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