Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Because of hot markets and good timing, Wahkiakum County stands to receive higher than expected revenue from harvest of timber on county trust timberland. Last fall, commissioners estimated timber sale revenue at $1.1 million, but on Tuesday, representatives of the state Department of Natural Resources, which manages the trust timberland, estimated 2018 revenue at $1.7 million. DNR District Manager Padraig Callahan estimated the value to the county of the Universal Sorts sale at $1.5 million, but after it was sold in February, they now expect...
Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday approved a resolution updating the county's public records policy. The resolution, board Clerk Beth Johnson told the commissioners, was drafted in response to new legislation regarding public records indexes and fees in an attempt to decrease the county's liability risks from public records requests by adopting state attorney general guidelines. The resolution states that it is unduly burdensome to maintain an index of records and that it is unduly burdensome to calculate the actual costs for fees for p...
Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) officials came to Puget Island last week to update travelers about impacts from approaching construction on the Puget Island bridge. The contractor will begin painting the bridge in April. The starting date is yet to be determined. "During the work, traffic will alternate through a single-lane of the highway with a 10-foot-wide travel lane," WSDOT communication officer Tamara Greenwell said in an email. Painters will encase portions of the bridge...
Wahkiakum Health & Human Services is slowly bringing their new quarters, tentatively called the Hope House, into operation. Last summer, the congregation of the United Church of Christ, Congregational, disbanded and donated their church building and parsonage to Health & Human Services so that it would benefit the people of Wahkiakum County. Since then, Health & Human Services has been painting, moving and repositioning. On Tuesday, department staff held an open house to show what they've done...
Motorists will soon see a reduced speed limit on SR 4 through Cathlamet. Both the Cathlamet Town Council and Wahkiakum County Board of Commissioners agreed to ask the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to lower the speed limit to 35 miles per hour. The move would be part of a long range effort to increase safety along the highway through Cathlamet. Officials from both the town and county have supported proposals for lower speed and other changes to improve safety on SR 4 between the Elochoman Valley and Boege roads intersections....
Wahkiakum Commissioners covered issues ranging from department staffing to insurance for events at the fairgrounds when they met Tuesday. They approved four of five staffing requests from Health and Human Services Department (H&HS)Director Chris Bischoff. They tabled a decision to increase the salary and hours for the Wahkiakum Community Center outreach coordinator. Bischoff said the wage increase for the part-time position would go from $11.50 per hour now to $14.72 by the end of the year, and hours would increase from the current 60 per...
By Rick Nelson Commissioners of Port District 2 are in a building mood. They've called for bids to construct a building to house a laundry and the Skamokawa Vista Park office. And on their monthly meeting Tuesday, they voted to purchase and install three teepees at Vista Park. Commissioners also voted to be one of the initial customers of a new business that will provide wireless internet service in the immediate Skamokawa area. A new resident of Skamokawa, Steve Carson works in internet technology and operates his own business, Computer Link N...
Two Wahkiakum County commissioners have lately been doing lots of lobbying in Olympia and Washington D.C. Commissioner Dan Cothren has been a leader of a group of officials from Skamania and Pacific counties and the Department of Natural Resources that has been working to develop legislation that would exchange county trust timberland encumbered from harvest for endangered species habitat with other trust land so that the three counties will have their full timber harvest potential restored. On Monday, Cothren was invited to participate in a...
By Rick Nelson The progress is, oh, so slow. One is speaking, of course, of Wahkiakum County's effort to set up a program to nourish eroding beaches on Puget Island and Cape Horn. In response to queries from Island residents, Commissioner Dan Cothren on Tuesday reported a bit of progress on one of two fronts. First, the county's consulting engineers met last week with the US Army Corps of Engineers to go over latest demands on the Section 408 permit, which analyzes a proposed project's impacts on neighboring property. Corps officials continue...
Preservation work on the State Route 409 Puget Island Bridge is just around the corner, with work to relocate the osprey nest starting this Friday, and an open house planned for later this month. Big C Industries, a Longview based subcontractor, will install a beam topped by a platform on the concrete portion of the bridge to become a new location for the nest that has capped the bridge for years. The general contractor, Royal Bridge, has said the work needs to be done by March 15. Painters will...
A resolution to require supplemental insurance coverage for certain events at the Wahkiakum County Fairgrounds drew concern Tuesday. The resolution would change the county code to require a $2 million proof of insurance for events such as bull riding, demolition derby, stunt driving, boxing or fighting, or competitive racing of animals or vehicles. Members of the Wahkiakum Fair Foundation and other persons supporting fair activities expressed concern the policy would curtail many animal related activities. Commissioners agreed to delay action...
Students at Wahkiakum High School are being trained to be health mentors throughout the community. The training is the result of a state funded program, said Chris Bischoff, director of the county health department, at the Tuesday meeting of the board of county commissioners. "We've found the high school is the best place to start," he said. Eight students are receiving training to answer simple questions and offer basic advice to people with health questions. "These students have lots and lots of potential," commented Public Health Nurse...
Members of the Wahkiakum School District board of directors on Monday approved a new reading curriculum, heard a report on developments in Career Technology Education (CTE) and acted on other business. Middle school teacher Tina Merz said that students, staff and board members had compared and evaluated two new programs. All overwhelmingly favored a program called Amplify. "Students wanted to come to class and work in it," she said. "It is very rigorous, and it is very easy to use for students...
The Wahkiakum Lady Mules claimed fourth place in the Washington girls Class 2B state tournament with a 50-49 win over the Ilwaco Lady Fishermen on Saturday morning. It was the third time the two teams had faced each other this season, with Ilwaco winning the first two games. Ilwaco finished sixth in the state tournament. The Mules opened the tournament with a 53-27 loss Thursday to Central League rival Napavine, who plays St. Georges's for third and fifth places on Saturday. On Friday, the...
Wahkiakum County commissioners covered issues ranging from sand to elk when they met on Tuesday. Puget Island resident Liz Beutler asked for a clarification on the status of easement for dredge spoils deposits on East Sunny Sands, one of the beaches where erosion is threatening structures. In a meeting last week with Congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler, commissioners learned that a key holdout wasn't as ready to join the program as they had thought, and that could delay beach nourishment, she said. Public Works Director Chuck Beyer said he is...
Congresswoman Jamie Herrera-Beutler, R-District 3, visited the eroding East Sunny Sand shoreline Tuesday to see what she could do to aid efforts to set up dredge spoils deposits this year. County officials have been working for two years to establish a 10-year beach nourishment program; they're now working to complete a Section 408 impact review and convince a landowner to sign a right-of-entry easement which would complete the easements needed for the Sunny Sands disposal site. Herrera-Beutler...
Perhaps it was the snow that fell heavy and wet in the late afternoon, for the Cathlamet Town Council found itself with a light agenda Tuesday. The highlight of the agenda was supposed to have been a visit from Washington Department of Transportation engineers to talk about potential solutions for traffic control. However, the visitors called before the meeting and asked to be excused because of poor travel conditions in Clark County. The council quickly approved contracts with the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce and Columbia Wellness. The...
Editor's Note: This story is corrected from first publication, which incorrectly reported a business owner has applied for an application to open a marijuana store in the old Rosburg Store; the correct location, according to the application, is 3772 SR 4, Grays River, which is approximately across the highway from the Hull Creek Road intersection and Merserve Park. We apologize for the error. Ed Miller notified us that he is remodeling the old Rosburg Store and intends to sell groceries, hot food and fuel, with reopening planned for April or Ma...
Responding to an article in last week's Eagle, a representative of the firm "doxo" contacted The Eagle to explain the company's business model. The article reported that some Town of Cathlamet utility customers had encountered doxo's website while searching for the town's website and used it to pay their bills online. The customers had been charged for the service and asked town staff about the fees. Clerk/Treasurer Kerrie McNally said staff hadn't heard of doxo, and the town had no arrangement with doxo for handling payments. According to the...
Will Wahkiakum County's eroding shorelines receive sand from Columbia River channel maintenance this year? Wahkiakum County officials continue to address issues raised by permitting agencies in their effort to establish a 10-year beach nourishment program. This week, the board of commissioners approved an addition of $25,650 to the contract with their consulting engineers who have been preparing the required reports and permit applications. The latest, Commissioner Dan Cothren said Tuesday, is a plan required by the state Department of Ecology...
A utility payment processing company has been taking payments for both the Town of Cathlamet and Wahkiakum PUD utilities without permission and charging a fee as well. "I have had two customers ask me why they have to pay $7 to pay their bills online," Cathlamet Clerk/Treasurer Kerrie McNally said Tuesday. "The town does not charge our customers for this." Both the town and PUD began taking payments over the internet within the past 18 months. McNally said that when a person does a search for the town, a search engine will show www.doxo.com as...
Will they or won't they? Members of the Cathlamet Town Council have been considering revisions to the structure of town sewer system rates for over a year, and on Monday, they received an analysis of sewer rates and finances from consultant RosAna Noval of the Rural Community Assistance Corporation. Over the past few months, Noval has been using data from the town to develop spread sheets showing how different classes of customers would be affected under different rates. The town is looking for...
Wahkiakum County commissioners voted Tuesday to support creation of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Economic Development District. Five years in the making, the district would develop a regional economic development strategy and find funding to help implement the strategies. Although he voted to support formation of the district, board Chair Mike Backman said he wanted to extend an invitation to Pacific County to join the district. "We have a lot in common with their workforce," he said, especially the fishing industry, he said. Bill Flashing, executive...
Mayor Dale Jacobson cast the tiebreaking vote Tuesday to select Jean Burnham to fill a vacant seat on the Cathlamet Town Council. Long-time Council Member Richard Swart resigned at the end of December, and the council had three applicants to fill the vacancy--Burnham, Paige Lake and Robert Stowe. The candidates answered questions from each council member, and then the council, Jacobson and town attorney Heidi Heywood retreated to a 20-minute executive session to evaluate the candidates. When...
Wahkiakum County commissioners covered a lot of ground as they took on a light agenda at their Tuesday meeting this week. Commissioners accepted the recommendation of Health and Human Services Director Chris Bischoff to locate the Wahkiakum Weed Control office in a soon to be vacant at the department's mental health campus. The county has been looking for months for office space for the weed control program, which had previously been housed in the WSU Cooperative Extension Office. The logistics...
