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Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vol. 20, No. 15
Pihl says OA Hill logging
“won’t cause problems”
Vernonia’s Night Out…
Vernonia Police Officer Michael Kay talks with some of the residents who attended the lo-
cal events for National Night Out. Officer Kay was explaining what his German shepherd
would be doing in a demonstration of K9 dog training. More information on page 11.
S c a p p oo se t o Ve r n on i a t ra il p la n b e g in s
A meeting to discuss the
proposed trail from Scappoose
to Vernonia was held at the
Scout Cabin on July 21. Most
of the property for the trail, tem-
porarily called the Crown-
Zellerbach Trail, has been ob-
tained through purchase or
land trades, from Wood’s Land-
ing on the Multnomah Channel
in Scappoose to within three
miles of Vernonia.
Columbia County Commis-
sioner Tony Hyde gave the
overview and the reason for the
meeting, which was to let peo-
ple know what is happening
with the trail and to hear any
concerns from landowners
Meeting on
Apple Valley
Airport
expansion
Please see page 13
along the trail.
All three County Commis-
sioners – Tony Hyde, Joe Cor-
siglia, and Rita Bernhard –
were present. Hyde noted that
the project is very important to
all three commissioners that
any issues be addressed and
mitigated.
Hyde went on to say that the
county has agreed with the Bu-
reau of Land Management
(BLM) to replace three culverts
in the next three-and-a-half
years; in exchange for this,
BLM has conveyed some
property to the county. Hyde
said the county has obtained
funds for the culverts.
The trail is intended to be an
extension of the Banks-Vernon-
ia State Park and, once com-
pleted, will have park ranger
coverage.
Chapman resident Joy Fer-
renburg expressed anger and
dismay at the idea of having
the trail run through her front
yard, and that she felt the coun-
August 4, 2005
ty has not notified residents of
what’s going on with the trail or
plans. Hyde responded that
there was nothing to notify peo-
ple about until the county was
able to put enough of the land
together for the trail to become
a possibility. The county is now
holding meetings to identify
concerns, so they can start
working with individual land-
owners on mitigation of any
problems, then start develop-
ment of a master plan for the
trail project.
Other residents expressed
concern about horses, bikes
and pedestrians leaving the
trail and trespassing or damag-
ing their property. Noni Ander-
sen and Jim Tierney, Vernonia
residents who were instrumen-
tal in getting the Banks-Vernon-
ia State Park (B-VSP) started,
both told the meeting attendees
that residents along B-VSP had
the very same concerns until
the trail was opened and then
Please see page 10
Mike Pihl spoke to the Ver-
nonia City Council, at their Au-
gust 1 meeting, to address con-
cerns that have been transmit-
ted via letter by residents below
the area he recently logged on
OA Hill.
Pihl told the council that he
logged off a different area on
the hill in 1995 and when the
flood of 1996 came, nothing
happened to the property he
had logged. He went on to say
that he left stumps in to help
stabilize the ground and plant-
ed grass seed three weeks
ago. “I wouldn’t do it if I thought
it would cause any problems,”
Pihl said.
During a discussion on
whether to pursue acquisition
of property on Rose Avenue for
a new senior citizens center,
Senior Center President Bill
James said that the seniors are
Social Security
topic of meetings
Congressman David Wu
has scheduled two Town Hall
meetings to discuss Social Se-
curity and privatization.
The first meeting will be
Wednesday, August 10, from
10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the St.
Helens Senior Center, 357 S.
15th St., St. Helens. The other
meeting will by Thursday, Au-
gust 11, from 10:30 to 11:30
a.m. at the Astoria Senior Cen-
ter, 1111 Exchange St., Astoria.
Congressman Wu has voted
every time to oppose privatiza-
tion and protect Social Securi-
ty. The Town Hall meetings will
include invited experts on So-
cial Security. These meetings
provide an opportunity to tell
your congressman what you
believe should be done about
Social Security and privatiza-
tion.
divided on the Rose Avenue
site and feel forced into a deci-
sion. City Administrator Robyn
Bassett said that one consider-
ation is timing. A building on the
Rose Ave. site could be started
next year, but the Lake proper-
ty, where infrastructure (roads
and utilities) won’t go in until
2007, would probably delay the
building until 2010.
After extensive discussion of
both sites, James and other
Senior Center board members
present, George Gans and Carl
Holsey, gave approval to the
council to pursue acquisition of
the Rose Avenue site, with the
understanding that there would
be a DEQ evaluation done pri-
or to purchase to assure that
the site will qualify for grants
and funding.
The Jamboree Committee
asked for and received appro-
val to close some streets for
Jamboree. Closures will in-
clude Adams Avenue from
Bridge to Maple, old City Hall
parking lot and accesses for
vendor set up, Weed Avenue
on Saturday morning for the
parade, Madison Avenue from
Bridge to Shady Lane at 9:00
p.m. Saturday for a movie
showing, Park Drive all week-
end except for reserved park-
ing for the Scout Cabin, and
Bridge Street from City Hall to
State Avenue on Saturday
morning for the parade. Coun-
cil also approved the use of
598 A St. for a beer garden and
live band on Saturday night
from 6:00 p.m. to midnight.
Resident Clark McGaugh
presented pictures of wildlife
Please see page 4
Vernonia Cares
5K Fun Run & Walk
Please see page 11