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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2010)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, May 20, 2010 Council adopts 1997 strategic plan without any recommended modifications At the May 17 Vernonia City Council meeting, an item that was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting caused the most discussion. A document given to council did not indicate who wrote it, but was read by councilor Kevin Hudson (see related arti- cle on page 1). The document suggested a motion that said, “I move that Council direct the City Administrator to investigate an intergovernmental agree- ment with another city for the purpose of establishing a part- nership in a municipal court system, and to present the re- sulting options and make a rec- ommendation at the next Coun- cil meeting on June 7, 2010.” The supporting data stated that Vernonia police are not getting a “satisfactory level” of service from the Justice Court. Council unanimously approved the mo- tion. Council unanimously ap- proved the second reading of Ordinance 866, which officially adopts the city’s 1997 strategic plan without any of the modifi- cations recommended from the process held early this spring with consultant Paul Koch. Council members discussed wanting to adopt the plan, then get committee, commission and community input on possi- ble modifications. No time frame was set for that process. After holding an executive session (closed to the public) to discuss real estate negotia- tions, council returned to the regular meeting and made the statement that they “…need an evaluation of where utilities are to determine, in an expedient manner, how much property we need or want to buy, and check with the engineers on how the road got built and determine any reason we might want to buy all this property.” Council approved a list of nine more flood buy-outs (to be demolished) presented by Dan Brown from the Unmet Needs Committee. City staff, Joann Glass and Public Works Director Bob Ruhl, asked council to allow them to redraft the utility ordi- nances and evaluate the asso- ciated fees. The evaluation will include consideration of making property owners responsible for water payments, rather than renters. Council gave them the go-ahead on this request. Representatives from the Vernonia Ridge Riders asked for city help with problems at the arena, including a need for gravel, a broken water shut-off valve cover and an increasingly large sink hole. City attorney Jeff Bennett advised the city to send a public works person down to the site, the following day, to take care of any safety concerns before the next arena event to be held this weekend. In other business, the council: • heard from the Mayor that the Vernonia Lions Club will celebrate the grand opening of the temporary wheels park, at the old tennis court on school grounds, on the 4th of July. Vol- unteers and donors can contact Larry Snethen at 503-819-5636 to help with the project. • heard from Chief of Police Frank Grace that one of the of- ficers (Jeff Dalrymple) resigned on May 11, and that the depart- ment will begin the process of hiring a replacement. Use of right seat belts saves lives From page 1 straint use is the number one way to prevent injury or death if you or your children are in- volved in a crash. Oregon law requires: · Infants to ride in rear facing seats until they are one year old and 20 pounds. · Children over one year old between 20 and 40 pounds must be in a forward facing car seat. · Children who weigh over 40 pounds must be properly secured in a booster seat until they are 8 years old or 4’9” tall. · Children who are over 8 years old or 4’9” and all adults must be properly secured using seat belts. · NHTSA recommends that all children under 12 years old ride in the back seat. Research indicates that riding in the rear seating area reduces the risk of injury by 37% for that age group. Additional information re- garding child passenger safety can be found at www.actsore gon.org. The Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to promoting and im- proving traffic safety through education, deterrence and en- forcement. 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.