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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2010)
June 3, 2010 Vol. 25, No. 11 Merkley Town Hall at VHS on Sunday Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley will hold a town hall in Columbia County on Sunday, June 6, starting at 5:00 p.m. in the Ver- nonia High School gymnasium, 299 Bridge St. Merkley will update con- stituents on his work in Wash- ington, D.C., answer questions and invite suggestions about how to tackle the challenges facing Oregon and America. “Advocating for Oregonians is my number one responsibili- ty,” Merkley said. “I invite all residents of Columbia County to meet me and discuss what we need to do to get Oregon working again and strengthen America.” In 2008, Merkley pledged to hold town halls in each of Ore- gon’s 36 counties every year. He upheld his pledge in 2009 and is quickly advancing it in 2010. Columbia County will be his twenty-seventh town hall of the year. Gales Creek Road closure planned The Aloha American Legion Post 104 Honor Guard raised the flag, played taps and gave the 21-gun salute at the Memorial Day services at the Vernonia Cemetery. As usual, the services were well attended. The Master of Ceremonies this year was Marty Menard. Additional picture on page 28. — Gales Creek Road will be closed from June 15 through June 30 between Stringtown and David Hill roads. Signs ad- vising of the upcoming closure are posted. Because road work is al- ways weather dependent, es- pecially paving, the schedule may change. Check the Wash- ington County Roads web site at www.wc-roads.com for up- dates as work progresses. The closure is necessary to repair the road base, which has been sliding toward the creek. Travelers on Gales Creek Road have expressed concern about the cracks in the road surface for some time. The county con- sulted with a geotechnical engi- neer about how best to repair the road and stabilize the slide area. The repair requires that the full width of the road, for a length of about 450 feet, be ex- cavated to a depth of about five feet below the current road sur- CORRECTION — Vernonia Lions will open Wheels Park on July 4th In the Justice Court article on page 1 of the May 20 issue, Mike Conner’s title was listed incorrectly as Lieutenant, it should have read Sergeant, and his last name was mis- spelled. In the same article, Of- ficer Carnahan’s first name was misspelled. The correct spelling is Shawn. The Independent apologizes for these errors. The Vernonia Wheels Park plans to get off the ground with a grand opening on July 4. The park will be temporarily located at the old tennis court behind the school district office (west of the high school). The Vernonia Lions Club has full use of that site until FEMA takes over, which could take up to two years. They are in the process of building wooden ramps with metal grinds and are looking for people, both young and not-so-young to help build and set-up ramps. Metal is needed for grinding bars (metal tubes of various shapes and sizes to ride a skateboard on). Work parties are needed to hang fencing and gates, paint signs, etc. There will be a con- test for the team that can build the best ramp for $150 in parts. Diagrams are available. In 1998, a group of young people made a presentation on a skateboard park to the city council. Volunteers have been working toward a park since then and the date is coming for the grand opening, July 4. To volunteer, contact Larry Snethen at 503-819-5636 or any Lions Club member. face. The road base will be built back up with layers of geo-tex- tile and aggregate, then topped with a new asphalt road sur- face. Guardrail will also be up- graded as part of this project. Washington County has en- tered into a cooperative agree- ment with Forest Grove Fire and Rescue to help mitigate im- pact on emergency response time by stationing fire person- nel at the Gales Creek Station. About 4,500 vehicles a day travel on Gales Creek Road at Thatcher Road southeast of the road work location, according to most recent (2008) traffic counts. The county and its contrac- tor, Bones Construction, want to make sure that traffic moves as smoothly as possible during this necessary, but inconven- ient road closure, so using the designated detour route of OR 6 (Wilson River Highway) and OR 47 (Nehalem River High- way) is encouraged. Banks High graduation, June 11, 7 p.m. Vernonia High graduation, June 5, 2 p.m.