Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Palouse city council voted July 23 to postpone a compliance date from Aug. 7 to Oct. 9 for Palouse Welding & Machine, a longtime local business which drew some complaints to city hall for things laying out on its lot near Main Street/Highway 272 at the east edge of town.
The complaints regarded outdoor equipment storage in violation of Palouse Municipal code.
City Administrator Kyle Dixon sent a notice to Alex Anderson, proprietor, June 6, noting the violation, with a stated compliance date of Aug. 9.
“We’re working on it; it’s a busy time of year, but we’re doing our best to comply,” said Anderson, who runs the business that has been in the family since 1979. “Before this came up, my plan was to do this anyway.”
The company has hauled out 80,000 pounds of scrap metal since July 1 – metal that they had been storing in wait for the price to go up.
Anderson bought the manufacturing part of the business from his father, Marty, earlier this year, creating Palouse Welding, Design and Mfg., LLC.
The main violation to the ordinance was lack of fencing.
Marty and Alex appeared before the Palouse city council July 23 and said that putting a fence up would significantly hinder day-to-day operations.
Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove, now concluding his fourth and last term in office, was a city councilman when the original ordinance was put in place.
“I recall when that ordinance was written, the welding shop was discussed,” said Echanove. “Special conversations occurred; that that’s just the nature of the business.”
Council member Rick Wekenman suggested the council push off the compliance date until after harvest.
Councilman Tim Sievers then made a motion to move it from Aug. 7 to Oct. 9. It was seconded by Mark Wilcomb and approved unanimously.
The council also thanked the Andersons for the work done already.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)