The INDEPENDENT, November 2, 2011 Where to Find Them U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Dem) 1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585 Portland OR 97232 Phone: 503-326-7525 223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510-0001 Phone: 202-224-5244 E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/ contact Website: http://wyden.senate. gov U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (Dem.) One World Trade Center 121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: 503-326-3386 313 Hart Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3753 E-Mail: http://merkley.senate. gov/contact WebSite: http://merkley.senate. gov U.S. Representative David - Wu (Dem) OR District 1 ace pl 620 SW Main, Suite e 606 r Portland, OR 97205 o on Phone: 503-326-2901 – n lecti d e Ofc. Bldg. 2338 Rayburn l ne ti House g i Washington, s un DC 20515 e t Phone: R en 202-225-0855 Website: m http://house.gov/wu Senator Betsy Johnson (Dem) Senate District 16 PO Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056 Phone: 503-543-4046 900 Court St. NE, S-314 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1716 E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/johnson Representative Brad Witt (Dem) House District. 31 21740 Lindberg Road, Clatskanie, OR 97016 Phone: 503-728-4664 900 Court St. NE, H-373 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1431 E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/witt Representative Deborah Boone (Dem) House District 32 PO Box 926 Cannon Beach, OR 97110 Phone: 503-717-9182 900 Court St. NE, H-375 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1432 E-mail: rep.deborahboone@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/boone Page 3 Letters Unnecessary wars interfere with needs To the Editor: As a candidate for the U.S. Congress, House of Represen- tatives, 1st district of Oregon. At age 80, here’s my short personal take on running for U.S. Congress. 1. Not for the faint of heart. 2. Have a message that is real and precious. My platform is: Get out of the war business, govern by consensus/compro- mise, which most Americans support. Have a plan to get elected – I didn’t, just the hope of getting my message out. The “good” that could happen, with all the country’s needs – jobs, educa- tion, health care, etc., etc., etc., – won’t happen when we’re still doing unnecessary wars. Our congress has no morals, but lots of greed. Forty thousand lobbyists with big checkbooks, unlimited cam- paign contribution. That needs to change. I would propose a $50.00 limit on lobbyist and campaign contributions. We need a people congress, you can’t recall congress, but you can request expulsion which would have the same effect. My grandchildren matter, your grandchildren matter. It’s your country, your congress, your opportunity and obligation to make it better. Thanks for listening – Vote. Dan Strite Warrenton Information on local internet access To the Editor: The Vernonia Economic De- velopment Committee and the City Administrator would like to inform the community of two re- cent developments related to high speed internet access: 1. Frontier has recently im- proved their DSL equipment within town. Frontier sub- scribers should be able to ob- tain internet access as follows: a. Now: approximately 7 Mbps download within a 2 to 3 mile radius from their switch building, and approximately 2.5 to 3 Mbps within a 4 to 5 mile radius. (Frontier’s switch build- ing is just east of the central bridge in town.) b. By July 2013: Four re- mote switches will be upgraded such that approximately 85% of Frontier’s subscribers should be able to obtain 3 Mbps. 2. Coho.Net, based in Hills- boro, has recently installed 5 to 10+ Mbps internet service to the Vernonia Airport. They are willing to provide service to res- idents in the Vernonia area who either do not want to wait for 1b above, who fall outside the 85%/3 Mbps service area of Frontier, or determine that they can get faster speeds from Coho due to their location. a. Coho.Net’s service is via microwave (wireless) transmis- sion that requires line-of-site repeaters placed in towers or tall trees. They are willing to in- stall selected repeaters to serve approximately (10) or more subscribers each, at rates competitive to DSL and satellite. Notes: All speeds listed are approximate minimums. Both Frontier and Coho.Net provide upgrade options for heavy /business users. You can con- tact Frontier to request a line test to your residence for a more precise estimate of your expected DSL speed. Mitch Seibert Vernonia Policy on Letters The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters with per- sonal attacks on private citi- zens. Preference will be giv- en to brief letters, 300 words or less. All letters must be signed and include a verifiable ad- dress or phone number. City Update City Administrator Haack gives updates on projects by Bill Haack, Administrator City of Vernonia The City of Vernonia contin- ues to review changes and im- provements in our public works water, sewer and stormwater facility plans. At this time, the City is em- barked on a water rate study that will lead to a modification of the water utility rates. This discussion has been of interest to the City Council since 2007 and the City has sought profes- sional input three times to sup- port the work of the City Engi- neer and the Public Works Committee. Earlier this year the City en- gaged Oregon Association of Water Utilities (OAWU) to take our ideas and put them into a framework for our review. Our core assumptions are as follows: • The base rate should cover 60-75% of the annual operating costs for the water fund budget (this is a Best National from the Rural Water Association) • Rate structure should be fair and equitable to all classes of users • Rate structure supporting users outside of the City limits should pay a consumption cost commensurate with users who live within the City limits • Rate structure should fore- cast future adjustments in the rate structure on an annual ba- sis • Rate structure should in- clude reserve accounts to make debt payments and to es- tablish a capital improvement program • Rate structure should be professionally reassessed on average every five years by a third party The members of the City Council and the Public Works Committee are reviewing a draft water rates schedule and plan to have a public hearing in the near future on the proposed changes. As we have reported in the past, the City is actively work- ing on a plan to modify the wastewater facility to further our plan to both be a good steward of the environment and to be in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. As many of you know the City is out of compliance with the State of Oregon Depart- ment of Environmental Quality (DEQ) National Pollutant Dis- charge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Per our NPDES Permit, the City is re- shot off in time before the cat got away. So within one day my friend had seen six deer preda- tors. While some may think that Bobcats are not deer preda- tors, they would be wrong, es- pecially in regards to young deer. Please be safe while hunt- ing, wear your hunter orange and clearly identify your target, we have already lost one citi- zen this hunting season; we don’t need any more accidents. Ike Says… From page 2 and the tail was long! Cougar! Swinging his rifle off his shoulder he got on the cat just as it turned sideways and walked into the reprod. My friend simply could not get the stricted from releasing third stage water discharge into the Nehalem River for a period of time due to the differential in temperature between the la- goons and the river in the warmer months of the year. For the majority of the year, howev- er, this is not a problem for DEQ, and the City discharges to the river during those months of the year. Recently Jon Forrester, rep- resenting the City contract en- gineer (HLB OTAK, Gearhart OR) made a presentation to City Council that described the City’s revised plan for the wastewater facility. Following a meeting with DEQ last month, HLB OTAK has initiated a plan to redirect the discharge from the third lagoon to underground sand and gravel layer below ground. This is called hyperoic discharge. In our meeting with DEQ, it became clear that this model is a great use of natural groundwater to cool the dis- charge prior to reintegrating with the flow of the river chan- nel. To add information to our study of this model, the City hired Shannon and Wilson, a Please see page 21