Moses Lake looks to the future with top priorities established for 2026
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The City of Moses Lake has a bright future.
The Moses Lake City Council is moving forward with its newly-adopted top priorities for 2026.
The priorities resulted from hours of discussion during a two-day council retreat in June. The retreat covered a number of topics and policy issues and culminated in the establishment of priorities the City Council wants to accomplish in 2026. This list of priorities will influence what gets included in the 2026 budget.
Mayor Dustin Swartz was pleased with the outcome and the top priorities that came out of the retreat:
“I want to thank the staff who prepared and presented the information that was vital in getting us to this clear vision for 2026 and beyond. I very much appreciated that the format of the retreat allowed for constructive conversation between council and staff. It was a breath of fresh air and I believe both council and staff left the retreat feeling inspired and ready to tackle our objectives. I am excited to see how staff embraces the "communication, customer service, beautification, city pride, and visioning" aspect of priority three. I believe they already have some great things going on in those areas.
“What was remarkable to me about this process is that some of the results surprised me. As councilmembers, we seem to get stuck on a few topics, for instance, water and homelessness. At the retreat, however, we were able to talk about a breadth of topics and to develop some context in which to discuss them. This resulted in a truly democratic process where many ideas were considered and a few very good ones prevailed. I am glad to know that our priorities are set up for both some quick wins and also for some bigger wins in the future. Many of our priorities include work with outside entities, whether in a partnership role, for regulatory reasons, or for financial support, and the council is committed to fostering these relationships, especially with our local partners.
“With our staff, these priorities are achievable, and I am inspired by the cohesion that was developed during the process. I look forward to 2027 when we can look back on what we accomplished in 2026 and build upon the foundations we've provided in these priorities.”
City Council Priorities for 2026
The City’s top priority will always be fulfilling its core mission, which includes ensuring public safety, maintaining the City’s infrastructure, such as streets, water and wastewater systems, complying with state and federal mandates, and safeguarding the City’s finances. With this context, the City Council can emphasize certain initiatives or address specific problems through its priority-setting process each year. These priorities for the 2026 budget are described as follows:
- Achieve Financial Sustainability
- Develop and adopt a 6-year financial sustainability plan (FSP) that keeps reserves for the Street Fund and General Fund above the City Council’s policy level of 15% of operating expenses; and that prevents expenses from exceeding revenues for the 6-year period.
- The FSP needs to include adequate infrastructure planning for adequate maintenance, replacement, and/or repair of existing infrastructure.
- By the end of 2026, resolve prior audit findings and achieve clean audits.
- Secure Sustainable and Reliable Municipal Water Sources for the Long Term
- Fund, design, and construct the treatment facility for Well 29. Acquire water rights for well 34.
- Begin construction of Reservoir 10.
- Develop and implement a water sustainability strategy plan.
- Create a map of the city showing water projects underway or planned.
- Improve the City’s Image and Reputation (communication, customer service, beautification, city pride, visioning)
- With the community’s help, develop positive vision and messaging and a plan to communicate it.
- Implement permitting process improvements.
- Hold a town hall event on beautification and adopt code revisions with an emphasis on junk, trash, junk vehicles, and weed control on major corridors.
- Facilitate volunteer opportunities to assist with code enforcement.
- Schedule a neighborhood cleanup event with Lakeside Disposal.
- Choose and Implement a Fire Department Service Delivery Model and Plan for and Obtain Funding for a Third Fire Station in the North End of the City
- Decide on a FIRE/EMS service delivery model, including solution for station 3 in the north end of the City.
- Implement the selected delivery model.
- Locate a temporary station in north-end in 2025 (either daytime or 24/7).
- Plan for and Obtain Funding for a New Police Station
- Update the existing site and building plan design to understand costs.
- Develop a funding plan and work to secure funding according to the plan.
- Identify a Second Lake Crossing Location
- Identify and obtain stakeholder approval of a second lake crossing location. Partner with Grant County, WSDOT, and other affected stakeholders.
- Prepare a realistic engineering estimate.
- Set a completion date for the new bridge.
- Prepare a funding plan.
- Make Progress Toward Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Highway Projects in Moses Lake
- Yonezawa/Highway 17 roundabout will be under construction by 2027 (bid ready in early 2027).
- Improve the working relationship with WSDOT and help WSDOT prioritize state highway needs in Moses Lake.
- Work with WSDOT to prioritize and construct improvements on Broadway, (including sidewalk repairs) and to reconfigure and upgrade the I-90 Mae Valley interchange.
Editor's Note: The story above was submitted by the City of Moses Lake and aligns with our previous reporting, which is based on publicly available documents or verified in meetings with city staff. Each of the items projected for the future will be covered as they occur.