Ritzville City Council approves 110 Fund awards for 2019

The Ritzville City Council briskly made its way through its first meeting of 2019, with only a few items to address on the agenda. Councilman Mike Schrag was excused from the meeting, with all other councilmembers present.

With the passing of the 2019 budget at the previous meeting on Dec. 18, the 110 Fund was officially set at $200,000, which will be awarded to various organizations in the city. One of the previous projects that isn’t set to be receiving funds in 2019 is the 530 AM Highway Radio, because the Council has yet to receive any invoices that went toward the project in 2018, when they were awarded $4,500 by the Council.

The 530 AM Highway Radio project is one of several projects ran and organized by the City itself. Other city projects that are set to be receiving funds include:

-Utilities and the lease at both the Burroughs and Depot Museum ($14,200).

-Repairing the roof at the Burroughs Museum ($10,000).

-Way Finding signage ($44,000).

-Utilities and bathroom and deck repairs at the golf course ($30,400).

-Deck and door repairs at the Visitor Center ($16,700).

Eight other projects are set to receive funds from the 110 Fund in 2019, including:

-Best Western Bronco Inn, $4,200 for the Department of Transportation permit fee for freeway signs.

-Flying Arts Restoration, $3,000 for Ghost Sign restoration around town.

-H.E. Gritman Restoration Project, $6,000 for a new music event to be held later this year.

-Ritzville Chamber of Commerce, a total of $55,000 for general branding and marketing as well as marketing for special events and tourism.

-Ritzville Downtown Development Association, $1,000 for a special event.

-Ritzville Festivals Association, $5,000 for the Ritzville Community Float.

-Ritzville Rodeo Association, $5,500 for advertising.

-Wheatland Community Fair, $5,000 for advertising and promotion.

Councilman Mark Weigand asked if there was anything that the Council could do for the Empire Motel in terms of funding their $1,025 request for their freeway sign. Mayor Gary Cook said there was nothing they could do at this point, based on feedback they had received from the State Auditor’s Office and the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC), a nonprofit organization that assists local governments in Washington state by providing legal and policy guidance.

Clerk-Treasurer Julie Flyckt shared part of MRSC’s opinion about the matter, in which they said “the proposal [Empire Motel] submitted is for advertising for the hotel itself, with no particular emphasis on any event or activity being promoted.”

The Council voted to approve the allocation of the 110 Funds.

The Council also discussed the contract for the Golf Course Manager and advertising online and in print for the Golf Course Café applications.

Police Chief Dave McCormick shared that the department received 25 911 calls from the same individual in an 11-day span from Dec. 15 to Dec. 25, and received an additional seven calls since Dec. 26. McCormick described it as a mental health issue, and has made the Adams County Community Counseling Service aware of the individual several times during this time period.

“A lot of these are calls at 5 a.m., 6 a.m., and I told them that they’ve got to do something, because we can’t fix this individual’s problems,” said McCormick.

McCormick also noted that there have been a couple of residential burglaries recently, and that they are still working with federal authorities on an investigation and will share more news once indictments have been delivered.

Flyckt said that they are still working on completing the audit from 2018, and said that they will have a new system in place ready for 2019.

During the public comment section of the meeting, Barry Boyer asked whether the City would be taking a look at the safety risks of trailers, motorhomes and buses that are used for storage, recalling the ordinance approved at the end of last year that banned storage containers from residential properties.

Mayor Cook said that he hopes the Council will begin taking a look at “nuisance properties” that could be considered public endangerment and safety risks, and start sending letters out to those property owners.