Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Wahkiakum County commissioners started April with a light agenda for their meeting Tuesday. Commissioners approved a request from Wahkiakum PUD to write letters of support for a PUD application for funding to assist in water main improvements on Puget Island. PUD General Manager Dan Kay said the plan is to connect two dead end mains to other mains to form loops. That would allow the water crew to isolate an area needing repair or other work and maintain service to customers, he said. One of the dead end lines is on Little Island; the other is...
When filing opens for offices that are up for election this year, several county positions will be on the ballots. In both Wahkiakum and Pacific counties, these include assessor, auditor, county clerk, sheriff, prosecuting attorney, treasurer, third district county commissioner, third district PUD commissioner, and district court judge(s). In Wahkiakum County, three current office holders, Sheriff Mark Howie, county Commissioner Gene Strong and PUD Commissioner Dennis Reid, have announced they'll run for re-election. And this week, Wahkiakum...
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) plans to complete two construction projects this year on SR 4 at Cathlamet and SR 401 in the Knappton area. Heavy rainfall in January, 2021, led to a slide on SR 401 about 4.5 miles from the Megler/Astoria bridge that closed the road until crews were able to open a one-lane bypass in which a stoplight manages traffic flow. Since then WSDOT engineers have studied the geology of the area and developed a design to stabilize the slope. "This...
[Editor: This story has been updated from first publication to correct an error in the number of commercial accounts seeing rate increases under the proposed new rates.] After long discussion, members of the Cathlamet Town Council on Monday took no action on a proposed update of sewer rates. Town officials have long agreed that the rates are inequitable. Customers living outside city limits pay higher than people inside city limits; and commercial customers have higher rates than residential customers. Council members, consultants and town staf...
Local agencies are planning to boost efforts to control noxious weeds and invasive plants in Wahkiakum County. A variety of agencies make control efforts, including diking districts, the Wahkiakum Conservation District, the Wahkiakum County Noxious Weed Control Board and the county road department. However, at a workshop with agency representatives and the county board of commissioners, all agreed they would like to see the county's noxious weed program take on a larger role. Conservation district Manager Darren Haupt said his group would like...
Wahkiakum County officials have approved an agreement with Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to replace the county's bridge of Wilson Creek in Skamokawa's East Valley. The funding grant will largely finance the $1.77 million project. The county's match is estimated at $24,165, Public Works Director Chuck Beyer reported, and would be used for the engineering design phase. The bridge is in poor condition, Beyer said, scoring only 44 out of 100 points on the bridge inspection, and there is a weight limit on loads that pass...
Wahkiakum County officials on Tuesday acted on a shoreline master plan update and discussed how to proceed with an update of the county comprehensive plan. State statutes require periodic reviews of shoreline plans, said county Planner David Hicks, and the county's is due this June. The state Department of Ecology has offered a grant of $84,000 for the county to conduct the review and extended the deadline to June, 2023. The review could be conducted simultaneously with final work on the county's Shoreline Management Program (SMP)...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to provide interim funding for the Wahkiakum County Fair. The fair's account has a little over $400 in it, said county Treasurer Tammy Peterson, and that's not enough to cover current billing. Fair officials were present at the commission's March 8 meeting to present a request for funding to cover expenses until they receive their state appropriation. Commissioners asked Auditor Nicci Bergseng and Treasurer Tammy Peterson to meet with fair officials, analyze the situation and make a...
Friction between anglers and Elochoman Valley property owners spilled over to the Tuesday meeting of the Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners. Property owners told commissioners an influx of anglers has infringed on their riverfront property and brought problems with litter and people relieving themselves. They asked what could be done to address the situation, and after discussion, officials agreed to press the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to post signs and make efforts to educate anglers to respect property rights....
Commissioners of Port District 2 covered a variety of business when they met Tuesday in Skamokawa. Commissioners quickly adopted resolutions formally appointing Terina Davis as interim manager. Former Manager Jeff Smith resigned the day after the commission's January meeting, and Davis, then assistant manager, has handled managerial duties since then. The commission began advertising for candidates to fill the manager's job in February and has received only two resumés. Commissioner Allen Bennett recommended the advertising be expanded to...
Wahkiakum County Commissioner Dan Cothren feels seven years of work has gone down the drain. Cothren has been a leader in an effort involving Wahkiakum, Pacific and Skamania counties, the state Department of Natural Resources, and a couple non-governmental resource agencies developing a proposal that would enlarge the timber trust holdings of the three counties and compensate them for their trust land encumbered from harvest because of endangered species habitat restrictions. The goal, Cothren has said, has been to give Wahkiakum and the other...
It wasn't easy, but the Cathlamet Town Council approved the final design for a planned waterfront park on the site of former sewage lagoons. Approval came on a 3-1 vote after two council members insisted a restroom be located in Strong Park across Birnie Creek from the waterfront park site. In the proposed waterfront park design, land along the Columbia shoreline would have a meadow, waterfront access and a restroom. Land further away from the river would be developed as a habitat restoration area with trails and a blind for watching birds. An...
Wahkiakum County officials and citizens spent a good amount of time Tuesday discussing how to put teeth into the county Solid Waste Nuisance Ordinance. They identified lots of problems and hurdles to overcome but ended the discussion without a clear path forward. The county commission adopted the ordinance several years ago to help officials address situations in which property owners were leaving junk vehicles in road right-of-ways or otherwise storing vehicles or junk in a manner that created a public hazard. The group discussed troubling...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday accepted a bid for purchase of a new tractor for the Wahkiakum County Fair, but they stopped short of transferring unspent funds budgeted for the tractor purchase to the fair's general expense account. Fair officials are to meet with county Treasurer Tammy Peterson, Auditor Nicci Bergseng and other staff to study how the unspent balance may be spent and bring a recommendation back to the commission by mid-March. Commissioners had budgeted $20,000 for a new tractor; a Longview firm bid a machine costing...
Long awaited legislation to compensate Wahkiakum, Pacific and Skamania counties for encumbered timberland excluded from harvest has been derailed, Wahkiakum County Commissioner Dan Cothren said Tuesday. The legislation, seven years in the making, would have compensated the counties for their trust timberland that has been set aside as habitat for endangered species, depriving the counties from potential revenue. Cothren and commissioners from the other counties have worked with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to develop a $28...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday set in motion a process to increase commission salaries, and they covered a range of solid waste issues. Salaries for commissioners haven’t increased since 2004. The board passed a resolution in 1996 establishing annual increases ranging from 2-3 percent, ending in 2004 at $31,366 per year. Since then, there have been no increases. Commissioners cannot raise their own salary while in their current term of office. Any increase would start in a subsequent term, either for a new office holder or a r...
The Cathlamet Town Council on Tuesday reviewed plans for development of a waterfront park and found a way to reduce a property owner's utility bills while a residence is remodeled. Council members and park design consultant Audrey West reviewed the latest iteration of park design and went over the planned phases for construction. The phases of construction, said Mayor David Olson, would be financed largely by grants. The first phase, West said, to take place this year, is to complete filling of the former sewer lagoon and install sewer and...
Wahkiakum County commissioners heard a renewed plea for dike repair assistance and agreed to strengthen the county's solid waste ordinance when they met Tuesday. Maurice Mooers, one of two members of the Diking District 4 board of commissioners, asked county officials to move forward with aiding the financially strapped district to repair failing dikes along Brooks Slough. The district has few private landowners and limited income; the formation of the US Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuge for white-tail deer removed much of...
Commissioners of Port District 2 are looking for a new manager. Former Manager Jeff Smith resigned Jan. 19, the day after the port commission's January meeting. "I have completed many goals over the last three years and made several improvements to the port," Smith said in his letter of resignation. "I am leaving with a sense of accomplishment and pride in the work myself and the Port’s amazing staff have completed to this point. "However, it has become clear that moving ahead is not an option, and I have done all that I can do with the r...
The Wahkiakum School District's four-year, $997,000 program and operations levy was passing when votes were counted Tuesday evening. The margin was close, 610 yes, 575 no, an approval rate of 51.48 percent. Wahkiakum County elections officials said 100 late arriving votes remained to be counted, and more could arrive by mail this week before the second count, which will be Friday at 11 a.m. As described on the ballot, the proposed four-year replacement levy would authorize collection of taxes...
Local officials are asking each other how committed they are to maintaining County Line Park. The park, located on the Columbia at the meeting of Wahkiakum and Cowlitz counties, lies on land owned by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and situated inside Wahkiakum County. DNR once leased the park to Cowlitz County, but that county discontinued the lease. DNR now leases the land to Wahkiakum County, which has contracted first to Port District 2 and now to Port District 1 to operate i...
Members of the Cathlamet Town Council heard two special requests, welcomed a new member, and heard presentations from two parties when they met Monday. Mayor David Olson also announced that because of a "health scare," the town hall office would be closed to the public this week. The council appointed Kermit Chamberlin to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Council Member Bill Wainwright at the beginning of the year. A Cathlamet resident since 2018, Chamberlin is a retired educator who has served on the town council and planning...
Wahkiakum County Sheriff Mark Howie went to Facebook Tuesday to announce he'll seek re-election as county sheriff. Here is his statement: "There has been much speculation about whether I am retiring at the end of this year or running another term, and since I am being approached on a daily basis with the same questions, I will take this opportunity to declare my candidacy to continue as your sheriff for four more years. "It has been a great honor and privilege, one I don’t take lightly or for granted, as voters have bestowed upon me the s...
The Wahkiakum School District's four-year, $997,000 program and operations levy boosted its passing margin when votes were counted last Friday. Friday's count of late arriving ballots increased totals to 725 yes votes and 670 no votes, an approval rate of 51.97 percent. In the initial count on election day Feb. 8, totals were 610 yes, 575 no, an approval rate of 51.48 percent. Wahkiakum County elections officials said 1,395 of the district's 2,843 registered voters, 49.07 percent, had cast ballots. The final count and certification of the...
The Wahkiakum School District's four-year, $997,000 program and operations levy was passing when votes were counted Tuesday evening. The margin was close, 610 yes, 575 no, an approval rate of 51.48 percent. Wahkiakum County elections officials said 100 late arriving votes remained to be counted, and more could arrive by mail this week before the second count, which will be Friday at 11 a.m. As described on the ballot, the proposed four-year replacement levy would authorize collection of taxes to provide up to $997,000 in 2023, $997,000 in...
