The independent., May 05, 2005, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, May 5, 2005
Poor planning harms
middle school project
Groundbreaking for the new Vernonia school build­
ing was held April 27 with the usual self-congratulato­
ry language, but without mentioning that 2-3,000 cubic
yards of fill material had been brought to the building
site without a fill permit.
Without notification to the City of Vernonia, site
preparation started April 26. After becoming aware of
the work, the City informed them that they needed a fill
permit. It was not until after the groundbreaking that a
project representative showed up to get the forms.
At that point, City Administrator Robyn Bassett had
a choice: She could order the work stopped until the
permits were obtained, or she could help expedite the
permit process. Bassett chose the latter.
Some may question Bassett’s decision, but it would
have been pointlessly expensive to stop work. The ma­
jor question is: Why was the project started without the
necessary permits?
If the planning personnel involved in this project
were as professional as the school district has
claimed, such questions wouldn’t arise.
The Vernonia Rural Fire District has not signed off
on the plan because the City’s failure to require a No
Parking zone creates dangerous congestion when stu­
dents are being dropped off or picked up.
In addition to emergency equipment needing a clear
roadway for quick response, Vernonia’s emergency re­
sponders are mostly volunteers. When they are called,
they must get to the fire hall in their personal vehicles,
without sirens and emergency lights. Anyone who has
crawled through the school zone during these times is
aware of how slow it can be.
Funds for the new school are a concern, too. The
school board authorized borrowing $1 million for the
project. Because it is a loan, it must be repaid with op­
erating funds. Unlike a bond, there is no additional tax
earmarked for loan repayment. The cost is now at least
$1.6 million and the district will have to borrow more.
The first million has a graduated interest rate, ranging
from 1.8 percent to 5.1 percent per year over 20 years.
What will the next loan cost?
There is a lesson in all this. It’s too bad it had to be
learned this wav.
Ike Says
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
So, when is a duck not
part of the natural scene
on a river? When it is plas­
tic! And if you happened to
have a duck num bered
Y338, the state police
want to talk to you! Not re­
ally, they are going to ar­
rest George Tice for 178
counts of offensive litter­
ing instead. Kidding, again.
During this year’s River Fest there was a
great duck escape during the ducky derby. It
seems that with the river being up and ODF&W
unwilling to allow a net to be strung across the
river, a lot of ducks continued down Rock Creek
and beyond. I found this out the next day while
on the river. Pink, blue and yellow ducks were
everywhere. I decided that I could help with this
problem and a few days later returned in my
kayak with the proper gear to get me some
ducks. So what did I find? Well, 178 ducks that I
could retrieve, but there are still a few escapees
out there that I couldn’t get to. It was interesting
to see all the different ducks and their decora­
tions. Y338 was one of my favorites, it had
antlers. Y210 had green foil ears and a rooster’s
comb, B200 was all dressed up in flowers, Y357
had an interesting plastic tape suit and poor
F227 had been partially eaten by a critter on the
shore. I guess it didn’t taste like a real duck. I
saw some real ducks hanging out around P839;
I think a Merganser hen thought it was one of her
chicks, kind of odd though, considering the
ducky was pink with black spots. So whose duck
was the best swimmer? That would be P782,
which was found at the tail end of Ellis’s Dairy
farm on the Nehalem River.
It was good to see the turn-out of water craft
during River Fest; I could join the fun for only a
mile before retiring to my home for rest, since I
had to pull a night shift. This brings me to my
next subject.
Many of you may have seen the Attorney
General’s opinion on the public’s right to use the
waterways in the state of Oregon. It was a good
opinion if you are a user, probably not so good if
you’re a landowner. I would think, as a landown­
er, whether you are or are not disturbed by this
opinion would depend on why you own the land
in the first place. Some have been glad to share
and some have not. Most of you know that I
kayak a lot of the local streams. I have never had
a bad experience with a landowner during any of
my trips, and I thank you for that. Do I have a
right to use the rivers as I have? Under the
A.G.’s opinion, yes.
But there is a movement in the legislature to
bring the public’s right to use the waterways of
the state to a statutory conclusion. While this is
good, some of the bills are not. Currently, there
are three proposed bills in the Senate, 423,1014
and 1028. SB423 is sponsored by the Northwest
Steelheaders Association and mirrors the Mon­
tana access statutes, which basically is what the
Please see page 24