Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2010)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, October 7, 2010 Harrison rescinds withdrawal, council okays $1800 for K9 car upgrade The Vernonia City Council meeting of October 4 ended with Mayor Sally Harrison read- ing an “Open Letter to Vernon- ia” in which she said, “…but I’ve finally made up my mind to withdraw my candidacy for Mayor.” The reasons cited were a recent surgery, a broken an- kle, her husband’s health (her husband, Del Harrison, died later that night), and her home’s elevation project. Less than 24 hours later, she was back in the race. On October 6, she told The Independent, “Yesterday, I re- ceived about 2,000 calls asking me to run, there seems to be a groundswell of support for me.” Extra expenditures listed on the new “Funds Verification Re- quest” forms and approved at the September 20 and October 4 meetings included $1,829.20 to upgrade the K-9 car equip- ment to automatically roll down the windows if it gets too hot in the car, with “two independent temperature probes for built-in redundancy.” The other request approved was $3,000 for a lev- el signal in the city water reser- voir so a Public Works employ- ee doesn’t have to go to the reservoir every day to manually check the water level. Council approved this request condi- tionally, based on the existing phone line being able to handle the signal. Three Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) were pre- sented to council for approval with minor changes from IGAs they approved in April. Those and a new IGA were all be- tween the city and the school district, and dealt with the land- swap of Spencer Park, wet- lands replacement and transfer of the existing school property to the city. Councilors asked questions about the existing IGAs that Pro-Tem City Administrator Bill Haack said surprised him, as the questions referred to exist- ing (not changed) language that the same council had ap- proved in April. Council ap- proved all four IGAs after some further discussion. Council also approved the second reading of Ordinances 868 and 869, which deal with zoning of the new schools site. Josette Mitchell, from the Ad Hoc Budget Committee, report- ed to council on the 1st quarter budget. Since a quarter of the budget year is over, she report- ed on any budget items that were beyond 25 percent of the budgeted line item. Some vari- ances were due to timing is- sues, such as the Library equipment fund, which is over 100 percent of the year’s ex- penditure, but is for a one-time computer virus protection pro- gram. Other areas that Mitchell identified as being problems were the city hall electricity and the city hall fire alarm contract, both will go over budget by the end of the fiscal year. At the end of the presentation, council directed Haack to work with Public Works on the Ad Hoc recommendations regarding projects to be completed. Council approved motions suggested by the Public Works Committee to use funds from the existing sewer loan to move toward hiring a company to de- sign the waste water treatment plant. In other business, council; • approved Resolution 32-10 which states city support of af- fordable housing opportunities for persons with low, middle or fixed incomes. This resolution is necessary in order for the city to accept Community Develop- ment Block Grant funds for projects within Vernonia. • approved a request to de- clare a Public Works vehicle, the Jeep Cherokee SE Sport utility, as surplus so it can be sold. • was told to expect to inter- view for a new city attorney at one of the next two council meetings. The next council meeting will be October 18, at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. County employment numbers unchanged Columbia County’s season- ally adjusted unemployment rate was 11.7 percent in Au- gust, the same as the previous month but lower than the year before (13.7%). The rate was above the statewide rate (10.6%) and the national rate (9.6%). Total employment rose by 236 to 21,817 and the num- ber of unemployed people fell by 69 to 2,781. Total employ- ment this August was 323 more than one year before and See Jobless, 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., Library 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 Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Kiwanis Club 2nd & 4th Wednesday 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Municipal Airport Committee 1t Wednesday 6:30 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 3rd Thursday 6:30 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.