Soap Lake gets reader sign, supports students and swears in new council member

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Police Department will communicate a little better with drivers, Chief Ryan Cox said at Wednesday’s city council meeting.

SLPD has acquired a reader sign that officers can log into remotely, Cox said, to warn drivers of problems on the road.

“Say a collision up north (on) 17 is happening,” Cox said. “So they shut the highway down, which happens quite often. We can alert people that are coming northbound through the city without them going all the way up to Sun Lakes and having to turn all the way back down. So it'll be pretty fun to have.”

Cox also told the council that the department was preparing to partner with the town’s schools to purchase school supplies. The money will come from the department’s benevolent fund, he said, and the biggest need appeared to be glue sticks for the elementary school.

“Just basic school supplies that they go through that a lot of times are coming out of the teachers' pockets,” he said.

In a subsequent statement on Thursday, SLPD said they had spent about $1,600 purchasing school supplies for Soap Lake students. Cox and Officer Robert Geates took two patrol cars filled with supplies to SLSD. The supplies will be used by the district to ensure children whose families cannot afford supplies can still succeed, the statement said.

Anyone interested in donating to the SLPD Benevolant Fund may call 509-246-1122 or email Cox at rcox@soaplakewa.gov.

In other business, Mayor Michelle Agliano swore in the council’s newest member, Allen DuPuy, a business owner and 18-year resident of the city. The mayor also read to the council a letter from Kayla Isaacson, a community coalition specialist with the Soap Lake Prevention Coalition. The letter said that the coalition was in need of working space. The original intent had been to house the coalition at the Soap Lake City Hall, but that building is currently under renovation.

“The Coalition currently does not have a home and is looking for temporary space,” Isaacson wrote. “We are looking into the partner county buildings in Ephrata currently as a quick solution to get me closer to the community as I am currently working from the county building in Moses Lake. One of the contact stipulations for the coalition is that the coordinator be housed within the community being served. We do have concerns for the community losing the funding if we are unable to secure a space within the community.”

Joel Martin can be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.