Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Goldendale city council held its final meeting of 2025 last night. It was the last meeting as councilors for Ellie Casey and Miland Walling, who did not run for re-election. Mayor Dave Jones presented them with plaques honoring their service. It was also a bit brighter in the council chambers and councilors had decided to wear their best ugly Christmas sweater. Councilor Andy Halm, whose bright green sweater was bedecked with 3-D garlands, also in green, was the hands-down winner.
Police Chief Mike Smith summed up the year so far during his portion of the program:
“The month of November, we had 262 calls, and we had 12 arrests in the month of November and continued that cycle through December. Normally we should be pretty slow this time of year, an we’re not. Right now, we’re at 3,542 calls to date. And so we’re just holding down the fort. We have a couple of people in the hiring process to get those positions filled so hopefully we’ll start the year off good.”
Chief building official Robert Thompson also had a report on activity in his department:
“This year, a total of 105 permits issued, fees $55,720 dollars. Last year we had 115 permits with a $45,000 fee. We had four new homes – houses – built and two factory-built structures. That’ll be manufactured homes or modular homes and five demos this year.”
By comparison, he said, in 2024 there were five homes built and manufactured homes.
In a meeting that lasted only 40 minutes before going into an executive session, councilors approved a grant agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation for $71,250 for the phase one design of the airport pavement widening project, with a city match of $3,542.
And they adopted three ordinances.
- Ordinance 1551 enacted a 0.01% public safety sales tax that had been previously approved by voters.
- Ordinance 1553 formally established the Klickitat County noxious weed list as the official list for the City of Goldendale to aid in code enforcement.
- And Ordinance 1554 amended the municipal code to clarify that occupying an RV outside of a permitted park for more than 14 consecutive days or 30 days in a calendar year constituted a public nuisance.
The mood, as the dress, was festive.
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