Bulletin Column: Dec. 7, 2017

These reports are from the previous four issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated.

COUNCIL OKAYS POOL OPTION

Members of the Colfax City Council Monday night accepted a park board plan to let opening of the city's swim pool next summer hinge on whether $32,000 from "outside sources" can be raised to help cover the anticipated deficit from the pool's operation. The plan was presented to the city council Monday after being approved by the city parks board in a special meeting last Tuesday.

The proposal calls for a March 31 deadline to raise the funds.

Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen, who also heads the parks board, said the March 31 deadline was set to allow the city time to hire a staff for the pool and prepare for the season. Park board members came up with the proposal after being told the pool's deficit operation next year was projected to consume all of the remaining reserves of the parks department. That would leave the parks department without funds for emergencies or capital development.

Monday's decision did not include much discussion on how the $32,000 could be raised over the next four months. A pool capital funding bond two years ago led to formation of a public pool support group to meet the problems faced at that time.

Public Works Director Matt Hammer told the council last night that in the event the pool fails to open, the funds now in the 2018 budget would remain in place and not be tapped during 2018 for other projects.

The pool's 2018 budget is expected to be in the budget with the $32,000 in outside revenue listed as income. The budget is expected to carry some type of notation that would lock up the pool budget in the event the $32,000 does not surface by the March 31 deadline.

Hammer at last week's park board meeting noted the pool needs caulking and will run with a pump which might not make it through the season. Both of those needs are capital spending projects which are not covered in the pool budget. Vorderbrueggen reported the park board also approved a motion to fully support the city to come up with a long-term solution to the pool's funding problems.

Vorderbrueggen noted the park board's action last week was not an easy decision to make. He said a lot of angst was involved during the park board session.

Overall city budget is scheduled to go before the council at the Dec. 18 session, the last meeting before the start of the new budget year.

WATER LINE WORK

EXPANDED

Public Works Director Matt Hammer told the city council Monday night the repair work on a section of the city's Glenwood water supply line has been expanded. The work is intended to cover a 50-foot section of the line which was exposed by erosion along the North Fork of the Palouse River. The line, which is now more than 100 years old, transports water from the city's artesian wells at Glenwood to the city's distribution system.

Hammer said representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers and Washington Fish and Game toured the site last week. Both agencies have issued permits for emergency work on the line.

The line is exposed in the bank along the North Fork of Palouse River Road.

The approximate location is opposite the eagle nest site just before the road goes around a point on the river and approaches Glenwood.

Hammer told the council last night the corps has suggested extending the barrier project both upstream and downstream from the exposed segment.

The added protection in the river would serve to divert river flow away from the segment of bank which exposed the line when it washed away.

Added cost for the project, now expected to extend for 130 feet, is expected to bump the cost of the project to $51,000 from the original estimate of $34,000.

Hammer said Palouse River Rock has been hired to undertake the project.

He said predictions of clear weather from now through the week will give the crew a window of opportunity to complete the work.

The job will involve placing basalt rock columns, mined from a quarry at Winona, on the river side of the line and then applying gravel over the top to cover the line.

When introducing the project at a previous meeting, Hammer said the exposed water line appeared at a location where it was not believed to be.

The exposed water line beneath the road was actually spotted by Colfax resident Mike Damery from the opposite side of the river where the former Union Pacific tracks are located.

EAGLES

GIVING TREE FOR COATS

Colfax Eagles' “Coat Giving Tree” is now up in the lobby of Washington Federal Bank in Colfax. Take a tag listing the age, gender and color preference of a child from the tree and buy them a winter coat. Return the wrapped coat, with the tag, to Washington Federal.

People can come in now to pick up a tag and will have until Monday, Dec. 18, to return the coat gift-wrapped with the tag.

GARFIELD METH CHARGE SENTENCE

David A. Tyner, 19, Moscow, was sentenced to 35 days in jail Friday in superior court after pleading guilty to a charge of possession of methamphetamine. The charge evolved from a May 9 arrest at Garfield.

According to a report by GP Officer Joe Handley, Tyner was in a Subaru which was being driven in an erratic manner after departing a known drug site in Garfield. Tyner was initially arrested on an outstanding warrant. The meth evidence was found in a small plastic container which was found in Tyner's coat, according to the arrest report. Tyner reported he had gone to Garfield to take a shower and discovered a group smoking meth at the residence. He admitted taking a few hits off a meth pipe before he climbed into the shower. He told Handley the pipe was given to him by people at the residence.

Retired Judge David Frazier, sitting as court commissioner, allowed Tyner the option of working off 30 days of the sentence with public service work. He was ordered to pay a $1,000 drug fine plus costs and fees totaling $800.

VEHICLE LICENSING PINCH

County Auditor Eunice Coker Friday issued a notice that one of the work stations in the vehicle licensing department at the courthouse will be closed for a few months while a new employee undergoes training for licensing.

The new employee will fill a vacancy left by the retirement Friday of Chris Mikalson after 23 years of working in the licensing department.

Coker said the new employee has to be trained to gain certification in the state's new licensing system which was implemented by the state a year ago.

Auditor Coker urged licensing customers to do business online when possible or use sub-agencies in Pullman and Rosalia.

One of the work stations in the courthouse licensing department will be closed frequently, and the department may be closed down in the event of illness.

The Pullman office is located at 1195 SE Bishop Blvd., Suite 3, and the Rosalia office, operated by Kerry Schanzbach, is at 518 S. Whitman Street.