The Goldendale City Council heard a trio of updates at their meeting Monday night.
Jen Forsberg said no changes had been made in the preliminary 2025 budget she presented at the previous council meeting:
“The next steps would be the public hearings, which are set for your next meeting on November 18th. And as a reminder, that is when the property tax levy will need to be approved. That way we can get it to the county by the due date of 11/30.”
Dustin Conroy reported some progress on the north waterline project, saying some of the lines have been tested and that they hope to close up all the open areas in the next 10 days.
Several councilors said the street was in horrible condition, and rather than put a chip seal on it, it should be redone completely, though funds for that would have to be found. Councilor Andy Halm put it this way:
“You know, if I owned a house up there and had to drive on that road every day, I would be, excuse my language, I’d be pissed off if I had to. The city said, ‘Oh, no, we’re going to wait for the wintertime because I would not be happy. I think it should get fixed for the winter.”
The matter was referred to the public works committee which was scheduled to meet Wednesday at 2:30.
Katrina Olson of RH2 Engineering reported on the wastewater treatment plan improvement project. She said the project was coming along nicely:
“Currently the controlling factor for schedule is electrical equipment delivery. Those are supposed to be delivered to the site in December, so we’ll likely be starting up the new equipment in January and then working on punch list items and closeout in early 2025.”
And councilors discussed, but did not vote on, a major change in the way land use decisions are structured for property in the city limits. Ordinance 1541 would eliminate the city’s Board of Adjustments, which rules on variances and conditional use permits. In its place, the ordinance establishes the office of hearings examiner. That person would hear appeals on some decisions by city staff, and make decisions on variances and conditional use permits that could be appealed to the council.