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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2010)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, May 6, 2010 Mayor, councilor question choice of flood demolition contractor The Vernonia City Council met on April 19 and May 3, with both meetings lasting until 10:00 p.m. or later. The first seven flood buyout properties have been identified and approved by council. Council unanimously adopted Resolution 07-10 at their April 19 meeting, which allows for the buyouts and accepts those properties to then be owned by the city with deed restrictions that require them to remain as open space (no building on them) in perpetuity. As part of the process, council also au- thorized the purchase and sales agreements for each par- cel, and approved the use of CDBG (Community Develop- ment Block Grant) and FEMA money for parts of the funding. The next step is the choice of a contractor for the demolition. At the May 3 meeting, awarding a contract for demoli- tion of the flood buy-out proper- ties was the largest topic, and council was unwilling to make the decision. Based on criteria council had approved, the Unmet Needs Committee requested bids, then decided on a contractor. Bud Dow, a local contractor who was not chosen, came to the council meeting and ques- tioned the decision. Others spoke in favor of using Dow, also. Both Mayor Sally Harrison and Councilor Kevin Hudson said, essentially, they’d like that too. Discussion included the fact that the original criteria did not include a preference for local contractors or labor, and that use of any criteria not originally stated would require the process to start over, causing a project delay of three to six more months. Not wanting to delay the project, but wanting to see if there was any other way to review the decision, council decided to hold a spe- cial meeting on May 10, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall with the Unmet Needs selection group, and the top contractors, to see if addi- tional review and more informa- tion will affect the contractor se- lection. The waste water treatment project was discussed at both meetings, especially why the $2-3 million project is now esti- mated to cost over $10 million. Public Works Director Bob Ruhl explained that during the con- ceptual planning phase (just completed) the costs used for a comparison of different types of treatments is not a viable deter- miner of actual construction costs. Actual construction costs come into play only during the design phase, after the type of system has been decided upon. This lack of true cost data was not well understood, lead- ing to the incorrect belief that the project could be done for $2-3 million. Council clearly stated that a $10 million price tag is too much for this commu- nity to bear and is seeking al- ternatives. City Attorney Jeff Bennett pointed out that doing nothing is not a viable alternative be- cause DEQ might then opt to place a moratorium on any fur- ther sewer hookups, thus stop- ping new housing. Ruhl re- minded council that Vernonia has been out of compliance with wastewater discharge into the river since 1992 because the current lagoon storage ca- pacity is not sufficient to keep the city from discharging into the river during times when it is not allowed. When discussion wound down, council consensus was to follow the recommendation of the Public Works Committee and have Ruhl seek assistance from DEQ to review the draft conceptual design plan, re- evaluate Vernonia’s waste- water status and report back at the next Public Works meeting. At the April 19 meeting, council was set to vote on ac- ceptance of the 2010 Strategic Plan that included the Econom- ic Development Action Plan. This plan was the result of meetings in March and April. At the conclusion of those meet- ings, community and city staff members agreed that the plan developed by paid consultant Paul Koch met the needs of the city. There was surprise in the room when Mayor Harrison, who had participated in the meetings leading up to the plan, said, “I don’t like it, it just lists nothing concrete.” She went on to say she prefers the one written in 1997 and never adopted. Councilor Hudson added, “At a fundamental level, Please see page 5 Community Calendar VERNONIA Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays 6:30 p.m., 410 North Street Alcoholics Anonymous Thursdays (Big Book Study) 7:00 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 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 Garden Club 2nd Tuesday 1:30 p.m., Vernonia 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 10:00 a.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 429-0869 BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous American Legion Post #90 Banks City Council Banks Fire District #13 Banks Library Commission Banks Planning Commission Banks School Board Banks Youth Group Chamber of Commerce CPO 14 Everybody’s Hometown Band Friends of the Library Lions Club Sunset Park Assoc. T.O.P.S. Friday Wednesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Wednesday 3rd Tuesday Last Tuesday 2nd Monday Sunday, Wednesday 1st Thursday 3rd Monday Tuesdays 2nd Tuesday 1st & 3rd Mondays 3rd Wednesday Wednesday 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 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:30 p.m., Main Street Post 7:30 p.m., City Hall 7:00 p.m., Station 13 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., City Hall 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., BHS Music Room 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby 8:00 p.m., Gun Club 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesday 10:00 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia Comm Mental Health 1st Tuesday 5”30 p.m., 58646 McNulty Way 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.