Citizen worried about fairground annexation

GUEST EDITORIAL

GUEST EDITORIAL

MOSES LAKE - Like our fair? Want to keep it?

There have been two articles run in the Columbia Basin Herald recently - July 15 and Aug. 1 - referencing a proposed interlocal agreement between the city of Moses Lake and Grant County to annex our fairgrounds into the city. The first article quotes various people who work for government regulatory agencies, county commissioners and a city engineering department employee. The second article quotes two Moses Lake City Council members, Dick Deane and Richard Pearce, and Joe Gavinski.

The July 15 article has a Department of Ecology (DOE) employee, Marcia Sands, claiming the fairgrounds are leaking contaminants into the ground water and being carried into the lake. She provides no evidence or proof of this but goes on to make a veiled threat to make the county drill "monitoring" wells to look for pollutants at the fairgrounds and do water sampling along the lake shore too. She goes on to comment on everything from claiming half the cars on Interstate 90 were pulling boats and stopping at Moses Lake to our city codes regarding livestock to the probable costs to the county to maintain their new septic system, to drill the wells and to do the sampling along the lake shore. She points out that these costs could be avoided if we'd just let the city annex the fairgrounds.

Shawn O'Brien, a Moses Lake engineering department employee, agrees whole-heartedly with Marcia Sands and goes further to imply that the fairgrounds' septic system is less than adequate because he doesn't think it removes nitrates down to drinking water standards. Geez Shawn, it's a septic system, not a water purification system! He does endorse having the state force the county to connect to the sewer. You know - annexation.

Richard Benson is with the Department of Health (DOH). They are the ones who had the final word on the design, installation and operation of the septic system. Did DOH do their job correctly or are they claiming that Gray and Osborne Engineering did substandard work? It appears that DOE, DOH and the city would all like Moses Lake the annex the fairgrounds, while no one else had provided any proof of actual pollution leaking at the fairgrounds.

The Aug. 1 article has council members Dick Deane and Richard Pearce claiming to have been "more than fair" and have "gone out of our way to making this happen for our citizens." Mr. Deane also pleads how "it's about pollution and protecting our environment for our children and our childrens' children, right on down." They also ask you to think about a change of county commissioners. You know, for ones who will agree to annexation.

I urge everyone to read the glowingly represented document that Mr. Deane and Mr. Pearce allude to as being "more than fair." City manager Joe Gavinski gave me a copy, it is the "draft" of the "interlocal agreement" dated March 2005. This is the most current offering to annexation our city is offering the county for our fairgrounds? The claimed reason for even considering annexation is to provide city sewage treatment to sewage from the fairgrounds. Get ready here, the only reference remotely related to sewage is on the last page, under addendum A, "fees for water delivery and sanitary sewer" (to be negotiated). What?

I have met with all the county commissioners, the city manager, individual city council members, as well as the entire city council. I've spoken with the Department of Ecology's regional director, as well as highly placed representatives from the two principal engineering firms who did the most recent improvements to our fairgrounds septic system. I've read and re-read the city annexation proposal draft. There are several glaring issues that stand out.

It appears city government and employees are using their relationships with DOE and DOH to put pressure on the county to agree to annexation. The DOE is threatening to force the county to prove they are not polluting, even though there is no evidence they are. One of the worst things I found is after annexation, the city agrees to pay the county $250,000 if the city should pass any code, law, or legislation restricting the traditional use of the fairgrounds. Geez, the taxpayers would even have to pay to lose their fairground events!

I'm glad we've had county commissioners who have protected our fairgrounds. The county doesn't have the funds to buy another location and build a whole new facility. The city is trying to use trickery, deceit and the power of unelected government regulatory bureaucracies to pressure the county into giving in to annexation. Remember that when you vote for city council members.

The fair has been a place where, as kids, we could walk from anywhere in the city, spend the whole day, staying until closing time, and one of the moms or dads would pick up a carload of us, and drop each one off at home. It's part of what made Moses Lake a community. It's a common memory to those who are lucky enough to have grown up here for 100 years now. A right of passage we should try to preserve.

It is way too important a decision to be made by less than ten people - three county commissioners and seven from city council. Any serious discussion regarding annexing our fairgrounds must include public notice and participation. Read the annexation draft, and see if it's something you'd want to sign. Then let them know what you think. After all, don't our children and our childrens' children deserve to enjoy the fairgrounds like we did?