Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Stars of the Goldendale City Council last night were double mayors for the day, Jaycee and Andi Barnes. They earned the position by coming in first in the Community Days scavenger hunt.
As mayor Dave Jones explained:
“The scavenger hunt this year was themed 250th anniversary of America. And so they had to do a whole scavenger hunt about the 13 original colonies. It’s a collaboration between the Scavenger Hunt Society, the City of Goldendale and the Goldendale Community Library. We all get together and put this scavenger hunt together and this is the prize that we came up with.”
The winners earlier toured the fire station and got a ride in a real fire truck. Jaycee banged the gavel to start the meeting and also read a statement giving a strong suggestion to the Community Days Committee:
“As Mayor Dave said, I’m the mayor of the evening. I’d like to have the carnival on Main Street again next year. My favorite rides were the zero gravity and the cyclone. The scavenger hunt was so fun. Thank you for having me.”
Sarah Kasczmarek reviewed the city’s financial position at the end the second quarter, which showed that while general fund revenue collection was on target with the budget but revenue had decreased by 9% from the previous year. This was due primarily to a significant drop in retail sales tax. Council members said the decline in retail sales tax was likely due to residents traveling to Oregon to shop, with the lack of sales tax and lower prices on items like food and alcohol.
Councilor Steve Johnston said the need for affordable housing should consider the city looking again at its ordinance on trailers:
“During the ’70s, companies really went cheap in building single wide trailers. Since then, the standards have come up significantly. Their two by six walls.They have regular siding on them. They have pitched roofs to deal with snow load. I really think it’s time to revisit that.”
Members of the ordinance committee will take up the subject at their next meeting.
And Councilor Danielle Clevidence had word about a community event of interest coming up:
“Also,we have the military vehicles coming in. There’s going to be about 50 different types of military vehicles and they’ll be pulling up to the high school, if I’m not mistaken, staying the night there and showing off these vehicles . It’s called a military convoy, and they’re going to show up, I believe, at the school somewhere around 5:00 PM on Tuesday, August 11th.”