The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG—It was a balmy Waitsburg City Council workshop on August 9, but members were happy to meet for the first time at the future home of City Hall. Due to the nature of a council workshop, no action was taken on agenda items.

The City of Waitsburg now owns the property at 106 Main, after approving the purchase in July. During the workshop on Monday, the council began the discussion about the need to remodel the building to make the space work for city employees and the public. Part of the proposed remodel would include installing a counter in the front room to greet people and installing ADA-approved bathrooms on the main floor. Councilmember Jim Romine suggested that two unisex bathrooms be installed, as opposed to gendered rooms.

The building has plenty of office space to accommodate the city administrator, public works director, and the city’s deputy clerk. There is also shop space that all but one piece of equipment owned by the public works department will fit into.

Hinchliffe said he discovered that the condenser coil in the HVAC unit needs replacing. He will be reaching out to the former owners, as it will be a $3,000 fix.

“At some point, we need to have a conversation about what we want to do with the old City Hall,” Hinchliffe said. “The current process to surplus the building will take a few months.”

Councilmember Karl Newell expressed that the city should hold off on the sale or surplus process of 147 Main, where City Hall currently resides, and that the city should take the necessary steps to clean the building, including removing old office furniture and cleaning windows, prior to sale.

Hinchliffe shared a bid that the city received for the splash pad, to be installed at Preston Park, from ESFSolutions, operating out of Walla Walla. The bid was for $64,690.00, and included the costs for sod removal, grading, concrete work and drain system installation. Hinchliffe said that he would like to wait to accept the bid until 2022, so that the city can continue exploring contractors.

Hinchliffe said that he is aiming for a Memorial Day weekend opening, and that the pad will be open through Labor Day weekend or longer, depending on the weather. He estimated that the project would take less than two weeks to complete.

The council also discussed the Waitsburg pool, and the leak information provided by American Leak Detection after an inspection in July. The pool has significant cracks, many run the entire depth of the pool along the sides. There is also cracking along the floor. Hinchliffe said that it took 500,000 gallons of water to fill and keep water in the pool for the inspection. The pool has a 100,000-gallon capacity.

He said that the council would have to start considering what to do with the pool and provided various suggestions. One option would be moving the pool to an area of town with less impact from the water table. Beyond the initial decision of what to do with the pool, the council must also consider future staffing and maintenance needs, and how to fund them.

The city council discussed COVID-19 vaccination status for city employees. The council was unanimously supportive of requiring employees to get the vaccine if they have not already.

The city received three bids for the Millrace Grade Project. Colbert Construction was the lowest bidder however the bid is $30,000 above the engineer’s estimate. According to Hinchliffe, the construction company said it was above the estimate because it will be necessary to ‘dig into the hill a little bit’, requiring blasting. The project is being funded through grant money from Washington State. Hinchliffe said that it is on the August agenda to award the project to a bidder, and that construction will not start until after harvest.

The council received updates on ongoing flood control projects, including dredging underneath the Preston Avenue Bridge and dike repair along the Coppei River.