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The INDEPENDENT, August 18, 2005
Vernonia Council hears ways to change vacant downtown buildings
Vernonia City Council held a
workshop at the beginning of
their August 15 meeting to dis-
cuss vacant or warehoused
structures in the downtown
business district. Jeff Bennett,
attorney at Jordan Schrader
PC, told council there are three
basic alternatives to getting
more downtown buildings occu-
pied; one is to use the city nui-
sance ordinance, though that
only gets owners to repair dan-
gerous buildings. Bennett said
he “wouldn’t recommend this
as an effective means of get-
ting buildings back into the
marketplace unless they have
lots of trash inside or vermin,”
because the owners can clean
them up and still not rent or sell.
Another alternative, with
similar problems, is to use the
building code on dangerous
buildings. Once again, this just
addresses safety issues.
A third alternative is to use
eminent domain, whereby the
city can take a building to fur-
ther a plan for development.
“Use this judiciously and care-
fully,” Bennett said, “as it can
be perceived as being unfairly
applied and you can make ene-
mies, but if you have an eco-
nomic development plan, it can
be done.” Another element
identified with the use of emi-
nent domain is that the city
must have funds to pay the
owner fair market value for any
property taken in this way.
Another method identified is
through development of an Ur-
ban Renewal District. This can
be expensive to set up and can
also be politically charged as
there are taxes levied to make
this happen.
Bennett went on to say that
trying to gain building owners’
cooperation is a good way to
start and will work in some cas-
es. Some cities are adopting
plans that offer tax incentives
instead of tax penalties, offer-
ing owners tax abatement for a
specific period if the owners al-
low the building to be occupied.
Council decided that, short
term, they want to meet and
talk with building owners. For a
long term, they would like to
see an economic development
plan or Urban Renewal District
set up.
Rebecca McGaugh gave an
update on the status of wildlife
at Vernonia Lake since the
Jamboree fireworks, reporting
that the family of wood ducks
and the young green herons
are gone, only a fraction of the
red-winged blackbirds remain
and the fireworks ignited a
small fire on property across
the Nehalem River that was put
out by property owners. Mc-
Gaugh said she hoped the
council would soon adopt a res-
olution banning fireworks at the
lake. Casey Mitchell spoke up
with an alternative view, saying
the fireworks were fantastic,
that he walks around the lake
every day and is still seeing
herons and blackbirds and that
Community Calendar
VERNONIA
Alcoholics Anonymous
Mondays
6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Saturdays
7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg.
American Legion Post #119
2nd Thursday
627 Adams Avenue
Arts & Crafts Society
2nd Thursday
2:00 p.m., City Library
Booster Club
2nd Wednesday
7:00 p.m., VHS Library
Boy Scout Troop 201
Tuesdays
7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin
Boy Scout Troop 860
Wednesdays
7:00 p.m., LDS Church
Cemetery Beautification Comm.
2nd Thursday
7:00 p.m., Leonetti’s Grill
CERT
4th Wednesday
For Info Call 503-429-6033
Chamber of Commerce
2nd Wednesday
For Info Call 503-429-6081
Community Coalition
2nd Monday
12:30 p.m. School District Ofc.
Cub Scout Pack 201
Scout Cabin
For Info Call 503-429-8133
Doll Club
4th Tuesday
1:00 p.m., Senior Center
Friends of the Library
1st Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library
Hands On Art Committee
1st & 3rd Thursdays
7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg.
Izaak Walton League
3rd Thursday
For location call 503-429-7193
Lions Club
1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., Buckhorn Restaurant
Nehalem Valley Car Club
For Info Call 503-429-4074
Pioneer Museum
For Info Call 503-429-3713
Preschool Story Hour
Mondays
10:30 a.m., City Library
Upper Nehalem C.P.A.C.
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Venturing Crew 201
1st & 3rd Thursdays 5:30 p.m., Buckhorn Restaurant
Vernonia Airport Committee
3rd Wednesday
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Cares Directors
For Info call 503-429-1414
Vernonia City Council
1st & 3rd Mondays
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Community PTA
3rd Thursday
6:30 p.m., WGS Library
Vernonia Grange
4th Saturday
10:30 a.m., Grange Hall
Vernonia Health Center
2nd Monday
6:00 p.m., 510 Bridge St.
Vernonia Planning Comm.
1st & 3rd Thursdays
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Pride
3rd Thursday
1:00 p.m., City Hall
Vernonia Ridge Riders
Last Thursday
7:00 p.m., Senior Center
Vernonia RFPD Board
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
Vernonia School Board
2nd Thursday
6:00 p.m., District Office
Vernonia Sr. Center Board
3rd Friday
1:00 p.m., Senior Center
Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Thursday
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters
2nd Monday
7:00 p.m., Fire Station
WOEC Directors
3rd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., WOEC
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he hopes the fireworks are held
at the lake again.
Vernonia Senior Center
President Bill James told coun-
cil that the Center’s board of di-
rectors decided, by one vote,
that they would prefer the new
center be built on property by
Vernonia Lake. City Administra-
tor Robyn Bassett will meet
with the owners of the property,
seniors and Community Action
Team personnel, to start finding
ways to bring roads and utilities
to the site.
Council tabled a written re-
quest from Vernonia School
District Superintendent Michael
Funderburg for a credit against
development charges for the
new school building. The re-
quest was based on the fact
that Lincoln Grade School ex-
isted before development
charges were implemented and
that the new school is a re-
placement. Council will review
the appropriate ordinances and
consider this request at the
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next meeting.
In a vote with only Councilor
Randy Parrow opposed, Sys-
tem Development Charges
(SDC) were increased from
$6,311 to $7,826 for new devel-
opment. On a table showing
SDCs in nine Oregon cities with
populations under 5,000, Ver-
nonia currently charges less
than all but one city. The most
expensive was St. Paul, with
SDCs of $14,500. Develop-
ment charges help pay for
streets, stormwater, water,
wastewater and parks.
In other business, council
approved the loan of a city
backhoe and operator to get
utilities to the Booster building
behind the school – the Boost-
ers have free paving coming
but need the utilities dug in first.
Council approved Vernonia
Police Chief Workman’s re-
quest to declare one of the po-
lice cars surplus so it can be
sold, and heard that Jamboree
Please see page 5
OCTOBER 2005
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MIST-BIRKENFELD
M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg.
2nd Tuesday
M-BRFPD Board Workshop
4th Tuesday
M-B Ambulance Drill
1st & 2nd Thursdays
M-B Fire Drill
1st & 2nd Wednesdays
M-B Helping Circle
2nd Monday
M-B SAR Drill
3rd Wednesday
M-B Volunteer Assoc.
1st Tuesday
Natal Grange
2nd Wednesday
T.O.P.S.
Mondays
Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-2401
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7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall
6:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station
BANKS
Alcoholics Anonymous
Fridays
8:00 p.m., Methodist Church
American Legion Post #90
2nd Tuesdays
7:30 p.m., Main Street Post
Banks City Council
2nd Tuesday
7:30 p.m., City Hall
Banks Fire District #13
2nd Wednesday
7:00 p.m., Station 13
Banks Planning Commission
Last Tuesday
7:00 p.m., City Hall
Banks School Board
2nd Monday
7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library
Banks Youth Group
Sundays, Wednesdays
7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg.
Chamber of Commerce
1st Thursday
12:30 p.m., Fire District Office
CPO 14
3rd Monday
7:00 p.m., City Library
Friends of the Library
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., City Library
Lions Club
1st & 3rd Mondays
7:00 p.m., Brown Derby
Sunset Park Assoc.
3rd Wednesday
8:00 p.m., Gun Club
T.O.P.S.
Wednesdays
7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg.
Women’s Aglow
2nd Thursday
7:00 p.m., City Library
COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.)
Board of Commissioners
Wednesdays
10 a.m., Courthouse
Citizens for Senior Justice
2nd Tuesday
7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church
Columbia Soil & Water District
3rd Wednesday
7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes
County Fair Board
2nd Monday
7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg.
County Parks Commission
3rd Monday
6:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St.
Mental Health Advisory Comm.
3rd Tuesday
10 a.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse
Comm. on Children & Families
3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 550 N. Hwy. 30
Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm. 2nd Tuesday
3:00 p.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse
Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The
INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.