Goldendale water and sewer rates, which haven’t increased since 2020 are going up with the new year, following the passage of an ordinance raising the rates at the Goldendale city council meeting last night.
The monthly water base meter charge for someone with a 3/4 inch pipe service will go from $37.60 a month, which it to $41.36 a month, starting in January. That’s a 10 percent increase.
Sewer rates will take a bigger hit. The monthly charge for someone with a 3/4 inch pipe service will go from $46.50 to $55.80 a month, a 20 percent increase, also starting in January.
Though the council held a public hearing on this and two other issues at last night’s meeting, there was no comment from any members of the public. Only two people attended in person and one online.
The other two hearings involved the second reading of the city’s 2024 budget, which was approved, and an ordinance correcting conflicting language between the Goldendale Municipal Code and the Goldendale Water Comprehensive plan on new requests to hook up to city water. City Administrator Pat Munyan explained it this way:
“The city ordinance says any application outside city limits has to come to city council for authorization. But then you have your water comp plan, which has been adopted by the city council as well, and that language reads anytime it’s in the service area, the city, under Washington State’s law has what’s called a duty to serve, whether it’s part of the city limits or out – not part of the city limits.”
Councilors also approved an updated agreement for dispatch services with the county’s 9-1-1 dispatch center.
And they approved a memorandum of understanding involving retention bonuses that was negotiated two years ago with the police union, but was not formalized at the time.The agreement promised a $3,000 end-of-the-year bonus to police force members who were working on January 1 and stayed the whole year, as small towns have difficulty hiring and retaining police. Police Chief Mike Smith urged councilors to approve the agreement so that officers that worked this year would receive it, saying the department had lost officers for the failure to pay the retention bonus last year:
“Two years ago, when we did our contract when Larry Bellamy was here, it should have been done then. It was agreed upon then, it was changed, and I have had employees leave my department because this has not been done. They’re not asking for the moon. I believe it’s fair. They’re still being gypped a whole year’s worth of retention pay because of the lack of this not being done.”
The council will have a joint meeting with county commissioners at the county courthouse this afternoon at 4 pm. It’s billed as a public meeting on the problems of the homeless in the area.