Othello City Council revisits snow plowing policy

OTHELLO — The Othello City Council agreed Monday evening to leave the current snow plowing procedures as they currently stand.

Citizens had expressed concerns during a meeting on Feb. 12 that the business district was unable to deal with the snow that was piled up on the sidewalks. Mayor Shawn Logan had said at that meeting that he would talk to the Public Works Director, Terry Clements, and find the best way to handle the situation. Options discussed were plowing and stacking snow into the middle of the street, and plowing and trucking the snow elsewhere.

Monday night, Logan reported that it was the recommendation of Clements and Othello Police Chief Phil Schenck that the current snow plowing policy be kept in place.

“Let’s leave it as it is,” said City Councilman Angel Garza. “This is not an every year deal.”

Another city councilman, Mark Snyder, echoed that sentiment.

“It affects two businesses, really,” Snyder said. “If we do it for one, we have to do it for everybody.”

Councilman John Lallas complimented the city snow plowing crews for the work that they did during the big snow storm on Feb. 9. The rest of the council echoed their agreement.

In other business, Olsen Homes and Garza Enterprises was granted a 15-year reimbursement totaling $25,145.62 for the installation water and sewer for the Sagestone 8 Addition. The cost will be recouped when “the property is subdivided or water service requested,” according to the agenda memo for the proposal. The reimbursement had previously been budgeted for.

Robert Droll and Associates, of Lacey, was awarded a contract for on-call landscaping architect services. Droll has previously done work for the city as a subcontractor. By hiring Droll directly, the city will be saving money.

During the citizen input portion at the beginning of the meeting, Othello resident Dave Sperl, suggested that the city install a Tesla charging station at City Hall.

“There are three restaurants within walking distance,” said Sperl.

Sperl noted that Othello was approximately halfway between Seattle and Pullman. He said that Tesla charging stations go into a database that tells drivers exactly how to get to the station.

“If we don’t install one, Royal City or Washtucna will,” Sperl said.

Mayor Pro Tem Genna Dorow said that the council had already approved an ordinance stating that charging stations were allowed in the city.

At the end of the meeting, the subject was revisited. Snyder noted that the council had talked about installing a charging station during a meeting on Sept. 26, 2016. At that time, Avista was going to pay for 80 percent of the cost, with the city only having to pay $1000 to $2000 of the install price. However, the station was never installed.

Clements noted that Avista had thought that the charging station would be better situated on First Avenue, off Highway 26.

Logan said he would mention it to Avista during an already scheduled meeting on March 13.

Rachal Pinkerton can be reached via email at rpinkerton@columbiabasinherald.com.