Video courtesy of Nancy Kusky of Goldendale TV. Please subscribe to her YouTube Channel.
The Goldendale City Council met last night, and covered several items. Councilors approved a request from the Goldendale branch of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library to put up some signs indicating that the grounds are closed at night. Approval was needed because the city owns the building and leases it to the library. Police Chief Jay Hunziker said it would give his patrols more justification for moving people off the grounds at night. Currently, needles have been found in the sunken area leading to the basement level.
Council members also heard a report about an update to the city’s Shoreline Master Plan. Alex Capron of The Watershed Company, a consultant who will be helping with the project, said the law requires the plan to be updated every eight years, and the last update was in 2018. Asked why the city should update its plan four years early, he replied that the Department of Environmental Quality currently has mondy to help defray the costs.
City Administrator Pat Munyan presented a list covering a page and a quarter of all the parts and fittings needed by the city’s public works department:
“Most of this stuff two years ago within three days we could just get off the shelf. The last time we ordered this stuff it took 11 months to get all these parts. A year and a half, two years ago, this list cost the city twennnnnty (as in Thousand} …today, it’s $50,000.”
He also said that rising costs are going to force some changes in the budget. A rough draft was presented last night, and a budget workshop has been scheduled for next Monday, October 10 at 6 p.m. at city hall.
And, speaking of earlier meetings, councilor Steve Johnston floated the idea of starting city hall meetings at 5:30 p.m. Whether that change would be made remains to be seen.