WHITE SALMON — While there weren’t any business items, White Salmon’s City Council discussed its agenda-setting procedure, particularly how councilors can make additions, and held a budget workshop with staff to identify priorities and needs before its Oct. 15 meeting.
During the regular session, Councilor Patty Fink brought forward a resolution to establish a dedicated agenda section for “council business,” where members could easily introduce an ordinance, topic or anything else for consideration. Essentially, it would give councilors an opportunity for open conversation before taking action, if needed, at the following meeting, and also provide the public with a preview.
“It makes my ideas or your ideas more public,” said Fink. “When I have an idea that I want to share with other council members, instead of emailing them one-on-one, [I’ll] have the opportunity to share that with the whole council.”
Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act prohibits the majority of councilors from communicating outside of a public meeting, or even having a series of conversations that eventually constitute a majority. Under Robert’s Rules of Order, the standard manual on meeting procedures, councilors also have the ability to make agenda changes by majority.
Those present last Wednesday, however, agreed they’ve struggled to either have important discussions or introduce agenda items in the past, whether it’s because of public review requirements, limited staff time or otherwise. Further, Councilors Ben Giant and Morella Mora specifically sought more transparency from city administration on unfulfilled agenda requests.
“There has to be some type of structure or reasoning or communication around why it doesn’t arrive in our packets if we take all the necessary steps,” said Mora. “That, I think, is really avoidable and a space we can do some work around.”
Although Mayor Marla Keethler and Councilor Jason Hartmann were absent from the meeting, Keethler moderated the workshop beforehand, which was divided into four main topics: emergency preparedness and public safety; infrastructure; housing and community development; and engagement, services, and communication. With only an hour and a half allocated, council briefly covered each area, all aimed at setting the stage for upcoming budget discussions.
As Finance Director Jennifer Neil explained, the city has authorized $29.8 million worth of loans for infrastructure projects and currently has $9.9 million in outstanding debt, with the remainder being actively distributed. Water system upgrades account for 91% of that debt, and with several projects to manage, both Neil and Public Works Director Chris True asked for an additional full-time position.
“There’s just so much involved with these projects. One this that is new for public works is we are doing a lot of the financial side of things now,” said True. “When the projects are getting paid for, we have to file for reimbursement to make sure we have that cash flow.”
Likewise, Neil will have more than twice the number of loans to manage next year compared to this year, aside from her other duties, but Fink questioned whether the city could afford it. True’s request for seasonal employees to assist with routine facility maintenance was more feasible to council, and he also pointed out that large department projects, like phase one of the transmission main replacement along Buck Creek Road, were completed this year.
In terms of emergency preparedness, West Klickitat Regional Fire Authority Chief Wes Long announced that he’s filled the second of two full-time firefighter/EMT positions and plans to initiate the strategic planning process this winter. Fink ensured that improved protection for bluff neighborhoods was on Long’s radar, which it was, and Giant did the same regarding home insurance.
Code Compliance Officer Jenne Patterson, who helped coordinate the city’s Burdoin Fire response, also mentioned the county will form a long-term recovery group, but a “lite” version.
“That’s basically going to be an assembly of community-wide stakeholders, agencies, volunteers, business owners, property owners … that would be willing to support long-term recovery,” she said. “It’s a less formal process, but it gets the ball rolling a lot quicker,”
Council additionally debated how much of Patterson’s time should be focused on emergency preparedness and recovery. While no one disagreed that she stepped into a vital role once the wildfire broke out, Giant especially wanted to keep services that White Salmon taxpayers were funding within city limits.
Lastly, council addressed housing and broadly emphasized the need to optimize infill and density to advance affordability. Mora highlighted the lack of representation for renters in the city’s Housing Action Plan, and Councilor David Lindley pushed for code clarity and reconciling with the infrastructure upgrades that can hamper development.
“What is getting built? What’s not? What are the impediments? What in our code is tripping people up? Are there things we should reconsider?” said Lindley. “We did a monumental lift on code, but we started with the code we had as opposed to scrapping it and replacing it, which came with its own suite of challenges.”
The next city council meeting is on Nov. 5 and begins at 6 p.m. in the White Salmon Fire Hall.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.