Mattawa City Hall improvements discussed

MATTAWA — Plans to add to the Mattawa City Hall were discussed Jan. 21 in a virtual city council meeting.

However, there has been discussion whether the city should build a new city hall building or add to the existing building. Council member Alex Heredia, chair of the City Hall Subcommittee, said adding to the existing building would be cheaper than building a whole new building.

“It was a gas station,” Heredia said. “It was not designed for a city hall. We have to go east where the CBHA (Columbia Basin Health Association, Wahluke Clinic) employees park.”

Heredia said before hiring engineers to design the addition, the subcommittee would like feedback from city departments and make a sample drawing to avoid having engineers add extra, unneeded items.

Council member Sun Hwang said if the city builds a new building, it could be several years before the building is able to be used.

“The fire department (Grant County Fire District 8) applied four to five years ago and they are finally building,” Hwang said. “We need to look at the possible opportunities. It takes a long time to look for land. If we decided to build, it could take five to 10 years to build a new city hall.”

Heredia mentioned the City Hall Subcommittee would work with the Budget Subcommittee on paying for the addition. He also said the city may have to apply for grants and loans to finance the building.

In the meantime, Hwang presented the council with the possibility of changing the security company that monitors city hall. A few possibilities were discussed, but nothing was decided.

The council also discussed the possibility of changing the city’s IT service provider. The City of Mattawa is using Firefly, but with the company increasing fees, the city is considering its options.

Mattawa Mayor Maggie Celaya suggested contracting with the Wahluke School District for the services. Keith Ross, director of Technology Services at the Wahluke School District, who was at the meeting, said the partnership would make sense, since the school district is in the same town. He said he was open to further conversation. No decisions were made during the meeting.