Talking Kelso

You might have read a recent TDN story about the council recommending against a liquor license for the El Tucan restaurant. While that particular issue ended with a successful resolution for the applicant, we made a similar recommendation again last night for the West Main Pub & Grill. Here’s why.
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Here’s the link to the agenda packet for July 15, but be warned: it’s more than 400 pages long! The biggest part of the packet is the Capital Improvement Plan, which runs through page 400.

You’re welcome to peruse the entire plan, but the upshot is that we have over $17M of projects that are classified as “urgent” that need to be funded in the next three years. About half of that will be paid by federal and state grants, but we will soon be considering issuing bonds for about $6.5M of those investments.

We also recognized Officer Ernie Moore, who is retiring this year after 34 years on the Kelso Police Department. There will be a retirement recognition open house for Officer Moore on July 25 from 1-4 PM in the council chambers. All are welcome to attend.

We also approved a contract for a website update with omOriginals at a cost of $14,500, authorized the disposition of an old police car, and reconsidered our recent recommendation of denial of the liquor license request from El Tucan.

You may recall that we were concerned with the fact that the business intended to operate a teen nightclub above a bar, and that the arrangement had caused trouble with minors accessing liquor in the past. The owners of El Tucan now have changed their plan for the second floor to operate as a family-type restaurant that only allows minors until 10 PM. This seemed to me typical of most of the restaurant/bar combinations in the city, like the Red Lion, Azteca, etc., and based on these changes, the council recommended approval of the license to the state.

At the council meeting last night, council members learned the results of their recent goal setting and prioritization efforts. These priorities were the product of a special meeting on June 12 during which the council members proposed any policies or legislation ideas they had, then discussed the pros and cons of each.

As each item was discussed, we noted whether or not there was majority support for proceeding further with that concept. The council members individually prioritized ideas that had majority support, then their responses were combined to produce this prioritized list of goals.

In addition to the goals identified by the council, I added action steps that would be necessary to achieve each goal. I expect that we will use this document as a road map for the next year or so, and as a tool to communicate our priorities to city staff. Actually, many of the items on the list are already underway or will be shortly.

The whole point of this exercise was to encourage the council to be proactive in setting the path for the city. When we have no plan for our city’s progress, we’re likely to get what we planned.

The Tacoma city council is considering bringing a ballot measure to the city’s voters that would impose a $20 vehicle registration fee in order to pay for street improvements. According to the article in the Tacoma News Tribune, the city could set up a transportation benefit district that charges $20 per vehicle annual fee even without voter approval, but would probably send the proposal to the voters regardless.

I’ve found in talking with Kelso residents that one of the top concerns is the quality of our streets. To that end, the council has allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to our overlay program. Even with that level of funding, we can’t do everything that’s needed for our streets.

I’d personally prefer to avoid taxing folks any further, and work towards attracting growth that can help fund road work and other quality of life-type improvements. But, what do you think? Would you be willing to pay more for vehicle registration or in property taxes if the funds were committed to street improvements? Comment below!

The agenda packet for the May 20 meeting is now available. While the package is huge, much of what we will consider comes down to the implementation of the new Kelso Engineering and Design Manual (KEDM). The manual is a key piece that the engineering department is using to communicate the city’s design requirements to builders and developers in one consolidated document. As we begin implementing the manual, it will require changes to the various code sections that now contain these requirements. As a result, we have nine agenda items that really could all be summarized into one thing: approving and implementing the KEDM.

After the KEDM, the council will consider these items:

• Adopting an updated fee schedule for the Planning department to provide a predictable and equitable cost structure.
• Accepting the dedication of Coweeman Park Drive. Roads in newly constructed developments are often dedicated, or given, to the city when the development is complete. The city takes ownership and maintains the street from there. This one apparently never was formally dedicated, even though the construction was completed several years ago.
• Renewing our agreement with the Longview Housing Authority to administer some of our federal housing assistance funds.

After interviewing five applicants, the council selected Jerry Malella to fill the position left vacant by Joe Wheeler’s resignation. Mr. Malella, a retired educator, impressed the councilmembers with his long background in working with the public, and his support for airport growth and downtown development.

As I’ve mentioned when previous members have joined the council, the most important thing I hope any new member brings is willingness to work together cooperatively with the rest of the council. We’ve been fortunate to have a well-functioning body with mutual respect for each other’s positions in the past. I fully expect Mr. Malella will continue this tradition as we move forward.

The city received the first two applications for the East Kelso council position yesterday afternoon. The two individuals applying so far are James Webb and Bill Lehning. Webb is a sales manager for a chemical manufacturer who was also a candidate for my council position in last year’s election. Lehning is a retired educator, and no stranger to the local political scene, having served four years on the Kelso council and two terms on the county’s board of commissioners.

Application forms are still available on the city’s website, with a submission deadline of Thursday, May 8. The meeting to interview the candidates will be Monday, May 12.

The agenda packet for Tuesday’s meeting is now available on the city’s site. It looks like we’ll have a solid ten minutes of reading proclamations for National Police Week, National Public Works Week, and Mental Health Month ;). Other items we’ll discuss:

• We’ll consider refinancing some bonds that were issued in 1998 for the water and sewer fund. It looks like we could save more than $50,000 by taking advantage of lower interest rates now.
• We’ll consider suspending the requirement that Talley Way area businesses must make improvements to their street frontage until a comprehensive plan for that area is completed. Businesses who get a free pass now would have to make the improvements required under the new plan once it’s done.
• We’ll consider a proposal for constructing new hangars at the airport.
• We will probably award a bid for paving the parking lot at Tam O’Shanter Park.
• We’ll look at hiring a company to complete the airport master plan update to help drive future development in that area.
• We’ll consider hiring an engineering firm to evaluate a site for a potential new water reservoir.

As always, it’s Tuesday night at 7:00P, with plenty of good seats still available!

If you’re interested in applying for the council position recently vacated by Joe Wheeler, you’ve still got time. Just fill out the application, available on the council section of the city’s website, and turn it in to the city manager’s office by May 8. As of this writing, no completed applications have been received, though I am sure there will be several by the deadline.

I’ve heard a couple things that I want to address about this position. First, someone is spreading information that there is a conspiracy masterminded by yours truly to rig the appointment for a pre-selected candidate. That’s complete and utter nonsense. Secondly, it’s being said that an appointed candidate would be able to keep the seat for the remainder of an unexpired term they assume. The city charter, section 2.06(c), will dispel that thought. I’ll save you having to look for that portion:

“(c) Filling of Vacancies. A vacancy in the city council shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term, if any, at the next regular election following not less than 60 days upon the occurrence of the vacancy, but the council by a majority vote of all its remaining members shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the person elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term takes office.”

Don’t believe everything you hear…

Joe Wheeler resigned his position on the council this morning. The time commitment needed to be a councilmember can be tough to balance with other responsibilities, especially when you run a business like Joe does. Joe’s dedication, especially to improving our industrial area, will be missed on the council.

With the opening created by Joe’s resignation, the council will have to appoint a successor to his position representing the East Kelso ward. We are looking to complete that process in a reasonably quick fashion, requesting that interested candidates submit their application by Friday, May 8. I anticipate a special meeting on Tuesday, May 12 to interview selected applicants and probably make an appointment.

If you live in the city limits east of I-5 and are interested in having the council consider you for the open position, visit the city’s website for details and an application packet. We would love again to have the nice problem of too many well-qualified applicants for the position!