A better future takes shape in Mattawa

RV park/farmworker camp set to start construction in 2006, though efforts already underway

Mattawa is a busy place during the summer months. It is when the small enclave in central Washington receives its annual visit of seasonal farmworkers. This presents a welcome challenge and an unwelcome problem, as many of them scurry to find a place to live.

The plans are in motion already for the 2006 development of a facility split between an RV park and a farmworkers' camp, though there are several more steps to take before ground is broken.

One of these steps, said Mike Conley, Port of Mattawa commissioner, begins with a cost estimate of the construction of the park, which has yet to be conducted.

Another point that has to be taken into consideration is the use of the RV/farmworker camp. Seasonal workers will use it three months out of the year on average, while it will be available for RVs throughout the year.

Currently, the future site of the camp, just west of Mattawa, looks like a rough patch of land, with boulders, tree stumps and plenty of shrubbery, which Conley said is a good thing.

"You don't want an RV facility to be flat," he said. "You want it to have some shrubbery (to work) as a screen.

Mattawa mayor Judy Esser noted that the camp would be outside the current city limits of Mattawa. Conley said that while that is true, the camp would be served by the city sewer and water services.

"The city of Mattawa has been supportive," Conley said. "They know that we are going to be under their supervision."

Conley said the camp project has encountered a number of hurdles, though the beginning of its construction is still months away.

"Nobody wanted it next to them," he said.

Another unanswered question for Conley is the wisdom of installing an RV park, with its steely machines running on diesel engines near families with children.

"Only time will tell," Conley said.

Only time will tell if the project is completed all at once or by parts. Funding is going to be based mostly on grants, and the possibility exists that the camp is built in phases.

"The Public Utility District does not want to be in the tourism business," Conley explained, "so we have to look for partners."

Besides the fact that entities such as the Port of Mattawa are not eligible for block grants, Conley said that he does not want the port to borrow large amounts of money, given the limited revenue capacity of an RV camp.

"Grants are hard to come by," Conley said. Nevertheless, he said it is important to build facilities.

"You have got to have infrastructure," he said. "It does not generate revenue, but you have to have it to generate revenue. It's a chicken-or-egg situation," he added.

Conley said that he is aware that projects of this kind take time, and that is one of the reasons why he hopes to have "something under way" by 2006. Receiving a license and putting together a plan are two steps that take time, hence the broad deadline.

Still, Conley said adding this type of facilities is pivotal for what he sees as the sustained growth of the city of Mattawa in the near future.

This growth presents a challenge for those caring for the families of migrant workers, as well.

Maria Maga-a, from the Mattawa office of the Washington State Migrant Council, said her entity's role is to help migrant, low-income families who have to take their children to the job. She described the entity's task as one of providing places to take care of children because "they have nobody to take care of them" if both parents are working, she said.

In past years, Maga-a said that the disparity between the number of houses and the number of workers led families to live in tents near the edge of the river.

A similar influx of people is expected this year, she said, but she maintains that conditions have improved. "Most (families) are going to have a place to live," she said.

Conley said that one of the advantages of having farmworkers live on this camp is the capability to control and to offer services to them.

"If they camped out now," Conley said as an example, "There would be no control."

He added that they would not have many services. "Many folks here need running water and restroom facilities come harvest time."

Conditions have particularly improved for the children of the migrant families, Maga-a said.

Last year, she said, the WSMC had many kids placed on a waiting list for the council's day care services. This year, the waiting list is still there, but more rooms have been built to help more families. Maga-a said there is enough personnel to tend to the children, as well.

As far as the benefits for migrant families to live across from an RV campground, Maga-a refuted the notion that most migrant workers would benefit because they drive their families on RVs. "They drive their cars, not RVs," she said.