News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The port district took its first step last Thursday toward the development of a 48-space RV park at the Banks Lake Golf Course. Commissioners gave the go-ahead to the USKH engineering firm of Spokane to do a $7,500 feasibility study of the proposed park. Lisa Corcoran, associate project manager for the firm, outlined a view of what the RV park would look like. Port District 7 Commissioner Stan Conklin said the project needs to, “be up and running by late April. This is what’s going to support the course.” The port district has provided the d...
Electric City will soon be the recipient of $20 license tab fees on vehicles, probably before the first of the year. Meaning when you go to a vehicle license bureau, and live within the city limits of Electric City, you will pay $20 more for the tab. The city council has completed all but one of the processes so the city can collect the fee. City Clerk Jackie Perman said that it has yet to exercise an interlocal agreement with the state, however, she stated that is expected to be accomplished within a few weeks. Cities throughout the state are...
The town councils of Coulee Dam and Elmer City will meet jointly, along with their attorneys, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, at the Coulee Dam chambers. The agenda will cover a 50-year joint agreement between the two municipalities for wastewater treatment services. Coulee Dam, by contract, receives Elmer City’s wastewater (sewage) for treatment. Elmer City has been at odds with Coulee Dam for the way it developed its plan for an upgraded wastewater treatment plant, claiming that it wasn’t consulted. Coulee Dam on at least two occasions had inv...
The wind-damaged trees at Mason City Memorial Park have taken on a new life — with a wildlife look — through the skills of chainsaw artist Jacob Lucas. The west-sider completed the second tree late Saturday afternoon, treated the exposed wood, and was on his way by nightfall. He uncovered a hawk, bear, coyote and giant feather in the second tree, going along with a giant Chinook salmon in an earlier tree sculpture. After a big wind storm and cleanup last July, two tree stumps, one about 10 fee...
Those interested in participating in a local museum can do so by attending a meeting of the “Coulee Pioneer Museum” on Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m., at the art room by the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center. An effort is being made to develop a local museum and preserve artifacts, documents and other materials so they won’t be lost to the area. “The local history is being lost as the elderly move from the area, and the stories and materials die when they pass away,” said Birdie Hensley, who is organizing the meeting. The museum has a logo, tax...
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and the Coulee Area Park & Recreation District each approached Electric City for money from its hotel/motel tax fund last Tuesday night. New chamber Manager Peggy Nevsimal made the pitch for her organization, providing an outline of plans for 2013, detailing how the money would be spent to help attract tourists to the area, the purpose of the fund under state law. She spoke of the various target markets the chamber was shooting for and how her advertising campaign would work. Nevsimal was asking...
Chickens may eventually come home to roost in Electric City. Council members Oct. 23 unanimously agreed, it’s time for chickens to take their rightful place in the city. New Councilmember Brad Parrish made the motion, referring to an “urban chicken movement.” Mayor Jerry Sands said the city would develop a plan of how to move forward on the chicken issue. Former council member Troy Ritter brought in a copy of Grand Coulee’s ordinance that allows chickens — six hens it says, but no roosters. It stipulates that the area where chickens must be k...
The new Keller Ferry “Sanpoil” will be christened July 19, 2013, an official from Foss Maritime Company said Monday. However, there’s a whole lot of work that has to be completed before then. Some of that work is occurring this week near the National Park Service boat launch at Crescent Bay, where a 145-foot by 45-foot concrete slab will be poured, on which Foss workers will assemble the new ferry, which will be trucked in to the area in parts. Access to the boat launch will not be affected by the construction, said National Park Servi...
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake off the coast of British Columbia Saturday evening was felt as far away as Nespelem. Colleen Leskinen called Tuesday to report that she and members of her family were sitting at the kitchen table after dinner and things started swaying. Leskinen said she looked up at the kitchen clock and it said 8:13. The British Columbia quake, some 660 miles northwest, was recorded at 8:04 p.m. Leskinen said that the first sign was the sound of the wind chimes. “I looked up and the chandelier was swinging,” the Nespelem res...
The Melody Restaurant in Coulee Dam will reopen sometime later this year. Coulee Dam Councilmember Karl Hjorten reported that negotiations for a lease on the restaurant property have been completed and he expected the new business to open within eight to 10 weeks. The operators of the business will be the Moreno family, with members in Coulee Dam, Boise, and Long Beach, Calif, Hjorten said Juan Moreno, who has been associated with another local restaurant, will be operator of the facility. Family members Luis Moreno and a sister, Veronica...
Coulee Dam resident Greg Wilder, who has opposed the extent of Coulee Dam’s proposed wastewater treatment plant upgrades, has become an ardent advocate for ratepayers who would have to pay for the project. The $4.92 million project is bloated, Wilder claims, and could be built for substantially less, maybe for as little as $2.2 million he says. However, the town continues to move ahead with the design of the project, using Gray & Osborne engineers. Now Wilder is trying to assist in putting together a package of financial backers to lessen t...
A school district “guaranteed graduate program” is back on track after the school board approved a second reading of the proposal at its Monday night meeting. The program was sidetracked for a time by a number of questions members of the Grand Coulee Dam School District board raised after the first reading of the proposal. Superintendent Dennis Carlson brought in Dr. Gene Sharratt, former superintendent of the Educational Service District, to help answer questions board members had at a recent meeting. Sharratt told the board that the pro...
Grand Coulee’s city council adopted an ordinance at its last meeting outlining the conditions under which a person could get a license to operate an adult entertainment business in the city. The council had gone through two moratoriums, a zoning change for such businesses and now the licensing requirements necessary to establish an adult entertainment business. It all came about when the Wolf’s Den bar approached the city to establish a Friday night topless entertainment program at its Main Street location. City officials and local res...
Superintendent Dr. Dennis Carlson got a little help from teachers when he defended his administration plan for Center School before the school board Monday. There’s been a rub between the administration’s plan for covering the principal vacancy at the school and the board since it was announced a couple of months ago. The vacancy came just before school began when it was announced that longtime principal Sue Hinton would not be returning. She had been principal at the school for 13 years. Carlson planned to fill that role by using some of his...
The school board got tangled up in agreeing to name November as “Native American Heritage Month,” at its meeting Monday. The item was on the agenda Monday night, and considered a procedural issue since the observation had waltzed through the board in previous years. This time it got sidetracked. While the board eventually agreed to it, there will be future discussions about Native American Day being in September and “Native American Heritage Month” being observed at a separate time. Board Chair Joette Barry asked why the special month designa...
A Spokane Valley firm, Engineering Economics, Inc., has been hired by the school district to perform commissioning services for the K-12 school project, a requirement by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The district received two bids for the service. The Spokane Valley firm’s bid of $53,970 was about $13,000 under the second bid. The winning bidder will verify proper installation of equipment, perform on-site testing of equipment, and develop manuals and guides for its proper use. The mechanical equipment subject to t...
A meeting of Douglas County Fire District 3 last week started out heated, but by the end of the meeting everyone had agreed on two things -- a lack of communications and a lack of resources. The discussion centered around the recent Leahy Fire and the problems firefighters faced. Rancher Jim Hemmer stirred the pot by recounting problems the fire district has had over the years. He cited trucks broken down, unfilled water tanks, and radios in disrepair. Then he asked why fire trucks had been withheld from his home and others nearby. Jay Webber,...
by Roger S. Lucas Electric City residents, you now live in a “transportation benefit district.” What does it mean? Nothing, at least for six months to a year, and then it will cost you $20 more for any license tabs you purchase for one of your vehicles. The city council Oct. 9, as expected, passed the new regulatory district ordinance. And it’s just a start. “Before we can start charging the $20 fee, we have to get a couple of more ordinances passed, and organize the governing body, and establish by-laws,” City Clerk Jackie Perman said. Inc...
The town councils of Coulee Dam and Elmer City and their attorneys may finally getting together to work through questions about their 50-year sewer service contract. Coulee Dam sent an invitation for Elmer City officials to join its council in a special meeting at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 7, for discussions. That date is not confirmed. Elmer City has maintained that it is a partner in the Coulee Dam Wastewater Treatment project, not just a customer, and therefore should have been part of the planning process for the new plant. Currently Coulee...
Progress on improving the air quality at Center School is coming along about as well as can be expected, Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson said this week. He said the district has and is responding to the issues raised in an air quality report by Fulcrum, a firm hired to examine air quality at the school and come up with recommendations on how to deal with the problems. Air quality has been an issue at the school for several years and came to light when staff at Center went directly to the board with their...
Electric City’s arsenic treatment plant will soon be up and running. And the question is: Will Electric City water taste the same? There’s room for discussion here. Mayor Jerry Sands said there might be just a touch of chlorine taste. Public Works Director Ken Dexter agrees. People who are used to Electric City’s water taste may notice a slight difference, both city officials agreed, while touring the new plant. Last week, engineers from both Gray and Osborne and equipment suppliers were on site running tests and reviewing progress. The near...
Coulee Dam police got the OK from the town council Wednesday to purchase 10 tasers along with equipment associated with them for $17,253.50. Chief Pat Collins told the council that the town would have to pay for the tasers but would be reimbursed the full amount by the Bureau of Reclamation through the department’s contract arrangement. He said the town would have to adopt a budget amendment since the purchase was not within the department’s 2012 budget. Collins told the council that the department tasers were old and needed to be rep...
A variety of activities this Saturday will make up the “Coulee Fall Festival,” including hay rides, kids’ karaoke, a community-wide yard sale and a pet show, all just for fun. The Coulee Fall Festival replaces the former Moonlite Madness celebration held later in October. Get decked out, and dress up your pet, for a pet show at the skateboard park. The event begins at 10 a.m. and should be fun for both you and your pet. Remember to bring your leash. There are no restrictions on what kind of pet you bring. Bob Valen, who has been working on th...
Fire destroyed a home in Delano Sunday afternoon. Fire officials said the home at 57789 Cardinal Place NE was a total loss. One fire official, Carl Sheehy, a captain of the Electric City Fire Department, said it appeared that the fire started in the crawl space under the house and was probably electrical in nature. The house, owned by Linda Ayotte, of Spokane, was in the process of being sold. Sheehy said the only thing salvaged by firefighters was the carport and a pickup that was there. By...
Grand Coulee Dam American Legion Post 157 is one of five legion posts in the state to receive a “Recognition of Post Excellence” from the national organization. The award came out of the recent national convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was given because of the local post’s efforts in four general areas. The criteria for the national award includes: 1) Membership results; 2) Youth activity; 3) Community Service; and 4) Service to troops and veterans. The citation reads: “Grand Coulee Dam Post 157 has demonstrated excellence in serving...
