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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2006)
The INDEPENDENT, February 16, 2006 Page 19 47J Long Range Planning Committee plans for future building needs By Schann Nelson A lot of information has been gathered since early January, when the Vernonia School Dis- trict board approved the long range planning committee (LRPC) recommendation to hire Dull Olson Weekes (DOWA) to develop of a com- prehensive long-range plan for district facilities. The committee has worked to begin identifying issues and develop an agenda for a town hall meeting to be held March 15 at 6:00 in the Middle School cafeteria. This meeting – the first of two – will include a presenta- tion of the capacity study and a review of existing reports. The district’s needs, as identified by the committee, will also be pre- sented. The public is invited to provide the committee with their needs and desires for these important community fa- cilities at this time. Public com- ments will be used by the LRPC to help evaluate options as they are developed. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion BEFORE the LRPC be- gins to develop and evaluate options. A second town hall meeting will be held to gather public comment on the options developed by the LRPC. The first task completed by the committee and DOWA is a study of the capacity and condi- tion of existing facilities. Much of the work regarding the condi- tion of existing facilities was completed in the past. The esti- mated cost of renovating and upgrading Washington Grade School and the high school was first completed in 2001, updat- ed in 2002 (due to a change in the seismic classification of the area), and updated again as part of the current committee work. It is critical for taxpayers to understand that mechanical, electrical and seismic renova- tions, and the addition of much- needed handicapped access, do NOT include any modifica- tions designed to improve edu- cational capacity. These up- grades would bring the existing building ‘up to code’ but would not improve communication, security, technology, traffic, gym space, or anything else. In addition, seismic upgrades are not designed to keep the build- ing from falling down; they are designed to keep hallways and doors from collapsing long enough to get people out. The estimated cost of these modifi- cations (as of October 2005) is almost $9.15 million; an ex- traordinary amount of money to ask voters to support for what would essentially be the same buildings and facilities. Another part of the capacity study identified existing and fu- ture educational program needs. A staff survey indicates the need for flexible classroom space, adequate storage (classroom, sports and leader- ship), improved technology and Time to have a say in forest plans now From page 5 fits to Oregonians. Most of the revenue from timber sales is distributed to county govern- ments and local taxing districts, and to the Common School Fund to benefit schools throughout the state. The ob- jectives in district annual opera- tions plans are based on the goals and strategies found in the long-range forest manage- ment plans. The Northwest Oregon State Forests Management Plan pro- vides guidance for 616,000 acres in the following districts: Astoria (Clatsop State Forest), Tillamook (western two-thirds of the Tillamook State Forest), Forest Grove (eastern one-third of the Tillamook), Cascade (Santiam State Forest), West Oregon (scattered tracts in Benton, Polk and Lincoln coun- ties), and Western Lane (scat- tered tracts in Lane County). The Southwest Oregon State Forest Management Plan covers 18,000 acres of blocked and scattered lands in Jose- phine, Douglas, Curry and Jackson counties. Forest management plans may be requested from district offices or from the ODF head- quarters in Salem. The contact person in Salem is planning specialist Roger Welty, who may be contacted by phone (503-945-7258) or e-mail rwel- ty@odf.state.or.us. Each district covered by the Northwest Oregon State Forests Management Plan and Southwest Oregon State For- est Management Plan has a 10-year implementation plan that describes how the man- agement activities will achieve the goals of the forest manage- ment plans. The implementa- tion plans are posted on the ODF web site http://egov.ore- gon.gov/ODF/STATE_FORE ST S/planning.shtml The public involvement process provides an opportuni- ty for ODF districts to share their annual plans with the pub- lic. It also is a time for the pub- lic to ask questions and offer comments on the planned ac- tivities on state forestlands. When reviewing and com- menting on an annual opera- tions plan, it may be helpful to use the less-technical summa- ry document as a starting point. If questions arise, refer to the more detail-oriented pre-opera- tions reports. Written com- ments providing the most use- ful suggestions should focus on one or more of the following: • Enhancing the consistency of an annual plan with the forest management plan and (for dis- tricts covered by NW and SW plans) the district implementa- tion plan. • Improving the clarity of an an- nual plan. • Providing new information that will affect an annual plan (such as location of a domestic water source or a cultural re- source site). • Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of an annual plan or planned operation. Comments and questions may be sent to ODF district of- fices or the Salem headquar- ters. They may also be e- mailed to Salem (specific dis- trict should be identified) to rwelty@odf.state.us. Address- es and fax numbers follow: – State Forests Program, Oregon Department of Forestry, Attn: Roger Welty, 2600 State St., Salem, OR 97310. Fax: 503-945-7376. – Astoria District (Clatsop State Forest), 92219 Hwy 202, Astoria, OR 97103. Fax: 503-325-2756. – Forest Grove District (east- ern one-third Tillamook State Forest), 801 Gales Creek Road, Forest Grove, OR 97116. Fax: 503-357-4548. – Tillamook District (western two-thirds Tillamook State Forest), 5005 East 3rd St., Tillamook, OR 97141. Fax: 503-842-3143. For addresses of other dis- tricts, contact any ODF office. telecommunications, confer- ence rooms, commons area and workspace. These are ba- sics that teachers need to pro- vide twenty-first century stu- dents with full integration of technology in the classroom, activity-based learning, and working in small groups on in- terdisciplinary projects. At their last meeting, the committee reviewed the enroll- ment and capacity study pre- sented by Renee Kroupa of DOWA. Using standard formu- las to evaluate the existing fa- cility and projecting future en- rollment, Kroupa demonstrated that the district is now uncom- fortably close to capacity, in- cluding the use of portable classrooms. If portable class- rooms were eliminated from the evaluation, the district is over capacity by nearly two full classes (59 students). Enrollment is now about 715 students and the recent study shows district capacity – with portable classrooms – of 749 students. Using a simple annu- al percentage growth rate, dis- trict enrollment is projected to reach 1000 students by 2016. Using this data, the district will be over capacity by the end of the next school year, even with the use of portable classrooms. At this point, the committee does not know if this is an accu- rate estimate. Committee mem- ber Robyn Bassett reported that the city would soon begin working with the Center for Population Growth, at Portland State University, to develop new estimates of growth. Discover a brighter future. 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