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The INDEPENDENT, November 20, 2008
Council seeks Block Grant, discusses communication with Mayor
Vernonia City Council met in
Executive Session on Satur-
day, November 15, and along
with a community panel and an
employee panel, interviewed
three candidates for the open
City Administrator position. The
Council has not announced a
selection in public session, but
will do so once an offer has
been made and accepted.
After a public hearing at the
November 17 Council meeting,
Council approved a motion to
apply for a 2008 Community
Development Block Grant
(CDBG). The grant funds, if re-
ceived, are expected to go to-
wards further flood relief efforts
for affected homeowners. The
grant awards will probably not
be announced until sometime
in early 2009 and would most
likely be around $500,000.
Interim City Administrator
Jim Johnson gave a short pres-
entation on Urban Renewal
Districts (URD) after a recom-
mendation to do so by the Eco-
nomic Development Commit-
tee. URDs are used to fund im-
provements (street, utility, etc.),
rehabilitation of existing build-
ings, property purchase or im-
provements, and re-sale or
lease of property.
URDs are funded by a cap
on property taxes so that any
increases in property tax rev-
enue (for a given time period,
usually 10-30 years) goes to re-
pay loans used by the URD.
This allows for improvements
that can be expected to raise
property values in the long run.
The base property tax amount
(below the increase) is still
used as before. The risk is that
the new ‘base’ property tax
freezes the amount the city has
for other uses. No more than 25
percent of assessed property
tax value, or 25 percent of the
city’s area, can be included in a
URD. No specific URD projects
have been identified, this was
an informational discussion
only.
Discussion during a work
session on communications is-
sues included Councilor Cindy
Ball telling Mayor Sally Harri-
son that she has heard about
downtown parking meters and
that more than one person on
the street told her Harrison has
made promises to Tim Bero
about things at the airport. Ball
noted that neither of these items
has been discussed by the
council or in a council meeting.
Harrison said she wanted to
discuss the parking meters with
business and community be-
fore bringing it to council and
that she made no promises to
Bero, although she and Bero
have discussed how his ideas
might benefit the city.
Councilor Brett Costley said,
“Sally, I think your enthusiasm
comes across as being the
city’s. You need to make it clear
you are not speaking for the
city.”
Councilor Steve Whiteman
then spoke, saying, “None of us
have any power outside the
council. Sally’s strength is to go
do things that help the city ap-
propriately. The other side is
that sometimes the perception
out there is that Sally’s word is
a guarantee.”
Johnson summarized the
discussion, “So, it sounds like it
would be best to run ideas by
council first.” Harrison thanked
the council for pointing out
these issues and concerns and
agreed to make changes based
on the discussion.
In other business, council:
• viewed a Powerpoint pres-
entation on the Geographic In-
formation System (GIS) the city
has started working on. GIS is
a sophisticated mapping pro-
gram that can be used to view
maps with overlays, such as
sewer, street, flood area, etc.
• held an executive session
to discuss the employment of a
public officer, but had no dis-
cussion or statements in open
session.
The next Vernonia City
Council meeting will be Tues-
day, December 2, at City Hall,
starting at 7:00 p.m. The meet-
ing is being changed so inter-
ested persons may attend the
Columbia County Board of
Commissioners Public Hearing
at the Scout Cabin, on Monday,
December 1 at 7:00 p.m., re-
garding a zoning change re-
quest for property at the airport.
"What we're really
talking about is a won-
derful day set aside on
the fourth Thursday of
November when no
one diets. I mean, why
else would they call it
Thanksgiving?"
— Erma Bombeck
Happy
Thanksgiving
Community Calendar
VERNONIA
Alcoholics Anonymous
Monday
6:30 p.m., 410 North Street
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., 410 North Street
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
2nd Wednesday
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
6:00 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, 3rd & 4th Tuesday
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.
Quarterly
For Info call 503-397-7211
Comm. on Children & Families
3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 505 N. Hwy. 30
Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm.
Quarterly
For Info call 503-397-7211
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.