News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 26 - 38 of 38
The town of Coulee Dam recently held a meeting regarding the problematic sewer treatment plant project. The meeting was closed to the public and the mayor directed that “Greg Wilder was not to be admitted.” When I asked what would happen if I just showed up, I was told that I would be kept away by physical force if necessary. The meeting was held in the basement of Town Hall — tucked away from the eyes and ears of the public. The town schedules these meetings with virtually no meaningful notice, they schedule them on national holidays, and t...
The mayor of Coulee Dam has again defined his allegiance — that being with and for the engineer (Gray & Osborne). The townsfolk petitioned the mayor and council to roll back the ever increasing sewer rates and review other project alternatives and other options. The reply? A “public” meeting (with one day advanced notice) wherein the engineer was allowed to ramble, excuse, blame, demean, cajole … the “public” meeting was so tightly controlled that virtually no time was permitted for substantive questions and responses. Some folks just walked...
As best I can determine, we (the town of Coulee Dam) paid our engineer (Gray & Osborne) about $80,000 to prepare a Wastewater Facilities Plan. What did we get? We got a document replete with inaccurate planning assumptions, non-compliant with the town’s Comprehensive Plan, void of the expected and typical scoping process, and virtually missing the analysis of “alternatives.” We also got the frustration and anger of our citizens and project partner (the town of Elmer City) — all because we forgot (or neglected) to include them as we planned...
The town of Coulee Dam began increasing our sewer rate about a year ago. In December, 2011 we were paying a reasonable $37 a month — one month later, our rates were increased by 33 percent! Thinking that there must have been a good reason, we grumbled a bit and accepted it. Then, later that same year, the town sent us a notice that they were going to bump it up another $11… and here we are, now paying $59 a month! Now, that’s an increase of over 60 percent in fewer than 14 months! Having had enough, petitions began circulating and soon virtu...
The town of Elmer City has worked tirelessly to find financial assistance to help fund the improvements to the sewer treatment plant it jointly operates with Coulee Dam. And for good reason, they can’t afford what Coulee Dam is building! On the other hand, Coulee Dam has not put any meaningful effort into a search for “grant” monies. Even their Project Plan discounts the “free” money as too difficult to bother with. They remain content with their own “success”… borrowing another $5 million and adding to an already burdensome debt on the tow...
Last week you published an article about the Coulee Dam/Elmer City sewer plant project that painted a very positive face on the Coulee Dam Town Council. And, as it was, they earned that praise — they deserved that praise! They were courteous, they were interested, they were responsive, and they were focused on a better and more flexible project path. As an active participant in that meeting I also found the town’s engineer to be more thoughtful and open to other/different ideas and solutions … bravo to them all! I left that meeting reene...
As most of you know, the town of Coulee Dam is investing (spending) over $5 million to upgrade their “aging” sewer treatment plant. I’ve written letters about this before. The town continues to pursue a design that is both antiquated and unnecessarily expensive while their consulting engineer is disproportionately enriched (they will take a bit over $1 million out of this community). This project impacts the sewer rates of Coulee Dam AND Elmer City, driving those monthly charges to $80 or more. Typically, a project of this expense and scope...
The Colville Confederated Tribes took the high-road regarding the overly expensive Coulee Dam Sewer Treatment plant project. The tribe offered to help, in exchange for involvement … for a legitimate place at the table. In a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the tribe stated that they would involve the Indian Health Service and bring a needed project review and financial assistance to help with the costs for this $5 million - $7 million project. This could reduce the cost impact for all of us — the native and non-native com...
Coulee Dam paid $70,000 to have its engineer prepare a facilities plan for the town’s sewer treatment system. The plan presented TWO viable build options: One was to go ahead and spend over $6.2 million dollars now for a project with all of the whistles and bells you could want. The other was a “phased” project — one that would spend about $2.1 million to build what was “actually” needed and to put off the “options” and gold-plating until later. The Coulee Dam council, apparently against the wishes of the mayor, decided that they wanted the...
The saga continues. At the advice and suggestion of the state Department of Ecology (DOE), Coulee Dam extended the Olive Branch to Elmer City… well, sort of; they suggested a meeting between the two towns’ mayors to “explain” the reasons for the $5 - $7 million project. The meeting was held on Friday morning (at Elmer City). At first that meeting was scheduled between the two mayors and the Coulee Dam engineer. Then Coulee Dam added their public works superintendent… so Elmer City added theirs. Then Coulee Dam decided to include an additiona...
My last letter to The Star editor helped define the reasons I am reviewing Coulee Dam town records … not a willy-nilly vendetta, as Mayor Snow has described it, but a real attempt to see how and why it is our cost for municipal services are among the highest in the state. Yes, there are some legitimate reasons just as there are for the other things we buy. Shortly after Snow took office he hired the town clerk that currently manages and administers the day-to-day operations for the town — since then the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased...
Given the recent decisions of the Coulee Dam Town Council, I must admit that I’m feeling empowered! That I could almost single handedly force the Town of Coulee Dam to create a new position to deal with their legal and ethical responsibility is, well, entertaining if not downright laughable. The mayor, some of the Town Council, and the Town Clerk would like you to believe that my involvement, my probing, my research, is the cause of their own inability to get their day-to-day work done. Of course it is not! The Public Records Act in W...
A number of months ago I requested water service for the home I’m building on Yucca Drive in Coulee Dam. I requested the same level of service as enjoyed by the town’s folks that live on the west side of the river. I received no answer, so a few weeks ago I made the request again, this time more officially - registered mail, return receipt, and such. The envelope looked very important and impressive … and it worked! The town clerk and Quincy Snow, decided that the council should resolve the matter; in the end, they didn’t, but I left with a pro...