Town Council report

There was a big turn out in support of the Strong Park Tree at the Cathlamet Town Council Meeting on Monday. During Public Comments, it was suggested that the Town Council listen to the citizens and find a way to keep the tree in the Waterfront Park Plan. Two local second graders told the Council that they want to keep the tree because it is special and old, and they liked it because it is near their favorite trail. Another citizen who supports keeping the noble, dignified, and beautiful, tree in Strong Park posted a poll on the Cathlamet Area News Facebook page on November 30 and over 350 people responded with 88% of respondents wanting to keep the tree. Someone else expressed concern that the tree is on Wahkiakum County Historical Society Museum property and there was no conversation with them. A representative from the Chinook Indian Nation mentioned that we need to work together to keep the tree. The tree gives us so much we should give the tree a chance to survive and for generations to come to enjoy the tree.

The Mecha Mules gave a presentation and demonstration of one of the robots that they have entered in state, local, and world competitions. They spoke of a new two-year project called “Robo Boats,” which is sponsored by the U.S. Navy Office of Research and the Department of Defense. Over the summer one of the members created a drone for habitat observations at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer.

The Cathlamet Public Library Board of Trustees submitted a request to hire a substitute Librarian to cover the absences of the Librarian. This will add $1,950.00 with tax benefits to the Town’s Library budget. This request addresses keeping the library open Tuesday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Council members directed the Clerk-Treasurer to add this request to the Library budget. The 2024 Town’s Library budget has been adjusted by moving capital expense for painting and repair items into the Town’s Capital Expense budget item.

Fire Chief Vernon Barton spoke about the need to continually contribute to the Fire/EMS reserves to fund a new fire truck in the future.

The Clerk-Treasurer reported that the Town has been approved for three grants from Washington State in 2025: Butler Street reconstruction, the sidewalk in front of the schools, and chip/seal of multiple streets from the Transportation Improvement Board totaling $732,274.00.

2025 Budget Public Comment: Dan Kay, Wahkiakum PUD General Manager, requested assurance that, within the Water System Plan, the Raw Water Intake Project will be completed in 2025 and the Pipe Replacement Program will be funded. The proposed Sewer Base rate will increase by 18 percent and the Sewer Usage rate will increase by 67 percent for all customers. The water base rate will increase by 18 percent and the Water Usage rate will increase by 5 percent for in-town customers, with no change for out-of-town customers. For clarification, this is between three to 11 percent higher than PUD's current rates.

The Council approved the timber harvest on the town’s forest land to C&C Logging, LLC.

Resolution 454-24 relating to Sewer and Water rate increases for 2025 was unanimously approved. Council members commented that we will have to revisit rate increases for a long time and the increases are to cover costs running the utilities.

During the last public comment section of the evening, one citizen requested clarification on the executive session. Another comment noted that the tree has always been in the plans and then recently the plan changed to have the tree removed and stated that open lines of communication are important for our town. Another citizen suggested that the “back story” of the tree be shared with the public. The council does not respond to questions or coments during council meetings.