Small Town News

Wish lists top Medical Lake council agenda

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Ball and Dodd Funeral Home, staffing, camping and aging road grader receive focus of discussions

Consider the agenda presented by City Administrator Doug Ross at last Tuesday's Medical Lake City Council a combination of wishes and a to-do list.

Ross's "roundtable" discussion items included what to do with the former Ball and Dodd Funeral Homes' property, issues with city staffing, improved and more user-friendly camping as well as replacing the city's aging road grader.

Some of those items, Ross said, are, "so if we won the lottery in the next year, but really just keep in mind we have to keep progressing here." He wanted to remind the council that these are things that are going to have to be done in the future.

One of the most prominent items was the old funeral home property at the corner of SR-902 and Lefevre.

"We're going to fix up the grounds and get it looking a little bit nicer and then we are making some commitments to fix up the house," Ross said. Ultimately the city could like American Medical Response (AMR) to locate another ambulance there to serve Medical Lake - and that portion of the West Plains.

"It's just a question to be asked," Ross said. "We've asked it before." Ross said he's trying to generate an interest level after having one brief discussion. If AMR doesn't have an interest in it the city would entertain selling it.

"I have no indication from AMR that they want to do that," Ross said. "The only thing I have heard from them is that they would like to possibly look at it. Either way someone will use it or we'll sell it."

Another building-related issue is an update to the city maintenance facility. Currently maintenance is done via what Ross called, "the old system, the pit in the floor, underneath the vehicles." He said it would be nice at some point to expand the maintenance shop to include a vehicle lift.

For now at least, city staffing is also something to keep an eye on. Staffing is pretty well where it needs to be. "We will have future discussions throughout the budget on whether we will add any fulltime employees in any public safety departments - in the fire department specifically - other than that our staffing is pretty well set," Ross said.

One project that most council members thought had merit was the possible improvements to recreational vehicle sites in the city's Waterfront Park.

"Again, it's something to try," Ross said. The project would encompass the present RV area in the upper parking lot, and, Ross said, "See if we can't generate some interest. If it doesn't work then they have the answer to the question."

Since the city has no motels or hotels, it was thought that to make the city more attractive to visitors, adding at least electrical hook-ups would be a low-cost alternative to providing water and sewer hookups.

The city's lone road grader was said "to be older than (mayor)

John Higgins," someone joked, noting that when it was purchased in 1967 is was used then. Discussion followed on whether to replace it with a front-end loader. A new grader would cost between $130,000 and $150,000 while a used unit would run $60,000 to $80,000.

One idea that seemed to gather little traction among the council was the possibility of their being provided laptop computers. Council-woman Shirley Maike was among the most vocal of those against the idea, citing having computers in front of members at meetings as dividing the council from citizens. Brenda Redell thought the idea had some merit in the city's effort to cut down on the use of paper and take more of an initiative to go green and be more efficient.

"These are definitely things that we'll put on the budget," Ross said this past Monday. "It's all trying to bring attention to future needs in the budget, some immediately, others just to keep the discussion going."

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com

"It's all trying to bring attention to future needs in the budget, some immediately, others just to keep the discussion going'

Medical Lake City Administrator Doug Ross



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