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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2009)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 Vol. 24, No. 16 “Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” August 20, 2009 After this roll-over, Duane Dooley went on to take 2nd place in the Jamboree Lawn Mower Races, modified division; Joe Haxel placed 1st; 3rd place went to Jesse Borst. PHOTO BY JUSTIN LARSON School bond set at $13 M Frank Grace was congratulated by Mayor Sally Harrison on being sworn in as Vernonia’s new Police Chief. New police chief is law enforcement veteran Vernonia has a new Chief of Police, as of August 4. Chief Frank Grace went to work in Vernonia during Jamboree weekend and considered it a great time to start as it gave him the opportunity to meet so many people during the event. Grace came out of retire- ment to serve Vernonia in this part-time capacity. He first served as an officer in Santa Clara, California, and retired last October after serving for seven years as police chief in Gladstone, and being in law en- forcement for over 30 years. He also served previously in Can- non Beach. Grace has a B.A. in Criminal Justice, an A.A. in Law En- forcement and is currently working toward a Masters de- gree. He gives law enforce- ment seminars and training in Salem on topics such as ethics. He is also an ATV, motorcycle and scooter “coach” and an ac- tive motorcyclist who has stopped many times in Vernon- ia during rides. The new chief plans to focus on enhancing law enforcement practices to take the depart- ment to the next level of provid- ing community law enforce- ment using the professional group of officers, volunteers and personnel that are already in place. Vernonia had been without a chief of police since September of 2008 when Mat Workman left to take a position as chief in Warrenton. Sergeant Mike Kay served the city as Interim Chief until Chief Grace started earlier this month. Kay then returned to his position as Sergeant of the department. Though Grace described himself as private person, he did admit to being proud of his son, who is working on a Mas- ter’s degree after serving in the Peace Corps for 27 months in Niger, West Africa. For those who didn’t have a chance to meet Grace during Jamboree or since, he said, “I invite the citizens of our com- See Chief, page 4 The Vernonia School District 47J Board of Directors held an abbreviated meeting on August 13 in order to accommodate those who wished to attend the Planning Commission Public Hearing, on the same evening, regarding the expansion of Ver- nonia’s urban growth boundary to the property that has been purchased for the new school site. The biggest item on the agenda was the unanimously approved Bond Resolution 09- 06. The resolution is for the is- suance of a $13 million bond to be used only to construct new schools out of the flood plain, to Delays on Scappoose-Vernonia Road Travelers should be pre- pared for a delay of up to 30 minutes on Scappoose-Ver- nonia Road, as the Columbia County Road Department puts an overlay on sections of the road between Highway 47 and milepost 4.3. A pilot car is being used to guide traffic through the project. The work is currently in its second week. The project is scheduled for completion in about the first week of Septem- ber. purchase property and pay for related demolition, and to pay fees associated with the bond. Such bond fees might include paying taxes on interest earned if the money isn’t used immedi- ately for construction. The bond would be paid off in just over 25 years and would result in an increase in district proper- ty taxes of about $1.90 per $1,000 of assessed property value. For example, someone with a home valued at $100,000 would pay about $190 more in property taxes per year for approximately 25 years. On August 12, the board held a workshop with the archi- tects, BOORA, about building options. Board member Jim Krahn gave a short presenta- tion about two different options the district has for school con- struction. One is called De- sign/Build and the other Modi- fied Traditional. The board will See Two school, page 4