Horton appointed to Lind Town Council

The Lind Town Council appointed Myra Horton to the council during the Jan. 23 meeting.

After a 15-minute executive session, council appointed Myra Horton to the vacant No. 4 Ward position. Horton took over the seat from Paula Bell, who resigned from her position after she was elected mayor.

Prior to the executive session, Bell read Horton’s letter of interest for the council position. From 1989-2003, Horton was the Town’s clerk-treasurer, and is currently on the board for the Adams County Cemetery District No. 3 and president of the Lind Senior Center.

Council member Jim Dworshak asked Horton how she would want to see the town grow if she was appointed to the council. Horton said she would like to see improvement in the Town’s infrastructure, as well as more people and businesses locating to Lind.

After the council appointed Horton, Bell thanked Gary DeMoss and Robert Goodman for their interest in applying for the council position.

In other action items, the council adopted an ordinance amending the 2018 budget regarding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) fund.

The revised budget amount was $2,575.29.

Bell presented a letter from the Adams County Public Works Department, regarding Lind’s representative to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC).

The letter stated former Mayor Jamie Schmunk’s term on the board expired in Dec. 31, 2017, and requested the contact information for the Town’s new representative on the committee. Council member Richard Baldwin volunteered to represent Lind on the SWAC.

Century West’s Steve Nelson informed council he received a 75-80 percent design completion of the first phase of the FEMA projects and he is waiting to address comments from the state. Nelson said he left a set of plans with Bell in case residents want to view them.

He added he should be able to bid the first phase of the project in some time in February.

Nelson said there is still a drainage issue at Third and I streets and crews are attempting to address the issue. He noted there may be a need to add a catch basin and a water line down the street, both of which are outside the project’s scope of work.

Nelson said both he and Stantec’s Alan Gay will work together and discuss the issue.

Nelson said the second phase of the project will include the roadway on Sixth Street and the subsurface infrastructure. The funding is in place for the work, but he suggested waiting to bid the project until late in the year or early 2019.

Nelson said he contacted FEMA regarding the possibility of using grant funding for the crack seal on the bridges. He noted the issue is similar to what happened at the airport and may be able to tie the damage into winter events.

Clerk-Treasurer Kim Michaels said she spoke with Adams County and if the Town contracted with them to make the repairs, it would cost no more than $2,000.

Regarding the airport project, Nelson said there is $130,000 in funding for crack sealing and replacing a large section of the westernmost apron at the airport. He noted the Town would need to pay the 12.5 percent match for the airport project.

He said if the Town wants to wait until next year to bid it, there is a possibility TIB might provide funds to cover the matching costs.

Michaels said she spoke with Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation to begin the grant application process in the summer.

During the meeting, Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner took time to speak with council members and residents.

Wagner said the Adams County Sheriff’s Office is focusing on the smaller communities in Adams County more than the agency has in previous years. He credited the agency’s sergeants and deputies for patrolling the Town and investigating suspicious activity.

According to Wagner, there were 246 calls for service in the Town of Lind in 2015 for the Sheriff’s Office. In 2016, there were 383 calls, and 257 calls in 2017.

Wagner attributed the decrease in calls in 2017 to the agency’s attentiveness to issues in the town. He also credited the support of community members for helping the Sheriff’s Office with reporting crimes.

Wagner also presented two options for Sheriff’s contract with Lind.

He said ACSO would like to enter into a three-year contract with Lind that would include a 1.5 percent increase each year. In the first year, the Town would pay $13,631.

The second option was a standard one-year contract with a price of $13,631.

Wagner said council should have two weeks to review the contract and bring it back to the Feb. 13 meeting.

Wagner also took questions from residents, including Bell, who asked what action should she take if she was concerned about suspicious activities happening in Town.

Wagner said the Sheriff’s Office’s job is to investigate the incident and the goal is for residents to contact them regarding any suspicious activity.