PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Vol. 23, No. 4
February 21, 2008
Deadline extended for proof
of loss flood policy claims
North
E
A
D
B
C
The deadline has been ex-
tended for submitting a signed
Proof of Loss statement to sub-
stantiate
flood
insurance
claims. The statement includes
a detailed estimate to replace
or repair the damaged property.
The Proof of Loss must be
signed before the flood insur-
ance program or insurance
company can make payment.
Previously, flood insurance
policy holders in Oregon had
60 days from the date of the in-
cident to sign and return the
Proof of Loss document. For
Public meeting on
floods, forecasting
A City Hall, B Middle School, C Mill Pond, D Green Bridge, E Heather Lane
Pink = 100 yr. flood way. Dark Blue shade = 100 yr. flood zone. Blue shade = 500 yr. flood zone.
Above is a draft of the new flood zone map that will take effect after it is officially adopted.
The final map may differ somewhat from this draft.
Council approves ordinance changes
The February 19 Vernonia
City Council meeting started
with a public hearing on a 64-
page ordinance regarding de-
velopment standards. The
Planning Commission met prior
to the Council and voted to rec-
ommend that council approve
the new ordinance.
According to Planning Com-
missioner Heather Lewis (who
gave the staff report to council),
the ordinance contains only two
new items, and is mostly a con-
solidation of existing ordi-
nances so that all pertinent in-
formation is in one document
for both stick-built and manu-
factured homes. The two
changes, said Lewis, were a
change to the required roof
pitch (to 4:12), and the inclu-
sion of a requirement that the
main entrance must face the
street and open onto a porch,
or have at least a 5x10’ cov-
ered entryway.
Three people spoke in favor
of the ordinance, though two of
the three were Planning Com-
missioners who wrote the ordi-
nance. No one spoke in opposi-
tion and there were no neutral
comments.
Councilor Randy Parrow had
obviously slogged through the
64-page document and had
valid questions, though most
were on the parts of the ordi-
nance that were already in
place, such as the part saying
that the impermeable ‘footprint’
of a property cannot exceed 50
percent, including paved drive-
way, house and outbuildings. Af-
ter the hearing process was
completed, council voted to
adopt the new ordinance with
only Parrow voting nay.
During Topics from the Floor,
citizen Kim Perry spoke on the
Knott St. petition which does
not seek to stop temporary
housing from being placed on
Knott St., but does ask the City
to address drainage concerns
before allowing such siting. She
stated that the drainage in the
area has been getting worse in
Please see page 4
United States Geological
Service and the National
Weather Service will hold a
public meeting tonight at
7:00 p.m. at Washington
Grade School to present in-
formation on floods and fore-
casting.
Blood drive set for
Monday in Vernonia
The Red Cross Blood-
mobile will be in Vernonia on
Monday, February 25, from
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the
schools.
To schedule an appoint-
ment, e-mail high school Ac-
tivities
Director
James
Brookins at jbrookins@ver-
nonia.k12.or.us.
SOLV cleanup for Nehalem River
There will be a SOLV Clean-
up in Vernonia on Saturday,
March 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m. to clean-up flood debris
along stream banks of the up-
per Nehalem River, both above
and below Vernonia.
Local volunteers and team
leaders are needed to help with
this project that is being spon-
sored by the Upper Nehalem
Watershed Council. To partici-
pate, meet at Vernonia High
School parking lot at 9:00 a.m.
For more information or if
you have flood debris on your
riverbanks that needs to be
cleaned up, call Maggie Peyton
at 503-429-2401.
example, if flooding occurred
December 3, 2007, Oregon
policy owners originally had un-
til February 1, 2008, to sign the
document. The new deadline
for the December 3 flood has
been extended to April 2, 2008.
This extension applies to all
claims for flood-insured Wash-
ington and Oregon properties
damaged by flooding between
November 30, 2007, and De-
cember 8, 2007, whether the
policy was issued directly by
the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency or through
one of the private insurance
companies.
Some policy holders were
concerned that by signing the
Proof of Loss, their payment
would be limited to the amount
listed on the statement. That is
not the case. If a policy holder
believes they have additional
damage or the identified
amount is insufficient, they
should sign the statement and
include:
• A separate letter detailing
the additional damages or
costs; and/or
Please see page 5
Door-to-Door survey
set to assess needs
Christian Reformed World
Relief Committee (CRWRC)
will be conducting door to door
needs assessment surveys of
flood affected residents for the
purpose of continuing relief
and rebuilding efforts. CR-
WRC’s services were request-
ed by Columbia County Flood
Relief (CCFR). CRWRC mem-
bers will have proper identifica-
tion and will be wearing green
shirts with their logo when they
being surveying on Monday,
March 3. CCFR appreciates
the community’s cooperation in
this effort to determine continu-
ing needs.