PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vol. 20, No. 23
Tree lighting, lighted
truck parade, bazaar
start holiday schedule
It’s that time…
Santa Claus made his first stop in Vernonia, this year, at the old city hall shops of Morn-
ing Mist, Out On a Limb and Buckleberry Cottage.
Columbia County action on Measure 37
In light of recent legal deci-
sions concerning the legality of
Measure 37, Columbia County
would like to provide updated
information to the public con-
cerning their understanding as
to how these decisions affect
the processing of Measure 37
claims in Columbia County.
On October 14, 2005, the
Marion County Circuit Court
declared that Measure 37 is un-
constitutional. The decision has
been appealed to the Oregon
Supreme Court, which is ex-
pected to hear the case in Jan-
uary.
The Circuit Court decision
was not stayed pending a deci-
sion from the Supreme Court.
Therefore, the parties to the
Circuit Court case are currently
bound by the Circuit Court deci-
sion.
Columbia County was not a
party to the Circuit Court case.
However, the State of Oregon
is a party to the case. There-
fore, waivers that the State has
issued are invalid. The State
has indicated that they will not
be processing any new claims
nor will they be issuing any
new waivers pending a deci-
sion of the Oregon Supreme
Court on the appeal of the Mar-
ion County Circuit Court deci-
sion declaring the measure un-
constitutional.
Columbia County will contin-
ue to process Measure 37
claims for people seeking
waivers of the County’s code.
However, if a state law or rule
December 1, 2005
also applies, the County cannot
issue development permits
even if the County waives the
County code. For example,
Claimant A receives a County
waiver of the County’s forest
land minimum lot size to parti-
tion property. However, the
Claimant cannot get a valid
waiver for the correlating State
law. Therefore, the County can-
not grant preliminary partition
plat approval for Claimant A un-
less the Supreme Court de-
clares Measure 37 to be consti-
tutional.
The County is currently of-
fering stay agreements to exist-
ing County Measure 37
claimants. The agreements will
stop the clock for processing
Please see page 5
Mark your calendars for Sat-
urday, December 3, at 6:00
p.m. Vernonia Pride, Hands on
Art and the Vernonia Chamber
of Commerce are partnering to
present a downtown Christmas
tree lighting with Santa Claus,
plus music by Hands on Art, the
Vernonia High School choir
and band and more. Tree light-
ing will be at City Hall to kick off
the festivities.
Following the tree lighting,
there will be a parade of trucks,
brightly decorated with Christ-
mas lights.
Many downtown businesses
will stay open late for the festiv-
ities and there will be hot dogs
for sale in the downtown pock-
et park next to Black Bear Cof-
fee.
The 27th annual “Christmas
in the Country” Booster Club
Bazaar will be held December
3 and 4, at a new location in the
Vernonia Middle School Cafe-
teria. Shopping hours will be
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on
Scouts will hold
food drive Dec. 3
Cub Scout Pack 201 and
Boy Scout Troop 201 will be
going door to door around Ver-
nonia on Saturday, December
3, collecting food for Vernonia
Cares. The Scouts and their
helpers will be collecting from
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Donors are asked to have
non-perishable, non-expired
food items ready for pickup. If
you leave a donation on your
doorstep, it should be put in a
plastic bag to protect it from the
ever-changing weather.
All donations will be taken to
Vernonia Cares Food Bank.
Saturday, and noon to 5:00
p.m. on Sunday.
There will be a wide selec-
tion of handmade items for hol-
iday shopping, including hand-
made purses, jewelry, wood
crafts, soap, fresh holiday
wreaths and much more!
Bring the kids to meet Santa
Claus and have their picture
taken with him. Lunch will be
available, too, with chili, soup,
pizza, homemade pies, cinna-
mon rolls and much more.
Vernonia Cares will have
food barrels on site for canned
food donations to help those in
need in our community this hol-
iday season.
Proceeds from the bazaar
go toward the Booster Club
scholarships given annually to
two members of the Senior
Class at Vernonia High School.
Additional Holiday
information may
be found on
Pages 13, 14 & 15
Bassett will be
honored at City
Hall open house
Vernonia City Administrator
Robyn Bassett will be honored
at an open house in City Hall,
Friday, December 2, from 7:00
to 9:00 p.m. at City Hall. All cit-
izens and friends are invited to
join in congratulations to Bas-
sett, who will graduate from
Willamette University’s Atkin-
son Graduate School of Man-
agement on December 1.
Please see page 4