City Info Weekly - 2009/08/26 (Archive)

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City employee contributions give huge boost to the “One Pack, One Child” drive

Going back to school is looking a little bit brighter for local students thanks to the generous support of City of Longview employees.  The City began an internal drive to help fill backpacks for students, led by City Attorney Marilyn Haan.  A friendly challenge was extended to the County to also participate in the drive (coordinated by Stephanie Dunn), and the City of Kelso did their own drive to collect socks, underwear and shoes for their local kids (coordinated by Shelly Timm).  As of Tuesday, August 25, Longview employees filled 95 back packs and donated approximately $400 in cash and supplies.  The City’s top departmental donators included 21 backpacks from Longview Police, 19 backpacks from Executive/Legal/Human Resources, and 12 from the Transit Division.  Emergency Support Shelter received 21 of Longview’s backpacks and $60 in gift cards for their kids in the shelter or in transitional housing.  R.A. Long High School received five backpacks and $100 in gift cards.  The remaining 69 back packs and $240 were delivered to local schools.  “Whether I dropped off one or 20 of the back packs, everyone has been very appreciative of the donations,” stated City Attorney Haan.  “And we are so pleased to announce that the City of Kelso collected enough cash and merchandise to put shoes on at least 124 kids at Wallace School and received 464 pairs of new socks and 372 pairs of new underwear.  Cowlitz County employees collected 82 back packs and lots of miscellaneous supplies.”

Consumer Reports Online at the Longview Library

With the state of the economy, there is no better time then now to find new ways to best utilize your money.  To help you do this, the Longview Public Library is now offering the most trusted name in consumer reviews, Consumer Reports, in an easy to use database that you access via the Internet.  Due to a generous grant from the Longview Library Foundation, all of that helpful, unbiased information about cars, lawnmowers, washing machines, and the hundreds of other products that Consumer Reports reviews is available in the library and from home via the library’s website (www.longviewlibrary.org).  To access this information from home you will need your library card number (located on the back of your library card) and a pin number (unless you’ve changed it, it should be the last four digits of your phone number).  Once you’ve reached the library’s website, go down the page and click on the link that says access Consumer Reports from home.  Then go down the page and click on Consumer Reports.  It will then ask you for your library card number and pin.  Finally, click on the link that says ConsumerReports.org and you’re in. 

More information:  Please contact the library at 442-5300 if you need more information, or if you have any problems logging on to the database.

New Annexations Final

The 40th Avenue/Cowan Court Annexation and the 42nd Avenue/White Property Annexation became effective on August 15.  The Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Government staff is conducting a population census within the newly annexed areas.

More information:   Contact the Community Development Department at 442-5083 for more information about annexation or the annexation process.

New Land Division Processes for the City of Longview

The City’s regulations on how land is divided to create new building lots have been revised.  On July 17, 2009, three new land division codes became effective for the City of Longview:  Binding Site Plan, Short Subdivisions, and Long Subdivision.  

• For the first time, the City has adopted the Binding Site Plan method of subdividing land.  This alternative method to the long subdivision process is used to divide commercial and industrial lands, and to create manufactured home parks or condominium developments.
• Approval of Short Subdivisions is now a three-step process involving preliminary plat approval, installation of needed improvements, and then final plat approval. 
• The Long Subdivision code has been reorganized to more closely follow the approval process.  Land divisions are reviewed by the planning division of the City of Longview Community Development Department.

The City recommends that applicants schedule and attend a pre-application conference with City staff to discuss the particular details of their proposal and identify some of the information that will need to be submitted with their application.

More information:  The new application forms for these land division processes are on the City’s website at http://www.mylongview.com/communitydev/handouts.html. 

Thank you from Longview Public Library Summer Reading Program

The focus of this year’s Summer Reading Program was on creativity and the arts.  The 2009 program saw a surge in participation at Longview Public Library, with over 3,342 attendees at 78 library summer events, and 1,113 children and 207 teens who “read for fun and prizes” for a total of 1,320 summer readers.  Every year, the four public libraries in Cowlitz County collaborate to present a Summer Reading Program to encourage children to read for fun and prizes, enjoy events at the library, and establish life-long habits of pleasure reading while maintaining literacy skills. Over 30 generous benefactors made it possible for children in our community to “Be Creative” and help teens “Express Yourself” this summer, providing an unequalled Summer Reading Program.  This success could not have been achieved without the support provided by the generous donations from the Longview Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Castle Rock, Kalama, Kelso, and Longview Public libraries.  Financial and in-kind support for reading incentives, lobby decor, and event refreshments were given by local businesses and community organizations.  We are especially grateful to Steve Patterson and the crew from the Pioneer Lions who cooked hundreds of hot dogs for the Grand Finale Summer Reading Picnic and to Foster Farms who donated them.  Countless other volunteers helped make this year’s program a success.  Extra special thanks to all of you!

Questions about Longview programs or services?  Don’t forget to check with ASK Longview!