by Richard Uhlhorn
This year’s Saint Patrick’s Day Top Dog Parade drew the largest crowd I’ve ever seen. It is becoming one of the favorite parades to participate in. Where else can you not only bring your dog, but dress it up in honor of Saint Patrick.
If you were unable to join in the fun, enjoy the following Photo Gallery.
BASEBALL
CHELAN SPLITS A DOUBLE HEADER WITH OKANOGAN
Perfect baseball weather greeted baseball fans, parents and players as the Chelan Goats opened their first home game hosting the Okanogan Bulldogs. Coach Dana Papasedero had to be pleased with the Goats efforts. His report follows:
It was a great day for baseball Saturday, as the Goats opened their CTL season with a Double Header against the Okanogan Bulldogs. It was a roller coaster day, with emotions running high on both sides.
In the first game, the Goats opened the scoring with Colt Corrigan slashing a RBI double to score a hustling Gage Estes to provide a 1 nothing lead. In the top of the second, the Bulldogs capitalized on 4 Goat errrors, scoring three unearned runs. The score remained the same until the bottom of the 5th, when the Goats erupted for 3 runs highlighted by Bryson Darlingtons 2 RBI double, and Breckin Sporseen adding another RBI double to take the lead for good, with the Goats coming away with a hard earned 4 to 3 victory. Sam Austin came in to pitch in the top of the third inning to shut down the Bulldogs with 5 innings of one hit, no run, pitching to earn his first win of the season.
Game two featured a real nail biter, with the Goats scoring first. Then had an ensuing see saw battle that included a 45 minute delay for an injured Okanogan player, two ejections for a collision at home plate ( one for each team ) , a long home run by Breckin Sporseen to left, and, a hard hit RBI double down the left field line by freshman Drake Bird to tie the score in the bottom of the 7th to force extra innings. From there, the Goats surrendered 4 runs in the 8th, and weren’t able to recover, giving the Bulldogs the 7-3 victory.
Next up, more CTL action, as the Goats travel to Cashmere Saturday at 11 for another double header
SOFTBALL
It was a nice spring day to open the Lady Goats fast pitch softball season as the Lady Goats hosted the hot Lynden Christian and Kittitas teams in non-league action. While the Lady Goats fell short in these two games, it was an opportunity for the new coach to see what she had and where she has to work to become competitive.
Both Lynden Christian and Kittitas pounded the ball giving Chelan plenty work defensively.
Chelan Goats Varsity Can’t Catch Up To Linden Christian
Chelan Goats Varsity watched the game slip away early and couldn’t recover in a 23-6 loss to Linden Christian on Saturday. Linden Christian scored on a triple by T Bajema and a groundout by M Vanderveen in the first inning.
Chelan Goats Varsity collected five hits and Linden Christian had 22 in the high-scoring affair.
In the first inning, Linden Christian got their offense started. Linden Christian scored two runs when Bajema tripled.
Chelan Goats Varsity put up three runs in the fourth inning. Chelan Goats Varsity‘s big bats in the inning were led by a home run by Ashley Sams, a groundout by Azzia MacDonald, and a double by Ashley Oswald.
Linden Christian scored nine runs in the third inning. Bajema, Re Dykstra, B Hornstra, Ab Jansma, K Lautabach, and K Leven each had RBIs in the frame.
Ri Dykstra got the start for Linden Christian. She lasted five innings, allowing five hits and six runs while striking out five.
Taylor Sams was on the mound for Chelan Goats Varsity. She allowed nine hits and ten runs over two innings. Leanna Garfoot threw three innings in relief out of the bullpen.
Chelan Goats Varsity collected five hits. Sierra Shively and Oswald all collected multiple hits for Chelan Goats Varsity. Oswald and Shively all had two hits to lead Chelan Goats Varsity.
Linden Christian tallied 22 hits. Bajema, Vanderveen, Hornstra, M Vander Griend, B Bosman, Lautabach, and Leven each had multiple hits for Linden Christian.
Bats Blistered As Chelan Goats Varsity Falls To Kittitas 24-8 in a high scoring game
Bats were blistered on Saturday, but Chelan Goats Varsity couldn’t quite get the job done against Kittitas and lost 24-8.
The Chelan Goats Varsity struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively containing Kittitas, giving up 24 runs.
Chelan Goats Varsity took an early lead in the first inning. Chelan Goats Varsity scored
one run when Taylor Sams doubled.
Kittitas took the lead for good with eight runs in the third inning. In the third, a batter grounded out, scoring two runs, while another homered on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring two runs, one also singled on a 1-1 count, scoring one run, and a final player from Kittitas homered on a 1-0 count, scoring three runs.
Kittitas scored 11 runs in the seventh inning.
Leanna Garfoot was on the mound for Chelan Goats Varsity. She lasted two and two-thirds innings, allowing eight hits and seven runs while walking one. Sams threw three and a third innings in relief out of the bullpen. Azzia Macdonald also pitched part of an inning for the Goats.
Kittitas hit two home runs.
Chelan Goats Varsity totaled 12 hits. Sierra Shively, Taylor Sams, and Jade Hatherell each collected multiple hits for Chelan Goats Varsity. Sams and Shively each collected three hits to lead Chelan Goats Varsity. Shively led Chelan Goats Varsity with four stolen bases, as they ran wild on the base paths with 12 stolen bases.
Kittitas racked up 17 hits in the game.
TENNIS:
In non-league action on Saturday, March 17, the Chelan Boys continued to dominate play on the tennis court, shutting out Ephrata 5-0.
The girls won their game, but lost two matches in the singles rounds.
Following is the coaches report. The tennis team will host Quincy on Thursday, March 22 at Lake Chelan Shores.
Ephrata at Chelan (non-league)
Girls: Chelan 3, Ephrata 2
#1 Singles: Emma McLaren (C) def Kenzie O’Donnell 6-2, 6-2
#2 Singles: Kayla Mullings (E) def Bella Gatzemeier 6-2, 6-4
#3 Singles: Roslyn Martin (E) def Katelyn Deal 6-2, 6-1
#1 Doubles: Sierra Rothlisberger/Madeline Peebles (C) def Taylor Perez/Hannah Goodspeed 6-1, 6-2
#2 Doubles: Sydney Hawkins/Abby Martin (C) def Elena Duffner/Chloe Davis 6-4, 6-4
The final match on the court was the #2 dubs match to break the 2-2 tie. Hawkins and Martin won the first set 6-4, but were down 0-4 in set #2 before winning 6 straight to clinch the win. The Chelan girls move to 2-0.
Boys: Chelan 5, Ephrata 0
#1 Singles: Micah Larson (C) def Griffin Allen 6-2, 6-0
#2 Singles: Wyatt Habich (C) def Ryan Pugh 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
#3 Singles: Tobin Wier (C) def Kaden Johnson 6-0, 6-0
#1 Doubles: Alex Gavin/Tyler Higgins (C) def Joseph Qualls/Xavier Hughes 6-0, 6-0
#2 Doubles: Eli Phelps/Steven Williams (C) def Colton Murray/Andres Ramirez 6-1, 6-1
The Chelan boys move to 3-0 on the year.
Chelan JV wins: Isabella Evans/Madison Latter 8-6, Audrey Gilleland 6-4, Aiden Petersen/Scott Abel won twice 8-3 and 8-2
by Richard Uhlhorn
After a Wednesday evening meeting concerning Advanced Two-Way Meters was cancelled by the PUD, Mayor Mike Cooney requested they make a presentation at the Tuesday evening, March 13 City Council meeting with time for public comment from the Smart Meter Awareness Group.
A number of residents filled Chelan City Council Chambers to hear a presentation by Chelan County PUD on their proposed smart meter program for the Lake Chelan Valley. Members of the Smart Meter Awareness Group were on hand to remark about the program.
“As promised I am allowing an option for the public to weigh in,” said Cooney in his opening remark. “We are going to keep it a smart dialogue.”
John Stoll, Managing Director of Customer Utilities for the PUD, gave a detailed slide presentation regarding the PUD’s efforts to bring a smart meter system to the Lake Chelan Valley citing numerous advantages over the standard old meters that are currently in use now. These advantages include:
“We’ve studied this for years,” said Stoll. The PUE installed 6,000 one-way water meters in 2006. The smart meter issue was presented to the Board of Commissioners in 2015 and the plan is to select a contractor in 2019, have Opt-out policies (customers will have an opt-out option) refined and presented to the Commission, and by quarter three of 2020, have the Advanced Meter program installed and operating. “We’ve studied this for 14 to 15 years now,” said Stoll. “This technology has been out there for a long time and is now on its third generation.”
John Stoll, Managing Director of Customer Utilities
The cost of program is estimated at $13 million with an estimated benefit to the PUD of $33 million over 20 years with a payback period of 14 years.
One of the cost reduction benefit outside of the PUD’s increased efficiency and responsiveness during electrical outages is the identification of High Density Loads (HDL) from crypto-currency mining that is being conducted without PUD knowledge or permits. “Some have played by the rules and are up and running, but others have not,” said Stoll. “It’s pretty much a cat and mouse game.”
The City of Chelan, however, put a moratorium on any crypto-currency mining until they can better understand the issues.
In gearing up for this transformation, the PUD has briefed all elected leaders, held more than 18 community meetings, sent out more than 45,000 direct-mail postcards encouraging feedback and more than 33,000 emails on the PUD’s current email list. There have been three public comment Commission hearings held and the public can research the subject of smart meters at the PUD’s dedicated website landing page (www.chelanpud.org/advanced-meters).
Customers will have an opt-out opportunity and still have their old meters read by a meter reader, but it will have additional costs related to that service.
The PUD has had pushback from the Smart Meter Awareness Group in Chelan who are genuinely concerned about added RF (radio frequency) emissions to an already large RF output from Wi-Fi and Cell Phones. The PUD reported that 15 minutes of cell phone usage equals about 375 years of advanced meter exposure.
Public Comment:
Robin Casal, spokeswoman for the group said they had collected 500 signatures against the smart meter installation that includes five doctors, 20 health practitioners and Ann Congdon, the one PUD Commissioner who voted against the program. “We hope you have looked at the information we gave you and have researched this issue,” she told the City Council members.
Robin Casal, Smart Meter Awareness Group representative.
She cited RF as an accumulation factor in the increase in cancer, autism and other diseases or issues. “Radio frequencies is a large contributor to this and this would be another addition,” remarked Casal. “It adds to comprised immune systems in children and seniors, adds costs to the health industry and affects our environment.”
She accused the Council of being in fear of disrupting its relationship with the PUD and talked about the liabilities. Others talked about opting out, but didn’t feel they should have to pay extra to opt out.
One of the more interesting comments came from Garett Boss. He stated that two way access opens up the possibility of giving outside people more access to your home. Boss stated that there are programs that can process 16,000 passwords a second. However, no one is going to go to the trouble for nothing. “I’m just saying it can happen.”
Garett Boss gave an interesting take on how smart meters could be hacked.
Councilman Ray Dobbs asked if the opportunity is there to hack into the two way system, has it happened? “Absolutey,” stated Boss. “It’s happened in New York and Los Angeles to turn off power.” Dobbs then asked if the smart meters were smart enough to tell who hack into it? “No!” replied Boss.
Councilman Ray Dobbs
Casal brought up the point that the City had promised a workshop and that it hadn’t happened. Mayor Cooney replied that it was setup, but the PUD cancelled and that he was affording the time at a Council meeting for them to be heard. He then told the group that he spent time with the City Attorney and that the City can’t do anything about stopping the PUD’s program. “I wanted the public to have a say, but this is between the PUD and you,” said Cooney. “I hope you feel you got heard.”
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth said the PUD is state regulated and that it is difficult for the City to come between them. Port Angeles is the only City to block smart meters in the state because they own their utility.
City Attorney Quentin Batjer that of all the cities I the state, Port Angeles is the only utility that is city run. “I would urge any action be taken up with the PUD commission. For the city to take any action, it take findings of fact to justify it and at this point would be imprudent of this juncture,” said Batjer. “My analysis is that this issue is a policy issue, not a legal issue.”
Dobbs asked if other technologies were being explored. “Is that something being considered by the PUD?” Stoll replied that RF is the most common technology being used. “The utility has not made up its mind, but the feasibility of using the fiber network is important.”
Dobbs asked Commissioner Ann Congdon why she voted against the smart meter program. She replied that her background was in biology and that she research the issue and felt compelled to vote no, but didn’t want to get into all of the reasons at the meeting.
Mayor Cooney read a resolution that was passed unanimously by the council. It read in part that the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Chelan:
For more information on the advanced metering system go to the PUD’s website
at:www.chelanpud.org/advancedmeters.
For more information on public concerns, visit the Smart Meter Awareness Group website at: http://www.facebook.com/pg/smart.meter.awareness.
Lake Chelan Community Hospital has hired an interim CEO to take Kevin Abel’s place. Abel is leaving soon to take a new position in Whitefish Montana.
“We are very pleased to have Steve on board as our interim,” said Mary Signorelli, LCCHC Board chair. “We look forward to working with him on all of the projects we have begun and feel confident that he will serve our community very well.”
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Lake Chelan Hospital hires Steven Patonai as interim CEO
Steve Patonai
Interim CEO at Lake Chelan Community Hospital
Chelan, WA – Steven Patonai, who has more than 25 years of senior healthcare executive experience, will start as interim CEO at Lake Chelan Community Hospital & Clinics (LCCHC) Monday, March 19. He replaces LCCHC CEO Kevin Abel, who is leaving this month for a new CEO position with North Valley Hospital in Whitefish, Montana. Patonai will serve as CEO while the LCCHC Board looks for a permanent CEO to replace Abel.
Patonai comes from Houston, TX, where he worked as CEO for two major hospitals. His experience also includes executive experience in a variety of hospitals, from smaller organizations to tertiary medical centers, providing him with a diverse wealth of expertise, including hospital operations, physician recruitment and hospital construction.
“We are very pleased to have Steve on board as our interim,” said Mary Signorelli, LCCHC Board chair. “We look forward to working with him on all of the projects we have begun and feel confident that he will serve our community very well.”
Patonai, who began his medical career as a pharmacist, has a personal interest in local healthcare. He and his wife Sharon own property in the valley and are currently building their retirement home near Rocky Point. He first visited Chelan when working as CEO of Auburn Regional Medical Center outside Seattle more than 15 years ago.
“Lake Chelan Hospital is very well positioned,” he said, “and Kevin Abel has done a great job. With the new hospital building project, it’s an exciting time to be part of local healthcare, and I hope I can have a positive impact.”
Patonai looks forward to working in a smaller hospital where he can interact more closely with staff and patients. “It gives me an opportunity to return to the roots of why I got into healthcare in the first place,” he said, “to help people.”
For those who missed Tom Peters on KOZI Radio on Tuesday morning, following is his full stated for resigning from Chelan County Fire District No. 7.
Tom Peters resigned his position as a Chelan Fire & Rescue Commissioner
on Tuesday, March 13, after serving the community
in that position for the past four years.
I have resigned as commissioner of Chelan county Fire Protection District 7 (Chelan Fire & Rescue). At the outset of my term I said I would serve as long as I continued to help improve Chelan Fire & Rescue. After lengthy consideration, I concluded I was no longer able to do so.
Let me make this very clear – I am convinced that each and every individual in Chelan Fire & Rescue is committed to the mission “to protect the lives and property of the citizens and visitors in our district and community through emergency response, education and prevention.” This has not changed.
Now, as a private citizen and no longer an elected official, here are my reasons for resigning after four plus years as your Fire Commissioner.
First, Washington State’s Open Public Meeting Act severely restricts our commissioners from performing their duties in an effective and efficient manner. According to this act, “the people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.” As a result, Commissioners are forced to limit all discussions with fellow commissioners to public meetings under the scrutiny of the public and the media with every word open to interpretation and potential legal scrutiny. What would generally take days to accomplish in most business settings takes months to accomplish in the public eye. Transparency is crucial to the functioning of an effective government – an informed public is imperative in this regard. However, sensitive and candid discourse among commissioners in confidence is necessary at times to produce quick, effective decisions about services that have real life and death consequences. The Open Public Meeting Act may be well intentioned but the constraints it imposes on public officials are excessive, unproductive, and raise costs for everyone. I was no longer willing to serve with such debilitating restrictions.
Second, the pubic cannot expect any organization to function on a budget which, by law, is only allowed to increase 1% per year despite inflation rising at higher rates. For as long as I can remember, I have never seen wages and benefits in the public or private sector grow by 1% or less; most often it has been 3% or more per year. Since people are the single most important and most expensive asset of Chelan Fire & Rescue, it is unrealistic to expect the department to survive on 1% per year. Many people in Chelan have voiced that they expect the same level of service from the fire department over time with no increase in revenues. This simply does not work.
Third, Washington State limits, by law, the revenue sources for fire departments. Chelan Fire & Rescue currently depends almost entirely on property taxes, occasionally supplemented by federal grants which are very unpredictable. Fire Protection District 7 has approximately 7m500 property owners, yet has over an estimated 2,000,000 visitors between May and October of each year. After researching this, I have found no practical way for our district to tax these visitors to help pay for services they may receive while they are here. Nor does our district appear to have any practical way to tax businesses that benefit from visitors. Yet our fire district provides its services without support from this transient population. This is an unsustainable situation which contributes to the inevitability of increasing local property taxes at rates that may force, unfairly, numerous property owners from their homes. I do not condone, nor could I support the reliance on a single primary source of revenue that promotes this outcome.
Fourth, the 2018 Chelan Fire & Rescue Community Task Force Report stated in its introduction “tax initiatives, burgeoning personnel/operational costs for providing services and increased demands for services have outstripped the ability to effectively fund most Fire Departments at their current level.” Yet, I have not seen effective plans from the department that contains substantive means to cut costs in the future. Instead of valuing input from its Chelan Fire & Rescue volunteer members, and the whole department working collaboratively to create new, better, and less expensive ways to provide services, the answer to increased demands is always the same old model I’ve heard since I’ve been here: more paid staff, more money, and more taxes. Instead of the hospital board agreeing to explore with Chelan Fire & Rescue the possible consolidation of EMS and fire services, they deliberately failed to engage actively because the Manson Fire District would not join the conversation. Certainly higher taxes will be required to support emergency services going forward but much too little has been done to find efficiencies that would minimize the size of such increases.
I have to come to understand that Washington State, the residents of the Lake Chelan area, and Chelan Fire & Rescue, all have set unrealistic expectations that cannot be met using the current system of governance and taxation. Compromise on all fronts will be required to arrive at a system that does work, and provides the public the emergency services they require. The Fire Commissioners alone cannot fix this broken system and, it is not their responsibility to do so.
Throughout my tenure I promoted communication and encouraged participation of all members of Chelan Fire & Rescue and the community in fire department matters. I sincerely hope the future will be forged by melding great ideas from each commissioner, administrator, volunteer and career firefighter, with the best interests of the community in mind.
Tom Peters
by Richard Uhlhorn
Manson’s Goalie saves a goal during a 20 minute game against Chelan on Saturday.
Photo Gallery
SOCCER
The Chelan Soccer team hosted Manson, Bridgeport and Oroville at their Jamboree at Mountain Goat Field. The weather was sunny but a little windy and cool.
The Goats took on Bridgeport first in a 20 minute game with both teams keeping the ball out of the net for a zero-zero session Bridgeport and Chelan both looked strong with Chelan getting more time on the offense. They had two clear shots at goal but both went high and over the goal.
Manson and Chelan mixed it up but also came away scoreless. Both teams looked and played equally well on the field which should make for a real barn burner when they meet in a full game situation.
Coach Jamie Richards is excited to be back coaching the Chelan team. “We have 43 out which is a little short,” said Richards. “We like it. It means more coaching per player which lets us get back to that foundation we have had.”
He’s also excited about some good freshmen coming on board. Ronnie Barajas and Eric Cardenas are back as his senior captains.
The Soccer Team will kick off the regular season on Tuesday, March 13 against Brewster and then open their home stand against Tonasket on Thursday, March 15, with the kickoff at 4:30.
Chelan’s fast pitch softball action begins with games against Lynden Christian and Kittitas on Saturday March 17 beginning at 11 a.m.
File Photo from 2017 by Richard Uhlhorn
SOFTBALL:
Chelan’s Lady Goats opened their fast pitch softball season in Brewster on Saturday against the Brewster Bears and Liberty Bell Mountain Lions.
The Jamboree consisted of three innings for each team with Brewster opening with Chelan. The Bears won 5-1, scoring three runs in the third inning of play. These runs came off a home run by Brewster’s A. Unias. Chelan’s Taylor Sams took the loss surrending five runs on eight hits over the three innings. She struck out one and walked one. Brewster had eight hits in the game.
In its second game against the Liberty Bell Mountain Lions a single in the third inning helped the Lady Goats to a 5-5 tie. Taylor Boykin went 2-for-2 at the plate to lead the Goats in hits.
Baseball action begins on Saturday, March 17 at Mountain Goat Field with a doubleheader against the Okanogan Bulldogs.
File Photo from 2017 by Richard Uhlhorn
BASEBALL:
The Chelan Goat Baseball Team traveled to Quincy for its opening Jamboree that was originally scheduled for Chelan, but the field was still unplayable.
The Goats played both the Quincy Jackrabbits and Cashmere Bulldogs in three inning contests, winning game one against the Jacks 1-0 and then roaring back in game two against the long time CTL powerhouse, Cashmere, earning a well deserved 6-0 victory.
In game one it was Conner Wilson and Drake Bird looking sharp on the mound, combining for a no-hit shutout against the Jacks. In game two, Beckin Sporseen and Quinn Stamps combined to shutout the Bulldogs.
Chelan’s offense came alive with all players contributing at the plate and a number of young players getting their first varsity high school playing time.
The season really starts next Saturday as the Goats host the Okanogan Bulldogs in a double header at Mountain Goat Field with the first pitch at 11 a.m.
by Richard Uhlhorn
The Lake Chelan Valley is gearing up for Spring and there are a number of meetings that will be taking place outside of the regularly scheduled meetings of local organizations and agencies.
Community Clean-Up Planning Meeting: On Monday, March 12, there is a planning meeting for the Community wide clean-up effort at the Vogue beginning at 5:30 p.m. This is a short planning session to divide up the clean-up efforts in town between the various organizations who will be on the streets, in the parks, alleys and on the highways on the morning of April 20 in advance of the annual Earth Day celebration in Riverwalk Park on Saturday, April 21.
Advanced (Smart) Meter Program: On Wednesday, March 14, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Chelan County PUD representatives will update the Chelan City Council on the status of the PUD’s Advanced (Smart) Meter Program. The public is invited to attend and time will be allotted for public comment. The meeting will be held in the Chelan Fire Hall conference room at 232 E. Wapato Way.
NOTICE: THIS MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. PUD REPRESENTATIVES WILL PRESENT TO THE CITY COUNCIL ON TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 13 INSTEAD. CITY COUNCIL BEGINS AT 6 P.M.
Lake Chelan looks clean and pristine, but there are subtle changes taking place that is affecting water quality. The upcoming meeting on April 19 should be put on everyone’s calendar to find out what is going on.
Photo by Richard Uhlhorn
Lake Chelan Water Quality: On Thursday, April 19, beginning at 6 p.m. an important Town Hall meeting on Lake Chelan Water Quality will be held in Chelan City Council Chambers. This is being hosted by the City of Chelan and will include presentations by the Lake Chelan Watershed Planning Unit on the on-going efforts to study and to maintain lake quality.
Barry Wise took this photograph this year off his beach in Manson. It is a reflection of some of the changes taking place in Lake Chelan . The lake has never had large freshwater clams like these in the past. Why now? Attend the meeting on April 19.
by Richard Uhlhorn
Hospital CEO Kevin Abel will be leaving Chelan for a new job in Whitefish, Montana. A farewell reception has been planned for March 24 at
Sorrento’s Restaurant from 1 to 3 p.m.
Lake Chelan Health & Wellness Foundation, Hospital Guilds, B, Y and E, the Lake Chelan Hospital & Clinic employees and the Lake Chelan Rotary Club are hosting and sponsoring a farewell reception for outgoing CEO Kevin Able on Saturday, March 24, at Sorrento’s Restaurant at Tsillan Cellars from 1 to 3 p.m.
Abel, who has guided the hospital through to the successful bond issue for a new hosptital is leaving Chelan to become the CEO of North Valley Hospital-Kalispel Regional Healthcare in Whitefish, Montana.
“Personally is it really hard to leave this valley,” said Abel. “I have a great staff, but this is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
Everyone is welcome to join this farewell reception to thank Kevin for his many years of outstanding service to the hospital and community.
by Richard Uhlhorn
At the last Tuesday, February 27, Chelan City Council meeting, there were several items on the agenda of interest to the public.
Planning Director Craig Gildroy went through several items in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Package he felt was important to discuss before the Council considers the Planning Commissions upcoming recommendations
Planning Director Craig Gildroy brought forth a motion to accept the Chelan Planning Commission’s recommendation to prepare a recommendation on the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Package. The City Council sets the 2018 amendment docket and instructs the Planning Commission to prepare these recommendations.
Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations may only be amended once a year. The Planning Commission took public input at its January and February meetings.
Gildroy touched on several items in the recommendations which included impact fees on developers. The Growth Management Act allows impact fees to be placed on developers based on impacts to parks, fire services, schools and transportation. “We may not be able to adopt all impact fees,” said Gildroy. “We need to come back to the Council on these issues.”
Gildroy said the Planning Department is monitoring the Date Mining situation and that a public hearing is scheduled for April 10.
He also brought up the Affordable Housing issue and stated that there is no density limitation in the city limits which allows for micro housing and small homes to be built. “How do we get the builders to build it them),” said Gildroy
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth remarked that cottage housing and building accessory dwelling units within the City Limits would provide a lot of opportunities for the rental market.
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth feels that ADUs and other small housing units built in the City would help alleviate some of the rental problems.
Councilwoman Wendy Isenhart feels that the local banking industry needs to be a part of the affordable housing conversation.
Councilman Ray Dobbs
Councilwoman Wendy Isenhart said that the local banks should be a part of the conversation. “The need to be writing mortgages for that.” Councilman Ray Dobbs remarked that the banks can’t not do it (write mortgages) anymore. Gildroy stated that the education part is more important than the work.
Mayor Mike Cooney asked if the Planning Department has seen an increase in people coming in. Gildroy replied that they’ve seen more interest in multi-family units than other types of housing in the City. “We haven’t seen people coming for ADUs.” He reiterated that outside of the permitting to build an ADU, there are no hookup fees associated with them. They are restricted to 300 to 1,000 square feet.
City Clerk Peri Gallucci brought forth a motion to authorize the Mayor to execute the GovQA Professional Services Agreement for Public Records Requests.
“We have been inundated this year and have reached the $100,000 threshold,” said Gallucci. She told the Council that while she doesn’t track the time it takes to process these requests, it is time consuming. Logging public records requests is now required by law and the log must include, at minimum, the identity of the requester, the date of the request, the text of the request, a description of the records produced, a description of any redacted or withheld records, the reasons for any redactions or withholding, and the date of the final disposition of the request.
The requested software has the reporting metric points built in, has a comprehensive web portal where every document including emails are located in the same place, allows the requestor to log in and track their records requests, and offers proactive technology which will eventually reduce the time spent on fulfilling requests at a cost of $4,700 per year with a renewal fee each following year.
“The goal of this program (software) is that all the documents requested will be in that portal,” said Gallucci.
Councilman Ray Dobbs asked if a requester would be able to print from the portal. Gallucci said she wasn’t sure, but would find out.
City Administrator Mike Jackson brought forth a recommendation for a Council consensus to bring forth a motion at the March 13 Council meeting to hire Julie Brunner, Housing and Community Development, to perform preliminary work on drafting a housing availability and needs assessment for Chelan and to work on the potential of forming a Community Land Trust in Chelan and the surrounding area.
Mayor Cooney remarked, “We are not going to get affordable housing in our community without a land trust.” Hollingsworth added that having Brunner on board would help with this issue.”She would help us refine it and focus on the issues. There are a lot of organizations going on a parallel track.”
Dobbs asked if there was a plan for the City to subsidize the affordable housing issues. Cooney replied that there are plans for a major fundraiser and tax credit. “We are trying to sell this to the community… we have to sell it. It is a topic that is dominating and hurting our community. It is the highest priority for people who want to live here and work here,” said Cooney.
John Olson and Steve Kline both commented during the Citizen Comment period that the City needs to look into helping to provide rental units because 80 to 90 percent of the low income workers are looking for rentals, not to purchase a home.
The next City Council meeting is on Tuesday, March 13, beginning at 6 p.m.
by Richard Uhlhorn
In November of 2017 an adhoc committee worked with Chris Bell Associates to study Chelan’s current recycling program under an interlocal agreement with Chelan County and Entiat. The City has been helping to finance, operate and supervise the North Chelan County Recycling Project since 1998.
Based on the study, Chris Bell Associates recommended in November that the City move towards a curbside recycling program which means that the City will no longer operate the drop-off recycling center at 50 Chelan Falls Highway. The County is also looking at a volunteer curbside recycling program. The City passed a motion on December 18 to begin the formation of a curbside recycling program.
Once the City of Chelan’s mandatory curbside recycling program gets underway sometime in April, these recycling bins will be removed.
City Administrator Mike Jackson told the Council that while the program has been successful, the value of commodities has dropped. The City has been spending $253,000 to fund the recycle project and will use those funds to offset the estimated annual cost of the new curbside recycling program.
Jackson said that glass and paper have no value. “Tons of bailed paper is going into landfills,” said Jackson. Last year the recycling center had $85,000 in revenues. “The equipment is aging and the County is moving to a volunteer curbside program,” Jackson said. “We have moved to mandatory curbside recycling.”
The City’s Recycling Program
is changing to curbside
Jackson said Chris Bell Associates was coming back to Council before implementation of the plan and suggested that the Council authorize the Mayor to finalize and execute the Notice of Termination of the current Interlocal agreement with the County.
Mayor Mike Cooney said, “We have been losing money. We don’t have a time and we want to be good neighbors. We are not springing things on people.”
On Thursday, Brenda Blanchfield of the County’s Solid Waste Department said the UTC has selected Zippy as the franchised hauler of recycled material in the Chelan area. “The County will have a volunteer curbside recycling program,” said Blanchfield.
That means that Zippy is working on a program to deliver a recycling container to those individuals outside the City limits who want to continue to recycle at some price point.
The cancellation policy of the interlocal agreement is 90 days. The City hopes to roll out its mandatory recycling program by Earth Day in April.
The City Council unanimously moved to authorize the Mayor to finalize and execute the Notice of Termination between the City and County.
The County replied to the City with a letter from County Engineer Eric Pierson, who hoped that the City will “entertain coordinating/contracting with Zippy to help reduce the burden of the cost to haul recycling materials to Spokane for both the City and County in hopes of minimizing the impacts of the transition to the new program.
All Things Lake Chelan 