Bulletin Column Aug. 4

Semi truck crashes on Highway 195

Bystanders comfort Jessic Osburn of Colfax, center, minutes after a box truck rollover accident the morning of Monday, Aug. 1, as another bystander directs traffic before police and ambulance crews arrive on the scene just south of Landfill Road on Highway 195. Joe Poe of Lewiston was identified as the driver of the 2012 International box truck. He was unhurt in the accident in which he lost control of the box truck at 7:47 a.m. when he went off the roadway to the right while traveling northbound. The truck slid across both lanes of traffic.

In a call to the Bulletin Monday, Osburn, who was driving southbound to work, said the oncoming truck actually went up along a field embankment next to the northbound ditch and the cab section actually appeared to soar over the 1993 Honda Civic she was driving. She pulled to a stop on the southbound side of the highway south of the wrecked truck.

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.

CITY TO SEEK METRO PARK DISTRICT

After an extended debate, Colfax City Council members Monday night voted unanimously to place a proposal on the Nov. 8 general election ballot to form a metropolitan park district inside the city limits of Colfax. The vote came after discussion of the metro district proposal and an alternate proposal for a city special levy to finance a study of the pool and fund a short-term solution to the city swim pool’s immediate problems.

The park metro district proposal includes a special levy request of 50 cents for each $1,000 of assessed value which is expected to generate approximately $80,000 in revenue for the new park district.

The special levy proposal was for 37 cents for each $1,000 of assessed value to raise approximately $60,000 in the next tax year. The metro park board option was proposed by the city parks board which convened Monday night an hour before the regular city council session. A special meeting of the park board was called to start the process because the deadline for filing proposals for the November election was Tuesday.

Prior to council approval of the option for the metro park proposal, City Administrator Mike Rizzitiello advised the council that the city staff believed it stood less of a chance of getting approval from the city voters in November. Councilman Jim Kackman said he also believed the metro district would have less chance of getting approval, and Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen, who is head of the park board, said he also had the same feeling. Vorderbrueggen, however, made the motion to go with the metro option because that was the decision of the park board at its meeting just before the council session.

Park board members Blaine Golden and Sam Korlslund in the earlier session said they favored the metro district proposal because they believed it would put the city on track to a longer-range solution to the swim pool problems.

Vorderbrueggen questioned whether the city would have time to inform the voters about the formation of the metro district before the November vote. He also noted he was concerned about how much of the city’s budgeted funds for park operations could eventually wind up being covered by a new metro park district which could generate revenue from levy proposals.

The city budget for parks averages $178,000 per year. Park board member Don Moore said he also favored the one-year levy as a short-term solution which would produce a report on a long-range approach.

One positive factor cited for the levy proposal was its list of how the proceeds, if approved, would be spent. The proposal included $10,000 for a study on the pool’s condition with estimated costs of repair, $10,000 for work on the pool, $15,000 for replacing a pool water heater and $25,000 for purchase of playground equipment, an item added for Colfax residents who do not use the swim pool.

Spending of proceeds from the $80,000 levy from the metro park proposal, if approved, would have to be determined by the metro park board of directors which will be the city council.

The city initially attempted to put the proposal for formation of a metropolitan park district on the ballot for the Colfax School District, but the county commissioners declined to approve putting the measure in front of voters in the rural areas of the school district. The same 50-cent levy on assessed property in the Colfax School District, with its larger property valuation, would have netted $203,000, Rizzitiello reported.

He also pointed out a new city metro district would have a bond ceiling of more than $4 million in the event the city embarked on a pool replacement project.

Asked about a projection on the near future of the pool, Public Works Director Matt Hammer said its leaking problems, which were the object of a state Department of Ecology mandate last year, have been essentially solved. He anticipates the pool will need another round of caulking in five years. The top need for the pool at present will be replacing water heaters.

EARLY

MORNING FIRE RESPONSE

A Colfax fire crew responded at 1:22 Tuesday morning to an automatic alarm which was set off at the Riverview Apartments on S. Main Street. The tenant of the apartment did not respond, and volunteers were not certain the tenant was in the unit. They checked for smoke coming out of the apartment and reset the automatic alarm, which did not trigger again, before leaving the scene.

CAR HITS POWER POLE

Caitlyn Langley, 18, Colfax, sustained minor injuries Monday morning when the 2004 Suzuki she was driving went out of control and struck an Avista power pole on N. Clay in Colfax. Langley was driving southbound at 6:55 a.m. when the car went out of control and struck the pole on the right side of the roadway in the 900 block of Clay Street.

A Colfax ambulance crew was called to the scene, but Langley was not transported. She told officers she was driving to work and the car began to pull to the right.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Brown investigated the accident because the Colfax on-duty officer was unable to respond at the time of the accident.

FACES CART THEFT CHARGE

Two Spokane men, William Neis, 54, and Phillip Rogers, 32, have been summoned to appear in superior court Aug. 12 after each was charged with second-degree theft. According to the arrest report, the two men and an unidentified female allegedly went into Wal-Mart in Pullman June 20, loaded up two carts and left the building without paying. Value of items in the two carts was later determined to be more than $901.

According to the Pullman Police investigation report, Neis and Rogers were identified six days later when they returned to the store and appeared ready to try the same thing again.

JULY

PRECIPITATION GAIN

July precipitation finished just on the plus side with a .61 inch total for the month. Normal average precipitation for July is .56 of an inch.

The above-average total broke a string of three months when rainfall totals were below normal.

Most of the July precipitation was booked after the wet July 9-10 weekend, which led to a .43 reading for July 11 at the NRCS gauge in Colfax.

Other precipitation readings for the month were .03 July 6, .05 July 8, .02 July 12, .06 July 19 and .02 July 22.

The July gain followed a .51 total for June compared to a 1.38 normal.

May finished .42 of an inch below its normal and April .29 below its normal.

CHARGED AFTER

PULLMAN FIGHT

Oscar Robles-Carrillo, 22, Spanaway, has been summoned to appear in superior court Aug. 19 after being charged with fourth degree assault and possession of alprazolam. Filed July 29, the charges stem from a Pullman Police investigation of an early morning fight March 25 at the Zzu Bar & Grill on NE Merman Drive in Pullman.

According to the investigation report, when officers arrived at the scene they were advised that two groups had been involved in a fight which had ended with one group on one side of the Zzu and the other group on the other side.

According to the investigation report, Robles-Carrillo, who was identified as a suspect after the initial investigation, allegedly pushed a female down during the fight. He was located later, and the drug was allegedly found on his person when he was taken into custody.

Colfax 4TH IN LAST LEAGUE MEET

Colfax swimmers placed fourth Thursday at Palouse in the last Tri-County League meet round. League swimmers will take a break this week before the all-league meet, the Jerry Cluckey Memorial, at the Colfax pool.

Pullman took another big win Thursday with 451 points at the league meet. Other team scores were Garfield/Palouse/Oakesdale/Plummer 378, SELW 297 and Colfax 217.

The meet had originally been scheduled for Colfax, but it was moved to the Palouse pool.

Saturday’s all-league meet will be the 52nd edition of the Knights of Columbus Jerry Cluckey Memorial meet which is named after the late Mr. Cluckey who was credited with working to establish the summer swim competition.

The Colfax Knights of Columbus assist with purchasing medals for the annual meet.

FIRST DEGREE ARSON CHARGE

A first court appearance for William J. Young II, 39, Spokane Valley, has been rescheduled for next Friday, Aug. 5, because neither the judge nor court commissioner was available Friday to preside in court. Prosecutor Denis Tracy last Friday, July 22, charged Young with first degree arson in connection with a July 19 early morning fire which destroyed a second-story room at the American Travel Inn motel in Pullman.

The Pullman Police arrest report filed with the charge alleges Young, who reportedly was living at the motel as part of a construction crew working in Pullman, had threatened the man who was sharing the room and was seen attempting to light toilet paper with a propane torch before the early morning fire.

Young later that morning was observed driving a pickup truck northbound, apparently to return home to Spokane Valley. He was arrested the next day by a state trooper who saw him walking near Rosalia. He was taken to jail here. Bond for pre-trial release was set at $100,000.

Young has also been charged with harassment with a threat to kill.

SWIM POOL ESTIMATES

A city summary sheet handed out at the July 27 meeting of the Colfax swim pool advisory committee listed an estimated cost of rehabilitating the present pool at $1.5 million. Prepared by City Administrator Michael Rizzitiello, the handout noted the city would have to work with the Department of Ecology, if possible, on any project to rehabilitate the pool at its present location.

Cost of a new outdoor swim pool had an estimate of $4 million, and the cost of an indoor pool, which has been discussed at the pool advisory sessions, was estimated at $6 million.

A levy of 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value in Colfax would generate $80,479, according to the city information sheet.

HIRED MAN SAID GONE

A warrant for the arrest of William N. Walker, 56, was issued July 28 by Gary Libey, superior court commissioner. Walker, listed as “address unknown,” is charged with taking a pickup truck from LaCrosse.

The case report by Deputy Paul Reavis said he responded to a report from Table Rock Cattle Co. on the Winona South Road Monday, July 18.

The report alleged the ranch had posted a job opening on Craigslist and arranged to hire Walker. The report said they met Walker at the AmTrak depot in Spokane. Under terms of employment, the ranch provided a residence in LaCrosse and a pickup truck to commute out to the ranch.

The report alleged after Walker had worked at the ranch for a week he failed to show up for work, and they checked the house where he had been assigned to live in LaCrosse and found it vacated. The 2000 Toyota pickup which was assigned to Walker was also gone.

The arrest warrant for Walker carried a hold bond of $10,000.

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POOL PROPOSAL FACES DEADLINE

Colfax park and city officials are up against a tight deadline for any move to place a special levy for the swim pool on the ballot for the November general election. The deadline for getting measures on the general election ballot was Tuesday, Aug. 2, at 5 p.m.

Blaine Golden, a member of the Colfax park board, July 27 night told Colfax swim pool advisory committee members he planned to bring up a proposal for a $50,000 special levy measure as a start on solving the town’s pool problems. Proceeds from the levy, if approved, would be used to hire a firm to check out the pool and determine the cost of rehabilitating it.

Golden said he planned to place the proposal on the park board agenda at its next regular meeting with the intent of seeking a resolution for a ballot which could be presented to the city council. At the time city officials believed the deadline for ballot submissions was Aug. 18, which would have been three days after the next park board meeting. The city’s park board normally precedes the mid-month city council session.

Another proposal which could come out of a park board session, which would have to be set at a special meeting Monday, would be the formation of a Colfax metropolitan parks and recreation district.