b Richard Uhlhorn
Tuesday night’s Chelan City Council meeting was a rather mundane affair with only three items to consider on the agenda, but the Citizen Comments session was not mundane at all.
Residents living on Trow Avenue were out in force to address what they see as an increasingly dangerous traffic situation at the intersection of where Trow meets Emerson Street next to Riverwalk Park.
Joe Fialla who lives adjacent to the Riverwalk Park pathway on Trow said in his opening remarks that the crowning blow for him was when a car ended up in his yard, destroying a dogwood tree and bird bath. “People come around that corner at 50 miles per hour,” said Fialla.
Drivers are using Emerson Street as a bypass to the traffic backup on Johnson and Sanders at the traffic light.
Joe Patrick said the area is becoming more congested. He stated that the city needs to address the problem to slow traffic down or even make the street and avenue one-way. “There are E-Bikes, motorbikes, school children and paddleboarders on this street. It is an accident waiting to happen.
Debra Crew suggested a few speed bumps to slow traffic down.
Rich Thompson said it was a good thing that people are using Riverwalk Park but added, “Someone is going to get killed.” His garbage cans have been knocked over by cars and stated that Trow has no sidewalks. “We get a lot of pedestrians, bikes , walkers, fire trucks and EMS ambulances on the street.” His wife added that there is no dividing line on the street either.
The issue will be looked into by Public Works.
Motion Considerations:
- City Council approved a Master Agreement for professional services with J-U-B Engineering for Airport Consulting Services.
“J-U-B has done a great job for us,” said Wade Farris. “We received no other bids.” - Council also approved the expenditure of $100,000 to refurbish the Sheriff’s Marine 2 boat.
Sgt. Rob Huddleston remarked that the motor on Marine 1 quit and it will cost $50,000 to replace. Farris stated that the city will fund the $100,000 out of Tourism dollars. Huddleston, obviously happy, stated that 84% of the people contacted on the lake are from out of town with a high concentration of rental vessels
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth asked if the $100,000 expenditure met the use of tourism dollars criteria. Finance director Jacki Tupling replied that it was appropriate use of these dollars as long as it related to tourism.
Sgt. Huddleston told the council that Lake Chelan has the highest concentration of boater recreation in the state. “This year we’ve made the most contacts we have ever made,” said Huddleston. McCardle asked if the city has followed the correct process? Tupling replied that they have.
Councilman Terry Sanders asked Huddleston if there was any effort to put together a capital reserve for these kinds of needs. Huddleston replied that Sheriff Morrison is working hard on these issues and is trying to find funding to replace a lot of outdated equipment within the department.
GMA update:
Community Development Director John Ajax informed council that the City is required to look at Climate Change resilience in its 2026 GMA updates.
Ajax explained that the city would be eligible for a grant and was teaming up with Chelan County. A consultant will be hired to help secure a $100,000 grant for this effort.
Administrative reports:
HR/Communications Director Chad Coltman stated that the city has qualified candidates for all the city positions that are open including the Assistant Director for the Parks Department. The city continues to try and find a code enforcement officer and Coltman will provide more information later in the month.
Coltman said that a meeting on Transportation issues will be held at the Performing Arts Center at Chelan High School on September 11. The big issue, of course, is what to do about the old bridge and whether or not to change it back to two-way or reverse the direction to help alleviate the current traffic situation.
Public Works Director Jake Youngren said he had no new on rebuilding and/or fixing the recycling issue. “I have no new news on the center,” said Youngren.
Jackie Tupling said there would be a budget workshop on October 10.
Mayor/Council comments:
Terry Sanders reported that the Chamber has created a mockup on the potential for boat in waterfront at Riverwalk Park to help create more access to downtown Chelan. “This would be a joint venture with the city and PUD.”
Jon Higgins said he walks Emerson Avenue to the park quite a bit and recognizes the street issue at the intersection of Trow and Emerson.
Tim Hollingsworth also said he walks that route also and stated that there is way more traffic than there was 20 years ago.j
Mayor McCardle said she had talked with Representative Kim Schier and that Schier has no concerns regarding the funding request from Congress. She also said that $300,000 of state funding was approved to match Chelan’s for public infrastructure. McCardle also said the Tribal Council wants to be involved in the Lakeside Trail project.
She and Bob Goedde both attended the Tri-Commission meeting and that the Port will be spending $100 million on projects, but none of that funding will hit Chelan. She also said the Sports Complex/Aquatic Center in the Wenatchee area would be adding 2% sales tax hike to help pay for it. “It will be up to us to decide if we want to be involved.”
She thanked the rapid response by Chelan Fire and Rescue and the aerial attack that stopped the Stayman Flats fire. “It was a different outcome from 2015,” said McCardle.
The crosswalk at Bradley Street is complete and school children will only have to cross from and to the Community center once, not twice, however, McCardle said, “We don’t want semi’s using Bradley.” Semi’s have been using Bradley as a bypass through Chelan for a number of years. The solution is a difficult one, but another route would be necessary.
Airport news:
Farris reported that the airport had 633 movements during July/August and were being paid $450 per day by the Forest Service and the Incident Team for a total of $39,700 dollars.
All Things Lake Chelan 