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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2003)
•• » vX' À W Cd -T ■:' . < T i ^ ¡t Attn. Leslie Larson UO Library-OMP 1299 University Of Oreaon Eugene OR 97403-1299 •î'_ z «• Ilk . 'Ì ^ ’ Voi. 18, No. 13 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 Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley’ ............ Family fun S*** MetroWest chosen as new bus provider By Noni Andersen The Columbia County Board of Commissioners has been expressing dissatisfaction with Colco Transportation and its operator, the Columbia County Council of Seniors, for more than a year and, in fact, refused to allocate any transportation funds to the senior council from this year’s budget. As Com m issioner Tony Hyde explained, $50,000 of transportation funds were put aside while a county-wide transportation plan was being developed “so seniors wouldn’t have to carry the burden of pro viding transportation” for every one who rode Colco. Hyde said he wanted to see $10,000 go to each of the five senior centers in the county, for them to use for their own transportations needs. When the senior council was de-certified by the state in May, the county was ready to make a change. Right? Rally cars will be here July 12 Most people don’t think of using a navigator while racing, or of running against the clock, instead of getting in front of a pack of other drivers, but that is the “hook” in rally car racing. Oregon Rally Group is bring ing their premier event to Ver nonia on Saturday, July 12, with upwards of 80 rally teams from all over North America. The race will start at 10 a.m. from Hillsboro Stadium, with teams heading west to roads in the Tillamook State Forest, then work their way to Vernon ia for their first service stop. The service area will be at Washington Grade School and, with 80 cars arriving at two minute intervals, there will be activity all afternoon. This will be a great opportu nity to check out these remark able cars and the crews that take care of them. Don’t miss it! Fewer lifeguard hours this year Because of fiscal re straints, the City of Vernonia has not been able to hire life guards for as many hours as in prior years. As a result, there will be no lifeguards on Sundays, except during Jam boree. “We have excellent, certi fied lifeguards who would like to work more hours," said Robyn Bassett, the city’s director of public works, "but the city’s financial condi tion just doesn’t allow it.” Bassett was especially concerned that parents be aware of the situation. July 3, 2003 Well, not exactly. Com m issioner Rita Bern- hard said in April that alterna tive plans were being devel oped - a statement supported by Sen. Joan Dukes at a meet ing in Vernonia. Yet, as of June 3, the county had not made any specific effort to provide alter nate transportation. They were “talking to providers” and “working with a transportation planner," but hadn’t issued any requests for proposals (RFPs) or requests for quotes (RFQs), basic steps to be taken before local governments award con tracts. The county didn't think they had to use RFQs, Hyde ex plained, because it was an emergency. On June 30, all Colco vehi cles (except four that are owned outright by the council of seniors) were turned over to the county. As of July 2, interim con- Please see page 17 47J budget finalized, priorities listed Vernonia School District Budget Committee completed its work, June 9, by approving the latest budget revisions and prioritizing a list of programs and positions to be returned to the budget if additional revenue becomes available. The ap proved budget is based on a state school fund allocation of $4.8 billion. According to Su perintendent Mike Funderburg, it appeared likely, at that time, that the legislature would in crease the allocation to state school fund (SSF) to at least $5.0 billion and, possibly, to as much as $5.2 billion. Funderburg and Deputy Clerk Dawn Plews presented a personnel summary for the 2003-2004 school year, as compared to the personnel lev els adopted in the 2002-2003 budget. Overall, staff will be re duced by slightly more than nine full-time employees. This level of staffing represents the loss of five or six more full-time positions than were absorbed by budget cuts this year. All ar eas will be working with a smaller staff next year, from food service to administration. Based on concerns dis cussed in previous budget committee meetings, Funder burg and the adm inistrative team developed a list of items to add back to the budget if more money becomes avail able. If the legislature increas es the SSF to $5.0 billion, it would add $147,175 to district revenues. If it were increased to $5.1, local revenue would in crease by an additional $73,538. Following discussion, which included reference to goals adopted at the beginning of the budget process, the committee decided that the first priority should be the addition of spe cial education personnel, fol lowed by $5,000 needed to complete next year’s textbook adoption, and the return of business and alternative edu cation. Funderburg explained that retaining the business/al- ternative education program will enable the district to apply for a $150,000 charter school im plem entation grant to ex pand the existing program. The committee recommend ed the following “add backs,” if additional revenue becomes available (listed in order of pri ority): Please see page 8
