The INDEPENDENT, October 19, 2011 Page 11 Chalk Talk Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia schools. This column was provided by Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox. We are looking for input from the community concerning the New Spencer Park that will replace our existing school buildings. There will be a Town Hall Meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria im- mediately following the Board Meeting this Thursday (October 20th). Our design team will share with you some of the different options that they have come up with and you will have the oppor- tunity to ask questions and give input. If you can’t make the meet- ing you can still give your input by filling out an online survey that you will find on our district home page. We hope to see you at the Town Hall! New donations announced at the roof capping on October 6, 2011 ODFW set nets in Vernonia Lake on October 3 and pulled them on October 4 to study the sta- tus of the fishery. They found 486 Bluegill, 109 Black Crappie, 40 brown Bullhead catfish, and five Yellow perch. Trout were not counted as they are stocked, not naturally reproducing. They checked the health, size and ages of the fish in order to make the determination that Vernonia Lake is a healthy fishery. Reverse mortgages are not right for all by Jason Alderman, www.prac ticalmoneyskills.com You can scarcely turn on the TV without seeing ads for re- verse mortgages. They’re tout- ed as a great tool for cash- strapped seniors to tap their home equity to pay off bills while remaining in their homes with no monthly mortgage pay- ments. Although that may be true for some people, these complicated and costly loans aren’t right for everyone, so it pays to do your homework. Here’s a primer on reverse mortgages and precautions you need to take: Reverse mortgages let homeowners age 62 or older borrow against their home eq- uity without having to make monthly payments (as with refi- nance loans). The loan needn’t be repaid until you move out permanently, sell the property or die. In addition, seniors wishing to downsize or relocate may make a large down pay- ment on a new home and then use a reverse mortgage to fi- nance the rest. The vast majority of these mortgages are made through the Federal Housing Adminis- tration’s Home Equity Conver- sion Mortgage (HECM) pro- gram. Common features in- clude: • All parties on the loan must be at least age 62. • The home (current or fu- ture) must be your principal residence. • You must own the home outright or be able to pay it off with proceeds from the loan. • The allowable loan amount is based on your home’s ap- praised value, your age, inter- est rate and type (fixed or vari- able), mortgage insurance and applicable fees. Generally, the older you are and the more valuable your home, the greater the available loan. • The repayment amount never exceeds the home’s final sale value, so you (or your heirs) are never liable for more than you originally borrowed. • You can take the money as a lump sum, a line of credit, fixed monthly payments or any combination. Reverse mortgages can be very expensive. Lenders may charge a loan origination fee of up to $6,000. In addition, you must pay upfront and then for ongoing mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs). HECM Stan- dard loans have an upfront MIP of 2 percent of the home’s value. HECM Saver loans have a far lower 0.01 percent upfront MIP (although the allowable loan amount may be up to 18 percent less). Both versions also charge an additional 1.25 percent MIP of the outstanding balance annually, as well as a loan origination fee of up to $6,000 and various other charges. A few other potential down- sides with reverse mortgages: • You are responsible for homeowner’s fees, property taxes, insurance and repairs for the life of the loan. If you don’t pay them, you risk can- cellation or foreclosure. • They aren’t cost-effective if you plan to move in a few years. • Some couples put only the older spouse on the loan in order to secure a higher bal- ance, but this can backfire: If that person dies first, the sur- vivor could be bound to pay off the loan – a real problem if the home’s value is “underwater.” • The longer you carry a re- verse mortgage, the more your home equity – and thus, your estate – will decrease. Because reverse mortgages are so complicated, potential borrowers are required to con- sult a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved counselor be- fore being allowed to apply. Be- fore you even get to that stage, do your research. Helpful sites include those sponsored by HUD (www.hud.gov) and AARP (www.aarp.org). The Vernonia School District held a roof-capping celebration on Texas Ave., above the new school, on October 6. During the celebration, an- nouncements were made of donations to the school project of 260 solar panels from Solar- World USA, and $75,000 from P&C Construction and their contractors. Earlier at a breakfast held for Vernonia businesses, a re- minder was given that Gordon Smith of Vernonia Sentry has challenged Vernonia business- es to give to the new school campaign and has agreed to match up to $10,000 in dona- tions. ODOT looks at U.S. 30 safety ODOT recently conducted a safety audit along a small stretch of U.S. 30 west of Scappoose to identify and pri- oritize transportation safety concerns and recommend so- lutions. Between 2005 and 2009 60 crashes occurred in this section between Berg Road and Milard Road. Safety risks found included speed, intersection visibility, turning movements and drivers running off the road in this sec- tion. ODOT is proposing solu- tions to increase visibility, im- prove turning movements and install rumble strips along the highway alerting drivers who drift out of their lane. ODOT will present a series of recommendations from the Road Safety Audit conducted along U.S. 30 to the 17-mem- ber U.S. 30 Safety Working Group at 6 p.m., Oct. 20 ,at the Village Inn, 535 S. Columbia River Highway, St. Helens. For more information visit: www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/ REGION1/US30_Safety/index. shtml . Vernonia Veterinary Clinic Formerly Midway Veterinary Clinic Monday, Wednesday & Saturday 700 Weed Avenue Vernonia