PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 25, No. 7
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
Governor, many others join in
awarding of $11.2 FEMA grant
Governor John Kitzhaber was in Vernonia to help celebrate the receipt of an $11.2 million
FEMA grant for the new school and related costs. Among those attending the celebration
were school Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox, Jeff Marckham from FEMA, Dennis Sigrist from Ore-
gon Emergency Management, state Representative Brad Witt, Columbia County Commission-
er Tony Hyde, Ken Murphy from FEMA, and state Senator Betsy Johnson.
Vernonia Mayor Josette Mitchell accepted a Whole Communi-
ty Commendation presented to the City by FEMA Region X
Administrator Ken Murphy “…in recognition of the residents
of Vernonia representing the values of the Whole Community
in recovering from severe flooding in December 2007”.
April 7, 2011
BJ the Clown is back
BJ the Clown is returning to
Vernonia to celebrate National
Library Week, on April 14, at
6:45 p.m.
Everyone is invited to attend
and both children and adults
will enjoy BJ the Clown.
ODFW will stock Lake
Vernonia Lake will receive
3,000 more trout the week of
April 11, according to the Ore-
gon Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
One more stocking is sched-
uled this year for Vernonia
Lake; 2,500 trout will be added
the week of May 2.
— CORRECTION —
The monthly schedule for
the Columbia County Sheriff’s
Office (CCSO) in Vernonia was
listed incorrectly in the March 3
issue. CCSO will be here the
third Friday of each month from
1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Vernon-
ia Police Department.
The Independent apologizes
for any resulting confusion.
Governor John Kitzhaber
and his companion, Cylvia
Hayes, joined many others in
Vernonia, on March 29, for a
celebration of the FEMA grant
for $11.2 million.
After a continental breakfast
in the school cafeteria, the Gov-
ernor arrived and everyone
moved to the covered playshed
area where a podium and seats
were set up. Students from
leadership classes joined the
crowd, who listened to speech-
es starting with the Governor’s.
Kitzhaber expressed his ap-
preciation at being invited by
State Senator Betsy Johnson,
introduced Cylvia Hayes, then
recognized County Commis-
sioner and Vernonia resident
Tony Hyde for his efforts on be-
half of Vernonia and the State
of Oregon, and as a co-conven-
er of the Vernonia Oregon Solu-
tions project. Kitzhaber went on
to say, “I feel so strongly about
the Oregon Solution process.
Vernonia is the model that we
will look toward as we go for-
ward.” The Oregon Solution
process was started by
Kitzhaber when he previously
served as governor.
FEMA Region 10 Administra-
tor Ken Murphy told the crowd,
“This story will be told many
times around the nation and
used as an example.” Murphy
ended his comments by saying,
“I’m very proud of you and you
should be proud, too.”
The $11.2 million FEMA
grant includes $800,000 for
demolition of the old schools,
plus an unprecedented $10.4
million grant that can be used
to build the new schools. The
Vernonia School District, the
City of Vernonia and the Ore-
gon Solutions team requested
and secured a waiver that al-
lowed FEMA to exceed it’s $3.5
million cap on Flood Mitigation
Assistance. This grant brings
the new school’s fund raising
campaign to 80 percent of the
funds needed to complete con-
struction of the new school. The
new school is slated to open in
September 2012.
After the speeches, the Gov-
ernor and others, including
Senator Johnson, Murphy and
Vernonia Mayor Josette Mitch-
ell, went out on the old school
property for a ceremonial tree
planting. The old school proper-
ty will become Spencer Park,
and along with the old mill site,
is slated to become part of a
new 177-acre city park district.
It’s time to Make Vernonia Shine
What are you doing on Sat-
urday, April 16, from 9:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m.?
Vernonia Pride is hoping
you’re planning on participating
in the annual Make Vernonia
Shine Day. Vernonia Pride is
proud to organize this event, in
coordination with SOLV’s SOLV
IT day throughout Oregon.
This year’s event will focus
on Vernonia Pride’s mission of
downtown beautification, with
weeding, debris pick-up, etc.
The focus will be on the “down-
town core” from the Elk sign to
the Lake. If enough volunteers
sign up, work will expand to in-
clude some parks.
Registration will begin at
9:00 a.m. at Providence Clinic.
Snacks and bottled water will
be available for volunteers at
the end of the clean-up (1:00
p.m.).
Volunteers are asked to
please bring your own garden-
ing tools/yard equipment. If
you’d like to volunteer, please
contact Catherine Helmer at
503-914-9525 or email her at
catherine.helmer@yahoo.com
See Time to Shine
on page 24