Port of Mattawa welcomes new commissioner

Port of Mattawa welcomes new commissioner

MATTAWA — Longtime Port of Mattawa Commissioner Jim Wise retired from his position at the end of last year. Taking his place is Verlyn Coulson, who was voted onto the commission during the November election.

Wise served as a Port of Mattawa commissioner for nine years. He moved to the area with his family in 1985 and has also served on the Wahluke School District board of directors. During his time at the Port of Mattawa, massive expansion and modernization has occurred at the port.

“The biggest thing Jim brought to the port is instilling pride and professionalism for our district,” said Lars Leland, executive director for the Port of Mattawa. “Under his watch, he saw the completion of our Sentinel Gap Industrial Park, which was a long-term project. One hundred fifty acres of former agricultural land is now developed with roadways, power, fiber and water.”

Wise’s position is being filled by Coulson, a third-generation Mattawa native. Coulson has 15-plus years experience in the hydro industry and strongly advocates for his field. He is also passionate about outdoor recreation. “He sees serving the port as a public service, and he wants to do the most good for his community,” Leland said.

The Port of Mattawa commissioners meet on the second Monday of each month at 5 p.m. in the Port of Mattawa office, 20140 Road 24 SW, Suite G.

ROYAL CITY — Bonnie Valentine has recently been added to the office staff at the Port of Royal Slope. Valentine is working alongside current port Director Cathy Porter as Porter’s assistant.

While Valentine isn’t a Royal City native, her husband Jason is. She has also lived in the Royal City area since 2002 and has worked at her father-in-law’s dairy for most of that time.

“I recently decided it was time for something different,” Valentine said. “Checking water troughs in the winter is not my favorite thing anymore.”

Valentine heard from one of the port commissioners that the Port of Royal Slope was looking for an assistant for Porter. After attending board meetings and learning more about the job, Valentine joined the staff on Nov. 1, 2019.

“I think we work well together,” Valentine said. “She’s (Porter) been great with putting up with my mistakes. There are all kinds of things to learn. It is a huge learning curve. I was ready to learn something new.”

One of the things that drew Valentine to the job was the variety of work that the port director does. Porter does all of the office work, as well as operating the wells and taking care of weeds. Valentine is assisting her with those duties.

“It has been fun,” Valentine said. “I have been enjoying new things and getting to meet new people. I like being able to get out. I’m not stuck inside all the time. She’s (Porter) been fun to work with and is a good teacher.”

WARDEN — The Warden City Council had a 10-minute meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Warden City Clerk Kriss Shuler updated the council on two lift station projects.

“The update on Lift Station No. 2 is that we are waiting for an easement from the bureau,” Shuler said. “The Lift Station No. 4 project has commenced.”

The two projects are in a way tied together as the two lift stations work together to transport domestic waste to the water reclamation facility. The projects are increasing the capacity of wastewater the system can handle, as well as updating Lift Station No. 2.

Lift Station No. 2, when complete, will run through a Bureau of Reclamation easement and the railroad tracks. The Bureau of Reclamation and Columbia Basin Railroad must give permission for the line to run on their land prior to the work being done. At this point, only the Columbia Basin Railroad has granted an easement to the city.

Lift Station 4 is being put in to serve Warden’s current industrial users and any future growth that develops on the north side of town.

“They transfer domestic waste to our wastewater treatment plant,” Shuler said. “Lift Station 2 is a continuation of that project.”

At this point, there is no word on when work on Lift Station 2 will begin.

In other business, Public Works Director Don Edson reported that his crew had updated the lights inside the Warden Public Library to LEDs.

The council was supposed to authorize the mayor to sign a lease with Viterra Farm, but because the lease hadn’t been returned from Viterra, the matter was tabled for a future meeting.