The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—Mayor Zac Weatherford talked about mitigating damages to the Dayton portion of the levee caused by the 2020 February flood in his report to the Dayton City Council last week.

There are three projects which will be done in the spring and summer months, he said. The projects include; the Front Street Bridge Rip Rap Replacement Project and removal of less than 50 cubic yards of sediment from the Touchet River, the North First Street Rip Rap Replacement Project, and repairs to the damaged sewer outflows at the City’s wastewater treatment plant.

Weatherford said the US Army Corps of Engineers has signed off, as acceptable, on some work the city crews have done to remediate some problem areas on the north portion of the Dayton levee.

“Hopefully, this year, we are a lot better prepared for a potential flood or high-water event,” he said.

Weatherford said the City has 3,000 sandbags, and an additional 2,000 have been ordered. The City is working with the Department of Corrections to have inmates fill and stack them on pallets. The pallets will be stored in different locations throughout town, he said.

Mayor Weatherford also discussed progress on the city’s proposed Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) project, a constructed-wetlands- by- design type treatment plant.

He said the city is looking into acquiring two properties for the WWTP, and the owners are allowing the City to move forward with geotechnical exploration.

Environmental review forms have been submitted to the state Dept. of Ecology for both sites. Work will include shovel probes and test holes for archaeology purposes.

The City will submit a stewardship plan to the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board and the Blue Mountain Land Trust for review. The Salmon Recovery board meets on Jan. 26, and the mayor is hoping the stewardship plan will be approved at that meeting.

Weatherford said the City would like to incorporate data from the aerial survey done for the Touchet Valley Rails to Trails project into the WWTP project.

He said the City is also asking for a letter of support for the treatment plant project from the Department of Ecology.

“Sometimes the project seems slow, but we are moving forward,” Weatherford said.

Weatherford also gave an update on the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with the County for Law and Justice, Municipal Court, and Dispatch services. The contract has not been signed yet.

The ILA is under review by the city’s attorney. The City’s Safety Committee, Public Works Department, and city staff will also review the agreement.

“Generally, the contract looks good,” he said.

Weatherford said the process for appointing someone to replace Matt Wiens, who resigned from the Dayton City Council, will begin soon.

Finally, Dain Nysoe was appointed Mayor Pro-tem by the Dayton City Council for the fiscal year 2021.

The Dayton City Council also authorized the following:

Ordinance No. 1973; an ordinance granting PacifiCorp, Inc., its successors and assigns the right, privilege, authority, and a nonexclusive franchise to set, erect, lay, construct, extend, support, attach, connect, maintain, repair, replace, enlarge, operate and use facilities in, upon, over, under, along across and through the City of Dayton’s public right of ways to provide for the transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy for power, heat and light, and any other purposes for which electric energy may be used. The term of the franchise agreement is for ten years.

Resolution No. 1452; rejecting the bid received for the Front St. Bridge Railing Repair Project. Mayor Weatherford said only one bid was received. The City’s insurance company has asked the bid to be reopened because the bid received was higher than the engineer’s estimate.