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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2006)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” Vol. 21, No. 5 Counties, state concerned about federal budget cuts Spring is in the air From robins to scrub jays to this pair of bald eagles at Vernonia Lake, avian nesting activity declares spring is near, no matter what the temperature may be. Drainage problems swamping Mist Drive properties The Vernonia City Council heard from two Mist Drive resi- dents, at their Feb. 21 meeting, who said that they and another homeowner have a drainage problem because of stormwa- ter runoff coming down from Heather Lane. They feel the problem should be addressed by the city because building through the years has been fill- ing in natural creeks that should have handled the water that now collects on the three properties. City Administrator Robyn Bassett said the city wants to look into the Heather Lane drainage and will have the city consultants, Kennedy/Jenks, look into the issue to move to- ward a solution in partnership with the property owners. A work session was held on the wastewater facility upgrade project. Preston Van Meter, PE and Jennifer Coker, PE, both from consultants Kennedy/ Jenks, told council that the cur- rent cost of the upgrades is es- March 2, 2006 timated at $9.6 million, the city has a Community Development Block Grant for $1 million of that amount and is looking for other funding options to further reduce the cost to citizens. In the meantime, to get the project underway, the city will obtain a loan from the Oregon Depart- ment of Environmental Quality at 3.4 percent interest with a 20 year payback. Options for fund- ing the project include a Gener- al Obligation Bond measure on Please see page 4 Federal budget cuts for 2007 are a major concern for every state in the U.S. and for all Ore- gon counties. Cuts would be made in hun- dreds of domestic discretionary programs across the budget, including numerous programs to assist low-income families, children, and elderly and dis- abled people, education pro- grams, environmental protec- tion programs, and research related to cancer, heart dis- ease, and other medical condi- tions. Some specific areas of con- cern are a reduction in the fed- eral Medicaid match, which would result in a loss approxi- mately $24 million dollars for Oregon seniors and people with disabilities, combined with a reduction of about $45 mil- lion/year for nursing homes and Medicaid. Other programs would be terminated, among them the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides nutritional food packages for less than $20 a month to more than 400,000 low-income eld- erly people, one-third of whom are over age 75. Deep cuts are included for Section 202 housing for the low-income elderly, with a 26 percent cut below the 2006 lev- el and a 50 percent cut in Sec- tion 811 housing for low-in- come people with disabilities. Law enforcement funds would also be reduced, with a 79 percent cut in Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). A specific worry for Oregon Counties is the Secure Rural Local teen will join Northwest Medical Team for project in Mexico. Please see page 10 Schools and Community Self Determination Act, which would replace PL106-393 payments to offset the loss of forest re- ceipts, reducing federal forest payments to counties by about 50 percent in 2007 and end in five years. According to Commissioner Joe Corsiglia, Columbia Coun- ty received $1,990,675.00 un- der the Forest Payments pro- gram last year and will receive approximately the same amount this year, assuming 10 percent will come from forest harvest. Commissioner Cor- siglia says there’s no realistic way to replace that revenue. “Since property tax rates have been permanently capped, we can’t make up the loss of the Federal funds with revenue we don’t have,” Cor- siglia said. “Critical and vital county services from human and vet- erans services to road mainte- nance and construction proj- ects will have to be eliminated or cut back.” The Oregon Congressional delegation has expressed de- termination to seek renewal of PL106-393. Nearly time for St. Patrick’s Day Parade Anyone feeling “Irish” in Vernonia on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, is invited to join the St. Patrick’s Day pa- rade. There is no entry fee. Participants will gather at 5:15 p.m. outside the home of the parade’s founder, Pat Knight, at the corner of State Avenue and Bridge Street. The parade goes from there along Bridge Street to downtown. The parade is short – and a lot of fun.
