It was an intriguing proposal: Would the city of White Salmon allow customers with existing water meters to move the meters to another location, provided the size of the meter would decrease in size and the property was under the same ownership?
On July 16, the White Salmon City Council held a public hearing on whether to allow property owners to move existing water meters -- provided the transferred water meter had never been used; would be smaller than the existing meter, thereby helping with conservation goals; and if the meter were going to other property owned by the same party.
After the hearing, however, the council decided against changing the existing ordinance, reaffirming the city's policy of not allowing meters to be relocated.
Last month, White Salmon resident Jake Pimley had suggested that the city should allow such a move. Pimley argued that the city would benefit in his case, because Pimley would be giving back a two-inch water meter and transferring the hookup to a three-quarter inch line instead.
Pimley's family owned the former laundrymat across from Thriftway, but the laundryman has been out of business for months.
"The existing property is served by a two-inch line that uses 500,000 gallons a year," Pimley explained. "We would transfer it to two vacant lots and use it for apartments. The use for those units would be significantly less than a two-inch meter would allow for."
Jim Kacena, a White Salmon attorney and the developer behind the Salmon Run subdivision near Skyline Hospital, urged the City Council to approve the proposal to allow meters to be transferred.
"I'm not here because I want to move water meters," Kacena said. "I want you to do this because there is no end in sight to the water moratorium, and I think it's time for flexibility."
Kacena pointed out that the moratorium on new water hookups was devastating to many families, as well as to the city's economic potential.
"I think it's time the city think about the hardship this is working on people," Kacena said. "The other reason I support this idea is that the moratorium is a de facto growth restriction. By keeping a lid on growth, that makes prices go higher and higher. You should consider something in the interim to allow facilitating the supply of housing. This will in fact facilitate affordable housing."
Council member Richard Marx challenged Kacena, however. Marx suggested that if Kacena wanted to spur growth, he could give back to the city some of the water meters he has in his possession.
"How many water meters do you have?" Marx questioned.
"You know how many," Kacena said. "It's public record."
According to White Salmon City Hall, Kacena purchased 40 water meters for the Salmon Run development, with six of them currently in use.
"Would you be willing to give up any of your meters to spur growth?" Marx asked.
"No, of course not," Kacena responded. "Is that the purpose of this hearing?"
Other speakers slammed the proposal as going against the city's long-standing policies.
Former Mayor Francis Gaddis said the meters needed to stay with the property they were assigned to.
"Once a water meter is purchased, it stays with the property," Gaddis explained.
Jaci Dietsch, a member of the White Salmon Budget Committee, agreed with Gaddis.
"Meters are owned by the city. They are not the property of the owner of the property," Dietsch said. "And if that's the case, I don't understand how it's possible to take the meter from one property and move it to another property. Whether it's the same property owner or not is irrelevant. The city should keep the meters where they are. We have a moratorium for a reason -- we do not have the water."
Shirley Cox, who chairs the Budget Committee, pointed out that the existing two-inch meter that once served the laundrymat has not been used for a long time.
"As such, I think it should be considered abandoned," Cox said.
Cox added that similar requests to relocate meters over the past 20 years have all been denied.
"We have had numerous attorneys in that time, and they all have given the same answer: A water hookup is not to be moved," Cox said. "Changing the ordinance for one property owner smacks of the back-room politics alleged of the previous administration, which the new council members and mayor guaranteed would not happen -- but it looks like it is happening again. If the council takes affirmative action on this proposal, legal action is bound to happen."
At the end of the public hearing on the issue, Mayor David Poucher asked the council members if any of them wanted to put forth a motion to allow the city's water meters to be moved to different locations.
No one made a motion to do so.
"I don't hear anything. We're going to keep our ordinance as written," Poucher said.
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