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.