The INDEPENDENT, March 7, 2012
Page 5
Vernonia council is heading for decision on the city’s water rates
At Vernonia City Council
meetings on February 21 and
March 5, two appointments to
committees were made. Jim
Buxton and Mark Brown were
both appointed to the Emer-
gency Preparedness Commit-
tee.
The new Ordinance 880 on
city committees received it’s
second reading and became
effective, at the February 21
meeting. The ordinance out-
lines the composition of com-
mittees, how they are set up,
how many members number,
the makeup of members, offi-
cers, and how committees in-
teract with the council. At the
March 5 meeting, Resolution
10-12 specified a few differ-
ences for the Emergency Pre-
paredness Committee.
In other business, council:
• Approved a request to
FEMA asking that the asphalt
at the old West Oregon Electric
Coop site, at Maple St. and
Adams Ave., be left in place for
parking purposes.
• Discussed the recommen-
dation from the Public Works
Committee to adopt water rates
based on a multi-meter system
with a base rate, and a flat rate
for additional gallons of water
over the 2,000 included in the
base rate. There was discus-
sion of whether the recommen-
dation included approval of a
proposed tier structure or not,
but since it was not specifically
mentioned by the committee,
the majority of council would
like to use the model without
tiers. Jim Tierney stated he felt
committee did approve tiers
and council was not accepting
the committee’s recommenda-
tion and that Councilor Bruce
McNair was “pushing” for his
belief. McNair said he was con-
cerned because one member
of the committee who had done
a lot of work on the study was
unable to attend the meeting
where the recommendation
was sent to council and apolo-
gized to Tierney, saying, “I did-
n’t serve you well and I apolo-
gize,” saying he got carried
away with what he saw as an
unfairness to that one commit-
tee member. Council then
agreed to a workshop and
meeting on March 12 to finalize
this issue, and asked the city to
prepare more data for them.
• Adopted Resolution 06-12
making revisions to the city’s
personnel policy handbook.
• Heard a presentation by
Dave Fuller, a Columbia Coun-
ty Sheriff’s Deputy, who is run-
ning for Sheriff in the next elec-
tion.
• Approved Resolutions 07-
12 and 08-12, primarily house-
keeping issues necessary to
continue being able to use
Community
Development
Block Grant funds.
The next meeting will be
March 12, at 7:00 p.m. on wa-
ter rates. The next regular
council meeting will be March
19, at 7:00 p.m., at city hall.
Vernonia amateur radio operators receive new ham equipment
On Monday, March 5, Dave
Morrisson, ARES Emergency
Coordinator and RECES Radio
Officer, delivered an amateur
radio donation to the Vernonia
Fire Station. The fire station
houses the Vernonia Amateur
Radio (ham) station. ham radio
continues to be a valuable re-
Left to right; Dave Morrisson, the ham radio equipment he got for Columbia County by writ-
ing a successful grant, and Vernonia ham radio operator Tom Moss who accepted the dona-
tion on March 5 at the Vernonia Fire Station.
Road fixes get help from Sen. Johnson
From page 4
tions to improve safety in 18 ar-
eas, ranging from physical haz-
ards near the road to winter
driving hazards, however there
was never clearly identified
funding for these improve-
ments.
Senate Bill 1543 reallocates
excess funds from the 2009
Jobs and Transportation Act to
projects of regional impor-
tance, including a $9.5 million
improvement to Cornelius Pass
Road and an allocation of $5
million to complete the Sell-
wood Bridge Interchange.
“This legislation is particular-
ly important considering the
Federal Highway Administra-
tion’s report on needed safety
improvements to Cornelius
Pass,” said Johnson. “We
shouldn’t wait for another trag-
ic loss of life before we fix what
is widely considered one the
most dangerous stretches of
road in Multnomah County.”
Johnson expressed particu-
lar appreciation for Senator
Bruce Starr (R-Hillsboro) for his
leadership on SB 1543. Cor-
nelius Pass Road runs through
both Senate Districts 16 and 15
and their joint work on this im-
portant bill is a testament to bi-
partisan cooperation. SB 1543
now goes to the House of Rep-
resentatives for consideration.
source during power outages
and emergencies in Columbia
County.
Morrisson wrote a success-
ful federal grant and brought
the first delivery to Vernonia,
where it was handed off to one
of the ham operators, Tom
Moss. Jim Buxton is currently
the primary Vernonia ham op-
erator and is on the Vernonia
Emergency
Preparedness
Committee. The grant allowed
for the purchase of a VHF Go-
Kit (a self-contained unit), a
long range radio and other an-
cillary equipment. This is the
first time Vernonia has had the
long range capability. Addition-
al similar setups will be going
to Clatskanie and Mist-Birken-
feld.
“We have been trying to put
amateur radio equipment in
each of the Emergency Opera-
tions Centers (EOCs) in the
county and this is the starting
point,” Morrison stated. He
went on to say this equipment
isn’t in any way a replacement
for “all the good work done by
9-1-1 Communications. It’s just
more potential, even 9-1-1 has
ham radio equipment avail-
able.”