PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 25, No.17
THE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
September 2, 2010
Vernonia Health Board seeks
new clinic, more coverage
This Red-tailed Hawk recently dropped in for lunch at Vernonia Lake. PHOTO BY GARRY KINNEY
Start of school Twelve candidates contending
changes traffic for Vernonia mayor, council seats
Be prepared for a longer
commute due to the addition of
school buses being out and
about, and increased vehicular
traffic as a result of teenagers
driving to school.
Expect the unexpected,
watch for children darting out
into the street or children riding
their bicycles, especially during
the dark hours of the morning.
Be patient and observe the
law when approaching or fol-
lowing a school bus that acti-
vates its stop arm for loading
and unloading children.
Be very mindful of intersec-
tions where children are prone
to gather for the bus or at des-
ignated bus stops.
When traveling in or around
areas where schools are locat-
ed, be aware that the speed
limit in a school zone is 20 mph.
FREE
An impressive number of
people are running in the No-
vember 2 election for three po-
sitions on the Vernonia City
Council. The filing deadline
closed August 24 with a total of
12 candidates for the mayoral
and two council positions that
are up for grabs.
Four have filed for the two-
year mayor’s position. Incum-
bent Sally Harrison, who is
seeking a third term, will face
Josette Mitchell, Victoria J. Pe-
ters and Emil Edward Rode.
Eight candidates will vie for
the two open council positions,
with the winners serving four-
year terms. Two incumbents
have filed, Cynthia Ball and
Catherine M. Helmer, who was
appointed July 19 to an open
position on the council. Others
running for council positions
are Willow Burch, Edward
Johnson, Steven Eric Johnson,
Marilyn Ann Nicks, Ernest
(Ernie) W. Smith, and Burton
(Burt) Tschache.
Ballots for the November 2
election will be mailed on Fri-
day, October 15. Watch The In-
dependent for additional infor-
mation about the candidates.
The deadline for new
voter registration is

October 12
— CORRECTION —
Incorrect information about
the price of Dallas Brass tickets
was provided to The Indepen-
dent (August 19, 2010). The
correct ticket prices are $12.00
for adults and $8.00 for stu-
dents, or 5 persons for $40.00.
The show is September 17, at
7:00 p.m., at Washington
Grade School. Tickets are
available at Creatures or the
School District Office.
Recent news that the Ver-
nonia Health Center Board has
voted to work toward providing
medical services to the commu-
nity by means of becoming a
partner with Coastal Family
Medical Center has raised many
questions in the community.
One of the reasons given by
the board for moving in this di-
rection is the need to move the
clinic out of the flood plain. The
Board currently has an operat-
ing agreement with Providence
Medical Clinic, which does not
build rural clinic buildings. In or-
der to pursue other opportuni-
ties for building a new clinic, the
board started looking at other
operating options. One option
that came to the forefront was a
partnership with Coastal Family
Medical Clinic.
Coastal Family Medical Clin-
ic in Astoria has been in busi-
ness for eight years and is one
of over 1,000 Federally Quali-
fied Health Centers (HC) in the
United States. The first HCs
were set up 40 years ago and
are still serving patients. Grant
opportunities exist within the
FQHC model for Vernonia to
become what’s termed a Look-
Alike of Coastal. HCs are non-
profit private or public entities
that are designed to serve med-
ically underserved populations
or areas. Vernonia qualifies as
an underserved population due
to the distance to other clinics.
HCs serve the community by
seeing all patients, regardless
of ability to pay, which doesn’t
mean they are “free” clinics. A
sliding fee scale for services is
based on patients’ ability to pay,
See Health on page 8
Culvert replacement closes lanes
on Scappoose-Vernonia Highway
A culvert replacement and
re-paving project started Au-
gust 26, three miles from High-
way 47 on Scappoose-Vernon-
ia Hwy., is resulting in tempo-
rary lane closures. The con-
struction work will take place
between mileposts 2.5 and 3.5
and requires lane closure dur-
ing the daytime. Expect up to
15-minute lane closures during
construction. The delays should
be minimal by September 15,
and the work is expected to be
completed by September 30.
The scope of work includes
replacement of existing culvert
to allow more juvenile fish to
migrate up stream to better
spawning habitat. The total
project cost is $482,350.99,
with the funding coming from
multiple grant sources stem-
ming from the hard work of the
Upper Nehalem Watershed
Council. The grant sources are
Oregon Watershed Enhance-
ment Board, $389,350; U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service,
$43,000; and the National Fish
and
Wildlife
Foundation,
$50,000. The only work being
completed by the Columbia
County Road Department is im-
plementation of the contract.
The project construction con-
tract was awarded to TFT Con-
struction, Inc. of Scappoose
with Lower Columbia Engineer-
ing designing and managing
the project.
The primary work of replac-
ing the culvert will bring the
roadway crossing to standards
set by the regulatory permitting
agencies.