Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The City of Palouse and its consultant for the Brownfields cleanup site are nearing a final draft of a Request for Proposals (RFP).
The document, which will require approval by the city council, is being put together by a volunteer Brownfields committee and consultants from Maul Foster Alongi, an environmental engineering firm based in Seattle.
“Everyone is working in sync to get that proposal out,” said Michael Echanove, Palouse mayor.
Once the RFP is approved, it will be advertised and a designated 45 to 60-day period will ensue to accept proposals to develop the Main Street site.
“I’d like to see it go out (to advertise) in July,” said Echanove.
The committee will evaluate the proposals and make a recommendation to the city council. A purchase and sale agreement would follow.
Formerly the location of a welding shop, gas station and fuel storage facility, in 2012 a building was torn down at the quarter-acre site and another dismantled. The spot has since been tested for petroleum and manganese as part of a state Department of Ecology (DOE) program.
Possible development for the lot may include one of four types identified in a 2011 community meeting before the cleanup: urban housing, urban housing with retail on bottom and housing above, light industrial or senior assisted living.
The Brownfields project, costing approximately $1 million, was funded by a combination of 2009 federal stimulus funds and grants from the DOE and the Department of Commerce.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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