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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2002)
Voi. 17, No. 21 “ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” November 7, 2002 Grant will fund 47J student programs A St. Helens man was killed in the accident above that closed Highway 47 for several hours. For a complete story, please see page 15. City “Learning Center” nearing reality With a $150,000 grant to de velop a Learning Center in Ver nonia, and a tentatively ap proved block grant for an addi tional $150,000, the City of Ver nonia is now nearing a formal decision on where the center will be located and what pro grams will be incorporated. The Learning Center Com mittee, which has been meet ing for about a year, has looked at several buildings and dis cussed them with state offi cials. After completion of that process, it seems likely that the old city hall will be remodeled for the center. Three architec tural firm s have presented ideas and, though no contract has been signed, one firm has been initially approved. At this time, the Upper Ne halem W atershed Council, uses part of the building; other parts are used for activities from time to time. The city and Colum bia C ounty have reached an agreem ent that will remove sections of Rose Ave. and Alder Street that are in the county’s jurisdiction and make them part of the city. Before the ownership changes, the county will ditch, widen and pave the 850 feet of gravel road at the north end of Rose (This shows on official maps as Cleveland Ave.), and work with city em ployees to locate and clean all drainage facilities along Alder. It will be the city’s responsibility to make any necessary water and sewer adjustments along Rose Avenue. At the Vernonia City Council meeting on November 4, resi dent Jacqueline Ramsay asked if a handrail could be installed along the path from Vernonia Lake to the primitive camping area. The path is sloped down to the camping area and can be quite slippery, Ramsay noted. The city will look at the problem and see what can be done. There will also be a public hearing, December 2, on pro cedures and requirements for Vernonia’s many parks. Need for firefighters is topic of meeting The Vernonia Fire Distict is in great need of more volunteer firefighters and has scheduled a recruitm ent meeting for Tuesday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m., in the fire hall. Find out more about require ments and benefits, or how you can help, by attending the meeting. Vernonia School District has received a 21st Century Learn ing Grant of $150,000 to begin a program for Recreational and Educational Activities with Com m unity Help (REACH). Modeled after a very success ful program operating for the last three years in St. Helens, REACH provides after school and summer activities for all school age children. The grant will be adm inistered by the Northwest Region ESD which will also help develop the local program. The district’s board of direc tors also learned, at an October 24 workshop, that it has the op portunity to increase the lever age of the grant by working in cooperation with the City of Vernonia, which has received a $150,000 grant to develop a com m unity learning center. Tracy Dannen, of NWRESD, said she is excited by the coop eration revealed in initial dis cussions with city administrator Michael Sykes and district su perintendent Mike Funderburg. The remainder of the work shop included discussion in several areas of interest. • Board members Darryl Hamblet and Cari Levenseller told the board about their inves tigation of the process for form ing a charitable foundation for the Vernonia School District. Hamblet told the board that they are ready to present their information to the public. • Board member Tim Titus told the board that several par ents, unhappy about the Senior Project, had approached him. The project is part of senior English and successful com pletion is required to receive a passing grade. VHS requires four years of English to gradu ate. Board chair Carla Strand noted that the “board” that ap proves senior projects is the senior project board, not the school board. Funderburg told the board that resistance to, and confusion about senior project requirements is a com mon occurrence, even though the project has been in place for about 10 years. Funderburg will form a committee to gather information and make recom mendations that will allow the board to formalize district poli cy. Any changes in require ments would not take effect un til next school year. Parents and students with concerns about this year’s project should contact the student’s English teacher, Funderburg said. • The process of mold miti gation at Washington Grade School has been completed, Funderburg told the board, ex cept for one area behind a freezer. Another test of air qual ity has been scheduled. • All of the fire alarms at WGS have been replaced; one at the high school needs work. The district may be able to re cover 50 percent of the cost of renovating with strobe light smoke detectors, but no d e c i sions have been made. • The district received a quote of $3500 minimum for asbestos mitigation at WGS. The district may also simply close the one storeroom where the asbestos was found, elimi nating the cost entirely. More school district news may be found on pages 10-11. An engineer’s report on the structural safety of Washing ton Grade School will be presented at the Vernonia School Board meeting on Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m. Call 503-429-5891 for meeting site.
