Dale Rey takes seat at Coulee Dam

Dale Rey, along with the mayor and two other council members, took the oath of office and accepted a seat at the council table in Coulee Dam, Jan. 8.

Rey was appointed by the council Dec. 11 to the seat vacated by Marcia Warnecke last fall.

As of Jan. 1, the council is still short one member as long-time council member Ben Alling did not seek re-election last year, but he took a seat in the audience last week.

Rey had plenty of questions during the 30-minute meeting, including about the town-owned fiber optic cable under the bridge, what that has to do with the new Spectrum service in town (nothing), whether new radio equipment will be needed for emergency services following the passage of Propopsition 2 in Okanogan County, and what could be done about the wild turkey population.

"I'm not looking to go back and rewrite history," he said. "I'm just looking to get caught up to where we're at and what we actually have a town, what our expectations are."

Mayor Bob Poch agreed to meet with him to fill him in on the many facets of governance facing the council, including on the water system and the sewer treatment plant.

In other business, council voted to ratify after the fact the mayor's signature on a $20,000 grant application to acquire fingerprint scanning equipment for the police department, which was already approved in the budget.

The council also voted to approve a contract with Okanogan County for dispatching services that should actually save the town about $13,000 a year through provisions in Prop. 2.