The INDEPENDENT, July 15, 2004
Page 3
Letters
Review of efforts to
build a Senior Center
To the Editor:
I have received several calls
to verify rumors surrounding
the planned new senior center.
Clearly it is time to review
progress on the project.
Between the Bookends
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia Public Library
Summer reading will be
continuing through Jam-
boree weekend with the li-
brary’s entry in the annual
parade bringing the pro-
grams to a conclusion.
Youngsters are encour-
aged to complete their
reading goals with prizes
being awarded until Au-
gust 18th. Yet to come are sessions at 10 a.m.
on July 21, July 28 and August 4 as well as the
special visit by Aunt Lena (Anne-Louise Sterry)
at 7:00 p.m. on July 21. Ms. Sterry is an extraor-
dinary performer whose joy in storytelling and
singing is contagious. Young and old alike are
encouraged to attend this “untold story of Lena,
the Italian girl, and her part in the Lewis and
Clark expedition.” The event will be sponsored
by The Friends of the Library.
Saturday, July 31, from 9-12 will be the final
chance to drop off books for the annual book
sale sponsored by The Friends of the Library.
The sale and book drop will take place at Glen
Purvee’s building (the old bowling alley). The
By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant
Banks Public Library
The Banks Public Li-
brary has had to readjust
our hours because of fis-
cal concerns. The Wash-
ington County Library
Levy passed, but ultimate-
ly failed because of light
voter turn out. Because of
this, our open hours have
been reduced by one hour
per day. Starting July 1, we will be opening at 12
noon instead of 11 a.m. on our regular open
days. We will still be open Tuesday through Sat-
urday. We will continue to be closed on Sundays
and Mondays. We are sorry for any inconven-
ience this might cause.
Summer Reading Programming is underway!
Join us Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. Your child can
enter a weekly drawing and win a beautiful hard-
back book! Just fill out one of the entry forms at
the library with the name of a recently read book
and drop it in the box! Drawings are held weekly
before the start of the program, but you don’t
need to be present to win.
If you missed the first two programs, you can
still join us for the remainder of the stimulating
Summer Reading Program. Summer Reading
Sign-ups continue through July 17th.
July 22 – BJ The Clown: He’s back! Summer
wouldn’t be summer at the library without BJ’s
latest fun-filled show!
July 29 – Angel Ocasio: A very funny and high-
energy one-man act. His performances combine
physical comedy, jokes, magic and more!
sale will take place on Saturday of Jamboree
weekend from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., with the
last hour being a bag sale (all you can get in a
bag for a $1.00). Winning tickets for the four raf-
fle prizes will be drawn at 5:00 p.m. This is the
main money-raising event of this organization.
Your continued support is appreciated and
you’re sure to find some great books at only 25
cents each.
Recently donated to The Friends of the Li-
brary and designated for children’s education,
anything to encourage young people to develop
their reading skills or desire to read, was a gen-
erous check from the Mark & Helena Great-
house Family Fund. Mark Greathouse is a son of
Kathryn Malmsten, a longtime Vernonia resident.
This much appreciated gift will be used for chil-
dren’s nonfiction materials, audio books and ad-
ditional beginning reader books.
Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave.
Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.;
Tues., Thur. 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30
a.m., when school is in session.
Phone: (503 ) 429-1818
August 5 – Creature Feature: Steve Lattanzi
is a well-traveled reptile naturalist. He will share
a wide variety of live reptiles from all over the
world.
Participants can choose their own reading
goal for the summer. Starting August 1st you can
bring in your completed reading record and
choose a brand new book from our supply of re-
ward books. Verizon, State Farm Insurance Co.
and Wells Fargo Bank sponsor the purchase of
the reward books.
In addition to the Summer Programs, Pre-
school Story time will continue every Wednes-
day at 10:15 a.m. through July. Preschool Story
time will remain at 10:15 a.m.
Attention all adult readers! New books are in!
The Bill Clinton autobiography My Life should
provide hours of entertainment. Other new
books include D.W. Buffa’s newest, Breach of
Trust, Larry McMurtry’s final book in the Berry-
bender Saga series Folly and Glory, and a new
Ann B. Ross book, Miss Julia Meets Her Match. Be
sure to get on the waiting list for the newest
Janet Evanovich Ten Big Ones. Happy summer
reading!
Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 12 - 7 p.m.;
Fri. and Sat. 12 - 5 p.m.
Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays, 10:15
a.m., through July.
Phone: (503 ) 324-1382
Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us.
to browse library resources or to
reserve materials electronically.
Our work over the last sever-
al years has been aimed at
identifying and obtaining a fea-
sible site for the new Center. Af-
ter much research, we conclud-
ed that a site just west of Ver-
nonia Lake was the best place
for the project. The site is set
back from the path around the
lake because of city plans to
add parking at the lake and ad-
jacent property in the city’s park
system. An access road and
sewer facilities required by the
new Senior Center will use part
of that property. At this point,
we needed to determine who
would be the owner of the proj-
ect.
I am told that projects fund-
ed using a Community Devel-
opment Block Grant, like the
new Senior Center, are typical-
ly owned by a city or county. As
budgets have become tighter in
recent years, many municipali-
ties have preferred that owner-
ship of such projects be vested
in the user organization or an
intermediary. This is said to
bring a sense of fiscal responsi-
bility to these organizations,
encouraging volunteer mainte-
nance along with reasonable
contributions to sinking funds
for future repairs. It also takes
the cities off the hook if a prob-
lem occurs. The downside to
this strategy is that many small
organizations have limited fi-
nancial capacity to respond to
unforeseen events.
As we began arranging own-
ership documents, city staff
conveyed their preference for
the Seniors to be the owner of
the new building. After review-
ing their options, the Senior
Center board voted to ask Co-
lumbia County Self Help, Inc. to
act as its intermediary, accept-
ing ownership of the project un-
til a sufficient cash reserve has
been accumulated and both
can be transferred to the sen-
iors.
Self Help is a charitable non-
profit that Rocky Johnson,
Community Action Team’s ex-
ecutive director, formed 20
years ago specifically as a real
estate holding company. Self
Help’s mission is to assist area
non-profits by reducing their
space costs. In addition to
Johnson, the Self Help board
includes Circuit Court Judge
Ted Grove, former Columbia
River PUD General Manager
Fergus Pilon, former Columbia
County Assessor Tom Linhares
and former County Commis-
sioner and State Representa-
tive Bruce Hugo. Community
Action Team staff acts as staff
to the Self Help board. In addi-
tion to CAT’s offices, Self Help
purchased and owned the Co-
lumbia Pacific Food Bank build-
ing in St. Helens for more than
ten years until the food bank
asked to purchase it.
During the last several
months important questions
and reservations held by our
board, City Council and the Self
Help board have been an-
swered. An option agreement is
being prepared for review by all
concerned. We expect to have
it approved and executed early
in August. At that point, we can
begin raising funds.
Because our project also in-
cludes a new home for Vernon-
ia Cares, it is larger than most
new senior centers. We expect
it to cost close to $1 million.
The city can request $600,000
from the state in the form of a
Community Development Block
Grant. That means we will need
to
raise
approximately
$400,000 in other funds to
complete the project. That is
very ambitious, but we are opti-
mistic that we will eventually be
successful.
A few weeks ago, Jim Tier-
ney, who has been staffing the
project for us, was approached
by members of the Hands on
Art board with the possibility
that they might also find a
home in this new building. Jim
listened and explained that our
board would have to approve
such a change, and that our
fund plan was already aggres-
sive. He also said that Vernon-
ia Cares should be consulted.
Jim tells me that the issue was
expected to be raised at the
Hands on Art board meeting
and that they would get back to
us. Later that day he provided
the same information to the
City Council. Although we con-
tinue to field rumors on the sub-
ject, the Senior Board has not
yet heard from Hands on Art
and we consider it just specula-
tion at this point.
I hope this report will help al-
leviate the many rumors that
are circulating about the new
Center. Anyone who is con-
cerned or curious is welcome to
call me at 503-429-3912 or
Tierney at 503-366-6575.
Bill James, President
Vernonia Senior Center