Oakesdale projects near completion

Two projects in Oakesdale; a new business office space and a new recycling yard, were both slated to wrap up Friday, mayor Russ Rickett reported.

Located at the corner of Second and Bartlett Streets, the recycling yard is a paved and fenced lot with bins to hold compost materials, behind the city’s old bus barn.

Citizens can bring compostable materials like grass clippings, tree branches, old leaves and anything else organic to the center.

The recycling center is the result of a push by the Washington Department of Ecology to encourage less burning.

Oakesdale council is asking for organic material which will decompose into compost in the bins. Lumber will not be accepted.

Rickett said the city is planning on giving the ensuing compost away to people who ask for it.

Their new business incubator has one big room, a smaller room, and a bathroom. Rickett said the city hopes to attract a start-up business in the space which is located above the Oakesdale library branch. .

“What we’re really hoping to do is get someone outside of Oakesdale to rent this space,” Rickett said.

Rickett said the entire cost of the project should be around $55,000. Funding for the project primarily came from a grant from the county’s .09 funds.

Oakesdale last year awarded $41,600 from the Blue Ribbon Advisory Task Committee that distributes the county’s .09 dollars.

The balance of the remodel will be paid for out of the town’s coffers.

In other city news, Oakesdale city council just sent off to City Attorney Stephen Bishop their thoughts for a parking ordinance for RVs and trailers in the city.

“We’re getting too much clutter here and we’re having people parking their big trailers in places that obstruct traffic,” Rickett said.

He noted one situation where someone parked a camper trailer in front of someone else’s property. When the city realized they needed to enforce some type of regulation, they found they didn’t have one.

“It became an issue when we weren’t sure we had the ordinance we needed for trailer parking and that kind of equipment,” he said.