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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2007)
The INDEPENDENT, October 18, 2007 Page 13 Banks City Council agrees to spend money on play equipment Banks City Council ap- proved spending $29,619.30 on playground equipment at their October 9 meeting. Of the total, $24,629.50 is for the equipment and $4,989.80 for freight and installation. The play set that was ap- proved is configured to appeal to the widest age group, with a structure that includes a giant wave climber link, incline cos- mix climber, zip slides, and slides and climbers to accom- modate 5 – 12 year olds of all skill levels. While Councilor Craig Stew- art was attending the annual League of Oregon Cities Con- ference, he was approached by Doug Buell, a representative of GameTime, a playground equipment manufacturing com- pany. Buell provided informa- tion about a grant that is avail- able to smaller communities in an effort to lessen childhood obesity, nationally, by providing exercise playground equip- ment. GameTime has earmarked approximately $1 million na- tionwide for qualifying small communities to purchase Pow- erscape equipment at a 50 per- cent discount. The grant pro- gram will end November 30, 2007, and is on a first come, first served basis. “The faster the city acts, the more apt we are to procure the funds; once the money is gone; it is gone,” Stewart said. Council has been working on the park improvement project for some time, with a Parks & Recreation Master Plan adopt- ed last April. The 2007-2008 budget provides for a transfer of $30,000 from the General Fund to the Parks Fund to pur- chase playground equipment, which leaves limited resources for installation, excavation, and bark chips. Councilor Short commented that having the playground equipment purchased and in storage will generate a lot of momentum. Council expressed optimism that the Banks com- munity would step forward to donate extra funds and volun- teer their time and talents in or- der to prep and install the struc- ture. The Banks Chamber of Commerce discussed the ven- ture at their last meeting, and has received calls from local excavators willing to donate their time and equipment. Mayor Branstitre told Buell not to expect a check tomor- row, however; there will need to be some budget shuffling. City Attorney Jim Lucas in- troduced two representatives from Verizon, David Mielke from Texas and Gene Eng of Beaverton, who appeared to answer any questions the council may have about their franchise agreement. Banks has been negotiating a fran- chise renewal agreement with new terms; all parties were happy to report that they have entered into a new 15 year con- tract. Mielke hopes to appear at the next council meeting to seal the deal. Lucas had little to report on an agreement between the city and NW Natural Gas. Lucas said they “guarantee that they will have something back to us by next month; they are work- ing on 30 franchise agree- ments; however, I feel like they are only working on 29.” Communication between Lu- cas and Swatco has been pro- ductive, with little remaining to be negotiated. Consumer rates will remain the same. Mayor Branstitre stood in by proxy for Laura Reisinger, a senior at Banks High School, who has collected signatures to have the state consider chang- ing the intersection on Hwy 47 and Verboort/Perdin Road, af- ter the death of a recent class- mate. The mayor says that City Manager Jim Hough and For- est Grove City Manager Michael Sykes have been in communication and both would like to see a change. Hough and Reisinger will attend the Northwest Committee of Trans- portation in November, a meet- ing that helps ODOT develop priorities on intersection changes. Denise Holmes, Banks Li- brary Director, gave a demon- stration on how to use the Li- brary website (http://www.wc- cls.org). New features have been added as part of the user- friendly update. Photographs featuring Washington County are displayed and change each time a new link is looked at. Holmes said that there are sev- eral more downloadable audio book titles available, as well. Councilor Brian Biehl asked Holmes about a complaint he Please see page 14 Just the finest in collision repair No Custom Work CHERRY PRODUCTS Tuesday to Saturday 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Mondays Main Street, Banks PH.503-324-2424 Auto Body & Paint 1875 E. Baseline Cornelius 503-359- 5993 Are you ready for winter weather? Buying a New Saw? Keep it safe with a New Case. FREE with purchase of select saws! See store for details. BG 55 Hand Held Blower Makes clean-up easier. Primer bulb and throttle lock ensure fast starts. Easily converts to a leaf vac with optional kit. 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