PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vol. 21, No. 18
September 21, 2006
Council, public take tour
of Wastewater project
Learning Center opens
Before the regular Vernonia
City Council meeting of Sep-
tember 18, the city held a tour
of the Wastewater Rehabilita-
tion Project for interested par-
ties. About 15 people met at the
main pump station by the la-
goons to hear Preston Van Me-
ter and Jennifer Coker of
Kennedy/Jenks Engineering
talk about the project.
Phase I of the project calls
for larger pumps at the main
pump station, replacement of
the dry well at the Mist Dr.
pump station with a wet well
(dry wells are not being used
much anymore, due to OSHA
safety issues), a small pump at
the lagoon station which is cur-
rently gravity fed (and as a re-
sult, tends to stop up once or
twice a year) and a new head-
works to screen paper and oth-
er non-biodegradables to go to
landfill. Phase I cost is around
$4 million and is designed for
the estimated 20 year flow rate,
though the equipment and, if
well maintained, could last up
to 40 plus years. This phase
should be completed in Febru-
ary 2007, and may cause some
traffic diversions while they in-
stall a forcemain line under a
portion of Bridge St.
Plans for Phase II of the
project, with an estimated cost
of $5.6 million, have not been
finalized. What is known about
Phase II is that it will include
storage, either by yard piping,
raising lagoon walls, and/or by
lining the currently unlined la-
goon; plus a chlorine contact
chamber for final treatment; a
laboratory/operations building
for monitoring sites and chemi-
cal storage; plus membrane fa-
cilities to scrub the liquid and
take out metals, and even
some viruses, before final dis-
charge or irrigation use.
The engineers, the city, and
the Public Works Committee
are looking at three options for
Phase II. All the options being
reviewed call for the final result
to be a level IV effluent, which
is clean enough to be used for
irrigation. The hope is to bring
Please see page 4
Presentation on SDCs tells how
they started and how they’re used
Photo by Rebecca Jensen
State Representative Brad Witt performed the ribbon cutting honors for the official open-
ing of the Vernonia Community Learning Center. The September 16 opening continued
with refreshments and live entertainment. For more information on Learning Center activ-
ities, please see page 12.
Rain eliminates water restrictions
The water emergency in
Vernonia is over. When Ver-
nonia city staff read the Rock
Creek gauge on Wednesday,
September 20, the flow was
measured at 17.3 cfs. A water
shortage emergency is de-
clared when the flow decreas-
es to 12 cfs or less.
No restrictions on water use
are in place at this time. The
rains of the past week have
brought the flows up and have
even brought the first few
Salmon up Rock Creek.
St. Mary’s
36th Annual
Quilt Fair
Dogs & Salmon
Sept. 21-24, 2006
…a dangerous
combination
See page 23
960 Missouri Ave.
Vernonia
The September 18, Vernon-
ia City Council meeting started
with a presentation on SDC’s
(System
Development
Charges) by Shaun Pigott, an
SDC specialist. An SDC is a
one-time charge for new users
to recover the cost of new con-
nections and added capacity to
a city’s systems—wastewater,
sewer, streets, etc. Pigott
spoke specifically about Ver-
nonia’s wastewater SDC.
Prior to 1987, Pigott ex-
plained, many Oregon cities
had some form of new develop-
ment fees. The 1989 Legisla-
ture passed the SDC Act,
which set up the current sys-
tem of SDC’s used throughout
Oregon (which went into effect
July 1, 1991).
Please see page 4
Cougar attacks mare
in Creekview area
A cougar attacked an Arabi-
an mare near Keasey Road,
and Creekview Lane, on Sep-
tember 5. Livestock kept in
open pastures appear to be
safer than those in or near
wooded areas.
If you see a cougar, or sus-
pect a cougar attack, contact
Rick Boatner, NW Region As-
sistant Director Wildlife Biolo-
gist at 503-621-3025, or OSP
Wildlife Officer in St. Helens at
503-397-3131.