Consolidation delayed by COVID

The effort to consolidate local towns together into one has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A consolidation committee had been planning to get the issue put on the ballot for this year to combine Grand Coulee and Electric City, and potentially try to combine with Coulee Dam and Elmer City further down the line. 

Ben Hughes, who heads the committee, said that he has received “little to no responses” from SCJ Alliance, a planning consultancy that had helped get a discussion started by facilitating an evening community meeting.

The effort to get the issue on the ballot went as far as the auditor’s office, Hughes said, but they wanted a resolution drafted by an attorney to be submitted.

“We have postponed all meetings until we have better communication with our attorney,” Hughes said. “My goal is to have a resolution written and submitted by August, 2021 for the November, 2021 ballots.”

A Facebook page for the cause with about 130 followers so far can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/togetherwehavemore

Hughes said the committee could use someone with legal experience to help with the cause. 

More on the consolidation effort can be read at https://www.grandcoulee.com/story/2019/06/12/news/consolidation-committee-discusses-next-steps/11874.html