Video courtesy of Nancy Kuskey of Goldendale TV. Be sure to subscribe to her YouTube channel.
The Goldendale City Council gave the public a twofer last night. Originally the intention was to have the event committee meet prior to the city council meeting, but that was switched at the last minute. Once the council meeting ended, the mayor switched to the event committee meeting. In practice Goldendale city council committees are limited to no more than three council members. Having four members of the seven member council present would constitute a quorum and would have to be noticed as also a meeting of the city council. But in this case all five councilors present remained for the second meeting, which by default became a committee of the whole.
Between the two meetings, councilors covered a number of topics. Consultant Corley McFarland gave an update on the project to bring fuel service to the Goldendale city airport, noting that the city had locked in the bid for the fuel equipment including the pumps and the tanks and were glad they had done so as construction costs continue to rise. He also suggested the city apply for the latest round of Federal Aviation Administration grants which pay 95 percent of project costs.
In other business, former councilor Steve Johnston was concerned that he had a business license for a local trailer park for 20 years issued by the city, and the state had recently issued him a license that listed it as a general business license rather than a mobile home license. It was not immediately clear how that would affect his business, but he seemed convinced that it would.
Under local officials reports, police chief Jay Hunziker said he’d recently taken a tour of KVH where the hospital has proposed to develop a safe room for people in crisis:
“It’s not a padded room, but it’s a room to where they can’t hurt themselves or pull anything off the walls. The people in the emergency room where we normally take them are safe and it’s a good thing. It is something that is definitely needed.”
Councilors did not pass a proposed six-month moratorium on the construction of any ground-based solar power arrays in the city. The city does not currently have any regulations on the book concerning solar power. Several councilors felt that the city should not be regulating things in citizen’s back yards, but did decide to refer the matter to the ordinance committee to consider establishing code guidelines for any commercial array.