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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2012)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, May 16, 2012 Vernonia council okays noise variance for ODOT’s road work Two citizens spoke from the floor at the May 7 Vernonia City Council meeting to ask the council to bring water/sewer rates down, not up. Both speakers stated they were re- tirees who could not afford the water rate increase now in place, or the one that is expect- ed to come soon for sewer re- habilitation. Mayor Josette Mitchell pre- sented Vernonia Police Officer Sean Carnahan with a certifi- cate of appreciation to thank him for the extra effort and time he put in while the two new of- ficers, Brent Thompson and Matt Brady, were in training. The council, by consensus, approved a Noise Variance re- quest from Ron Larson of the Oregon Department of Trans- portation (ODOT). The vari- ance will allow ODOT to work on the Bridge St. improve- ments, near Missouri Ave., 24 hours a day for approximately two weeks this summer. The around-the-clock work sched- ule will speed up the project and keep traffic delays to a minimum. All affected residents have already been met with by ODOT, who will work with them during the project to reduce negative impact from the work. After much discussion, council unanimously approved the basic format of the city’s Vendor/Concession License Agreement for city parks. They then adopted a new format for Park Volunteer Park Host Agreements. Both have fill-in- the-blank areas for differences in contract negotiations. City Administrator Bill Haack was authorized to find a grant administrator and obtain an en- vironmental assessment need- ed for a Community Develop- ment Block Grant (CDBG) that could be used for improving the wastewater facility. CDBG funds cannot be used by city staff for these functions, Haack told the council. An existing grant for over $1.2 million (No. 6021) can be used, in part, for this purpose, said Haack. Council passed Resolution 13-12, outlining the city’s re- sponsibility for enforcement of the already existing ordinance on flood hazard reduction. This resolution puts Haack in charge of enforcement of Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood compli- ance. Resolution 14-12, authoriz- ing the Mayor to sign a resolu- tion establishing an Open Space System, was approved by council. The open spaces referred to are the properties that had home buy-outs and demolitions after the 2007 flood. Now those properties are off the property tax roles and belong to the city. See Council on page 5 Vernonia City Update From page 3 ondly, utility systems are re- quired by state law to maintain a certain level of disinfectant (chlorine) throughout the distri- bution system. This is known as “chlorine residual.” The ef- fectiveness of chlorine dissi- pates over time, meaning that the longer water is sitting in the system, the less chlorine there is available in the water to act as a disinfectant. The process of “flushing” water lines through hydrants solves this problem by moving stagnant “old” water out and bringing fresh water in. Maintenance – Flushing is also an important preventive maintenance activity. There are over 30 miles of water line with- in the City of Vernonia water system and approximately 120 sites that require flushing on a routine schedule. The flushing route is carefully planned and valves are opened and closed to control the direction of the water flow. Operations – Although it may appear to waste water, the process of flushing water is necessary to maintain the in- tegrity of the water system and allows us to continue delivering the highest quality water possi- ble to our customers. The City of Vernonia’s Public Works Department works closely with the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District in coor- dinating the successful mainte- nance of the fire suppression system for the community. Community Calendar VERNONIA Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays 6:30 p.m., 410 North Street Alcoholics Anonymous Thursdays (Big Book Study) 7:00 p.m., 410 North Street American Legion Post #119 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue Booster Club 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Boy Scout Troop 201 Tuesdays 7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin Boy Scout Troop 860 Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday 6:30 p.m., Library Chamber of Commerce 2nd Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-6081 Community Coalition 2nd Monday 12:30 p.m. School District Ofc. Cub Scout Pack 201 Scout Cabin For Info Call 503-429-4250 Emerg. Preparedness Comm. 4th Wednesday 6:30 p.m., WOEC Friends of the Library 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2 For Info Call 503-819-0143 Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Kiwanis Club 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Municipal Airport Committee 1t Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Pioneer Museum For Info Call 503-429-3713 Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-0869 7:00 p.m.,Vernonia Grange Public Works Committee 4th Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Cares Directors For Info call 503-429-1414 Vernonia City Council 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Comm. Learning Center 1st Wednesday 5:00 p.m., VCLC Vernonia Community PTA 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Vernonia Garden Club 2nd Tuesday 1:30 p.m., Vernonia Library Vernonia Grange 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall Vernonia Health Center 3rd Thursday 6:30 p.m., 510 Bridge St. Vernonia Library Board 1st Wednesday 9:00 a.m., Sept-June, Library Vernonia Parks Committee 3rd Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Planning Comm. 1st & 3rd Thursdays 6:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Ridge Riders Last Thursday 7:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia RFPD Board 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia School Board 2nd Thursday 6:00 p.m., District Office Vernonia Sr. Center Board 2nd Friday 10:00 a.m., Senior Center Vernonia Transfer Station 2nd & 4th Saturdays 8 a.m.-2 p.m.,Behind VHS Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station WOEC Directors 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., WOEC MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg. 3rd Tuesday M-B Ambulance Drill 1st & 2nd Thursdays M-B Fire Drill 1st & 2nd Wednesdays M-B Helping Circle 2nd Monday M-B SAR Drill 3rd Wednesday M-B Volunteer Assoc. 1st Tuesday Natal Grange 2nd Wednesday T.O.P.S. Mondays BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous American Legion Post #90 Banks City Council Banks Fire District #13 Banks Library Commission Banks Planning Commission Banks School Board Banks Youth Group Chamber of Commerce CPO 14 Everybody’s Hometown Band Friends of the Library Lions Club Sunset Park Assoc. T.O.P.S. Friday Wednesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Wednesday 3rd Tuesday Last Tuesday 2nd Monday Sunday, Wednesday 1st Thursday 3rd Monday Tuesdays 2nd Tuesday 1st & 3rd Mondays 3rd Wednesday Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall 9:00 a.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:00 p.m., Main Street Post 7:30 p.m., City Hall 7:00 p.m., Station 13 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., City Hall 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., BHS Music Room 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby 8:00 p.m., Gun Club 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesday 10:00 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia 9-1-1 Board 3rd Thursday 9:00 a.m., 9-1-1 meeting room Columbia Comm Mental Health 1st Tuesday 5”30 p.m., 58646 McNulty Way Columbia Soil & Water District 3rd Wednesday 7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes County Fair Board 2nd Monday 6:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 2nd Thursday 4:00 p.m., 1054 Oregon St. Mental Health Advisory Comm. Quarterly For Info call 503-397-7211 Comm. on Children & Families 3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 505 N. Hwy. 30 Local Alcohol & Drug Plann. Comm. Quarterly For Info call 503-397-7211 Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.
