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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2008)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, February 21, 20008 Citizen asks when audit report available Flood insurance explained From page 1 the last 10 years, ever since the Heather Park subdivision went in and Nickerson Creek was insufficiently culverted. There was no immediate re- sponse from the council. Helen Hudson spoke from the floor saying, “We’ve been told for quite some time that we are waiting for the audit to re- turn and I’d like to know when that will happen.” Mayor Sally Harrison decided to respond to this topic and said, “Apparently moving money from one place to another has slowed down this audit, but they will soon be presenting a report.” ( The Inde- pendent had been told last week that the audit was expect- ed to be received Friday, Feb- ruary 15, but it has not arrived.) Wayne Vaughn, Kristina Mc- Cord, Tom Ramsey and Dean Smith, (all first responders with the fire district or ambulance) spoke of concerns about the lack of police backup on calls that might put first responders in physical danger. Their proto- cols require police to secure the environment before the emergency responders get in- volved on calls such as over- doses or domestic violence. The problem arises outside of town when the county can’t ar- rive for almost an hour (if at all) and the Vernonia police have not been available, due to over- time constraints. The situation could result in a loss of life on the part of the caller or one of the first responders. Councilor Brett Costley responded by saying, “I appreciate your con- cerns and I wish we could give police more money and had more money to give them.” In other business, council; • unanimously approved the second reading of the ordi- nance creating the Vernonia Economic Development Com- mittee, • approved contracts (until June 30, 2008) for Interim City Administrator Aldie Howard and Finance Director Dick Kline (who has quit effective Febru- ary 28, 2008), • approved reduced fees for The Building Department LLC to charge for temporary manu- factured home sitings, • approved a new flood plain development permit form, • heard from Police Chief Workman that the force’s Chevy Tahoe was totalled as a result of flood water damage and he will be bringing a plan to the next council meeting to add another SUV. There will be a council study session with staff (the public can attend, but not participate) on February 25 starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Scout Cabin. The next regularly scheduled coun- cil meeting will be March 3 at 7:00 p.m. by Noni Andersen Although it wasn’t a consid- ertion just 12 years ago, many Vernonia residents now plan to buy flood insurance because of the major floods in 1996 and 2007. Two pieces of information are readily available: One is that a basic flood insurance policy is both written and un- derwritten by the federal gov- ernment, although it is pur- chased from an insurance company. The other is that many people who already have flood insurance are extremely unhappy with the settlements offered by their insuror. As one who has been flood- ed twice, I was among those looking at flood insurance and, knowing very little about it, I told my agent that I wanted to see the entire policy before buying it. After reading the policy (19 pages), I went to the Vernonia Learning Center and looked at the maps showing the various levels of flood risk. On the old map my home was in the low risk “X” zone, commonly called the 500-year flood plain. The new map put me in the high risk “A” zone, which is com- monly called the 100-year flood plain. That seemed reasonable to me, but the $1,300 annual premium for my small house was a lot more than I anticipat- ed. So I went to city hall to go over the policy with a FEMA in- surance specialist. During three or four (or five) visits, the FEMA people pa- tiently explained terms I didn’t understand and answered the many, many questions I had scrawled on the policy. They explained NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) and ICC (Increased Cost of Compli- ance) and FIRM (Flood Insur- ance Rate Map). Please see page 5 Community Calendar VERNONIA Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays & Thursdays 6:30 p.m., Head Start Bldg. American Legion Post #119 2nd Thursday 7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue Arts & Crafts Society 2nd Thursday 2:00 p.m., City Library Booster Club 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., VHS Library Boy Scout Troop 201 Tuesdays 7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin Boy Scout Troop 860 Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday 6:30 p.m., City Hall CERT 4th Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-3018 Chamber of Commerce 2nd Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-6081 Community Coalition 2nd Monday 12:30 p.m. School District Ofc. Cub Scout Pack 201 Scout Cabin For Info Call 503-429-4250 Friends of the Library 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2 For Info Call 503-819-0143 Hands On Art Committee 1st & 3rd Thursdays 4:00 p.m., City Hall Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., Buckhorn Restaurant Municipal Airport Committee 4th Thursday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Narcotics Anonymous Saturdays 7:00 p.m., Head Start Bldg. Pioneer Museum For Info Call 503-429-3713 Public Works Committee 4th Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Cares Directors For Info call 503-429-1414 Vernonia City Council 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Community PTA 3rd Thursday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Vernonia Grange 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall Vernonia Health Center 2nd Monday 6:00 p.m., 510 Bridge St. Vernonia Learning Center 1st Wednesday 6:00 p.m., VLC Vernonia Parks Committee 3rd Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Planning Comm. 1st & 3rd Thursdays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Pride 3rd Thursday 1:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Ridge Riders Last Thursday 7:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia RFPD Board 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia School Board 2nd Thursday 6:00 p.m., District Office Vernonia Sr. Center Board 2nd Friday 1:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia Transfer Station 2nd & 4th Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Behind VHS Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Thursday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station WOEC Directors 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., WOEC MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg. 2nd Tuesday M-BRFPD Board Workshop 4th Tuesday M-B Ambulance Drill 1st & 2nd Thursdays M-B Fire Drill 1st & 2nd Wednesdays M-B Helping Circle 2nd Monday M-B SAR Drill 3rd Wednesday M-B Volunteer Assoc. 1st Tuesday Natal Grange 2nd Wednesday T.O.P.S. Mondays Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-2401 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall 6:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Fridays 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church Alcoholics Anonymous Wednesdays 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church American Legion Post #90 2nd Tuesdays 7:30 p.m., Main Street Post Banks City Council 2nd Tuesday 7:30 p.m., City Hall Banks Fire District #13 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Station 13 Banks Library Commission 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Library Banks Planning Commission Last Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Banks School Board 2nd Monday 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library Banks Youth Group Sundays, Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. Chamber of Commerce 1st Thursday 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office CPO 14 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., City Library Friends of the Library 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Library Lions Club 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby Sunset Park Assoc. 3rd Wednesday 8:00 p.m., Gun Club T.O.P.S. Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesdays 10 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia Soil & Water District 3rd Wednesday 7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes County Fair Board 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 3rd Monday 6:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St. Mental Health Advisory Comm. 3rd Tuesday 10 a.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse Comm. on Children & Families 3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 550 N. Hwy. 30 Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm. 2nd Tuesday 3:00 p.m., 2nd Floor, Courthouse Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.