Cities may explore an encouraging idea

It became clear as crystal last night.

Within the time allotted for one city council meeting in Electric City, at least three issues were discussed that require regional attention of two, three, or four local cities, all of which would benefit from cooperation among or between them.

That’s why interest in at least one meeting among all their leaders, with the public invited, is an encouraging sign. The new kid on the block, Grand Coulee Mayor Mike Eylar, proposed last week at the Regional Board of Mayors meeting, that all the councils come together in one meeting to discuss topics they share in common and to invite the public in to take part in the conversation.

It’s a direction — seeing what working together might do — that’s lately getting some traction. A new consulting engineer recently brought on to work with both Coulee Dam and Electric City noticed that three of the local cities are undertaking similar road improvement projects independently instead of combining them to make one larger project more attractive to more bidding construction firms.

That will require a couple hoops to jump through, like an interlocal agreement among the cities and some give and take between different engineering firms, but not insurmountable ones.

The net result might not save total dollars, but those dollars will likely buy more road improvements.

The Electric City Council approved the plan Tuesday night, just as they did the concept of holding a joint meeting with other councils, especially after considering at least two other issues that increasingly need a regional approach — animal control, and emergency services management, starting at least with the local ambulance service currently provided solely by Grand Coulee.

Just as local leaders realized decades ago that the area needed a regional authority to manage the jointly used local landfill (now transfer station) and so formed the Regional Board of Mayors, it’s becoming more and more apparent that many problems need a regional approach.

Electric City’s discussions were also mired in details and responsibilities of running a kennel to handle dog problems, a recurring theme in the entire community for the last 30 years at least, one that still evades an answer. One citizen sought permission to run a kennel, himself, out of his property, but so many details were brought up in discussion it became apparent the proposal has been tough for the city to tackle, let alone one individual.

Better to share that burden with a much larger population — and benefit more people.

What a concept.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher