News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Proponents of larger accessory buildings in Electric City made some headway at a city planning commission meeting a week ago. It is expected that the planning commission will recommend to the city council that zoning be changed to allow 1,728 square foot buildings up to 26 feet in height. Other details such as whether the siding will have to match the homeowner’s house are still to be decided. A healthy showing of proponents showed up at the meeting and voiced their interests. Some voiced their concerns. The pros and cons of the issue are a... Full story
The city of Grand Coulee, by ordinance, has lifted restrictions on lot coverage. As a result of the ordinance, passed Oct. 7, there will be no lot coverage restrictions on all but one zone (C-H) in the city. That zone will allow 75 percent coverage allowance. In the R-1 zone, the maximum height you can build is now 30 feet, with no limit on lot coverage. The same is true in R-2, and R-3. The three zones had a 25-percent limit on lot coverage prior to the passing of the ordinance. In the C-3 and I zones, building height is 35 feet with no... Full story
If you believe Banks Lake is a good place to fish, then you can thank a couple of local men who helped make it happen. Reg Morgan, long since retired from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Bill Brashears, who passed away about a year ago, teamed up back in 1987, and started a program of providing fish for Banks Lake that continues today. The organization POWER (Promoter of Wildlife and Environmental Resources) was founded about that time, with Bill's wife Betty coming up with the name. Morgan... Full story
Elmer City council passed a cross-connection water system program at its meeting last week. The object of the cross connection program is to reduce the risk of contamination of the public water system. Officials also stated that the new program will reduce the town’s liability arising from the backflow of any contaminant originating from the customer’s plumbing system. The town plans to make available information concerning cross connections and backflow, so water users will be able to understand what is involved. The town passed a cross con... Full story
The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District is moving forward on the planning of an “Aquatic Wellness and Fitness Center.” District President Bob Valen said Monday that the district will soon advertise for qualified firms to indicate an interest in developing conceptual drawings of what the center would look like. The district commissioners then would ask qualified firms to submit their ideas for such a center. The firm chosen would make a set of conceptual drawings for two possible locations, one across the highway from Coulee Medical Cen... Full story
A local businessman who wants to relocate his business despite resistance from Grand Coulee left a city council meeting Tuesday night with some hope. Mike Horne, owner of MPH on Midway, wants to relocate his car and boat repair business a few hundred feet north, but has run into a zoning problem. He said it has been his dream to own his own building and get set up for retirement. The very reasons people object to his business, Horne says, are the things he wants to correct. He would like to purchase a building just north of the Pepper Jack’s p... Full story
A burned out house at 611 Holly Street in Coulee Dam is going to get cleaned up. The town accepted bids from Eastside Wood Recycling of Moses Lake to rid the property of the buildings and vegetation. Town officials said the Moses Lake firm will begin the cleanup on Monday, Oct. 20. It will cost the town $8,925 to remove the burned out buildings and another $5,775 to removed burned trees and other debris. The total cost will total $14,700. The house burned Sept. 18, 2012, and has been a Holly... Full story
The waterline project to service Sunbanks Lake Resort is underway. The $300,000-plus project, first scheduled to begin in April, was started late last month and will provide Electric City water to the popular resort. While the overall project is being paid for by the resort, the city is making an investment of between $18,000 and $20,000 to enlarge the line from 8-inch to 10-inch, so the city can service any future development south of the causeway. That city expense is the difference in cost from 8-inch pipe to 10-inch pipe from State Street t... Full story
The waterline project to service Sunbanks Lake Resort is underway. The $300,000-plus project, first scheduled to begin in April, was started late last month and will provide Electric City water to the popular resort. While the overall project is being paid for by the resort, the city is making an investment of between $18,000 and $20,000 to enlarge the line from 8-inch to 10-inch, so the city can service any future development south of the causeway. That city expense is the difference in cost from 8-inch pipe to 10-inch pipe from State Street t... Full story
This year’s SHARP Kids program will kick off Oct. 28, as part of a new and enlarged five-year $1.3 million grant. Kids in the program will get a heavy STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) related curriculum experience with hands-on projects. The program is for K-12 kids who may be struggling to maintain grade-level academic results. Director Mary Schilling said students in kindergarten through third grade will have morning groupings from 7:15 - 8:15, and all other grades will have after-school activities. The annual $260,000 p... Full story
The port district is inching its way into the black at Banks Lake Golf Course. Grant County Port District 7 is about to end its third year as caretaker of the 18-hole golf course. In its first management year, the district invested about $100,000 to keep the course open after making a pledge at a community meeting that the district would not allow the course to close. At a report last Thursday, port commissioners talked about the successes of maintaining the course this past season with volunteer help, increasing membership at the course and... Full story
One Electric City council member’s dream of a city park could soon be a reality. Lonna Bussert, who has shown interest in park matters ever since she has been on the city council, has finally started the ball rolling on getting one. Mayor Jerry Sands has advised the Baptist Church board that the city is interested in purchasing part of the Baptist Church’s school play area. The area being looked at is 80 feet by 180 feet, and is all of the playground’s lower tier and part of the upper tier. Bussert sees acquiring the property as a start. She t... Full story
Police Chief Mel Hunt retires next Tuesday after 39 years of service in Grand Coulee. It all started for him in 1975, when Hunt signed on as a reserve officer. Then things happened fast, and he was named chief in 1979. It was a big step then for an Oklahoma farm boy who had lived there and in Colorado before moving with his family to Grand Coulee, where his father, Lester Hunt, took a position with the Bureau of Reclamation. The idea of retirement came crashing in on Hunt at last Tuesday's city... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District had 719 students for its official start-of-the-year count last Thursday. That’s about a full classroom more than the district had at its first day count last September. The official count was 719 students. This shook down to 712.71 “full time equivalent” students, since some are only part time. Still, it was an abrupt increase as new facilities attracted new students. The secondary wing, the senior and junior high, had 330 students; the elementary wing had 389. The totals were down from the initial openi... Full story
The two new libraries at Coulee Dam schools have a lot of new books. And more are on the way. A good share of the new books in the elementary and secondary libraries have been placed there by North Central Library District, and Director Dan Howard said this week that a lot more are on the way. North Central, the hub for nearly 30 community libraries in Central Washington, connected with the Grand Coulee Dam School District because doing so fit the organization’s goal of creating an environment where lifelong reading can take place. District o... Full story
Coulee Dam town officials had their fingers crossed that a new clarifier would arrive before the old 35-year unit quit on them. It came Tuesday, and true to operator Tim Lynch's report to the town council, the new one was installed the same day. Lynch said it should be operable by the end of the day. But it took the combined efforts of a manufacturer's representative, a heavy equipment company and several town employees to pull it off, literally. The town council had voted $40,000 to replace... Full story
Since 2011, Grand Coulee hasn’t billed Electric City for its share of the cost of operating and maintaining the wastewater treatment plant the two cities jointly own. Grand Coulee City Clerk Carol Boyce acknowledged Tuesday that the billings haven’t been made since 2011, and that she estimates the total billing to bring the account up to date will be about $240,000. Electric City Clerk Jackie Perman said the annual billings for the wastewater treatment account ranges from $70,000-80,000 a year. Electric City owns 37 percent of the plant, whi... Full story
The new school complex in Coulee Dam opened Monday without a serious glitch. But there were kids, kids, and more kids. Following years of declines, student numbers on Monday were 22 percent more than the district had budgeted, a number that can substantially boost the amount of operating money the state allocates to the district. The first-day count was 394 for the elementary wing, plus 350 in the junior-senior high wing for a total of 744 students. The official beginning count won't be taken... Full story
Coulee Dam residents got a taste of the difficulties in coming up with a fair water rate for the town at a public meeting last Wednesday night. The audience got to hear and see how an increasing block rate would work in determining future water rates. Mayor Greg Wilder, who had prepared the presentation, said that he planned a total of four public meetings to discuss possible ways to equalize the way people are charged for water in the town. When it became a town in the late 1950s, instead of two federal construction housing projects, Coulee... Full story
A business owner and local citizen proved that you can take on city hall, you just don’t always win. Ray Duclos had a lot to say about a pavement issue near Harvest Foods, the family business, and the cleaning of a restroom at Mason City Park at last Wednesday’s town council meeting at Coulee Dam. It was the second time Duclos has asked the town to fix a pavement problem where the Harvest Foods and Coulee Dam Casino parking areas empty out onto Roosevelt Way. Councilmember Shawn Derrick replied that the council was about to put together the... Full story
Electric City may be getting a park. The mayor was instructed by the city council last week to contact the Baptist Church School officials in Electric City and develop an offer for the northern portion of the playground area. The city has for a long time wanted a park. Councilmember Lonna Bussert told the council Sept. 9 that the northern half of the church school playground might be available for purchase to establish a park. She said the site is centrally located in the city and there would... Full story
A dozen barbecue teams will compete in the Harvest Festival this weekend at North Dam Park. It is estimated that the two-member teams will spend about $500 to compete in an effort to walk away with the grand prize of $1,000. Only two teams are local; the rest come from all over the Pacific Northwest. The event with multiple areas of interest begins this Friday and concludes on Sunday. It’s the Third Annual Harvest Festival and is sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The barbecue event is sponsored by the Pacific Northwest... Full story
The public is invited to two events at the new K-12 school complex on Friday, Sept. 12. The first is the official ribbon cutting, opening the new school. That’s at 10 a.m., with dignitaries here to cut the ribbon. Immediately after the ribbon cutting, to be held at the front door of the elementary school wing, the public will get its first opportunity to walk through the complex. At 6-8 p.m. Friday evening, members of the public who didn’t have a chance to catch the first opening, will have a chance to tour the building. School patrons wil... Full story
Grand Coulee’s Civil Service Commission will act deliberately and carefully as it progresses in finding a new police chief for Grand Coulee, according to Chairman Alan Cain. Speed is not the answer, Cain stated. “We are satisfied that we have a qualified interim chief in Sgt. John Tufts, and so we are going to take our time and do this right.” Currently the commission is in the process of developing qualifications for the job. Longtime police Chief Mel Hunt plans to retire Sept. 30. After qualifications are developed the commission will begin... Full story
There may soon be more room for that load of stuff you wanted to haul to the dump. The Regional Board of Mayors is considering the purchase of another transfer trailer. The mayors have sought a used trailer to provide extra dumping room for several months but have been unable to find one. A used one would cost from $40,000 to $50,000. The mayors Monday looked at a new one from Wilkens Industries, Inc., from Morris, Minn., at a cost of just over $100,000. The sticker price shock was enough to delay making any decision Monday. Transfer station... Full story