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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2003)
Vol. 18, No. 16 “ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” August 21, 2003 “Smart Growth” and law enforcement continue to keep council occupied SI At the Nehalem River Rendezvous during the Vernonia Jamboree, this youngster was learning how to shoot with an old rifle. The support provided by two slender wooden p o iefh elp ed h H n a in t a in a balance for the heavy, old-fashnioned firearm. Mars & Stars gathering next Tuesday Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spec tacular. This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach be tween the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter’s gravity tugs on Mars and disturbs its orbit, astronomers can be certain only that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years,, but it may have been as long as 60,000 years. The encounter will culminate Tuesday, August 26, when Mars will be within 34,649,589 miles of earth and, next to the moon, will be the brightest ob ject in the night sky. Vernonia residents Jim Bux ton and Robb Wilson are or ganizing a Mars & Stars gath ering on the Vernonia High School grounds and urge everyone interested to join in the event. Anyone with tele scopic equipment is invited to set up with the others. Mars will not be easily visible Tuesday until about 9:30 p.m., but those who arrive earlier can still enjoy a good time for star gazing. At a modest 75-power mag nification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye, and it will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August, Mars rose in the east at 10 p.m. and reached its azimuth at about 3:00 a.m. By the end of the month, when the two planets are clos est, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That’s pretty convenient when it comes to seeing some thing that no human has seen in recorded history. So, take this opportunity to share with your children and grandchil dren. No one alive today will ever see this again. State adopts park name suggested by Vernonia man Greg Kintz, of Vernonia, has received word that the state Park Commission has adopted the name “Hares Canyon State Park” for the park being devel oped in Buxton. Kintz was in formed of the decision because he suggested the name early in the process, at the second public hearing in Hillsboro. The highway sign for the park will show Hares Canyon State Park, with another sign under that noting the Banks- Vernonia State Trail. After nearly two years of study, numerous reconsidera tions and months of fine tuning, the basis for a revised planning ordinance has received ap proval from the Vernonia City Council, the Vernonia Planning Commission and citizens who have been involved during all or part of the effort. The final public hearing on elements of a Smart Growth planning ordinance was held August 18 - this was not a hearing on the ordinance, but on the elements that will be in cluded in tha ordinaoce. k Many of the questions from those in attendance dealt with parking in the downtown area, a subject that was deliberately omitted, at this time, because parking for downtown busi nesses needs further study. Another frequently ex pressed concern was about the boundary of the downtown business zone. This was also specifically omitted so the ele ments of the future Smart Growth ordinance could be ex plained to property owners on the fringes of downtown. Only after those contacts have been made, and responses have been evaluated, will the bound ary be delineated. No date was set for consid eration of a draft ordinance. Though some in the audi ence continued to make state ments of criticism or praise about Police Chief Mike Cahill, Mayor Cindy Ball and council members asked them to follow up at the town hall meeting so all concerns and points of view about local law enforcement can be considered. Ray Foster, who closed his bar over Jamboree weekend because of what he felt were in tim idating tactics by Chief Cahill, objected. “This isn’t about law enforcement,” Foster s a K t-W b is.a^out firing dpabilk Council members impliecf that they were not interested in going through another lengthy search for a police chief. Garrett Abney suggested de velopment of an emergency re sponse team, not to work ex clusively with the police depart ment, but to be available for any type of emergency that oc curs, man-made or otherwise. At the m ayor’s request, Lisa Orth, who is the Vernonia con tact person for the American Red Cross, explained her role in local emergencies. Mayor Ball also explained recent ef forts by existing emergency re sponse planners to get others involved, though the efforts have been mostly unsuccessful. Town Hall date selected Keasey-Stoney Point intersection discussed In response to many re quests at the August 4 council meeting - attended by nearly 200 people, at least 30 of whom spoke, mostly unfavor ably, about overaggressive law enforcement during Jamboree - the council set September 22 as the date for a community/ town hall meeting on law en forcement. The time and loca tion will be anounced well in ad vance of the meeting. Administrator Mike Sykes re ported on efforts to get coopera tion from Columbia County to mitigate traffic danger at the in tersection of Stoney Point Road and Keasey Road. Because of increasing traffic, there are far more “near misses” and there have been some ma jor accidents there, as well. Roadmaster Dave Hill feels it is a City problem although the in tersection is in the county.
