PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 26, No. 23
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
December 7, 2011
Foreclosed home buyers beware
Recently, people have pur-
chased foreclosed homes in
Vernonia only to find out that
the homes were flooded, sub-
stantially damaged, and need
to be raised. Once a home has
been determined to be sub-
stantially (over 51% of value)
damaged, Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)
requires the home to be raised,
whether by the same owner or
another.
The City of Vernonia will not
provide water and sewer serv-
ice to such a home unless the
current owner agrees to lift the
home within six months. Lifting
a home can cost from $30,000
up, not including the costs of
engineering and permits.
Banks and mortgage hold-
ers who have not actually lived
in a home are allowed to sell
homes “as is” without disclos-
ing that the home may be have
been flooded. The banks, etc.
may not even have that infor-
mation.
Before buying a foreclosed
home or a home with a price
that seems to good to be true,
check with the city, the neigh-
bors and your realtor to deter-
mine the history of the property.
New 9-1-1 administrator named
Santa Claus and a helper were on hand for The Spirit of Christmas in Vernonia tree lighting
and holiday celebration, held on December 3.
Reward offered on items stolen
at Stub Stewart Park recently
The Northwest Trail Alliance
is offering a reward of up to
$500 for information leading to
an arrest and the recovery of a
trail construction machine and
trailer stolen in late November
from an enclosed maintenance
compound at L.L. “Stub” Stew-
art State Park, in northwest
Washington County. Oregon
State Police (OSP) is investi-
gating the case.
Between 4:30 p.m., Novem-
ber 29, and 7:00 a.m., Novem-
ber 30, unknown suspect(s)
stole a gray Xtera 18-foot dual
axle trailer displaying Oregon
license U449427. The trailer
belongs to “Northwest Trail Al-
liance” and displays the al-
liance’s logo on both sides of
the trailer.
Inside the trailer were vari-
ous tools, accessories and an
ST240 trail construction ma-
chine valued at $80,000. A pho-
tograph of the stolen trailer and
The Columbia 9-1-1 Com-
munications District Board of
Directors is pleased to an-
nounce that Operations Man-
ager Lee Knowlton has accept-
ed the position of Administrator.
Knowlton began his career
at Columbia 9-1-1 in February
of 1987 as a Communications
Specialist. He was promoted to
Chief Dispatcher in 1988, and
was in charge of day-to-day op-
erations. In addition to those
duties, he became involved in
many aspects relating to the
administration of the agency,
including hiring, training, per-
sonnel matters and budgeting.
Knowlton’s job title was later
changed to Operations Manag-
er, which more clearly identified
his job duties.
Knowlton has an Executive
certificate from the state De-
partment of Public Safety Stan-
See Knowlton on page 5
ST240 trail construction ma-
chine is available with other in-
formation on the Northwest
Trail Alliance website at
http://nw-trail.org.
Anyone with information re-
garding the suspect(s) and lo-
cation of the stolen trailer and
equipment is asked to call Ore-
gon State Police Northern
Command Center dispatch at
800-452-7888.
VMS/VHS Band
Concert
The Vernonia Middle
School and High School
Band Concert will be Decem-
ber 15, at 7:00 p.m. in the
high school gymnasium.
Children are encouraged
to attend in their pajamas, as
they will be doing something
special with “The Polar Ex-
press.”
Attendance was good at the Washington Grade School Winter Concert on December 1.