By the
Trout Lake Newswriters
Pat Arnold, 395-2233
Maxine Bulick, 395-2101
Sarah Burr Arnold, 395-2669
Seth Bichler
The regular column writer being out of town, thought I would help out and write a short replacement column. However, like Topsy, it just grew. Keep the news coming.
The annual Cabin Fever Festival was successful in attracting large numbers of people all of whom appeared to be enjoying the events. Remarkably, members of a ski club from Oregon came to participate despite the rain. The fame of the event is spreading! It was especially amazing that 28 people braved the rain to participate in the nordic race on Saturday. Many racers wore costumes adding a note of humor to the event. The clown costume worn by the youngest skier, Justin Peck, age 7, attracted the most attention. Emily Paxson won the women's race and Mark Thomas, from Hood River, won the men's race.
As usual there were many very tasty soups entered in the soup contest Saturday evening. It's always fun to have the opportunity to taste the entries at the potluck dinner. The winner of the vegetarian category, for the second year, was Chase English, a high school sophomore, who made a delicious ginger carrot soup. The winner of the meat category was Jodie Peake who made a beautiful Italian soup. The youngest soup maker, Serena Caballero, age 10, entered a smoked black bean soup made from a recipe in the Trout Lake Cookbook. The contra dance was jammed with participants, both locals and out-of-towners, of all ages. There was a lot of energy, and laughter and of course dancing. All in all the festival provided a welcome break from the weather as well as a pleasant opportunity to connect with fellow community members.
A meeting of the committee working on the TL Sub-Area Comp Plan will occur on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in the community room of the school. At this meeting the committee will review the county comp plan land use categories along with the proposed land use categories for the TL plan and comments from Curt Dreyer of the county on the draft plan. The proposed TL Ag Cluster Zone will be presented. A committee member submitted the following information:
"Work continues on the Trout Lake Sub-Area Comp Plan and some exciting news has emerged from the committee. Really. Truly. The committee met on Dec. 18, with Curt Dreyer, planning director of the county, and then on Jan. 6, with two planning commission members. The discussion at these two meetings has led the committee to think that the county planning apparatus is willing to consider a proposal for a Trout Lake Agricultural Cluster zone, one that would address the specific situation in Trout Lake regarding preservation of agricultural land of long-term significance. The idea of an Ag Cluster Zone has been before the committee since the beginning of the sub-area planning process and committee members have been in touch with the planning commission as it has begun to revise the existing county cluster overlay zone. We just didn't think that we could propose a local zone. The purpose of the ag zone, as the committee sees it, is to preserve and protect the agricultural land in the Valley. That's the easy part. An actual zone draft must have specific categories, including uses permitted outright, accessory uses, conditional uses and setbacks. A subcommittee is currently working on the draft of the actual language to be proposed, and this is what will be discussed at the upcoming meeting on Feb. 3. There are some largish questions about how this zone might work. For example, would it be a separate zone or would it be an overlay zone? How would it fit together with the county cluster overlay zone? We won't produce perfection in this draft, but we will produce something with the hope and expectation that we will be able to work cooperatively with the county to make it serve our local purposes. The committee urges all of you to come to the public comment meeting on March 3 and share the excitement. Or just make your comments, joyous enthusiasm not required."
On March 3, the TL Sub-Area Plan will presented for public discussion. This meeting will occur at 7 p.m. in the community Room of the school.
After this meeting the plan draft will be formally submitted to the county. Then there will be preparation of a State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) check list to evaluate the environmental effect of the proposed plan. This step will be followed by planning commission deliberations, workshops, a hearing, and finally the adoption of the plan.
The Census is coming and the Census Bureau is hiring people to help take the census here in Klickitat County. There will be qualifying tests given here in Trout Lake on Jan. 28, Feb. 2 and Feb. 12 at the grange. To sign up to take the test please call 1-866-861-2010. In order to work for the Census Bureau one must be 18 years old, legal to work in the US, pass the test and pass a background check. Assuming that all the other requirements are met, the higher the score on the test, the better chance of being hired. It is very helpful to do the practice test which can be found at www.2010censusobs.gov. The work will be for 20-40 hours a week, and temporary. Most of the work will take place during March and April, and mostly on evenings and weekends. Pay is $11.75 per hour plus milage. The census is very important because the results determine distribution of federal moneys through various government programs to the communities.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. The Trout Lake Business Association is offering grants of up to $1000 to local charities and community service groups. If your group is interested in receiving a grant please send a short written proposal to the Trout Lake Area Business Association, PO Box 394, Trout Lake, 98650. A member of the applying organization should attend the association business meeting on Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Trout Lake Grange to present a short verbal proposal to the members.
The Business Association has many projects underway or planned. They are promoting day and overnight cross country ski trips with groups from Portland; they are beginning to organize the popular, annual bike tour which will take place June 26; and they plan on revamping the business directory sign on the highway on the approach to town center (would be a big improvement). All of these projects could be of economic benefit to Trout Lake. If you are interested in being involved in any of these activities or wish to join the association, contact president Rick Allen at 395-0024.
The Moonlight Ski event that was scheduled for Jan. 23 has been canceled due to the poor snow conditions. When (if?) conditions improve it will be rescheduled. Contact Ray at 395-2318 for further information. It certainly has been a very odd weather this winter and the weather report appears to predict more of the same. What's a snow lover to do?
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