Council waits as plans progress

The Cathlamet Town Council on Monday reviewed a lot of business that is involving a lot of waiting.

The design for the town's new sewer plant will be completed soon, said engineer Ken Alexander of Gray and Osborne, Inc., engineering.

Now, the town has to wait to see what funding will be available from state and federal sources.

The firm is now negotiating with the state Department of Transportation over right-of-way issues, Alexander said. And because the new access road will go over a wetland, the town will have to find a spot for mitigation he said.

Public Works Superintendent David Vik reported that the town and a contractor will have a pre-construction conference this week before the start of installation of a new water line.

The line will start at Main Street and go up the alley by the town hall to the Pioneer Community Center.

The council agreed to be called a sponsor of the Cathlamet Downhill Corral (CDC) longboard races.

Judy Edmondson of the CDC suggested the council take the formal vote. No fee is involved, she said; the town is essentially a sponsor by allowing the three days of skateboard events on town streets.

Edmondson added that festival organizers had formed a formal organization because of some organizational difficulties at last year's event. They are working with the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce to put on the races this year.

Edmondson said the downhill race will be limited to 96 competitors, and people are already entering. There were four events in 2010; there will be six in 2011, she said.

The group plans to donate profits to the improvement of the skateboard facilities at Erickson Park; last year, they donated $1,500 to that fund.

Mayor George Wehrfritz reported that the town has received an updated design for the remodel of the town hall. He said that the town is ready to put out a request of quotes for schematic designs for parts of the project needing detailed plans, but that can wait while Congress settles funding for the US Rural Development Administration (USRDA).

Agency officials, Weherfritz said, have ranked the town's project at the top of the list for funding, but funding depends on Congress.

The town office will be relocated during the construction, perhaps permanently. Wehrfritz said possible sites include the town public works office, the basement of the Pioneer Community Center, or renting commercial space. Councilmembers said they would prefer not to rent.

Clerk Treasurer Tina Schubert presented a report about how much time she is spending on accounting for the town fire department first aid division.

She was assigned the duty last fall, and in the development of the budget, the council assigned a fee to the departments based on her estimated time for accounting.

Schubert said she found that she spent 20 percent of her time working on accounts for the fire department and first aid division. That was what she predicted last fall.

"I think that level will go down," she said, "but at this point, I have no recommendation for a change."

Wehrfritz reported that state auditors haven't yet finished the audit they started last fall.

They now expect to finish in early May, he said.