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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2005)
Vol. 20, No. 2 'Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley' January 20, 2005 New school building closer to construction A presentation by Kathy Pennington’s junior high Span ish class delighted the Vernon ia School Board at their Janu ary 13 meeting. After introduc ing themselves by both their American and “Spanish” names, the class performed a song about the months of the year, complete with hand motions, then left to a round of applause. New Building A meeting of prospective bidders on the building project was held earlier in the day, Ver nonia Schools Superintendent Mike Funderburg reported, with twenty-three potential bidders. Bidding on the project - which will include six classrooms, small locker rooms, office space and a cafeteria that will seat 350 - will be closed at 2:00 p.m. on January 27. Fun derburg plans to begin scoring the bids immediately, so a con tractor can be selected before the February 10 meeting. He will be assisted by board mem bers Randy Hansen, Gienah Cheney and Tim Titus. y 'Z.W HTA». _l-. - .-.Z ■■■>■»— «OwW »— — — • February 10 is also the date Elected officials sworn in at the January 11 meeting of the Banks City Council included, !- the Vernonia Planning Com r, Councilor Brian Biehl, Mayor Mike Lyda, and Councilors Tert Branstitre and Ryan Birr. mission will review the district’s request for a conditional use permit (7:00 p.m. at City Hall). The design presented to bid This has created a loop, with ders does not include a gymna Banks City Council opened also distributed material from the recorder referring people to Officer Pat Garrett, about sium, although the permit appli their January 11 meeting by the county and the county re cation does. The district wants swearing in new Mayor Mike Washington County’s agree ferring them back to the city, to be able to add a gym if fund Lyda and three councilors. A ment with Gaston. Referring to causing considerable frustra ing is available. Construction discussion of options for the previous comments that local tion to everyone involved. cannot begin until the permit is police department was the ordinances went unenforced, Branstitre proposed hiring Offi Garrett said that the municipal approved. main topic of the meeting. cer Rob Richards, who is in Councilor Teri Branstitre re court in Gaston is now operat Future Buildings training and not yet certified for ported discussing two possibili ing, dealing with citations in ac Parent Amy Cieloha asked patrol, and Reserve Officer ties with North Plains City Man cordance with the long-term how the district can build a new Blake Rose to process records. ager Don Aven. The first would agreement. building and, at the same time, Branstitre also reported a Council approved up to four involve sharing a police chief say that funding will be ade hours per week for each officer. between the two cities, with backlog of police paperwork quate next year. She told the Saying he “would like to each city maintaining its own that needs to be addressed. move forward with this issue,” board the she feels that she officers; the second would be The city recorder is receiving speaks for many citizens who Mayor Lyons urged looking at contracting for police services requests for information and re Please see page 12 are unable to understand how from North Plains. Branstitre ports that she cannot process. New year, old problem: Funding police X this is possible, especially with continuing repairs needed at Washington Grade School. She also asked how well such a small building can address the needs of all students, when many will remain at WGS. Funderburg said that it was a board decision to provide a decent cafeteria with space enough to feed all of the stu dents in the district, and to pro vide enough classroom space to get kids out of the basement. In response to a comment about teachers waiting for air filters, he said, unequivocally, that “there is no mold, mildew or air quality issue at WGS. The inside air is cleaner than the outside air.” However, he said, some people continue to believe that a problem exists, in spite of work completed two years ago and the report indi cating that no problem existed. Board Chairman Jim Krahn said that significant spending at WGS was like “pouring money down a rat-hole.” The current project was un dertaken by the board, Funder burg added, as a way to show the community what was possi ble. The board decided to bor row the maximum amount of money allowed to accomplish their goal. A larger building project - to replace both the grade and high schools — would require a community ef fort to pass a bond. Meeting Dates Krahn reported that Cheney had expressed a conflict with Thursday meetings and sug gested moving them to Tues days. Cheney said that, as her children get into high school sports, she would not be able to attend meetings. Cieloha pointed out that the rural fire Please see page 15
