Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Pool in the city of Colfax.
The Colfax city council met by Google Meet call-in and online feed Monday night for the first of its two June meetings.
Items discussed included tentative plans to open the city pool July 6, chicken ordinance enforcement/revisiting, a ladder truck surplus for the fire department, a sign to direct truck traffic away from South Main and Fairview streets and the status of the burned-out Fonk's building.
For the pool, councilman Blaine Golden announced a possible opening date for the summer, assuming state virus restrictions allow. Parameters may include 50 people or less allowed in the pool at one time and free admission.
Discussion followed, including a motion which passed to apply for a $75,000 grant ($25,000 match) to build an ADA-compliant restroom.
Another question came about possible spread of the virus by swimmers.
"There's enough chemical in that pool to kill anything it comes into contact with," said Golden.
Interim Police Chief Bruce Blood followed with his report, noting in part chicken coops seen in town.
A discussion ensued about enforcement of the city ordinance – that Colfax has debated and voted on two times to ban chickens in city limits.
"I think it's something we should address, and look into again," said councilman Mark Mackleit, who was newly-appointed to the council just after the last round of chicken votes.
Discussion continued.
"This is Crystn," came another voice on the phone line – council representative Crystn Guenthner. "What was the nature of the chicken conversation? Was it positive or negative?"
The matter later concluded with no action taken.
For the issue of truck traffic coming into town from Airport Road/Almota Road, arriving on the hill toward the Catholic Church, and going down the hill on Main Street, discussion ensued about having a sign put up by WSDOT near the fairgrounds.
"As far as I'm concerned, trucks need to go on (Highway) 26 into town and decide where they're going from there," said councilman Jim Kackman.
Later in the meeting, Kackman asked about the full lane closure in front of the Fonk's building since last week. Mayor Jim Retzer explained that it was so the building would have a wider berth after new structural vulnerabilities were discovered by fire investigators May 27-28 after the last of the second floor collapsed.
"If that building were to fall, they made some adjustments to protect people and the roadway," Retzer said.
Monday night's hour-long meeting concluded with further comments from the mayor, who returned to Colfax that day from Seattle/Bellevue, where he was called as a member of the Washington State Patrol's Rapid Deployment Force.
Retzer and his team of other state patrollers were sent to downtown Bellevue to work the front lines during demonstrations and rioting in the wake of the George Floyd death in Minneapolis.
"Just be thankful for where we live," Retzer told the council.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)