Bulletin Column

These reports are from the previous four issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated.

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CLAY STREET FLOOD DETERRENT

Proposed construction of deterrents to reduce the risk of water and mud again inundating Clay Street at some time in the future was introduced at Monday night’s city council session. Public Works Director Andy Rogers said construction of a vault and sediment pond to contain runoff water could be built as a way of settling out soil which would otherwise be dropped in yards and city property along Clay Street and Sumner Street.

The vault project would require a linkup with the street drain that now serves Sumner Street. That link would be constructed under the railroad tracks which run between Sumner and Clay streets.

Rogers pointed out the railroad embankment now acts as a barrier that contains water and mud which flows off the fields and down the east hill.

The city is also checking out the possible installation of a settlement pond in the area northwest of the city’s Clay Street pumping station at the north end of Clay. The pond would also serve to collect water runoff and allow sediment in the water to settle out.

A group of residents from the Clay Street area attended the session.

An early morning cloudburst July 15 sent water and mud cascading off the east hill, across Park Street and onto Clay and Sumner streets. City crew members and fire volunteers were called out to help residents clean up the mess which left mud deposits.

Rogers also suggested a series of water bars could be built across the road which leads up to the site of the former city reservoir. The barriers, which are used by the Forest Service for roads, serve to disburse water which would otherwise run down roads. Rogers said the system could serve to disburse water flow across the side of the hill and defuse the impact below.

After the council session, some of the Clay Street residents met with Mayor Todd Vanek in the city administrator’s office where an aerial photo was available to depict the area.

Rogers said after the last major Clay Street episode in 2007 the city constructed diversions in one of the runoff channels above the north end of Clay Street.

STATE SEEKS $20,713

A state memorandum seeking $20,713 in restitution from Michael D. Cox, Albion resident who was convicted on two counts of theft involving disability payments, was filed Friday in superior court. A jury convicted Cox of two of the three charges which were filed by the state.

The memorandum included copies of state checks which the state contends Cox cashed. The alleged total due derives from time spans involved in the two convictions with $17,237 in one year and $3,476 in the second year.

Amount of the state’s loss on the third charge against Cox, which did not get a verdict from the jury, was in the $24,000 range, according to the memorandum.

Cox was sentenced to six months in jail July 20 on the two convictions. A restitution hearing was set for Aug. 24.

ZONE CHANGE HEARING

A formal hearing for the proposed zone changes along Mill Street was officially set for Aug. 20 at Monday’s city council session. The hearing will involve a proposal for changing two sections along Mill Street from a commercial zone to an R-2 residential zone which will allow single family and apartment units.

The zone change proposal was approved by the Colfax planning commission and advanced to the council for a vote.

City Attorney Bruce Ensley explained the proposal evolved out of tighter financing policies under which lenders are reluctant to make loans on properties, in this case homes and apartments, which are located in the commercial zone under non-conforming use permits. Owners of houses and apartments in the present commercial zones are now allowed three years to repair properties in the zones in the event of fire or some other calamity. Failure to get the repairs done in that time results in expiration of the non-conforming use permit.

Ensley added the large turnout at the July 25 Planning Commission session indicates strong support for the change. He said the office building at the southwest corner of Canyon and Mill could be the lone commercial building which would wind up in the residential zone in the event the council approved the change.

The zone change would include N. Mill from Park to North Street and S. Mill from Canyon to Highway 195.

TODDLER POOL SHUT DOWN

Colfax officials Monday morning closed down operation of the toddlers’ pool at Schmuck Park. A faulty valve in the toddler lines caused a leak of water in the pool’s system and dropped the pool water level approximately two feet recently. The toddler pool was shut down in order to fill the regular pool to it normal depth.

Colfax youngsters and families earlier this summer greeted a return of the toddler pool after city crew members worked to get it back on line. Water lines linked to the pool have been suspect for several years.

MULTI CHECK CHARGES FILED

Charges of unlawful issuance of bank checks were filed Friday in superior court against Samuel E. Richard, 34, St. John. He has been charged with four felony counts and one misdemeanor count of writing invalid checks to businesses in Colfax and Pullman.

City officers said an initial investigation received reports from businesses that they had received invalid checks from the suspect. The alleged total of the checks at that time was said to be more than $9,000.

Of the larger checks on the alleged list one was for $1,101 April 22 to Chipman & Taylor and one for $1,467 to Jess Ford April 21, 2011. Among other alleged victims were Wysup Dodge, Northwestern Auto and NAPA. The checks allegedly were written on invalid accounts at Lamont Bank of St. John and Mountain West Bank.

POLICE GET NUDE MAN REPORT

A Colfax officer late Sunday night responded to a report that a naked man was outside in the W. Cooper neighborhood. When the officer arrived, he found the man sitting naked in a lawn chair. After a brief interview, the man, believed to be in his mid 60s, was taken to Whitman Hospital for evaluation.

DRUG CHARGE FOLLOWS ARREST

Kyle B. Aldan, 23, Spokane, was charged with felony possession of a controlled drug Friday in Whitman County Superior court. He has been summoned to appear Aug. 17 in superior court.

According to an arrest report, Aldan was a passenger in a vehicle which was stopped in Colfax last June 9. Officers said they detected a smell of marijuana coming out of the vehicle after the stop and a subsequent search turned up marijuana and a jar of 50 hydrocondone tablets which was under the passenger seat where Aldan had been sitting. The type of tablets were described as “Roxie 30s.”

The driver of the vehicle, Ronald Ridenmbaught, also 23, was arrested for being in possession of under 40 grams of marijuana, according to the report.

LICENSE

REVOCATION

TANGLE

A motion was filed in court Aug. 2 asking the court to dismiss an appeal of a ruling to revoke the driver’s license of a Clarkston resident who has obtained an Ignition Interlock Driver License. The motion was filed by Charnelle Bjelkengren, assistant attorney general.

Brooke Bierle, 29, Clarkston, filed a court appeal of a hearing examiner’s ruling that his license should be suspended because he refused to undergo a breath test, according to the state’s motion.

Bierle was arrested in Pullman last Jan. 22 as a suspect for driving under the influence. He refused to undergo a breath test, and under Department of Licensing rules his driver’s license was subsequently suspended for a year. His license was revoked Feb. 2, but he appealed for a hearing which is provided under the state regulations.

The hearing examiner sustained the revocation order, and Bierle then filed for a review in superior court. According to the state’s motion, Beirle also applied for a Ignition Interlock Driver License which was issued to him June 12. Bjelkengren’s motion for the state contends state law requires applicants of an Ignition Lock driver’s license to forfeit any right to appeal their original license revocation.