Up to 11 old classic unlimted hydroplanes will be in Chelan this coming weekend and will provide lots of thunder as they go out and run exhibition laps. Mitch Evans is bringing his own unlimited, the Blue Chip
The 9th annual Mahogany & Merlot Wooden Boat Show will roar to life at Don Morse Memorial Park’s Boat Launch on Saturday morning, October 6 and carry through to Sunday, October 7. Presented by the PNW Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, this year’s show should be an absolute win-win for Chelan.
Along with the unlimited hydros, there will be up to 20 vintage hydros also running exhibition laps on the lake.
This year’s event will include up to 11 unlimited vintage hydroplanes, up to 20 limited vintage racing boats from individual owners and the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum along with 20 to 30 gorgeously restored and maintained wooden boats.
This year’s car show will feature a number of classic and modern vehicles.
In addition, there will be a car show in the upper parking lot at the marina featuring vintage cars.
“There will be two pits this year,” said John Walcker, one of the organizers of the event. The normal pit will be at the Lake Chelan Marina and an additional pit will be located at the Three Fingers. “We have so many boats coming that we had to split the pits because of crowding,” said Walcker.
20 to 30 beautiful classic wooden boats will also be on
display throughout the weekend.
Pit passes will be available to the general public for $10. It’s a great way to get up close and see these magnificent machines and interact with the drivers and pit crews.
There will also be a beer garden featuring ales from Mack & Jacks, wine from Vin du Lac and spirits from Blue Spirits.
The Lake Chelan Community Hospital Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, September 25.
Mary Ann Patton, a local resident, made a public comment about how excited she is with the Hospital’s new direction. “I’ve been able to hear some of the things you are doing,” she said. “It is exactly the type of commitment to turn a substantive portion of our community’s trust in you in a positive direction.”
The CEO Recruitment Screening Committee (Interim CEO Steve Patonai, Phyllis Gleasman and Mary Murphy) developed a flow chart to identify the process to select the new CEO. “We went back and asked for all resumes,” said Patonai. The full commission has the draft flow chart and were told that if there were any changes to let the screening committee know.
Chairwoman Mary Signorelli told everyone that the board would go into executive session later in the afternoon to discuss the seven candidates that have been selected. “We need to decide if we are to interview all seven or shake it down to three or less,” said Signorelli.
With regards to the USDA loans and grant, Signorelli stated that the hospital is about as close as it can be. “We have tentative approval,” said Signorelli. The entire loan package is now in Washington DC awaiting final approval. “It has been a long and arduous and painful process to wait this long,” she said.
In a telephone conversation on October 1, Signorelli said the hospital has received final approval and a letter noting that approval was in the mail. “We will wait until we receive the letter to make a formal announcement,” she said.
The process went from the USDA offices in Wenatchee to Olympia where the funding committee met with the agency “There were very few questions,” Signorelli stated. “We were surprised there wasn’t more questions.”
As soon as the approval is finalized, Signorelli said the Hospital will move forward for bonding with Wheatland Bank.
The Board and Staff continue to work on the 2019 strategies that were discussed at its annual retreat in Pateros. Patonai went over the strategies in the meeting including:
Service
Quality and Safety
Growth and Innovation
Finance
Community
The Hospital is developing a strategy to be in the top 10 percentile in Patient Satisfaction and top 10 percentile in community hospitals. They have a strategy to achieve a long term goal of 80% of patient visits by Primary Care Teams and Zero Preventable Patient Harm.
The strategy for Growth and Innovation is to increase access and availability to primary care and specialty providers. “We need to be thinking out of the box,” said Patonai.
The hospital finance goal is to increase its operating margin and cash reserves by the end of the year.
Community outreach includes developing and initiating a comprehensive wellness and education program with the community.
Patonai and the board want to see more training and methods to improve customer service. Patonai stated that when staff evaluations are done, strong performers will be rewarded and those with lower performance levels will be out the door.
In the Finance area the hospital will be cutting back on travel and conferences.
EMS Director Ray Eickmeyer and Paramedics Mistaya Johnston and Kurt Middleton gave the commission an EMS update.
EMS Personnel gave an update on EMS activities. Pictured from the left are Paramedics Kurt Middleton, Mistaya Johnston and EMS Director Ray Eickmeyer.
According to Eickmeyer there are 14 EMTs (5 fulltime) and 16 Paramedics (8 fulltime) in the EMS system.
Middleton told the commission that the group is constantly training and setting up scenarios so EMS can provide quality service for the community.
Seventy percent of EMS calls originate in Chelan with another 23 percent in Manson. The rest are to other locations like Entiat or in Douglas County. Eickmeyer told the commission that responding EMS crews are on the scene within five minutes of being called out.
“We are one of the top performing EMS crews in the State,” said Eickmeyer. “We’v been in the top one percent for the last two years. Spokane attained that last month.”
He said that they saved 17 lives in the last 10 years because they are able to bring them back from being clinically dead before they arrive at the Emergency Room. “The National average is only two lives,” said Eickmeyer. “We get a pulse now in 80 percent of our ambulance transports to the hospital. Washington State is the best in the Nation in that regards.”
Chelan EMS is also a local leader in CPR training. “We offer more training than anyone in the region. I would put us up against Seattle,” he stated.
Chelan’s EMS is oe of the only two units in the entire state that can transfer highly infectious individuals and are the only Hazmat trained rescue unit in NCW.
Interim CEO Steve Patonai
During his CEO Report, Patonai stated that the Chelan Clinic is a growth engine for the hospital going forward.
Patonai told the board that after 32 years, Lee Tinsley’s last day was on Monday and that the hospital would not be refilling his position. “We will be sharing that position.
He stated that the Department of Health made an unannounced visit to the Hospital and that there are several quick fixes that the Hospital needs to address quickly.
Affordable housing was on the collective minds of the Lake Chelan Valley this past week. On Tuesday evening, September 25, the Chelan City Council heard an update from Housing Consultant Julie Brunner. This meeting was followed on Wednesday evening with a well attended Senior Living Initiative Summit at the Chelan Senior Center followed by a standing room only, crowded City of Chelan Town Hall meeting at the Chelan Senior Center on Thursday night.
At the Tuesday, September 25 City Council meeting, consultant Julie Brunner gave a Housing Study Update to the council on the Chelan Valley Housing Trust and the current housing needs assessment.
Affordable Housing Consultant Julie Brunner spent several days in Chelan last week and gave a full report on her Housing Study within the Lake Chelan Valley to City Council at its September 25 meeting.
Chelan Valley Housing Trust was originally started as the Affordable Housing Initiative in Chelan by Mayor Mike Cooney, Councilman Tim Hollingsworth, and Planning Commissioner Rachael Goldie in an effort to address the housing crisis for moderate to low income residents of the Chelan Valley.
Currently, the Trust is seeking 501(c) 3 status as a non-profit organization. Brunner said that the group held a meeting on Monday evening with 11 individuals who are interested in participating as professional board members and that sort of thing.
They also had conversations about land donations and trying to figure out where housing might go. They are also discussion fundraising and planning.
“One of the things special about here and in the Methow is that we in the affordable housing industry in Washington State is that all the traditional sources of money we’ve gone to the make affordable housing happen are no longer available,” said Brunner. “They have been shrinking and shrinking and shrinking and the completion (for that money) has been getting worse and worse and worse.”
Because of the shrinking funding sources, affordable housing organizations are beginning to look at private money and local municipal support for funding sources. “We can’t rely on State and Federal folks we used to, so we are trying to take matters into our own hands,” said Brunner.
Brunner shared numbers from the 2016 census (CCD). These numbers indicate that Chelan has 6,631 residents and Manson has 2,948 residents. There are 2,625 households in Chelan and 1,303 in Manson with 4,514 housing units in Chelan and 2,452 in Manson.
Of the 9,579 people residing in the Valley, 2,734 are owner occupied and 1,194 are renter occupied. 2,365 are seasonally occupied. “Thirty four percent is seasonally vacant here (Chelan valley) compared to 16 percent in the county and three percent in the State.
One of the biggest jumps in residency between 2000 and 2016 according to Brunner’s statistics is from the age of 45 to 65 with a jump from 22 percent to 34 percent and 65 and older from 12 percent to 20 percent. The biggest drop was the younger generation from 0-17 and 18-44.
Wages weigh into the housing crisis in the Chelan Valley. Fully one-quarter of the population make under $25,000 per year followed by 24 percent making between $25,000 and $50,000 per year. Seventeen percent are in the higher bracket of $50,000 to $75,000 and 14 percent are making $75,000 to 100,000 a year.
Poverty by age groups was also shared with the Council. The percentage of people in the Chelan Valley under the poverty level is an astounding 12.3 percent with 14.8 percent 65 years or older against only eight percent state wide.
What was interesting was the amount of income an individual or family must bring in to rent in Chelan (median rental prices). The standard for rentals is one-third of one’s annual or monthly earnings. Therefore, according to Brunner’s study, a person or family would need to make $18 per hour or $38,000 a year to rent a one bedroom apartment. A two bedroom apartment runs about $1,250 per month and a three bedroom, $1,500 a month which means a family would have to make $24 or $29 per hour to meet the 1/3rd of their income criteria. Unfortunately pay norms in Chelan are below that minimum of $18 per hour.
According to Brunner’s study, Chelan Service workers make on average $14 per hour or $29,120 per year, which means they can afford to rent at $728 per month or would qualify for a $103,000 conventional mortgage or $180,000 USDA mortgage.
Small business owners are reporting $35,000 earnings per year on average which means they would qualify for a $134,000 conventional mortgage or $234,000 USDA mortgage, if they could even qualify for that. Nurses are on average a little higher at $17 per hour, and mid management on average are pulling down $20 per hour or $41,600 per year. They couldn’t qualify for a USDA loan, but can afford $1,144 per month rent or could qualify for a $166,500 conventional mortgage. Chelan’s teachers on average make $42,290 per year.
“You can see that half of your population is under $50,000 per year. That’s a pretty good guide of who you need to focus on,” said Brunner.
At the Chelan Valley Housing Trust (Community Land Trust – CTL) meeting on Monday, an employer said, “I want my employees to live in Chelan because they would be more productive and happier at work.” Land Trusts are community based with local membership and a professional board structure.
CTL’s are a form of subsidized home ownership. Each housing unit, whether a single family home or a condominium, have a lower initial price and a resale restriction. In other words, a home owner in a land trust home can sell, but at a lower price again and again. The individual owns the house and leasehold interest. The CTL owns the land.
The Lookout has offered to donate land for the CVHT. The cost to build on this land would be $150 per square foot plus $35,000 for site preparation and utilities. This would build a 900 square foot home for approximately $170,000, and a 110 sq. ft. house would cost approximately $200,000.
image description
Brunner has been involved in the Lopez Community Land Trust, the San Juan CHT, and Opal CLT and a number of other Land Trusts that have been highly successful on the west side of the mountains
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth stated that the City has to be on board with lower costs. City Administrator Mike Jackson stated that there was a work session next week that will include rate studies.
Mayor Cooney stated that the City does not want to own it. “We want to be a part of the Land Trust and take a role of leadership.” The Chelan Valley Land Trust will be looking for land donations and funding from a variety of sources. “We are not going to build houses,” said Cooney. “I think people are waiting for us to start it.”
Hollingsworth said there was a lot of discussion at the Monday evening meeting that included realtors and bankers. “It’s hard to get an answer that’s going to make a difference.” Cooney replied that the City needs to let developers know the City is working on a rate study.
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth along with Rachel Goldie and Mayor Mike Cooney have started the Chelan Valley Land Trust and are working hard at bringing some affordable housing to the community.
While the City has no influence over the private sector, Brunner said that it is not uncommon for Cities to be involved. She said she is working with Houston who is putting $2 Million towards building affordable housing. “You have good hearted developers who want to help but they don’t want to own it,” said Brunner. This is where the Land Trust comes in. Hollingsworth said that a part of the reason to forma Land Trust is to move government and include the broader community.
“The City has been very involved in fostering the effort, but ultimately the City doesn’t have the infrastructure or the mandate that a separate organization can do. It’s a part of the solution,” said Hollingsworth who added that the City’s rate structure is also a critical element to the success of building affordable housing.
Mike Jackson said he hopes to have the rates adopted before the 2019 budget.
City Administrator Mike Jackson told the Council that GFC Rates would be discussed at a special workshop on October 3 and hopes that a rate schedule can be adopted before the 2019 budget is finalized.
There is a special workshop session at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 3, in Council Chambers for upcoming City Council topics including, but not limited to, GFC Charges, Proposed 2019 Legislative Agenda and Draft Financial Policies.
The Affordable Housing mandate that started with the City and has moved to a Chelan Valley Land Trust effort is moving forward, but affordable housing in the Lake Chelan Valley is still at a crisis stage.
AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS IN CHELAN
Rental
$1,550
Chelan, WA
Chelan Long Term Rental
3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath Townhome
• 1768 sq. ft., 2-story
• Washer/dryer in-unit
• Non-smoking
• No pets
• Available November 1
• $1,550/mo.
Fantastic location next to Chelan High School, walking distance to downtown and around the corner from the Riverwalk trail. Well maintained and comfortable home in a quiet community in Chelan.
More information upon request. Contact: Debbie Turner,
Coldwell Banker Lake Chelan Properties Chelan,
509-682-7777
Unless you are making in the neighborhood of $40,000 a year, $1,500 per month for rent is probably beyond your reach, however, the listing above for a three-bedroom condominium at $1,550 is certainly within the reach of two or three responsible people looking for a long term lease.
The owner of this Condominium says that she has leased to more than one tenant before and that it has worked out well. “I have no problem leasing to more than one person,” she said. “As long as each one signs the lease, I’m fine with that.”
This writer knows of another three bedroom home that will be coming up for rent in the near future and I will report that one also when it is available.
Shared housing can be very affordable. There should also be short term rentals coming available now that the tourist season is over and many homeowners are escaping south for the winter.
Chelan County Fire District 7 lost four of its Safer Grant firefighters this past month to Sno1 in Snohomish. The District has filled those positions with five individuals from the department. “Our goal is to successfully get them certified as Firefighter 1 in the next three months,” said Assistant Chief Brandon Asher. “We are able to maintain staffing levels with what’s left of the Safer Grant to the end of the year.”
The five firefighters are Austin Yancey, Hunter Newmiller, Sam Belsky, Samantha Rains and Jonathon Mondoza.
Lisa Garvich spoke during the Citizen Comment period and gave a shout out to the administration. “We were trying to figure out good way to reach the public with quick information,” she said. Garvich, who is retired by worked as a Public Information Officer in the past told the Commission that a small team of volunteers have put together a pilot program for this fire season.
“A group of us practiced on small events,” she said. They set up a schedule so someone can be on hand at the Station to answer phone calls when a second alarm went out. They are also going to get information out to the community through the District’s website and Face book page.
She thanked the administration and commissioners for all the support. Later in the meeting, Assistant Chief Brandon Asher remarked that he really appreciated the PIO group’s efforts in getting information out to the public. “The phone is constantly ringing,” said Asher. “The need for that group is there. I hope we can maintain what we are involved in out to the public.”
Chief’s Report:
Tyler Zacker’s wife pins a Lt. Bar on his shirt at the Fire Commission meeting. Zacker was one of the six Safer Firefighters that was retained
and has been promoted to Lt.
Chief Tim Lemon reported that $100,000 had been added to the Reserve Account and is expecting a second round based on tax revenues which will bring the reserve account up to $150,000.
He also reported that state mobilization for wildfires this season has generated approximately $65,000 which will trickle into the department over the next six to 12 months. The wildfire funds were for $24,000 in wages and $41,000 in apparatus charge outs. Asked if the wages were the only expense to the department, Lemon said, “We are not paying them out of our bucket.” The apparatus charges are a positive cash flow to the department. “So that’s another $40,000 net to the department,” asked Jones? “Yes,” replied Lemon.
Chief Tim Lemon congratulates Tyler Zacker on his retention in the department and promotion to Lt.
This past month the department responded to 106 (118 emergency responses) calls which Lemon said is 12 percent above last year. “We should close out the year about eight percent above last year,” said Lemon.
Of the calls, two were to wild fires including the Cougar Mountain Fire. Three or four more were to other smaller wildfires. The District also responded to 10 small brush fires in conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The department responded to one residential house fire with the Manson Fire Department. “We had three vehicle fires,” said Lemon. There were also seven accident responses two of which included injuries. “That doesn’t include the semi accident up McNeil Canyon that took 3.15 hours to extract the drive from. Primary responders on that accident were Douglas County 4 and 5.
There was also a boat taking on water out at the Cove. “No one wants to claim it, “said Lemon. Jones remarked that there is a method through the DNR for removal of craft like that.
Chief Lemon also reported that he and other administration officials met with State Senator Brad Hawkins on Wednesday morning and discussed five important issues which were not listed at the meeting. All call to the Department for that list was unsuccessful.
Assistant Chief Asher reported that with the loss of four staff firefighters from the Safer Grant gone to Snohomish Fire District 1 (Sno1) the department has brought five individuals on board from the volunteer group to fill those missing positions to the end of the year. “Our goal is to successfully get them through Firefighter 1 certification by the end of the year,” said Asher. “We are able to maintain staffing levels on the Safer Grant to the end of the year and were able to capture five our own to do that.”
He also reported that Tuesday night training sessions was not bringing out the volunteers like he’d hoped. “Some of them work on Tuesday nights, so we’ve opened up Saturday training sessions.”
Nine new volunteers have been recruited with four in Chelan, one in Entiat and four in Orondo. If you are interested in volunteering in the fire service, call Assistant Chief Asher at 682-4476.
The department is hoping to set up a Cadet program at both Chelan and Entiat High Schools. A flyer has been created to incorporate all three agencies.
Dan Crandall reported that the Fire Association began the month with $34,091 in the bank and ended with $27,822. The expenditures included purchasing a banner which was used for the SUP paddle board event and will continue to be used on the parade truck.
“We are also in the process of buying rescue airbags. We are still waiting for the factory to produce the larger air bags,” said Crandall.
The Fire Association also made two contributions to fire victims who lost their homes and purchased seven additional gift cards.
“We will also be manning a booth at Mahogany and Merlot,” said Crandall.
Fire Association members and career staff all attended the 911 Memorial in Cashmere. Crandall stated that it was well attended and very moving.
On the Unfinished Business, the Survey Company rebounding the district is not finished, but are still working on the district boundaries which will open up some annexation areas.
New Business:
The District is entering into a memorandum of understanding with the Union so they could select personnel from the Department to fill in the slots left by the Safer Grant staff that has left. “It was timely to get these people on board until the end of the Safer Grant. The commission approved the MOU and a Union representative was also on hand to sign it.
2018 staffing is set. In 2019, the plan is to keep the original six career firefighters and administrators. The plan is to add one additional firefighter. They would pay for this by the approximate $12,000 savings on overtime. Commissioner Jay Witherbee asked if they had to make the decision then. Lemon replied that they would like to get some direction for budgeting. Jay asked if it was less expensive to hire than to pay the overtime. Lemon replied that the department will still be paying some overtime. “Of all the options we’ve looked at, this is the one I like,” said Jones.
It is not often that a contractor is able to credit a part of their contract back to the city, but that is exactly what happened with Selland Construction requested a change order to change from the original water pipe to a different pipe system for the waterline under the Woodin Avenue Bridge.
Public Works Director Jake Youngren
“The proposal doesn’t affect the change in the construction time frame,” said Public Works Director Jake Youngren. The proposed change of material also doesn’t affect the pipe criteria.
In addition, the change order results in a credit back to the City of $16,458.40. The City Council approved the change order.
Ben Salin requested a Utility Extension for his 37 acre property that is not served with water. The Council approved the extension.
The Council also unanimously approved a Utility Extension Agreement with Ben Salin who owns 37 acres, 25 of which will remain in apple orchard and the rest will be developed into three to five acre home lots at what Salin says will be at below market value. “Our view of this is the best use of the property,” stated Salin.
Cindy Wall is heading up a voter registration drive in the Valley.
Cindy Wall spoke to the Council about a National non-partisan effort to register people to vote. She stated that only 43,000 are registered to vote in the County. “We can do better than that. The group is setting up registration booths at three different locations in town to help get people registered.
The group is also willing to travel to people who have no means of transportation to register. She wants the City Council to spread the word and also requested more volunteers to help the effort.
Council comments:
Councilman Ray Dobbs has been diligently working on bringing free shuttle service back to Chelan in hopes of alleviating some of the parking pressure, especially at Lakeside Park.
Ray Dobbs
Dobbs stated that initially the service will be for Chelan only, but hopefully will eventually include Manson. The shuttle service is planned to operate between Wal-Mart and Lakeside from May to October.
Mayor Mike Cooney reminded everyone of the upcoming Town Hall meeting that will take place on Thursday, September 27 with the stated purpose of discussion the communities interest in purchasing land currently owned by Golden Gate Ventures in Salt Lake, Utah.
This property was originally being developed by the Sno-Creek group and when that failed, the Daybreak group took over with plans to build estate homes and an exclusive golf course. That also went bankrupt, but in the effort to develop the land, it was annexed into the City.
This meeting will take place at the Chelan Senior Center on Thursday, September 27, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Bring your comments, ideas and questions for the Mayor.
The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 25. The public is encouraged to attend
Water has been released in sufficient quantities beyond the FERC required 80 cfs from Lake Chelan all summer to keep the secondary channel in the Chelan River flowing. This is water that is not being used to generate power… it is a wasted and potential resource that could be harnessed.
At the Lake Chelan Watershed Planning Unit meeting on June 13, Venessa Drinkhouse, Department of Ecology (Ecology) told the attendees that the effort to begin satisfying water right applications had been suspended for the time being.
Vanessa Drinkhouse – Ecology
Letters were sent out to applicants to see if they were still interested in moving forward with their applications. “We got rejection letters back from some… we couldn’t find some,” stated Drinkhouse. Water rights stay with the holder and are not transferred when property is sold. Finding the original water right holder is, at times, difficult or impossible.
At that meeting, Tammy Haig asked why or what was on the table. Drinkhouse replied that the Ecology feels it is better to just pause. Tim Hollingsworth asked what the potential solutions are and was told that Ecology wasn’t sure what the next move was going to be.
Tammy Haig – Chelan Conservancy Tim Hollingsworth – Chelan City Councilman
Steve Nelson said that there is a pocket of water quantity that is out there of which much has been allocated. “What we have in Chelan is the PUD (Chelan Public Utility District) reserves which will eventually be allocated.
Going forward, Ecology and Nelson will be reviewing and refining water quantity estimates and look at how much water has already been used.
This brought up the idea of obtaining new water, i.e. storage facilities. The challenge of storing excess water that flows over the dam would be the permitting process to build new storage facilities or modify existing facilities.
During the spring runoff periods, the PUD dumps as much as 4,000 cfs out of the lake. “That water is essentially available,” said Nelson. “We could take that water and put it somewhere and tap into it when it is needed.”
Steve Nelson – Consultant
Hollingsworth stated that there are water towers all over town and that water could be pumped out of the lake into these storage towers. Looking at the last 10 years of spillage from May to July at 1,000 cfs average and you are looking at a lot of water over the dam that is not being used.
Mike Kaputa – Director Natural Resources
The DOE in approving water right applications has to go from the oldest application sitting on their desk.
Several weeks after the meeting, Mike Kaputa, Chairman of the Watershed Planning Unit, suggested that a potential fix to the potential shortage of water available for water rights would be to just raise Lake Chelan another three inches which would result in a tremendous number of additional acre feet of water available to potential users.
This is an idea that could alleviate the more expensive solution of building new storage facilities.
On Wednesday, September 12, at the upcoming Watershed Planning Unit meeting, water rights is back on the agenda for another 50 minutes of discussion
Water Supply: Update on Lake Chelan basin water rights processing from DOE and update on discussions (50 minutes).
LAKE CHELAN MONITORING:
Erin McKay = Chelan County
Throughout the summer the Lake Chelan Research Institute, Joe Heinlen of Lake Chelan Adventures, a Chelan County Water Specialist and a host of volunteers have been sampling water quality on the lake at a variety of different stations up to the Lucerne Basin.
The goal of the Institute is to have a draft report on the sampling program by mid-October.
Dr. Phillip Long – Lake Chelan Research Institute
On Tuesday, August 14, a sampling trip was made on the lake with Phil Long, Erin Makay – Chelan County, Joe Heinlen and I. Smoke had poured into the Lake Chelan Valley which made for a cool, but interesting trip on the water. Fortunately, the winds did not pick up and it was mostly smooth sailing.
During the station sampling, depth, Ph, temperatures and turbidity along with other measurements were taken. Water samples at various depths were also taken. Unfortunately, the probe wouldn’t work past 3.5 meters. Secchi disk measurements were also taken.
The following photos were taken during the trip.
Wednesday’s agenda includes discussions about future water supply and Lake Chelan basin water rights; water quality including water quality sampling activities; an update on grant funding; the Drinking Water Providers Partnership; the Keep it Blue Campaign; the DOE Centennial Grant Amendment for Water Quality monitoring; future funding opportunities; and the Acquatic Invasive Species Habitat and Vulnerability on Lake Chelan.
Regular updates at the meeting will include the LCRI strategic planning efforts; the Lake Chelan Fishery Forum; and US Forest Service updates on the Holden Mine remediation project.
This meeting will take place at the Chelan Fire Hall, 232 E. Wapato Avenue, Chelan, and beginning at 1:00 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Chelan City Council had a lot on its plate last Tuesday evening.
Citizen’s comments:
Evie Hersberger (sp) spoke about her concerns for the safety of the Fireboss pilots scooping water from Lake Chelan while recreational boaters were still active on the lake. She would like to see an amendment to the City’s code (32.055) on water craft use to include a statement that watercraft operate in a manner that answers wildfire suppression and support aircraft added to that. This would help recognize the safety of emergency personnel and the pilots.
Evie Hirschberger
“Very good idea,” Said Mayor Cooney
John Olson once again spoke to the Senior Center’s desire to work with Public Works offer to assist in the addition of more parking at the east end of the ball fields by the river. Olson reiterated the fact that the PUD, (lessee), Chelan Recreation Department, and the Senior Center would all benefit with some minor improvements to the bare dirt field in use now.
Olson went on to talk about Chelan’s unique transportation issues beyond the parking. He talked about how Hwy’s 150 and 97A meet in the middle of town funneling traffic to the downtown core. Also that Hwy 150 and Hwy 97A provide the only access to the north and south shores.
With 25,000 people typically visiting during the summer months, limited public access to the lake and more and more cars being concentrated into a small area resulting in high value riparian land being used for low value parking the issue will only get worse as more and more visitors access the valley.
Olson stated that he feels the only viable solution is to separate people from their parked cars with an efficient and effective summer bus system. He talked with the Chelan County LINK Transit Board and stated that they were interested. “Tonight I am encouraging you to think outside the box and to plan for the future.”
Special Presentations:
Councilman Ray Dobbs asked outgoing Finance Director Cheryl Grant how the City has been affected by the fires. She replied that the City will not know the answer for another two months. Parks Director Karen Sargeant commented that the RV Park has only had to return on deposit. Councilwoman Erin McCardle stated that August is down and Grant remarked that the Golf Course is down also. “The heat and then the smoke has affected the course,” said Sargeant
Parks Director Karen Sargeant introduced Erin McCabe as Chelan’s
new Golf Course Superintendent.
Sargeant introduced Erin McCabe as the new Golf Course Superintendent. McCabe comes to Chelan from Idaho, but has also worked in Seattle and at the UW. He said, “Thanks for the opportunity.” Mayor Cooney remarked that McCabe comes to the community highly recommended. “We are glad you are here.”
Councilman Ty Witt asked McCabe how he would rate the current course conditions. McCabe said they are much better than when he first visited the facility. “The smoke helped out. A few weeks before I go here it was pretty rough.”
Sargeant then lauded Bob Millar and Able Hernandez for their work at the golf course. “They did a tremendous job keeping the golf course going,” said Sargeant.
She than introduced Parks employees James Hayter and Kim Fogle explaining that they also stepped up putting in extra hours this summer to make sure the parks worked. “As the staff came and went, they just did a tremendous job.” She told the Council that she offered to hire someone to help them and they refused because it would take more time to train them then getting the job done. “These two kinda went the extra mile.”
Sargeant recognized the hard work of James Hayter and Kim Fogle at the Parks Office and Bob Millar and Able Hernandez of the Golf Course.
Chelan has hired a new finance director. Steve Thornton was introduced at the Council meeting on Tuesday evening.
Finance Director Cheryl Grant is transitioning out and the City has hired a new Finance Director, Steve Thornton. When introduced by the Mayor, he said, “I’m very happy to be here.”
Jake Youngren has been promoted as the new permanent Public Works Director.
Mayor Cooney also announced that Jake Youngren is no longer the Interim Public Works Director, but has been made the permanent Public Works Director. Councilman Ray Dobbs commented that everyone he talks to has great things to say about Jake.
Maxwell Nimz
Maxwell Nimz, a boy scout working on his Eagle rank made a presentation to the Council on his two year research into a Chelan Dog Park proposal. During his report, Nimz reported that 75 percent of the people he polled were in favor of a dog park. The 25 percent against the idea were against the Lakeside Park location.
The park, if constructed including maintenance would cost an estimated $46,000. This would include fencing, and other amenities such as benches, agility courses and fountains.
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth asked Nimz if he had looked at other potential sites. Nimz said he had, but none of them had water access. “Do you consider water access important,” Hollingsworth asked? “Yes, I do,” answered Nimz.
The dog park does not have to be constructed for Nimz to receive his Eagle Scout ranking.
Motion Considerations:
At the August 14 City Council meeting there was some concern by several council members regarding th sharing of a Chelan County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer Agreement.
The agreement came back to this meeting and City Administrator Mike Jackson said that the City had discussions with the School District and Sheriff’s Department and was now comfortable with what they learned. McCardle said, “I appreciate the follow up by everyone. We worked through all the concerns we had.”
The City will pay $32,353.33 for the officer assigned to the City Limits with an approximate savings of $10,000 over last year’s full service agreement. The Council authorized the Mayor to finalize and execute the new amendment.
The City put out a Request for Proposals for leasing the second floor at the Chelan Public Library and the only response was from the Living Stone Church. The Church has negotiated a lease of $1,400 per month for the 3,200 square feet of space. The rent will be adjusted each year by the CPI, but not more than 10 percent increases. They agreed to a three year term. “This comes with the understanding that they can’t interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the library,” said Jackson.
The Council unanimously approved the Final Plat Phase 4 of Whisper View Estates (Suncrest) for another 17 home sites. The housing project is just north of the football field.
The Council unanimously agreed to adopt Draft Ordinance No. 2018-1547, adding Chapter 3.85 regarding Charitable Donations.
“This ordinance will allow the City to take donations,” said Jackson. Dobbs asked if these donations would be tax deductible? It was a question that went unanswered. Hollingsworth said the amended ordinance would help with affordable housing donations.
The Council unanimously agreed to authorize the Mayor to finalize and execute the Agreement with the Historic Downtown Chelan Association to accept a $168,279.45 charitable donation, including interest charges on the City’s Bond for the Landing Project. The HDCA will be making two payments each year for the next 15 years to satisfy their portion of the Woodin Avenue Bridge Project. The HDCA will also be required to donate the balance of amounts needed to fully complete the landscaping portion of the project. This is estimated to cost $23,145.
“I don’t think this wold have moved forward without the leadership of Erin McCardle,” said Mayor Cooney
City Administrator Mike Jackson reported that the City has continued to receive emails and telephone calls from TESLA about bringing super chargers to the town. “Every city (who has chargers) has struck a different deal,” said Jackson.
City Attorney Quentin said he would like to do more research on the proposal. The most likely location for the seven proposed super chargers would be a Safeway’s parking lot on City property just behind the little corner park.
Councilwoman Wendy Isenhart remarked that the City is already providing free charging for electric cars behind City Hall. “It’s kinda of nice that the Chelan does that,” said Isenhart. Given the time it takes to charge an electric car, people have a chance to go shopping or to a restaurant.
Other areas discussed were across the street on the north side of the Library and over on Saunders along the wide right-of-ways. Jackson said that the Tesla people have shown an interest in all of those areas. Their main concern is being close enough to the center of town so the Tesla owners can walk, shop and eat while their vehicles are charging.
During the Council Comment period, Mayor Cooney announced that the next Townhall Meeting will be on Thursday, September 27. The subject will be the property that is for sale on the north side of the Butte consisting of 940 acres. Mayor Cooney is interested in learning if the community wants to purchase this land for recreational purposes. “If it looks like a NO, we are moving on.”
Mayor Mike Cooney announced a new Town Hall meeting for September 27 to explore the possibility of purchasing the 940 acres of land on Chelan Butte for future generations
Cooney said the entire Valley is invited. “We are not going to move forward unless there is public sentiment.”
It was also mentioned that the new Rate Charges will be done by Mid-November.
Jackson said that he had received a call from Mike Mack who is having a problem staffing the Lakeview Drive-In. “He can’t stay open and wondered what the ramifications would be to his City contract.” The suggestion was to formalize the closure with a letter.
Chelan City Council and the Planning Commission will hold a joint meeting on September 4, 2018 beginning at 4:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at 135 E Johnson Avenue in Chelan, Washington. The purpose of this joint special meeting is a workshop for the Comprehensive Plan Amendments. The public is encouraged to attend
The Lake Chelan Board of Commissioners met in regular session
on Tuesday, August 28
The Lake Chelan Community Hospital Board of Directors held their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, August 28 and after a few comments by Kim Dunbar, Executive Director of the Lake Chelan Health & Wellness Foundation, went into an executive session for approximately 40 minutes to discuss the hospital’s CEO recruitment efforts.
Mary Signorelli, chairman of the board, told those in attendance that the board has yet to select a new Chief Executive Officer. “We have not selected a CEO. We are continuing the search.” She stated that a screening committee consisting of Interim CEO Steve Patonai, and board members Phyllis Gleasman and Mary Murphy was being formed to help in the selection process. The hospital board will continue to work with B.E. Smith.
“The candidates we had were not the ones we wanted,” explained Signorelli. The board will be revising a few of the qualifications as they go forward in this search. B.E. Smith will send the board the 100 applicants they hadn’t sent previously.
The Board met in executive session to discuss their efforts to recruit a new Chief Executive Officer and came back into regular session and told those in attendance that the Board has not found a new CEO and that the search would continue.
After the meeting, Interim CEO Steve Patonai said that while the two candidates that were being considered were extremely qualified, they were not strong enough candidates going forward. Patonai stated that the board was looking for a CEO that can take the hospital into the future based on board’s 10 year vision.
Signorelli then moved into an update of the August 8/9 Strategic Planning Retreat. “We came up with a long range vision over two days,” she said. “It was a very productive time spent together.” The retreat included the board, three doctors and staff members.
Patonai stated that the retreat was very meaningful and very instructive. “To me, you have to have all six hitting on all cylinders working to be a top notch organization,” said Patonai. Those six elements include: People; Service; Quality & Safety; Growth & Innovation; Finance; and Community.
Interim CEO Steve Patonai went over his distilling of the retreat discussions on August 8 and 9 and came up with six Pillars of Performance that the hospital needs of focus on to bring its service into the top 10 percent of rural hospitals.
He went through each of the vision elements and said he tried to capture everything the board and physicians talked about over the two days by compiling them into smaller elements that everyone could think about.
People B – Patonai said that the hospital staff and doctors need to be highly skilled and engaged as providers
Service – The vision for the hospital is to be in the top 10 percent of Patient Satisfaction in all areas.
Quality & Service –Again the hospital wants to be in the top 10 percent in all quality measures with zero preventable patient harm. “It is the perceived quality and the real quality. How well the outcome is for patient after a surgical procedure.”
Growth & Innovation – They want strong primary care with convenient access and availability. “You have to have quality increasing and sales increasing,” said Patonai. “Health care is a business from a volume standpoint.” He stated that innovation is also important. “Healthcare is changing a lot and the usual way of doing things doesn’t work anymore,” said Patonai. “You have to get real creative. We want to encourage innovation and out of the box thinking.”
Finance – Patonai stated that finance was also important. “You want to make sure you can purchase the things you need.”
Community – The hospital also needs to address the community’s needs with outreach and wellness programs and education. “There are things you can do with the community that the community demands of us also.”
Of the above visions, the hospital’s 2019 proposed goals are to increase its staff engagement and its skillsets; to obtain a 90 percent annual wellness visits from patients; increase access and availability to primary care and specialists with partnership opportunities with other hospitals and health systems; financially increase it operating margin by 2 percent by year end; and to increase community wellness and educational offerings.
“This is just a sample of goals,” said Patonai. He asked if there were any questions.
Signorelli said she would like to see a semi-annual state of the hospital report, but Mary Murphy asked if there was some way to meet on a regular basis. Patonai said they would meet on a quarterly basis to if the hospital is meeting its targets. “How close are we to them. Are we on target or not. Kind of a quick and dirty view of where are at.”
The next board meeting will cover the strategies of how to meet the vision and goals
Several residents signed in to discuss their issues with the City Council on Tuesday, August 14.
John Olson looks forward to continuing discussions with the City of Chelan regarding the Chelan Senior Center increased parking proposal.
John Olson
He told the City Council that its recent workshop was good, but wondered if it was a good idea for the Chamber to continue to promote Chelan in the summer and talked a little about a Hotel/Restaurant project out at Pat & Mikes. He stated that Holiday Hills and other development proposed projects will have an impact on Chelan with only one access to the City. “I hope the City takes a hard look at these projects.”
Lisa Garbich, a local resident and proponent of increased fire and emergency services spoke about her disappointment with the fire commissioners turning down an effort to have the failed levy put back on the November ballot. “The fire department is going backwards,” she stated. Her argument was that with only six fulltime career firefighters, there would only be one or two firefighters on duty during a shift.
Lisa Garbich
“Not a single council member was there,” she said regarding the recent special commission meeting to discuss the levy. “We can’t rely on volunteers in the department.” She stated that the training requirements were too stringent and too high. She mentioned that there were only eight EMTs trained and zero volunteers were trained on in-water rescue or rope rescue.
“I don’t know what the argument is with the fire department, but we are going backwards. It is not acceptable for a town that is growing,” she said. “The safety of the community and visitors is important. I would like to see something happen.”
Mayor Cooney replied. “We communicate with the chief frequently. We are a separate entity and we don’t tell them what to do.”
AGENDA BILLS:
Public Works Director Jake Youngren brought an agenda bill to council for a new street lighting agreement with Chelan County PUD.
The PUD is updating its existing street and lighting agreements with Chelan, Entiat, Leavenworth and Cashmere to change to a LED lighting configuration. “What is being proposed is a change in power usage rates,” Youngren told the Council. “We would continue to maintain the poles.”
Councilman Ray Dobbs asked if City employees would be climbing light poles. Youngren replied, “No, we have lifts. We wouldn’t be climbing poles.
Ray Dobbs
Currently, the City is paying $9.95 per month per pole and the PUD is proposing an “energy only” rate for unmetered lights. At the wattage X 10 hours average daily use X 30 days at .00294 cents per Kwh, the City will end up saving approximately $13,000 a year.
“The new LED lights come with a 10 year warrenty,” said Youngren. “I’m not uncomfortable with this proposal.
The City Council unanimously agreed to the new agreement.
Chelan Parks Director, Karen Sargeant requested that the City Council authorize the Mayor to execute a professional agreement with J.A. Brennan and Associates to complete the permit process for Phase 1 of the Lakeside Park capital project. This project includes the reconfiguration of the Swim Area. The City Council has already approved $150,000 for the project.
Karen Sargeant (left) – Cheryl Grant (right)
The request by the Parks Department is prior to an effort to secure an RCO Grant for the park project. “The process to get permits is hard. We want to proceed,” said Sargeant. Brennan is familiar with who in each agency to talk too during the permitting process.
Councilwoman Erin McCardle asked if there was an additional funding necessary. Sargeant replied that there wasn’t. “The permits will allow us to go ahead as soon as we receive the grant.”
Erin McCardle
McCardle asked if the Council had to approve a grant if the City was successful in its effort to secure an RCO grant. “Yes,” said Sargeant. The Council unanimously approve the request to move forward with the permitting process.
City Administrator Mike Jackson asked for consensus from the Council regarding the HCDA position in the Woodin Avenue Bridge Project. “There has been a paradigm shift,” said Jackson. That shift was the successful bond issue to help fund the additional funds needed to go forward with the bridge project.
City Administrator Mike Jackson
With the bond issue, the HCDA Landing Project became a part of the City project. The City, for its part in the project will spend $155,000 and the HCDA contribution goes from $75,000 to $157,928 with $134,000 being contributed to the project. “How do you feel about this,” asked Jackson.
Tim Hollingsworth
Hollingsworth asked if the HCDA was helping the City make the bond payments. City Attorney Quentin Batjer said he wouldn’t categorize it as a lending of credit. McCardle said, “It is more of a commitment from the HCDA as a contribution.”
City Attorney Quentin Batjer
During Council comments, Ray Dobbs brought up the possibility of the City picking up one of the old LINK trolleys as a potential traffic/parking alleviater. “LINK is retiring some of the electric trolleys.” He thinks it would be an excellent idea to have them shuttling people to parks and around town.
Hollingsworth stated that a shuttle could help alleviate traffic if it was operating eight hours on weekends. “It would help the parking situation.
Mayor Cooney
Mayor Cooney reported that the Rotary Club has taken on the project of opening up the Lakeside trail adjacent to Hwy. 97A by the Three Fingers to the corner of Water Street. “They are going to widen and extend the trail. Everybody is welcome to come and help between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday.”
Representatives of Tesla Motors were in Chelan to give a special presentation to City Council in hopes of finding a location within the City to install a number of superchargers for owners of Tesla automobiles.
Jorn Van de ven, project developer at Tesla gave the city council a presentation on the potential installation of Tesla supercharging stations in Chelan
Jorn Van de ven, Tesla senior project developer and Chris Wimer, Tesla market lead, shared a visual presentation and talked about the possibilities of installing supercharger sites in the City. Tesla is the only car company actively setting up supercharger sites for their car owners across the United States and beyond.
These chargers are proprietary to Tesla vehicles and will charge a car in 45 minutes to one hour. The idea of having chargers available in Chelan is assure owners that they can drive back home. Tesla’s, depending on the model, can drive 250 to 330 miles on one charge.
“Ideally, you want to charge your car at home,” said Van de ven. “However, when you travel, you will need to rely on a form of charging.”
The stations would be installed at no cost to the City, outside of the land provided. A Leavenworth shop owner just received 16 new superchargers and his dirt lot was paved. He is leasing the land to Tesla on a negotiated deal. Tesla spent an estimated $800,000 in the addition to the 16 stalls.
Chelan, which already has parking issues, will consider all options. There are several parking lots that could be used, but Tim Hollingsworth suggested utilizing a neighborhood city easement instead. “What are some of the criteria,” Hollingsworth asked? “We want an experience for our drivers,” answered Van de Ver. “We would like them to be close to amenities… to be able to spend quality time.”
Mayor Cooney asked if Tesla purchases the (charging) power for its owners. “We look for a places ready to go. We invest in the infrastructure which adds value and weigh it against being in a town like Chelan.”
Tim Hollingsworth and Ty Witt explained that Chelan has parking issues.
Ty Witt stated that Chelan is already in trouble with parking space. Hollingsworth added that parking is at a premium, but added that the City has a lot of public right aways close to town. “These are a block or two from town.”
Cooney asked it they had been in discussions with Chelan County PUD. Van de Ver said they had. He added that purchasers of Tesla’s Model 3 would be required to pay for a charge.
Wendy Isenhart asked if owners of other electric cars would have reciprocal rights.
Wendy Isenhart asked if there would be reciprocal rights and added that would be a nice benefit for other electric car owners. Tesla’s Chris Wimer said that it was more technical than that. “The superchargers done charge through an inverter, they charge directly to the Tesla battery.”
Chelan currently has six charging stations in the downtown area. Columbia Valley Health added another four stations at their new facility. Nefarious Winery also has a charging station.
Electric cars like the Tesla are becoming more commonplace and Chelan will begin to see more and more electric car activity as the vehicles become more affordable and offer better mileage options like the Tesla.
All Things Lake Chelan 