PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vol. 20, No. 20
Federal grant will help
county linear trail plan
Autumn Beauty
Autumn colors highlight foliage at Vernonia Lake.
Superintendent search options heard
Vernonia School Board held
a workshop on Superintendent
Search Options before starting
the regular business meeting,
October 13.
Greg McKenzie, represent-
ing the Oregon School Board
Association (OSBA), outlined
the steps the board could take
to hire a superintendent, start-
ing with establishing the crite-
ria/qualifications desired, up to
the selection of the new super-
intendent. He indicated that the
hiring process will take from
two to seven months to com-
plete.
The board first needs to de-
cide, McKenzie explained, if
they want to hire an interim su-
perintendent, then a permanent
superintendent, or just a per-
manent superintendent, and
whether to hire for half time or
full time.
The board must also deter-
mine whether they will do the
hiring themselves or contract
with OSBA to find applicants
and/or do the hiring. An interim
superintendent may be need-
ed, as most applicants will have
to complete existing contracts,
so the best pool of applicants
may not be available until next
spring. One interesting fact
mentioned by McKenzie is that,
nationwide, the average length
of employment for a superin-
tendent is 3-1/2 to 4 years per
position.
McKenzie made it clear to
the board that in order to hold
interviews in executive (closed
to the public) session, they
must first provide a forum for
public input on the criteria/qual-
ifications that should be used
October 20, 2005
during hiring.
Editor’s Note: A meeting was
held last night in the school district
office for public input. Acting su-
perintendent Anne Kingsley told
The INDEPENDENT that last
night’s meeting will not be the only
opportunity for public comments.
Please see page 20
The U.S. Department of In-
terior, National Park Service
has awarded a technical assis-
tance grant to the Columbia
County Parks Department in
support of development of the
Crown Zellerbach Logging
Road Trail.
“This is the step we have
been waiting for,” said Com-
missioner Tony Hyde. “This
technical assistance grant will
allow us to complete a plan that
will address all of the issues
and will make this trail a crown
jewel for Columbia County.”
National Park Service (NPS)
assistance will be focused on
the planning and development
of a trail master plan for the 23-
mile logging road from the City
of Scappoose to the City of
Vernonia, including a public in-
volvement component.
Assistance for the Rivers,
Trails, and Conservation Assis-
tance (RTCA) program will be
provided during the federal fis-
cal year ending September 30,
2006. If it is necessary to com-
plete the development plan, the
grant may be extended one ad-
ditional year.
Bryan Bowden, NPS Com-
munity Planner has been as-
signed to the project and coun-
ty officials have set an initial
meeting to familiarize him with
F al l , an d ta x st a te m en ts , a re he re
More than 28,000 property
tax bills have been mailed to
Columbia County property
owners at this time. Although
most property owners can ex-
pect a predictable three per-
cent increase in their property
tax bill each year, there are fac-
tors that can change that
amount.
There was less than a one
percent change in the consoli-
dated tax rates for Clatskanie
and Vernonia, but some other
areas weren’t so fortunate.
Consolidated tax rates include
all taxing entities that apply
within the county for each prop-
erty. These may include county,
city, school district and special
district (for example – fire, li-
brary or park districts) property
taxes. The consolidated tax
rate for the City of Scappoose
increased by 5.4 percent this
Please see page 20
the project and its location with-
in Columbia County.
The trail proposal calls for
conversion of the old Crown-
Zellerbach logging road to a
multipurpose trail for equestri-
ans, bike riders and walkers.
As proposed, the trail would
start at Chapman Landing, on
the Multnomah Channel near
Scappoose, then follow the log-
ging road to Pittsburg. From
there, it would follow other log-
ging roads into Vernonia and
connect with the Banks-Ver-
nonia State Linear Trail.
Ben Shumaker, above, will
become familiar to Vernoni-
ans. See article on page 4.
Halloween
on
Bridge Street
See page 10
for
details