Council Corner

Editor's note: The Cathlamet Town Council has asked for occasional space to inform people of goals and activities. In the interest of public service, we will provide that.

Submitted by Bill Wainwright

Cathlamet Town Council

This is the first of future updates to inform the town and county what your new town council is up to.

We recently assigned liaisons to specific town operations, entities and other local governments. This task of approximately 20 assignments is spread evenly between councilors Lake, Stowe, Waller, Olson and Wainwright. As well as these responsibilities, some of our current and upcoming agenda items we’re reviewing and/or addressing are:

-- Dog ordinances (specifically for safety)

-- our overall existing town ordinances

-- our sewer and water billing (process and rates)

-- the vacant public works superintendent position

-- a parks plan update

--the feasibility of retaining some of the town’s stagnant real estate holdings.

-- a long overdue completion of our town comprehensive plan (to enable the town guidance for future planning, as well as access to State and Federal grants and specific funding.

-- working with Olympia to identify sources of grants and tax incentives to encourage senior, low income and affordable housing.

Also, a huge shout out to David Olson for his initiative and hard work getting us the Tribal Heritage funding. This will be a huge deal for the Town. Without him spearheading this effort, the many Native Indian and Lewis and Clark related functions we expect the town to soon participate in would not be happening. Thank you, David!

This is just a quick recap of what’s been recently discussed and targeted. Yes, there’s a lot on our plate, but we need to get at it!

Please help us be more effective by attending the now semi-monthly town hall meetings. We need your feedback regarding how and where you want your tax dollars and our efforts spent.