The INDEPENDENT, July 1, 2004
Page 5
Group will work on control of Art, Title 1, counseling positions added
page 1
Title I will be able to handle oth- the budget.
noxious weeds in the county From
New teachers hired at the er duties.
Board member Phil Doyle
Control of noxious and inva-
sive weeds in Columbia Coun-
ty will be addressed by a volun-
teer group called the Columbia
Invasive Weed Control Partner-
ship (CIWCP).
CIWCP is composed of rep-
resentatives of federal, state
and local agencies, as well as
individuals and businesses that
are active in noxious weed con-
trol and management in Co-
lumbia County. The group’s
goal is to coordinate weed con-
trol efforts, maintain distribution
databases, enhance public ed-
ucation, secure sustainable
funding and formulate an over-
all plan for weed management
in the county.
There have been no coordi-
nated weed management ef-
forts in Columbia County for
many years. Local entities,
such as utilities, county and
state road maintenance crews
and timber companies, have
been controlling weeds on their
own lands, but their efforts
lacked coordination and com-
munication concerning identifi-
cation and spread of species
that affect many of these
groups.
CIWCP will begin manage-
ment efforts with information
collection, distribution, and sur-
vey work to identify new in-
vaders or to determine the ex-
tent of established weed infes-
tations.
CIWCP has also started a
program called “Weed Watch-
ers.” Anyone interested and/or
concerned about invasive
weeds in the county is invited
to become a Weed Watcher.
For information about CIWCP
or Weed Watchers, call Cindy
Ball at the Columbia Soil & Wa-
ter Conservation District, 503-
397-4555, ext. 100.
high school in language arts,
guidance counseling, special
education and fine arts (shop)
have saved the district $40,296
because they are starting at the
low end of the pay scale.
These reductions in expens-
es, along with an additional
savings in special education
home-to-school transportation,
resulted in a total reduction
from the approved budget of
$76,529.
Funderburg proposed reallo-
cating the funds with staff add-
backs of .5 full time equivalent
(FTE) each in certified posi-
tions for Title I, middle school
counseling and art instruction.
Adding back the .5 FTE to art
created a full-time position and
will eliminate the need to use a
classroom teacher for art. The
same is true for the Title I posi-
tion, except that the administra-
tor who would have also taught
Following the explanation of
the reallocations, Jim Krahn
opened the budget hearing for
comment from the small audi-
ence. Noni Andersen thanked
the staff for correcting mistakes
in the document approved by
the budget committee. No addi-
tional comments were made
and the public hearing was
closed.
The board then opened the
special board meeting so they
could complete their work on
commented that it was wonder-
ful to be able to add back to the
budget. Geinah Cheny thanked
the Budget Assistance Team
for their thorough job. Krahn
praised good management
practices, and said “people
who are no longer here are not
abusing the system,” referring
to the nearly $30,000 of sav-
ings in workers compensation
premiums.
The board unanimously ap-
proved the budget as presented.
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