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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2005)
Page 16 The INDEPENDENT, December 15, 2005 Welcome sign gets improvements The Banks Community Foundation (BCF), a non-profit organization committed to en- hancing cultural, social and economic development in Banks and surrounding com- munities, recently collaborated with the Banks Chamber of Commerce to visually enhance the “Welcome to Banks” sign located on Main Street and Hwy 6, with a new landscape of specially selected plants. The Way Out West, “WOW” chapter of the Hardy Plant So- ciety donated both time and ex- pertise in creating the land- scape design. The Thompson and Walters Nursery, Bea Pe- ters, and Lumberjack Farms donated all of the plants. Matt Phil Excavating donated time and equipment to deliver four yards of compost that was do- nated by Natures Needs, nego- tiated by Bob Bobosky. Volunteers who got down and dirty to do the planting and complete the project, were Stu- art Douglas, Denise Dethlefs, Tami Stewart and Kevin Grove. Police funding still requires decisions At the Banks City Council meeting in December, the may- or and councilors discussed the implications of the failure of the police levy in November. At this point, Banks will have no local police services after July. The city had contracted with Wash- ington County to provide police services but was depending on the levy to make that a long term possibility. Citizen Franklin Smith want- ed to know if the council planned to put the levy forward again, since it has been defeat- ed, in different versions, four times. Mayor Mike Lyda said that the failure was “dishearten- ing,” and noted that the meas- ure did receive a majority vote, but turnout was not high enough. He said that as long as a double majority is required, it will be difficult to pass a levy. The results of the levy were 169 yes to 105 no. Banks has 775 registered voters, so 343 people would have needed to Holiday Concert will collect food items From page 1 Attendees are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the local Sonshine Food Bank. Sunset Park Association and the Banks Chamber of Com- merce are sponsoring the free concert. They will be assisted by the Grace Hill Fellowship, which will set up the hall and provide the sound system. vote for the measure to carry. Councilor Teri Branstitre said that she had been looking at other small communities and found that many of them fund their police services from the general fund, rather than pass- ing special levies. Council member Chris Thackeray recognized that the issue has been put to vote re- p e a t e d l y, but said “we’d be negligent in our duty if we don’t continue to put it out there and say this is something we need.” Deputy Berning stated that he thought there continued to be confusion among voters about what the levy was for. People approached him think- ing that if the levy passed it would mean going back to a city department instead of con- tracting with the county. Council also discussed how to fill staffing needs for the city since the resignation of Ti m Grossnickle. Mayor Lyda pro- posed separating the water de- partment work from city admin- istration duties, as it is limiting to find a candidate with in- depth knowledge of both areas. A job description for a City Ad- ministrator is being considered and Pete Edison will head a committee to bring a recom- mendation to council in Febru- ary. The paving of the library and public works building lot is com- plete and the lot is open. The parking lot was in worse shape than originally thought and caused the project to come in $15,000 over budget. Because excavation and gravel had been bid by the square yard in- stead of the cubic yard, the ex- tra costs were higher than they appeared. The Market Street portion of the project will continue. The Mayor thought that the over- runs would not be as significant for Market Street because the street wasn’t failing. The gazebo lighting project is finished and locks have been installed on the light boxes. Attorney Rob Ireland and Sunset Park Association Presi- dent Mel Clark presented an update on the park’s progress toward clearing up land use is- sues. They said they had met all of the city planner’s re- quests. The group had finished its application and was submit- ting it to the Planning Commis- sion. The final outcome of the nu- merous surveys and studies al- lows the park to keep all exist- ing asphalt. A bio-swale will be constructed to deal with run-off and even allow the park to grow in the future. The Associ- ation will need to kill and re- move noxious plants, especial- ly Scotch broom and blackber- ries. They will also need to clean refuse from the wetland area. The noise study conclud- ed that existing abatement ef- forts were sufficient. City Planner KJ Won will re- Please see page 18