PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 27, No. 7
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice
Voice of
of the Upper Nehalem River
The
River Valley
Valley for
for Over
Over 25
27 years
years
April 4, 2012
Water rates increased,
are sewer loan fees next?
A potential increase in sewer
fees was discussed at the April
2 Vernonia City Council meet-
ing. The reason given is the
need to raise city sewer loan
fees enough to start repaying
the principal on an $8.2 million
loan, not just the interest.
The current $12 monthly fee
is paying only the interest, and
is not reducing the principle on
$4.3 million already spent from
a 2005 $8.2 million engineering
loan from the state Department
of
Environmental
Quality
(DEQ). An increase of $19.00
would raise the current $12.00
loan fee to $31.00 per month
and would allow the city to get
a head start on repayment of
that loan. The loan was intend-
ed, and partially used, to plan a
sewer upgrade for the city. That
all came to a halt after the 2007
flood, when it became apparent
that the planned changes
Left to right, Anika Suppes, Ashton East, and Aubrey Leach are shown cleaning up the trail
near Anderson Park on April 1. They are part of the Free Wheelers group who clean trails and
Hwy. 47 South through town three or four times each year.
Vernonia Easter
Egg Hunt
The annual Vernonia East-
er Egg Hunt will start at 10:00
a.m. sharp, this Saturday,
April 7. The hunt is for chil-
dren aged 0-10, and is held
at Hawkins Park. It is spon-
sored by Vernonia Communi-
ty PTA.
Fundraiser sales
for Roberts
All the money from items
sold at Lincoln Grade School
through May 1 will be donat-
ed to the Ryan Roberts Kid-
ney Transplant fund.
Sale hours are 10:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m. each weekend.
Donations of items are
wanted to increase what can
be sold. Bring donations to
the sale.
Vernonia Theater group
performances April 13-14
The Vernonia Community
Theater will present two show-
ings of “Vaudeville’s My Home,”
a play written by Ken Bradbury.
Performances will be on Fri-
day, April 13, and Saturday,
April 14, starting at 7:00 p.m. in
the Washington Grade School
gymnasium. Admission is $5
for adults and $3 for students.
childcare is available, provided
by the Vernonia High School
Leadership class, in the school
library (donations appreciated).
Vernonia Community The-
ater is operating under the aus-
pices of Vernonia Hands-on-
Art, whose non-profit mission
includes the performing arts.
Health Center Town Hall .
A Town Hall will be held
tonight, April 4, at 7:00 p.m.
in the school cafeteria
(green building) by the Ver-
nonia Health Center Board
(VHCB).
VHCB invites the public to
join them in thanking Provi-
dence Health Service for
their 10 years of service to
the community and to wel-
come Dr. Bryan Miller of Ver-
dura Wellness Clinic, the
new medical provider in Ver-
nonia.
There will also be a dis-
cussion on options for mov-
ing the clinic out of the flood
zone.
Refreshments will be
served.
would not protect the system
against future floods.
Council did not take action
on the idea of raising sewer
loan repayment fees, rather
they asked Administrator Bill
Haack to review it further with
the Public Works Committee,
then talk with DEQ about other
repayment plans, including the
possibility of a two-to-three-
year step plan to gradually
raise the rates. Council asked
Haack to bring the matter back
to them for further considera-
tion at the May 7 council meet-
ing.
The city recently announced
an increase in water rates, from
a $35 base rate and $1.25 for
each additional 1,000 gallons
over the first 2,000 included in
the base rate. The new water
rates of $36.00 base rate and
$4.25 for each additional 1,000
gallons will take effect in June.
I-5 charging stations will
help cars “kick gas habit”
March 16, the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation,
along with charging station
partner AeroVironment (NAS-
DAQ: AVAV) and the Oregon
Department of Energy, opened
the first phase of the “West
Coast Electric Highway.” Eight
charging station hubs with two
outlets at each location are
now available for public use.
Two more will be installed soon
north of Cottage Grove as part
of this first phase. Together,
these stations will provide EV
owners access to a network of
electric “refueling” spots along
Interstate 5 in Oregon, paid for
by American Recovery and
Reinvestment
Act
funds
through the Department of En-
ergy.
“As the first state in the na-
tion to establish an EV charg-
ing infrastructure along a major
interstate, Oregon is leading
the EV pathway and supporting
adoption of the next phase in
the evolution of transportation,”
said Pat Egan, chair of the Ore-
gon Transportation Commis-
sion and vice president of cus-
tomer and community affairs
for Pacific Power. “Once Ore-
gon’s segment of the West
Coast Electric Highway is com-
pleted, EV drivers will be able
to travel from Ashland to Port-
land at a fraction of the cost of
filling a gas tank and with no di-
rect emissions.”
The West Coast Electric
Highway will eventually allow
EV drivers to travel from San
Diego to Vancouver, B.C. with-
out relying on carbon-based
fuel. “Fast” charging stations,
included at each of the newly
operational locations, can pro-
vide a full charge for an EV in
less than 30 minutes; soon,
these stations will dot inter-
changes up and down I-5.
“Plug-in vehicles are in-
creasing in popularity, with
See Charging, page 4