Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Wahkiakum Port District No. 1 commissioners want to see if something can be done about the state of Cathlamet Channel. Earlier this spring, the Coast Guard removed almost all the navigational buoys in the channel, saying the area is no longer safe to navigate due to severe shoaling between Nassa Point and Little Island. At the port commissioners’ May 13 meeting, Port Manager Jackie Lea reported that she is scheduled to meet with Columbia River Yachting Association executive Andy Meyer and staff from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s office on May...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners heard reports from the foremen of the utility’s water and electric departments during their May 8 meeting. At the commissioners’ request, the two department heads have begun to regularly report to the board about their projects. Jim Jespersen of the water department reported that his crew had recently replaced service lines on North Welcome Slough Road and were now working on West Sunny Sands Road. As they replace the service lines, the workers are also replacing all meters that have been in use for over 10 yea...
Wahkiakum Port District No. 1 commissioners gained land and tenants when they met Tuesday night. In addition to authorizing a lease agreement with Drop Anchor Brewery, LLC to site a brewery and tasting room on port property, the commissioners approved the acquisition of a lot owned by Wally Wright and situated along Third Street abutting port property. The lot currently holds a rental home. Port Attorney Tim Hanigan explained to the commissioners that the purchase agreement had been negotiated at a price of $70,750. The commissioners...
Wahkiakum PUD’s newly-constructed Cathlamet Substation has been in operation since January, and PUD staff and commissioners are ready to celebrate. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for April 24 at 10 a.m. at the substation site near the intersection of Jacobson Road and Columbia Street. The public is invited, as are all PUD employees. At their meeting on Tuesday morning, Wahkiakum PUD commissioners approved Manager Dave Tramblie’s request to close the PUD office for a short period of time that morning to enable the staff to attend the ribbon cut...
Drop Anchor Brewery representatives left a Port District No. 1 meeting on April 11 without a signed lease, but with assurances that the port was committed to working out an agreement with the brewery. Andy Lea, Richard Erickson, and Steve Sharp attended the meeting to represent Drop Anchor Brewery. Port Attorney Tim Hanigan said that he and Sharp as the brewery representative had come to an agreement on a lease. He recommended the commissioners authorize Port Manager Jackie Lea to sign the lease. Commissioner Larry Bonds, speaking over phone...
Wahkiakum County commissioners met with Columbia Land Trust (CLT) staff Tuesday afternoon for an update on CLT’s local land stewardship work. The workshop focused on four projects: Gorley Farm/Upper Grays River, Kandoll Farm, Upper Elochoman, and Indian Jack Slough/Nelson Creek. CLT owns approximately 1500 acres in Wahkiakum County, said CLT Stewardship Manager Ian Sinks. About two-thirds of the land is in the Grays River valley, and the rest is in the Elochoman River valley. Sinks reported that CLT had just gone to bid on the next phase of w...
Because board member Tony Boyce submitted his resignation on March 13, Wahkiakum School District directors are searching for someone to replace him on the five-seat board. Any community member can nominate a candidate for the position by calling the district office at 795-3271. Self-nominations are also welcome. Candidates need to reside in the vacant director district, which covers portions of the North Cathlamet, South Cathlamet, Rosedale, and Columbia precincts. At Tuesday’s board meeting, District Superintendent Bob Garrett suggested i...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners acted on a surplus vehicle request, a water contract with the town, and discussed other business at a brief meeting Tuesday morning. They later attended the county commissioners’ meeting to hear a presentation from a Deep River resident concerning expansion of the Western Wahkiakum Water System. Commissioners approved a resolution declaring a water department truck to be a surplus item. It will be sold at public auction by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. The old truck has been replaced by one formerly used by PUD M...
In a 2-1 vote last Thursday night, Port District No. 1 commissioners approved moving forward with construction of a rental building at Elochoman Marina to lease to Drop Anchor Brewery, a newly-formed LLC with local investors. With Commissioner Larry Bonds participating via telephone from Arizona, port commissioners met with Drop Anchor Brewery proponents to discuss issues ranging from site location to rental costs. Drop Anchor Brewery partner Richard Erickson said he’d met with county building and planning department manager Chuck Beyer to d...
In a 2-1 vote Thursday night, Port District No. 1 commissioners approved moving forward with construction of a rental building at Elochoman Marina to lease to Drop Anchor Brewery, a newly-formed LLC with local investors. With Commissioner Larry Bonds participating via telephone from Arizona, port commissioners met with Drop Anchor Brewery proponents to discuss issues ranging from site location to rental costs. Drop Anchor Brewery partner Richard Erickson said he’d met with county building and planning department manager Chuck Beyer to d...
Wahkiakum Port District #1 commissioners met March 6 for further conversation with the partners of the Drop Anchor Brewery. Richard Erickson, Steve Sharp, and Andy Lea attended the meeting representing the brewery. Lea explained to the commissioners that his group was looking for a 24 by 48 foot building with four walls, a roof, a floor, and a restroom. The brewery would take care of wiring, lights, and the rest, he said. “This is pretty much an industrial building. It won’t be open to the public except for certain hours and certain days of the...
Wahkiakum PUD is making progress in its efforts to correct financial reporting deficiencies identified during a review by the state auditor’s office last year. In the report issued last April, the auditors wrote: “The District’s internal controls over accounting and reporting are inadequate to ensure the financial statements are accurate and complete.” The report reviewed the PUD’s financial records from 2009 and 2010. Specifically, the audit report mentioned that some accounts, including the plant materials and supplies account, lacked re...
A local resident reported finding human skeletal remains near Brookfield on February 21. According to Wahkiakum County Sheriff Mark Howie, the man was hiking along a trail near the Columbia River when he saw what appeared to be human bones. He left them in place and contacted the sheriff’s office. Sheriff’s deputies, search and rescue volunteers, and County Coroner Dan Bigelow combed the area and recovered a skull with a set of upper teeth and additional bones. Undersheriff Steve Marshall, a certified diver and former commander of the King Cou...
Is a local microbrewery on the horizon? At Monday’s Port District #1 meeting, a group of 10 local investors represented by Cathlamet businessman Richard Erickson presented a proposal to port commissioners to site a microbrewery on port-owned property at Elochoman Marina. The proposal asks the port to build and lease a 1,000-1,200 square foot building to the group for a five-year period. The Drop Anchor Brewery would sell kegs to local restaurants and growlers and souvenirs to tasting room visitors. Its tasting room would not offer full meals f...
Wahkiakum School District’s board of directors approved a policy on Tuesday night prohibiting the use, possession, or distribution of marijuana on school district property and also discussed the payment of transportation costs for summer extracurricular programs. Last fall, Washington voters approved Initiative 502, which legalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana for people age 21 and older. However, public use of marijuana remains unlawful and violators can be fined. At their January 24 meeting, board members directed District...
Wahkiakum PUD Manager Dave Tramblie will not receive a bonus in appreciation for his stewardship of the PUD’s $2.3 million substation construction project that was completed last month. The project was originally projected to cost $3 million but stayed more than $500,000 under budget. Tramblie told PUD commissioners meeting Tuesday that a few minor vouchers remained to be paid in February, but that he did not think the cost would increase much beyond the $2,278,309 already paid for the work. At the utility directors’ February 5 meeting, Com...
Wahkiakum PUD’s new substation is now in operation, Wahkiakum PUD commissioners learned at a Tuesday meeting. Manager Dave Tramblie told the commissioners that the substation’s transformer was first energized two weeks ago. “We put load on it a week ago Friday. Last Tuesday we put the Puget Island and East County feeders on it and it’s been holding since then without any glitches,” said Tramblie. The Elochoman and Skamokawa circuits will still be fed off the old transformer, which remains in operation at the Jacobson Road site. Tramblie...
Wahkiakum school board members don't want pot at school. State law prohibits tobacco possession on school district buildings and grounds, including use by spectators at sporting events. However, that law was put in place long before Washington voters legalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana last fall for people over age 21. To preempt any potential issues caused by a lack of inclusive language, the Wahkiakum School District board of directors authorized Superintendent Bob Garrett to draft a policy barring marijuana from campus...
PUD commissioners voted to discontinue evening meetings in western Wahkiakum County during their January 15 meeting. Hoping to ease travel and time constraints preventing Western Wahkiakum Water System (WWWS) customers from attending morning meetings in Cathlamet, the commissioners met quarterly at Rosburg Hall during 2012. Public attendance dropped off after the first meeting, while travel and rental expenses added up for the PUD. Commissioner Dennis Reid, who represents Skamokawa and Western Wahkiakum County, said the commissioners were willi...
Port District No. 1 commissioners approved raises for port management during their January 10 meeting. The commissioners approved resolutions authorizing 2.5 percent salary increases for Port Manager Jackie Lea and Assistant Port Manager Abe York. The raises were made effective January 1, 2013. Reservations for spring Chinook salmon season are not coming in as fast as in previous years, said Lea. She added that she expects them to pick up once the season is set at the end of the month. Lea said recent surveys of vehicles in the marina parking...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners met January 2 for their first meeting of 2013. The commissioners approved payment of a $14,000 voucher to the Department of Revenue (DOR) for back taxes. A DOR audit in fall 2012 determined that the utility owed the state $56,000 in underpaid combined excise taxes. Most of the underpayment came from a difference between two formulas used to calculate the PUD’s eligibility for discounts on the amount of tax due, PUD Auditor Erin Wilson had explained to the commissioners at a November meeting. PUD Attorney Tim H...
Wahkiakum County commissioners had resolutions to consider creating new positions in county departments when the board met Wednesday. Sheriff Mark Howie has created a sergeant's position for the sheriff's department, and Public Works Director Pete Ringen presented redefined positions for his department's staff that, he has said, more closely represent the tasks the employees handle. The county employee's union has adopted the job descriptions for the positions into their contract with the county. The new sergeant would be responsible for superv...
Wahkiakum County PUD commissioners met December 18 for a brief meeting. PUD manager Dave Tramblie apprised the commissioners of the current status of water contract negotiations with the Town of Cathlamet. Tramblie said he had received data he had requested from the town about the current contract and would review the information shortly. Discussions about amending the contract or entering into an agreement about meter reading are on hold until work on the current contract is completed, he said. The PUD purchases the water that supplies its...
The season won’t be set until the end of January, but people are already making reservations to stay at the Elochoman Marina during spring Chinook salmon season, Port Manager Jackie Lea told port commissioners at a December 13 meeting. In preparation for the busy season, Assistant Port Manager Abe York and port employees are working to replace the grating covering D-Dock and its gangway. So far, they have completed work on the gangway and two sections of dock. With leftover lumber, York plans to rebuild a fish cleaning station to supplement t...
Oneida Road residents have a beaver to thank for a November 29 power outage, PUD Line Crew Foreman Shane Pfenniger reported to the PUD’s commissioners at a brief December 4 meeting. When the line crew isolated the outage to its point of origin, they discovered a beaver den dug out underneath the road. The power line ran through the four-foot-high den, and the beaver had partially gnawed through the cable, Pfenniger explained. Beavers have also chewed through utility poles in the area, necessitating the use of wire mesh around the poles’ bas...
