Council considers development priorities

RITZVILLE – The City Council pondered downtown development priorities, traffic impact fees, First Avenue road improvements and the Well 8 pump station during its Feb. 6 meeting.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Ritzville Downtown Development Association President John Rankin introduced himself to new council members and provided a brief history of the town’s economic vicissitudes.

For 50 years, the Columbia Basin Highway went through downtown, he said. Then in 1939, Highway 10 came through, which moved the main thoroughfare across the railroad tracks to First Avenue.

“That cha...