Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
At their first meeting in a month, the Goldendale City Council breezed through their agenda in under 40 minutes. Parking was one of the big topics for the meeting. Mayor Dave Jones speaks on behalf of the Public Works Committee:
“The Public Works Committee recommends eliminating parking on East Collins between the Rosevelt intersection and Sanders. They also recommend turning the intersection between Roosevelt and Collins into a four-way stop. The committee would like to have a public hearing on this topic.”
He also reported on another committee suggestion:
“Public Works Committee recommends eliminating parking on West Broadway, and turning the intersection of West Broadway and Mill into a four-way stop to help with traffic control. The committee would like to hold a public meeting on this topic also.”
Those public meetings will take place as part of upcoming regular Goldendale City Council meetings: the Collins proposal at the April 7 meeting and the West Broadway proposal on April 21.
The Council was forced to cancel a second meeting in February when there weren’t enough councilors in town to form a quorum. That’s because most of them were taking advantage of a day set aside for city leaders to meet with members of the Washington State Legislature.
Councilor Danielle Clevidence said one of the good bills that was still active in the legislature was Senate Bill 5060, which would provide $100 million to hire new law enforcement officers:
“They were really, really interested in what we had to say about that. This could be a really big thing for us. So if you have — or anyone else listening to this — wants to see more law enforcement officers, since we’ve been shorthanded from 10 percent to 40 percent for the last 20 years, this would be a good opportunity for you to voice your opinion to our representatives.”
And Police Chief Mike Smith reported that even though February is the shortest month, they received 275 calls in the month, 20 more than in January.