Warden Council talks water, roads

WARDEN — The Warden City Council had an unusually long meeting on Tuesday, June 25. The meeting consisted of reports, public comment and a few items of business.

“We’ve been staying busy over at the community center,” said Public Works Director Don Edson. “We’re putting in a new water service for the sprinklers we’re adding.”

Pre-construction meetings with Tommer Construction have produced a project timeline for the road construction projects on Weir Way and West Eighth Street, according to Kriss Schuler, Warden’s city administrator. The project will probably start mid-July and will last approximately six weeks.

“We’re trying to get out of the way for harvest and done before school,” said Schuler.

The police building project is nearing its end. As of the meeting, window panes, a door frame and touchups in the bathroom were all that was left.

Warden Police Chief Rick Martin reported that there was a robbery in town. Allegedly one woman took property from another woman who felt that the first woman owed her. The first woman was booked for robbery.

He also pointed out that it is illegal to turn regular fireworks into illegal fireworks.

During public comment, one member of the community expressed frustration that he was not allowed to bring his semi-truck into town to clean it. The lot where he currently parks his truck does not have electricity or water.

Another citizen expressed frustration at the new fingerprinting rule that has been put in place for vendors without a permanent building. Currently, the City of Warden is waiting for fingerprinting approval from the FBI.

In business, the council approved a labor agreement with the Warden Police Department and Teamsters Local Union No. 760. The council had a 15-minute executive session on the subject prior to the vote.

Schuler presented information to the council on the possibility of lifting the cryptocurrency moratorium and the possibility of having feral cats spayed and neutered. Neither issue was voted on.

Councilman Byron Starkey, also a member of the Grant Transit Authority (GTA) board, informed the council about the new GTA route changes.

“We fired our regular manager,” Starkey said. “We were spending money. To get more grants, they want more backing. We did not have enough backing. We weren’t getting grants. In three months, we would have gone bankrupt.”

Starkey told the council that when cutting the Ellensburg and late-night Warden run came up, he approved the cut to Warden because the run only usually only has three to four riders per night.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at rpinkerton@suntribunenews.com.