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The INDEPENDENT, August 18, 2005
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410. Publisher Clark McGaugh,
clark@the-independent.net • Managing Editor Rebecca Mc-
Gaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net • Editor Noni Ander-
sen, noni@the-independent.net
Opinion
Will there be any nature
left in Vernonia’s future?
The City of Vernonia, its Marketing Committee and
the Vernonia Chamber of Commerce have all used the
natural beauty of this area in promotional materials.
Photos have emphasized our flora and fauna.
Residents who regularly utilize the trails, especially
around Vernonia Lake, are continually entertained –
and sometimes awed – by ducks, grebes, coots,
geese, heron, redwinged blackbirds, wrens, kingfish-
ers, osprey, eagles, otters, rabbits, deer and rarer
wildlife.
Unlike crows, starlings and rodents, most of these
animals do not coexist well with human developments.
Indeed the state bird, the Western Meadowlark, is in
trouble throughout much of Oregon and its sprightly
song is rarely heard today in the Willamette Valley.
Vernonia’s headlong rush into glitz at Vernonia Lake
will have the same result: Crows, starlings and rodents
will predominate along with nearly tame ducks that are
used to being fed by humans. That will pretty much
eliminate the fauna and, once we start “landscaping”
our natural areas, we will also eliminate the flora.
If the City’s vision of the future is amusement park
activities, glitz and noise, they are well on their way.
Trees are replaced with flag poles and glaring lights.
There are lots of other possibilities, too: When the
song birds are gone, they can pipe in recorded “live
bird songs” through a public address system. How
about erecting plaques at historical sites where wood
ducks used to hatch? What about grand displays of full
color photos of the wildlife that used to live here?
Statues work, too. The City can buy plaster deer and
rabbits and place them in artfully landscaped areas
where those messy ferns, maples and alders used to
be. It will be much tidier.
Sarcasm aside, the City of Vernonia is on its way to
destroying the natural beauty of our parks. Develop-
ment and order are needed in our business district, not
in our parks.
We should not destroy the beauty of leather-like
maple leaves against moss-covered trunks, or lichen
that looks like flowers on winter-bare tree limbs. We
cannot improve on the delightful contrast of feathery
needles contrasting with rough bark.
Destroying nature’s gifts is not improvement.
District clerk’s effort finds pot of gold
By Schann Nelson
Imagine borrowing money
and legally paying back only 84
percent of the amount, while
earning interest on the loan.
Too good to be true? Not this
time.
When Vernonia School Dis-
trict Clerk Dawn Plews found
the Qualified Zone Academy
Bond (QZAB) fund, which al-
lows school districts to borrow
money for certain types of proj-
ects without paying interest, the
district applied, successfully,
for a loan.
At the August 11 Vernonia
School Board meeting, Joe
McLiney, of McLiney and Com-
pany, told the board that the
turn-around time on the QZAB
loan $487,660 that the district
will be receiving was phenome-
nal. He said that districts gener-
ally have to get in line and wait
for approval or renewal of fund-
ing. The fund is limited and re-
news every two years, if ap-
proved by Congress.
QZAB bonds are purchased
by banks which provide the ini-
tial money in exchange for a
tax credit. Though the credit
does not make purchasing the
bonds profitable for banks,
McLiney and Company devel-
oped a structure that ensures a
profit over the course of the
loan, while providing an oppor-
tunity for schools. The bank en-
joys a 1/16 reduction in their li-
ability every year, but can claim
a tax credit for the entire
amount of the loan for the full
16-year payoff period.
The first payment is due one
year after the close of the loan
and annually thereafter, but the
school does not pay back the
entire loan amount. The district
will pay $25,565 per year to a
holding account controlled by a
trustee, and the bank will pay
interest on the money in the
holding account. At the end of
the loan, the district will have
paid only $409,032 of the
amount borrowed while receiv-
ing almost $79,000 in interest.
Combined, the payments and
interest in the holding account
will equal the interest free
amount borrowed by the district.
New handbooks for students, staff
From page 1
The board approved student
handbooks with the addition,
suggested by Wallace, of defin-
itive procedures for showing
feature films and movies in the
classroom. Films must have an
educational purpose, and ‘R’
rated
movies,
such
as
Schindler’s List, are allowable
at the high school with parental
permission.
High School Principal Curt
Scholl gave the board draft
copies of a Coaches and Advi-
sors Handbook for review.
Though based on a previous
document, a handbook specify-
ing the duties and responsibili-
ties of coaches and advisors
has not been used in the dis-
trict for many years, according
to Scholl.
Committee Assignments
Board Chairman Randy
Hansen announced this year’s
committee assignments and
Superintendent Funderburg
told board members that they
can begin holding meetings.
He particularly encouraged the
long-range planning committee
to begin organizing as soon as
Please see page 24