Port issues invitation to Bid on T-5 rail project

The beginning stages of building the new unit train facility at the Port of Vancouver USA’s new Terminal 5 has officially begun. The two-mile Terminal 5 loop track (unit train facility) is a part of the bigger West Vancouver Freight Access master plan and will include storage tracks, car preparation tracks and a loop lead track.

The port began advertising for bids today in the appropriate publications and will accept bids up until 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, when the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud in the port’s Commission Room.

A pre-bid meeting, which is not mandatory, will be held at the port's administration building at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1. Questions are due in writing via the eBid System no later than 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5.

For plans, specifications, bid documents, addenda and a plan holder list for this project, please click here.

Mitt Romney to Visit Clark County

The Clark County Republican Party announced on Monday that former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney will keynote the General Session of the 2010 Washington State Republican Convention at the Vancouver Hilton next June.

Clark County Republican Chairman, Ryan Hart, said local party leaders worked with local Romney supporter and friend of Romney, David Nierenberg, to bring the former governor to Vancouver for the GOP convention.

There is wide speculation that Romney will run for President in 2012. A poll released in July by national pollster Scott Rasmussen showed a tie in a head to head race between Romney and Obama in 2012.

State Reps. Deb Wallace and Tim Probst to hold forums to seek community guidance

A comprehensive overhaul of Washington state’s K-12 funding system is underway as a result of legislation passed earlier this year in the state legislature. Because the reforms will affect generations of students, House Representatives Deb Wallace and Tim Probst will be holding community forums on education reform from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 29-30, at York Elementary, 9301 NE 152nd Avenue. Parents, teachers, students and education community professionals will be able to learn how the legislation will affect students and teachers, share ideas, ask questions and provide feedback to policy leaders.

“When we passed House Bill 2261, we committed to the most sweeping changes to our K-12 system in 30 years,” says Wallace. “Our education funding system is woefully out of date, and these changes are long overdue. While we laid out key goals in the legislation, much remains to be decided in terms of implementing the changes. That’s where our community can play an important role as we move forward.”

For more information, call Rep.Wallace at 260-6110 or email wallace.deb@leg.wa.gov, or Rep. Probst at 260-6375 or email at probst.tim@leg.wa.gov.

Weatherization funds available for qualified residents

Eligibility screening is now open for those Clark County residents interested in weatherizing their homes. The program helps eligible low-income homeowners and renters by installing cost-effective, energy-efficient measures that reduce energy usage and heating costs.

The federal poverty guidelines for weatherization consideration are the following: household of 1 with a gross monthly income of $1,805, household of 2 with a gross monthly income of $2,428, household of 3 with a gross monthly income of $3,052, household of 4 with a gross monthly income of $3,675, and a household of 5 with a gross monthly income of $4,298. If more than five people live in a household, call for more guidelines.

Call 992-3000 for criteria information and to make an appointment. Appointments are available now through November 30 and will be held at Clark Public Utilities’ Vancouver Service Center, 1200 Fort Vancouver Way.

For more information about weatherization benefits and eligibility criteria, visit http://www.clark.wa.gov/housing-preservation/weather.html.

State OKs plan for Battle Ground Schools’ health, safety projects

Several safety and health improvements were approved through a federal economic stimulus program for the Battle Ground School District that include projects totaling $3.99 million.

Projects are for new or improved fire alarms at Battle Ground High School and Summit View (alternative) High School and district offices at the CASEE center in Brush Prairie, improved or new video security systems at 18 locations around the Battle Ground School District, and a reconfigured parking lot at Prairie High to ensure safer traffic flow, separating school buses from cars and from pedestrians. Another, and perhaps the most significant project under the program in terms of environmental health and safety, will be the replacement of one of the five largest septic systems in Clark County with a sewer hookup at Prairie High, which has been on a septic system since it opened in 1978.

Prairie serves 1,400 students and is permitted by the state to pump as much as 7,320 gallons of liquid waste per day into its system, including water from showers, kitchens, etc. By comparison, the septic system at Yacolt Primary School, which last year had 866 students, is permitted for 5,200 gallons per day.

Besides keeping future waste liquids out of the ground, the project will have a spin-off benefit for students. The old drain field will be developed for recreational and athletic use, including construction of a softball and a soccer field. That will reduce the potential for non-compliance with federal Title IX requirements for male/female equity in athletics.

Lava Canyon Trail to reopen during National Public Lands Day Celebration

This year’s celebration of National Public Lands Day at Mount St. Helens will include the long awaited reopening of the Lava Canyon Trail on the south side of Mount St. Helens, after it was closed by extensive flooding.

Volunteers and Forest Service officials will gather at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at Lava Canyon Trailhead to celebrate the reopening.

For details concerning National Public Lands Day volunteer projects at Mount St. Helens and how you can get involved, download the National Public Lands day event flyer at

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volunteering/documents/

2009NationalPublicLandsDayFlyer_000.pdf, or contact the Mount. St. Helens Institute at 449-7887.

News Briefs

Vancouver professional organizer Jeff Williams hosts workshop Confronting Your Clutter Crisis from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Firstenburg Community Center, 700 NE 136th Avenue in Vancouver. The workshop examines the costs of clutter vs. the cost of keeping, the benefits of open space, analyzing sentimental attachments, downsizing strategies, dispatching unwanted items and designing a step-by-step organizing plan. To register, call 487-7001, ext. 0. Cost is $15.<> Grant historian Robert Pollock from the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri, holds a free public program about Grant’s time at the Vancouver Barracks, from 6 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at The Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E. Evergreen Boulevard. Period music by the Whiskey Flats Brass Band, museum exhibits, and evening shopping at the Fort Vancouver Bookstore will also be available. Call the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center at 816-6230 for more information.

Calendar

City Council meets from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight, Sept. 24, in the Ridgefield Community Center, 210 N Main Avenue.

Thursday on the air

 

Seattle Mariners at Toronto (live)—4 p.m. FSN, KFXX

Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner and Installation of Officers (9-17)—5:30 p.m. CVTV

C-Tran Board of Directors Meeting (9-15)—7:15 p.m. CVTV

Clark County Board of Health (9-23)—9:30 p.m. CVTV

Port of Vancouver Board of Commissioners (9-22)—10:30 p.m. CVTV

 

Community Calendar Links

• Southwest Washington Center for the Arts

• Greater Vancouver Chamber

• City of Vancouver Calendar

Thursday, September 24, 2009 Headlines

 

Links to news of local & national significance

Kaiser methods pique interest of noted doctor, Atul Gawande--Columbian, Kathie Durbin

Columbia Tech Center office building adds three new tenants--Columbian, Cami Joner

Bank robbed near Padden Parkway--Columbian, Craig Brown

Pentagon prepares to reopen Air Force refueling tanker bidding process--Seattle Times, Dominic Gates

Scientists estimate earth will warm by 6.3 degrees this century--Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin