Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, November 18, 2010 Council adopts new flood map and ordinance; hears update on Rose Avenue Project The Vernonia City Council held a public hearing before their November 15 meeting, re- garding adoption of the Novem- ber 26, 2010, FEMA flood map. Adoption of the new map and certain mandated language is required for the City of Vernon- ia to remain eligible for the Na- tional Flood Insurance Pro- gram. Planning Commission Chairman Dan Brown told council that the changes were mostly in terminology and the new map has…“only very mi- nor changes over the map we already adopted.” No one from the audience spoke either for or against the changes. Council voted unani- mously to adopt the changes, which form Ordinance No. 870. The new FEMA map should be available after November 26 on the www.msc.fema.gov web- site. Council next held a work session in conjunction with a update by Interim City Admin- istrator Bill Haack regarding the Rose Avenue Project. Jim Tier- ney, of Community Action Team (CAT), gave a Powerpoint pres- entation on the project. Tierney has been working with the Ver- nonia Senior Center for a cou- ple of years on plans to move the center away from the flood prone area where it is now lo- cated. The Rose Avenue property being discussed is currently owned by the State of Oregon, and is located between the Ver- nonia welcome sign and where West Oregon Electric Coop is currently building new head- quarters. The state is willing to donate that land to the city in exchange for keeping the An- derson Park property as a park, for some specific number of years. The city is proposing to then lease the land so the sen- ior center, food bank and health center can be relocated there. The city will not be able to sell the land right away, but can lease it. Responsibility for infra- structure (streets, lighting, parking lots, etc.) is still to be decided. Haack’s memo sug- gested that the land transfer may take place in early 2011. Representatives from the senior center (Rosie McCoy), the food bank (Sandy Welch) and the health center board (Heather Lewis) each stated a desire to relocate to the Rose Avenue property and asked for council support to do so. Many details still need to be worked out and estimates are that con- struction would not be done be- fore sometime in 2013. Haack told council he had approved the removal of hangar number one at the air- port, saying the hangar was very dilapidated. He also re- ported that DADs Recycling has moved from their location next to the solid waste transfer station and is now open on Mist Drive. DADs still needs to do more work on their road and erect a fence and gate by the end of this year. Haack told council that he is working on a possible trade with West Oregon for their tree crews to do some maintenance for the city in exchange for parking their vehicles at the lake during the winter. Addition- ally, he said, four trees at Ora Bolmeier Park have been iden- tified as needing to be re- moved. In other business, council: • Approved minor changes to the Intergovernmental Agree- ment (IGA) between the city and the school district regard- ing the replacement for Spen- cer Park on the current school site; • approved an amendment making minor changes to an existing IGA between the coun- ty and the city for Hazard Miti- gation Grant Program Adminis- tration (HMGP); • approved the contract to hire Alexandra E. Sosnkowski, PC as city attorney; • will decide at the next meeting whether to hold or can- cel their meeting scheduled for December 20. The next regular council meeting will be December 6, at City Hall, starting at 7:00 p.m. KEEP THE HOLIDAYS HAPPY DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE! 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.