Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media.
The Goldendale City Council had a productive session for their first meeting of 2025 last night.
And a pair of presentations brought good news. Brian Paul, a surgical technologist at KVH, who moved to Goldendale three years ago, offered to donate the money to replace city’s iconic “Welcome to Goldendale, Sportsman’s Paradise” sign:
“I am very interested in donating the funds to have our archway in downtown Goldendale refurbished. What a great way to welcome people into our downtown with a nice fresh sign. That is why I want to donate the $22,000+ dollars to have that sign completely refurbished.”
You may remember Brian Paul was the member of the sheriff’s posse who donated $60,000 to the Sheriff’s Department to acquire and train a new canine.
Jason Jones of Cascade Sign Company attended by Zoom and said his company had worked with Mr. Paul on the design, which upgraded the existing sign while maintaining the intention of the original.
A proposed design was included in the council packet, and after some discussion about colors, the council gave its consensus to move forward, with the understanding there would be more consultation before the project began.
And Lindsey McClure of Mid-Columbia Economic Development District presented the news that their five-county district, which includes Klickitat and Skamania counties in Washington and Sherman, Wasco and Hood River counties in Oregon, had received a $1 million grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to distribute in the district.
The grants are for studies involving contaminated properties, which are required before applying for cleanup grants. She told councilors that both pubic and private property owners can apply, and that they won’t have to fund the money up front and wait to be reimbursed. Application forms are on the MCEDD website.
Councilors also awarded tourism tax dollars to nonprofit groups for 2025, awarding $61,000 of the $83,516 applied for. Five groups submitted requests, and only Community Days got the full $15,000 applied for. The Christmas Committee asked for $20,600 and got $18,000. The Chamber of Commerce asked for $34,916 and got $22,000. Abate asked for $10,000 and got $4,000, and Goldendale Pride asked for $3,000 and got $2,000.
When it came to a vote, Steve Johnston was a lone no vote, saying he thought Abate should have received more than 40 percent of what they asked for. Andy Halm, who is a member of the Goldendale Pride organizing committee, recused himself. With Loren Meagher absent, the remaining four councilors voted in favor.