building in town. But he compares it to fixing the frame of a car, an expense re ally not worth the effort. 6 13 20 27 7 14 21 28 1 2 8 9 15 18 22 23 29 30 3 10 17 24 31 MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board M-B Ambulance Assoc. M-B Firefighters Assoc. M-B Rescue M-B Helping Circle Natal Grange T.O.P.S. 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 3 10 17 24 T 4 11 18 25 W 5 12 19 26 T 6 13 20 27 F 7 14 21 28 OCTOBER 5 1 8 15 22 29 S M 1 7 8 14 15 21 22 28 29 2nd & 4th Tuesday 1st & 2nd Thurs. 1st & 2nd Wed. 3rd Wednesday 2nd Wednesday 2nd Wednesday Sundays T W T F S 2 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 30 31 NOVEMBER S M 4 11 18 25 5 12 19 26 T 6 13 20 27 W T 1 8 14 15 21 22 28 29 7 F S 2 9 16 23 30 3 10 17 24 7:30 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 10:00 am, 755-2346 for info. 7:30 p.m., Grange Hall 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station BANKS 8:00 p.m., Methodist Church Fridays Alcoholics Anonymous 7:30 p.m., City Hall 2nd Tuesday Banks City Council 7:00 p.m., City Hall Banks Planning Commission Last Tuesday 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library 2nd Monday Banks School Board 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. Sundays, Wednesdays Banks Youth Group 12:30 p.m., Brown Derby 1st Thursday Chamber of Commerce 7:15 p.m., City Hall 3rd Monday, odd months Citizen Participation Org. 7:00 p.m., City Library 2nd Tuesday Friends of the Library 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., Methodist Church Lions Club 3rd Wednesday 8:00 p.m., Gun Club Sunset Park Assoc. Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. T.O.P.S. 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Station 13 Tri-City RFPD Board COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) 10 a.m., Courthouse Wednesdays Board of Commissioners 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church 2nd Tuesday Citizens for Senior Justice 10:30 a.m., Courthouse 2nd Friday COLCO Transportation 1:00 p.m., Courthouse 2nd Friday County Council of Seniors 7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. 2nd Monday County Fair Board 6:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St. 3rd Monday County Parks Commission 7:00 p.m., Courthouse Emergency Comm. Dist. (9-1-1) 3rd Tuesday Noon, location call 429-3713 Historical Society 4th Wednesday Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or bv mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.
