Ephrata council rejects street closure

EPHRATA - Ephrata rejected the Columbia Basin Hospital's request to close a section of C Street Southeast.

The councilmembers stayed silent when Mayor Chris Jacobson asked for a motion to bring the proposal to a vote at a recent city council meeting. The issue was held from a previous meeting after councilmembers asked for more information about the street.

The hospital requested the closure after learning about a requirement to build a sidewalk along its property as part of a $13 million remodel. City code requires property owners to add sidewalks when they are improving beyond a certain amount.

The 619-foot sidewalk is estimated to cost $57,000. The remaining 702 feet of the street is estimated to cost $64,700 for the sidewalk, according to city records.

Hospital officers didn't learn about the requirement until about the time the bond was approved, Administrator Bob Reeder said at a previous meeting.

City staff recommended not closing the street, stating a need for fire engines to be able to access the rear of the hospital, the amount of pedestrian and vehicle traffic on the street, C Street is an alternate route if Nat Washington Way is closed and it represents a fair and consistent application of the code.

In response to council questions, City Administrator Wes Crago provided photographs and measurements of the street.

"One of the concerns was, 'Is C Street wide enough to accommodate the lane plus a sidewalk?' To accommodate a lane, the minimum width of a paved lane is 16 feet, then an additional 5 feet for a sidewalk," he said. "The minimum we would have to have is 21 feet, and what you'll see is that we have more than 21 feet at all areas of the road without impinging at all on the hillside."

City staff doesn't believe it's necessary to put a retaining wall next to the hill, which was a concern raised by hospital officials, Crago said.

Hospital Board President Donna Knauss said the hospital will comply with the city council's decision.

"I'm not going to lie and say, 'We wouldn't like to use that money to buy a nice piece of equipment,'" she said. "If the ordinance says, 'We've got to put in a new sidewalk,' then the hospital will ultimately put in a sidewalk."

Grant County Treasurer Darryl Pheasant spoke at the meeting, suggesting the hospital may not need to worry about the money since they are receiving interest from the bond.

"You had $21,000 more that went into the fund for the first month," he said.

Knauss didn't know how the interest from the bond was being used.

The council didn't make any comments on the issue.