Council wrestles with budget crunch

Cathlamet Mayor George Wehrfritz has ordered a selective spending freeze in response to an anticipated budget shortfall for 2010, and some department heads aren't happy.

Wehrfritz said Monday it appears the town's general fund will be about $41,000 short of its expected revenue for 2010 because of declines in sales tax receipts and other taxes which are suffering in the national recession. The town's sewer and water departments, with revenues based on usage fees, however, are doing fine.

In other business Monday, the council asked the planning commission to submit a new version of an updated zoning ordinance, and the council discussed proposals to construct a windmill farm and to abandon the search for grant funds for the proposed Queen Sally Park.

Last Friday, Wehrfritz sent letters to department heads ordering them to cut spending to bare minimums for the rest of the year.

The orders drew feedback at Monday night's council meeting, but the mayor and council let the mandates stand for the moment.

Cathlamet Fire Department officers Fred Johnson and Beau Renfro said their budget, which has varied sources, is in good shape. The Emergency Medical Services budget, which finances ambulance calls, received funds from patient fees and will have a surplus at the end of the year, they said. There's no reason to curtail expenditures from this fund, they said.

Renfro added that one of the mayor's orders to switch to a different vehicle fuel source may cost the department volunteers.

Wehrfritz ordered the department to cease buying vehicle fuel from a Cathlamet business and instead buy from Wahkiakum County's Road Department at a savings of about 80 cents per gallon. Renfro responded that refueling at the county shop will add extra time to emergency volunteer responses, and the volunteers may become annoyed at that and quit responding.

Wehrfritz also ordered the department to prepare "a full accounting for all expenditures undertaken by its wild land unit, as the true cost of this unit to the town is unclear, based on the department's current accounting practices."

The wildland unit is a four-wheel drive truck equipped to take water and equipment off-road in wilderness areas. At times, it and a crew may be dispatched to eastern Washington as part of a state-wide fire response.

The firemen responded that they are working with town Treasurer/Clerk Tina Schubert to have expenditures attributed correctly.

Johnson criticized the mayor's letter, saying it showed a lack of communication. "The directive issued today about budgets was done without comment or communication with the department heads," he said. "We would all do a lot better with more communication and less issuing of edicts."

Johnson, a lawyer, also commented that statutes don't authorize a mayor to change budget lines. Town attorney Tom Doumit later commented that statutes authorize a mayor to manage the day to day affairs of the town.

Wehrfritz said the aim is to understand the fire department's budget and revenues and to see that costs are shared so that town funds can be put to best use.

Council members expressed mixed views on the issue.

All agreed they wanted to support volunteers, and there were comments in support of the fire department engaging in revenue producing activities, such as wildland fire response.

Council Member Wally Wright, a fire department member, moved to rescind the mayor's order to the fire department. Attorney Doumit commented that it wouldn't be a conflict of interest for Wright to make the motion, for he would receive little, if any, financial benefit from it. Council Member Steve McNicholas seconded it.

"The mayor needs to have authority," commented Council Member David Goodroe. "The fire department and EMS do a good job, but I can't go along with reducing the authority of the chief executive."

The motion failed, with Goodroe, McNicholas and Ruth Doumit voting against it and only Wright voting in favor.

The mayor's order continued, but Wehrfritz said he would meet with Johnson and Renfro to go over the issue when a meeting could be arranged.

In other business, the mayor and council rejected a plea from Wright to abandon the search for grant money to finance construction of Queen Sally Park. Plans for the park call for a public area including a small amphitheater and walking trails around the Pioneer Community Center.

Town officials learned last week that the state Recreation and Conservation Office had ranked the town's application low enough that it probably won't receive funding in this cycle.

Wehrfritz said he planned to go to a workshop on another grant program.

Wright, who has opposed the planned park, asked that the mayor drop the effort. The project will cost time and money that the town doesn't have and erode support of community volunteers, he said.

"It's asinine," he said. "We should stop going in that direction. It's stupid to spend money we don't have to build an amphitheater just so someone can go play a guitar."

Wehrfritz said he would go to the conference at his own expense so that he could learn how the town could position itself in the grant application process.

Wright also suggested the council resume its feasibility study of putting power generating windmills on its forest land on Bradley Mountain.

The council reviewed the reasons they had tabled the project: Wahkiakum PUD's electric grid lacks the capacity to handle new power generated inside the county; the town has been unable to get the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to do a biological assessment on impacts to wildlife; and, according to Goodroe, wind power sells for 10-15 cents a kilowatt while hydro power sells for 3.5 cents, making it uneconomical.

"We made a serious mistake last year when we didn't put an anemometer up there to gather data," McNicholas commented.

"The price was $35,000 for the initial investment," Goodroe said. "The reserves were too precious."