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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2009)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, May 21, 2009 FEMA changes will benefit more Vernonia homes, Council told Jim Tierney, from the Colum- bia County Unmet Needs Com- mittee, gave Vernonia’s City Council some good news at their May 18 meeting. Tierney told council that FEMA has de- termined that homes that were not ‘substantially damaged’ in the Flood of 2007 but have a Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) of 1.0 or above should be able to receive funds to elevate. Ac- cording to Tierney, the BCAs are now based on the premise that the Flood of 2007 was a 44-45 year event, rather than what’s termed a “100 year event” (which doesn’t mean it won’t happen again for 100 years). “We thought we could lift 20- 25 houses, now we could prob- ably lift every house in town,” said Tierney. As a result, he asked for and received council approval on a cap of $10,000 per home from CDBG (grant funds) to help pay the 25 per- cent that FEMA doesn’t fund for these elevations. Tierney also received approval from council to set $40,000 as the cap for CDBG funds for acquisitions (buyouts). This is an increase from the amount previously ap- proved. Howard Webb, Director of the American Council on Crimi- nal Justice Training (ACCJT), reported to council on his in- vestigation (on behalf of the city’s insurance company) into the Taser use by Vernonia Po- lice on March 20. He said one person “jumped up, became combative, made threats, was cuffed, then uncuffed to use the bathroom, then became com- bative and a Taser was used.” Webb said the Taser use was within guidelines and his only criticism would be of the younger officer who removed the handcuffs. “That allowed the subject to become combat- ive again, but it’s better to err in trying to help a person,” said Webb. “If anything, they used less force than they could have, they used great restraint. I would have used more control,” Webb concluded. Interim City Administrator Jim Johnson said that a report from another source will be coming in about two weeks. The reason for two use of force reviews wasn’t stated, but the fact that Interim Police Chief Mike Kay referred to himself on several websites as an ACCJT Asst. Director, as recently as July 2008, may have played a role in the deci- sion. Johnson also asked council to think about reorganizing the police department so they can discuss the matter further at a future meeting. He suggested that hiring an ‘administrator’ chief part-time while having a captain, sergeant and two pa- trol officers might be a better use of funds and resources than hiring a ‘patrol’ chief. In other business, council: • Approved fireworks to be held June 20 across from Hawkins Park in conjunction with the KUPL event; • received a plaque from Metro West Ambulance in thanks for allowing them to serve Vernonia; • gave consensus to the Mayor who then appointed Grant Williams to the Planning Commission. Williams recently sent a letter to the city express- ing his interest and willingness to serve on the commission; • accepted the only bid of- fered ($300) for the Public Works truck surplused about three months ago. Usually Council would not be involved in surplus sales, but was asked for approval because the sole bid was from the son of a city employee; • unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance removing the requirement for citizens to obtain a permit from City Hall before holding garage sales; • held a budget meeting. The next budget meeting (open to public comment) will be May 21, starting at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. The next council meeting is scheduled for June 1. Blog and Twitter add to county disaster communications Columbia County Emergen- cy Management is reaching out to citizens using new forms of media. The agency, which deals with local disaster prepared- ness and response planning, has recently started a blog that it will use to provide updated in- formation about preparedness and disaster information to the citizens of Columbia County. See BLOG, page 5 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 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 2nd 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 Upper Nehalem Watershed Council For Info Call 503-429-0869 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 429-0869 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 9:00 a.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 1:00 p.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 6:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 3rd Tuesday Times vary, 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.
