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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2007)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 Vol. 22, No. 12 “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” City asked to remove sign that blocks reader board RCMC delivers! Rose City Motorcycle Club delivered 1,485 pounds of food to Vernonia Cares on June 16. This is the 11th consecutive year that the group has delivered over 1,000 pounds of food, buying it with donations and using a van and driver supplied by Bob Lanphere Honda, of Beaverton. RCMC added Vernonia to their charitable projects after the flood of 1996. Vernonia set for Cycle Oregon weekend Motorists are advised to use extra caution when traveling on Highway 47 during the June 23-24 weekend, as more than 700 cyclists are expected to participate in Cycle Oregon’s 2007 Weekend Ride in Vernon- ia. The cyclists are expected to ride to the far right of Highway 47 and other roads in the area, but the routes being used are narrow and curved in places. Accordingly, motorist and cy- clist attentiveness will be ex- tremely helpful in making this event safe and enjoyable. Cyclists will travel north and south from Vernonia during the two-day event from approxi- mately 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily as follows: • Day 1 – Saturday, June 23. The 72-mile long-distance route will take cyclists north from Vernonia on Highway 47 to Apiary Road to Old Rainier Road, across U.S. 30 (Lower June 21, 2007 Columbia River Highway), along Alston-Mayger Road, Quincy-Mayger Road, Beaver Falls Road, back across U.S. 30 in Clatskanie, and south on Highway 47 through Mist and Natal before returning to Ver- nonia. Shorter routes on Satur- day take cyclists north from Vernonia on Highway 47 to Mist, along Highway 202 to Bir- kenfeld, and back to Vernonia. • Day 2 – Sunday, June 24. The short-distance route takes cyclists south from Vernonia on Highway 47 to Stub Stewart State Park. A longer ride con- Please see page 4 Vernonia – July 4th Fun – Banks Vernonia’s 4th of July cele- bration will start off with Boost- er and Scouts offering food at 6:00 p.m. on the Vernonia school grounds. The parade kicks off at 7:30 p.m. from Weed Ave. to Califor- nia Ave. Fireworks will start at dusk behind the Vernonia Middle School and High School. Spec- tators are reminded to leave their personal fireworks at home. The Independence Day Family Fun Festival, in Banks, will be on Wednesday, July 4, at Sunset Park. There will be strawberry shortcake, cotton candy, and other food and items provided by various vendors, plus play- land equipment. The Festival starts at 2:00 p.m. and goes until 10:00 p.m. Auto dirt track racing will take place in the evening and fireworks will fin- ish the evening. No personal fireworks or dogs are allowed in the park. The June 18 Vernonia City Council meeting started off with Topics from the Floor. Genny Fischer spoke for Vernonia Pride and told council that the city has put a sign in front of the Vernonia Pride reader board and they would like it if the sign could be removed so the read- er board could be read. Clark McGaugh told council that they spent about $434 more to print the city’s budget in the Courier than it would have cost in The Independent and that, when he spoke to council about public records, the city’s attorney was paid $755.03 for public records re- quests, etc. At .25¢ per page to copy public records, the city could have used that money to provide 1736 and 3020 free copies, respectively, McGaugh pointed out. He went on to note that fol- low-ups to Topics from the Floor are no longer being done and asked the council if that is something they want to change. Mayor Sally Harrison responded that the attorney had attended the meeting on public records “for free, gratis” and that Topics from the Floor are responded to when infor- mation is available. “Our re- sponse is that we aren’t going to respond,” on the question from McGaugh about the coun- cil’s approval or disapproval of the letter he received from City Administrator Dick Kline. Cindy Ball told council that Riverside Drive is still half grav- el and the pothole is still there. Harrison responded that the work on Riverside Dr. should start next week. Genny Fischer spoke again to tell council that the grass strip put in as part of the OA Hill bicycle/pedestrian project looks bad and asked who is sup- posed to mow these strips. She asked if the city can do some- thing about this. Council approved (with Randy Parrow and Steve Whiteman absent) the OLCC application for Café 47 and ap- proved a resolution allowing the city to apply for an SCA grant in the amount of $25,000 that would be used to pave Grant Ave. There was no report from City Administrator M.R. “Dick” Kline, who was absent for a second consecutive council meeting. Please see page 4 New state park opens July 8 Stub Stewart State Park, the first state campground built since 1972, opens to the public on July 8. Sites will be first come, first served until August 16 when reservations start. The park is located four miles up Hwy. 47 from the junc- tion with U.S. 26, just a few miles from Vernonia, and is ex- pected to draw as many as 225,000 day use visitors and 81,000 campers each year once all the sites are devel- oped. Three-and-a-half miles of the Banks-Vernonia State Trail runs through the park, and there will be another 15 miles of hiking, equestrian and mountain bike trails within the park. Facilities available this sum- mer include the Welcome cen- ter, 23 primitive hike-in camp- ing sites, 43 full-hookup RV sites and 12 walk-in tent sites, 15 rustic-style cabins, a picnic area with parking for 35 cars and 10-15 RVs, and an eques- trian staging and day-use area. Please see page 5
