PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 19, No. 3
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Christopher Richardson of Vernonia worked hard to pin Rainier’s Matt Gibson in a
wrestling match February 4 at Vernonia High School. Richardson won this match, but the
meet continued too late for results before press time.
Downtown Zone approved by council
Ec-Dev Town Hall,
Phase Three
The third in a series of
meetings on economic devel-
opment will be held Monday,
February 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the
Scout Cabin.
During the first meeting,
participants identified the
strengths, weaknesses, oppor-
tunities and threats that affect
businesses in Vernonia. The
second meeting concentrated
on brainstorming approaches
that could be beneficial to the
local business climate.
At the next meeting, partici-
pants will select programs
and/or projects based on the
prior brainstorming session,
determine timelines and how to
approach the selected pro-
jects, and set measurable
goals.
Local business owners, and
others interested in economic
development at the local level,
are encouraged to attend. Your
participation is needed.
City Council, February 2. Some
properties were removed from
the proposed zone when the
council acceded to presenta-
tions from property owners,
and an exception to one
element of the downtown
design guidelines will be includ-
ed in the final version.
The design exception will
allow the owners of Vernonia
Hardware to enlarge their
business by constructing an
addition where they now have
a covered outdoor shelter.
Three of the four properties
removed from the zone are
located on Shady Lane. The
fourth is on Park Drive.
The ordinance will be
reviewed at the March 1 council
meeting.
Candidates filing for county seats
Candidate
filings
are
popping up as the close of filing
draws near.
Republican Colleen DeShaz-
er, Scappoose, has filed for
Columbia County Commission-
er, Position 1, which is current-
ly held by Joe Corsiglia.
Corsiglia, of St. Helens, has
filed for re-election and will
have opposition on the Democ-
ratic ticket from Gary Heide,
also of St. Helens.
Vernonia Republican Tony
Hyde, who holds Position 3,
has no opposition at this time.
He will also seek re-election.
Other Columbia County
openings
include
County
Surveyor,
Treasurer
and
February 5, 2004
Hwy. 47 paving is topic
for Town Hall meeting
Get that shoulder down!
After more than two years of
of study, a “Downtown Zone”
was approved by the Vernonia
FREE
Sheriff. Sheriff Phil Derby is
seeking re-election. Surveyor
Phil Dewey had not filed as of
noon Tuesday.
County Accountant Ruth
Baker, who was appointed to
complete the term left by the
resignation of Treasurer Paul-
ette Kuiper, has filed to retain
the position. In the past, the
Board of Commissioners,
which sets salaries for several
of the elected officials, has
considered leaving the treasur-
er’s position unpaid. In effect,
this would result in the posi-
tions of county accountant and
treasurer being combined.
Filing closes March 9, 2004,
for the May primary election.
Officials from the City of
Vernonia and the Oregon
Department of Transportation
invite the public to a Town Hall
meeting Tuesday, February 17,
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the
Scout Cabin in Hawkins Park,
to discuss details of a
pavement preservation and
culvert replacement project
along the Nehalem Highway
(Oregon 47) from the Sunset
Highway (U.S. 26) to the north
end of the city of Vernonia. All
Washington and Columbia
County residents along the
construction
project
are
encouraged to attend.
Information presented at this
meeting will include the design
of the project, the contractors
schedule and traffic plan for the
proposed project. If you are a
business owner in the Vernonia
downtown corridor, it is vitally
important for you to attend this
meeting.
The Nehalem Highway is
badly worn in the project area
and work on the $4.1 million
project is already underway.
Culvert replacement and bridge
work have started and regular
users of the highway are aware
that they can expect delays of
up to 20 minutes in the
construction zones or use alter-
nate routes to avoid the delays.
The contractor will repave
almost 17 miles of the highway,
replace about 20 culverts,
replace some deteriorated
highway base and rebuild a
bicycle/pedestrian path in the
city. Construction of the 4”
asphalt overlay will cause less
disturbance than the construc-
tion of a new road through the
County Assessor
Tom Linhares resigns.
...............See page 4
“Brother, can you
spare a dime?”
..............See page 9
downtown area. In April, the
contractor will begin digging up
the old concrete highway from
Rose Avenue to the Rock
Creek bridge. The project is
scheduled for completion by
October 2004.
County 9-1-1 head
again recognized
by industry peers
Sally Jones, Administrator
for Columbia 9-1-1 Communi-
cations District, was presented
the 2002-2003 Oregon State 9-
1-1 Impact Award at the
December meeting of the
Oregon Chapter of Associated
Public Safety Communications
Officials (APCO) and National
Emergency Number Associa-
tion (NENA) in Newport.
“Sally Jones was chosen by
the membership for this award
because of her unwavering
devotion to the advancement
of 9-1-1 services in the State of
Oregon and the furtherance of
federal, state and local partner-
ships,” said Awards Committee
Chairman Eric Swanson.
Jones is the only 9-1-1
Manager in Oregon to have
received this award twice in her
career. She first received it in
1994, following her work in the
formation of the legislative
advocacy program for Oregon
APCO-NENA.
Please see page 4