Bulletin Column: Feb. 1, 2018

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.

BUTTE, Palouse FALLS FUNDED

Steptoe Butte and Palouse Falls State Park are among state parks which will receive funding under the state's two-year capital budget which was approved by the legislators when they returned to Olympia.

Ninth District Sen. Mark Schoesler issued a list of projects in the district which are included in the overall construction bill which totals $4.2 billion.

Steptoe Butte is listed in the budget for $433,000 for improvements on the road.

Palouse Falls State Park is listed for a $209,000 project to renovate its day use area.

Big ticket items in the budget for the district are listed for WSU with $52 million for the plant sciences building, $23 million for a global animal health building and $28,975,000 for preservation work.

The Port of Garfield was booked to receive $220,000 for funding a boat launch at Central Ferry.

Fields Stream State Park along Highway 129 south of Anatone was listed for $1,109,000 in the capital budget.

CORONER ISSUES FINDING

A finding on the unattended death of Anne McIvor was released Monday by County Coroner Pete Martin. McIvor died Sept. 18, 2017, at her residence in Pullman. Her death was caused by acute intoxication due to combined effects of methamphetamine and morphine. Manner of death was determined to be accidental, Martin reported.

CITY ADMIN. TO DEPART

Dodd Snodgrass has resigned as Colfax City Administrator and will mark his last day with the city as of the end of this week. Mayor Todd Vanek said he and Snodgrass came to a mutual agreement on the departure.

Snodgrass had been on the job for the last seven months. His official appointment to the position by the city council July 17 ended a span of more than eight months when the city went without a city administrator after Michael Rizzitiello departed in November of 2016 to take the city administrator's job at College Place.

Snodgrass, one of two finalists for the job, came here after a long-time stint as a development specialist with the Port of Bellingham. He noted at the time that his hiring at Colfax marked a change of careers.

Mayor Vanek Monday said the career change didn't work out.

Snodgrass described the decision for his departure as amicable.

One of the incentives for Snodgrass to locate here was to reside closer to family members. He was raised in Lewiston and graduated from Lewiston High School and the University of Idaho.

One of the highlights for Snodgrass was his report at the previous council session that the city's 2016 levy measure for the swim pool had actually passed. The discovery came in time to get the tax on this year's tax billing and provide a way for the swim pool to operate this summer.

Vanek said the vacated city administrator position will be on the agenda at Monday's council session.

During the eight months the city went without an administrator, Vanek and city employees filled in to cover the tasks normally assigned to the city administrator.

STORMENT PLEADS NOT GUILTY

An April 16 trial date was set for Sean Storment, 40, Pullman, after he pleaded not guilty Friday in superior court to six charges following his arrest in Pullman. He was granted a motion to have the bond set for his pre-trial release reduced from $100,000 to $10,000 surety.

Storment was arrested at his Pullman apartment Jan. 19 after deputies allegedly found methamphetamine and a digital scale during a warrant search of his apartment. Also, a large television monitor believed to have been taken from a University of Idaho campus building plus tools and other items believed to have been taken from a cabin near Coeur d’Alene were allegedly found in the apartment.

RESPONSE TO FUEL SPILL

A Colfax fire crew responded to a report of a fuel spill at the Corner Chevron at 11:50 a.m. Sunday. The fuel was apparently spilled from a hose which had been used to fill a vehicle at one of the pumps.

The spill volume was believed to have been under the volume required for a state Department of Ecology investigation, but it was turned over to the state agency because of the possibility the spill had gone into the North Fork of the Palouse River.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT ARREST

Damon Goff, 42, Colfax, was booked into jail by Colfax Police Saturday morning on charges of disorderly conduct including abusive language, provoking assault and obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic. Goff, who resides in an apartment in the 600 block of S. Main, also had been under orders to not commit additional violations following release on a prior arrest involving alleged harassment.

ELECTION BALLOTS HIT MAIL

Ballots for the Feb. 13 election went out in the mail to registered voters Friday under the state's standard election schedule. A total of 21,781 ballots were slated to be mailed.

The ballots contain some major requests for funding, including the $18.9 million bond proposal for Colfax schools and the redo of the $10.5 million and $2.4 million bond requests from the City of Pullman.

Closest to a county-wide ballot will be the Whitman County library's request to restore its annual tax levy to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The measure will be on the ballots of communities within the library district.

Colfax is among 10 school districts with measures on the ballots. Districts are seeking maintenance and operation funds. Capital improvement projects are also being sought by Tekoa, Oakesdale, Palouse, Garfield and St. John schools.

Rosalia is requesting a street fund levy, and Garfield parks and recreation is requesting a swim pool levy.

LIBRARY BALLOTS NOT IN THREE TOWNS

Whitman County Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick pointed out the library's levy restoration proposal will not be on ballots mailed to residents of Colton, Rosalia and Uniontown. Those three towns are not actually in the library district, but they receive library services through a contract arrangement. The towns pay the district for the services according to what the residents would pay if they were in the district.

The library began receiving calls after the ballots were mailed out Friday, when residents of those towns noticed the library measure was not on their ballots.

Kirkpatrick noted some of the confusion probably derived from postcards which were mailed to residents in the three towns by Friends of the Library. After receiving the cards, residents expected to see the proposal on their ballots.

The library's proposal was also not mailed to residents of Pullman because they are served by Neill Public Library.

SEWER GRANT FUNDS OUT

Colfax received word last week that a state grant to help fund this summer's major project in the North Flat will not be awarded. The city anticipated a $335,000 grant to help with sewer line installations which are part of rebuilding of Oak and Cedar streets.

City Public Works Director Matt Hammer said the city anticipated funding through the Department of Ecology’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Grant applicants are assigned a score, and the Colfax project received a high enough score to generate hopes of getting a grant from the fund. However, the fund was consumed by projects which had higher ratings.

Hammer said the sewer line project will be paid out of the city’s sewer capital development reserves.

The city also plans to spend $292,000 out of the water capital reserve fund to install new water lines before the new streets are installed.

The project will mean a big tap in the water and sewer funds which derive from utility bill payments. Hammer said about a third of the reserves in the water and sewer funds will be taken out for the project.

The road and sidewalks portion of the project, estimated to cost $961,000, will be paid with a $913,000 Department of Transportation grant and the balance in city funds.

The sewer installation will include an eight-inch main line which will replace an aging line made up of segments of concrete pipe. Hammer noted the old line has been a problem during high water runoffs on the flat because surface water enters the line through decayed joint segments and over-loads it. In 2004 the city installed a steel line from the east end of the flat, approximately at the Little League Field to as far as 11th Street. This summer’s project will extend the main from 11th to Seventh Street, and that should solve the infiltration problem.

e session will begin at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the Public Service Building in Colfax.

The Republicans have been asked by the county commissioners to submit the names of three nominees to fill the office which is being vacated by Pete Martin, who announced Monday he plans to retire March 1.

Martin is a Republican, so the appointment process calls for the Republican party to submit the names of three nominees to fill the position.

Brabb said Whitman County residents interested in being considered for the position can send a letter of intent along with a résumé to the Whitman County Central Committee, Box 203, Pullman, 99163, or by email: whitmancogop@gmail.com

The county commissioners are required to fill the vacancy within 60 days.

The coroner's office will be among county positions on the ballot this year. Filing for the coroner's position and other county offices will open in June in advance of the primary election.