Mattawa City Council discusses financing for wastewater facility restoration

MATTAWA — The Mattawa City Council discussed and voted on several financial matters Feb. 4.

Mattawa Public Works Director Juan Ledezma reported the city’s insurance, WIAA, may not cover some of the engineering costs associated with rebuilding the wastewater treatment facility, after the fire Jan. 9, 2020. This will leave the city to pick up the expense.

While the city is working with the insurance company to cover costs, waiting for a resolution to the problem would hold up work at the facility. To avoid any delays, the city council voted to approve the application for a loan from the Washington State Department of Ecology to cover the costs. Council member Brian Berghout said while he was motioning to approve the loan application, he was going to keep his “fingers crossed that insurance pays for it.”

Council also approved buying a new pick-up for Public Works. The pickup will come from the city’s water fund.

Council member Tony Acosta asked why the vehicle was being paid from water fund, when a pickup was purchased out of the same fund at the end of 2020. Ledezma said water and sewer are the primary uses for the vehicles. He also indicated with the uncertainty of the sewer fund, due to rebuilding the wastewater treatment facility, purchasing out of the water fund was the better option. Ledezma also said of the four vehicles the city is purchasing for the Public Works Department, two were being paid for by the water fund, while the other two were being paid for by the sewer fund.

“It all balances out,” Ledezma said.

Ledezma noted the pickup was approved in the 2021 budget. It is replacing a 20-year-old vehicle being used by the city.

An addendum to the SRO (School Resource Officer) contract between the City of Mattawa and the Wahluke School District was also approved. The addendum reflects changes in the contract necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mattawa Police Department, which was supposed to supply two SROs at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school, had difficulty training new officers due to classes being shut down for COVID-19-related reasons. As a result, the department was only able to supply one officer.

The addendum states because of this issue, the police department will only provide one SRO until the beginning of the next school year, with the hope of having a second SRO at that time. In the meantime, the school district will only pay for one SRO. Once the second SRO is provided, the district will resume paying for two SROs.

During the SRO contract discussion, council asked Mattawa Police Chief Joe Harris for regular reports on how the SRO program was going. Wahluke School District Interim Superintendent Andy Harlow said he would give the council regular updates on the SRO and COPS grant partnerships the school district has with the city.

The council approved a budget amendment to the 2021 budget. Mayor Maggie Celaya told the council it would see another budget amendment in the near future to deal with an underestimation of the cost for fire services in the city. City Clerk Anabel Martinez said the additional cost for fire services would come out of the general fund. No final figures were presented to the council, but will be discussed in future meetings.