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  • Port of Columbia December meeting

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Dec 16, 2021

    DAYTON—The Port of Columbia commissioners held their last regularly scheduled meeting of the year at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 08, 2021, via Zoom. Commissioner Shawn Brown called the meeting to order. There was no public comment. The Board approved the minutes of the last meeting and addressed the monthly budget report. The Port Director, Jennie Dickinson, announced the Port received $55,000 in tax revenue from the County. The Port received from the County a bill for the primary election for $7820, which is about twice the past election c...

  • Dayton School Board meeting

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Dec 9, 2021

    DAYTON – The Dayton School District Directors held a meeting, using Zoom, on December 1, 2021, at 6 p.m.. All members of the board were present. As the newly appointed board member, Zac Fabian participated in the board for the first time. Mr. Fabian joined the superintendent, Guy Strot, to take the oath of office. The superintendent postponed discussing the strategic plan until the January meeting when the newly elected board members would join the board. Strot walked the board through a presentation of charts and graphs showing the survey resu...

  • Special meeting to review Dayton City 2022 Budget

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Dec 2, 2021

    DAYTON— The Dayton City Council held a special meeting at 6 p.m., November 23, 2021. All city council members were in attendance except Byron Kaczmarski, who was excused. The council approved the agenda unanimously. There was no public comment. Paul Ihle presented a daycare facility update. Ihle sits on the standing committee studying childcare issues for the Columbia County Health System (CCHS). The committee is working to identify a suitable location. The architect used by the CCHS has been advising on the project and drafting drawings. Once...

  • Dayton School Board discuss new hires

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Nov 25, 2021

    DAYTON-The Dayton School Board held their regular meeting on November 17, 2021, at 6 p.m. This week's board meeting began by conducting interviews with the candidates for the vacant board position. James William Wyant, Jr. removed himself from consideration, so only two interviews were conducted. The board interviewed Bryan Martin for about forty minutes, and Zac Fabian's interview lasted less than 15 minutes. After the interviews were concluded, the board moved on to approval of the consent...

  • Columbia County Commissioners discuss ARPA funds, HVAC system

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Nov 18, 2021

    DAYTON—American Rescue Plan Act funds, and how to spend them, have been on the Columbia County Commissioners’ minds for months. Earlier this year, the Port of Columbia approached the commissioners about the funds, requesting a financial contribution for the ongoing broadband infrastructure project, which would provide reliable, high-speed internet for Columbia County businesses and residents who fall within the project’s service area. The perimeter was recently extended to areas surrounding Dayton, including Huntsville. Commissioners Rundell an...

  • Recommendations from Washington State Parks to improve three local area parks

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Nov 18, 2021

    Washington State Parks held a public meeting on November 8, 2021, at 6 PM in Dayton Elementary School multipurpose room. Although the public sparsely attended the meeting, the topics covered will affect many in the Touchet Valley. The representatives from Washington State Parks presented preliminary recommendations from the Land Classification and Long-Term Boundary planning for Lyons Ferry State Park, Palouse Falls State Park, and Lewis and Clark Trail State Park. These recommendations are from...

  • Return of DW Combine committee discussed at school board meeting

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Nov 11, 2021

    DAYTON- The Dayton School Board held its work session meeting on Zoom at 6 p.m. on November 3, 2021. The first agenda item addressed by the school board was to review the strategic plan. The first aspect of the strategic plan the board looked at was the Board Operating Protocol. Using the protocol adopted by the Reardan-Edwall School District, which Superintendent Strot provided, the board members began a preliminary discussion. The Times intends to cover the proposed strategic plan in greater depth at a later date. The second agenda topic was...

  • Superintendent introduces student retention plan

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Nov 11, 2021

    DAYTON-Superintendent Guy Strot has begun the implementation of a plan to improve the Dayton School District. The district has recently lost far too many students to surrounding school districts, particularly in the secondary school. He hopes to stem or even reverse this exodus from the Dayton District. The first step is to determine why students are leaving. This process has begun and continues through exit interviews with students and teachers who have already left. The Center for Excellence...

  • Sports, new truancy officer covered at Dayton School Board meeting

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Oct 28, 2021

    DAYTON- The Dayton School board held its regular School Director’s meeting at 6 p.m. on October 20, 2021. The board approved the consent agenda, which consisted of the minutes for the September 15, 2021 Board Meeting, a donation from Walla Walla Toyota of $2000 to the Associated Student Body (ASB), hiring both Owen Lanning as Middle School Boys Basketball Coach and Jeannie Walter as Freshman Class Advisor. Also in the consent agenda was the recommendation to hire Melanie Morgan as Senior Class Advisor and finally, a recommendation to accept D...

  • Port of Columbia commissioners discuss wagons and budget

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Oct 21, 2021

    DAYTON – A regular meeting of the Port of Columbia was held using Zoom at 3:30 pm, October 13, 2021, with Commissioner Brown moderating. The Commissioners discussed several administrative issues, including a line-by-line discussion of the draft budget for 2022. The meeting then went into a 45-minute executive session to discuss an employment contract. Port Director, Jennie Dickinson, announced that The Blues Crew, a volunteer group associated with the Blue Mountain Land Trust, would start work to improve and widen the Rock Hill trail. The B...

  • Dayton City Council meeting update

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Oct 21, 2021

    DAYTON - A regular meeting of the City Council was held using Zoom at 6 PM, October 13, 2021. During public comment, Sheriff Joe Helm announced that he had appointed Deputy Cesar Rivera as Chief Deputy. The Sheriff also stated that the department was preparing for the opening of deer hunting season and the influx of visitors which that entails. He also mentioned that the increased patrolling of Main Street for traffic violations would continue. The City Council approved the minutes from the...

  • Dayton School Board discusses strategic plan

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Oct 14, 2021

    DAYTON – The Dayton School Board met for a work session at 6 p.m. on October 6, entirely online using Zoom. Including the school board members, about 22 people participated in the Zoom meeting. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Superintendent Strot began with a brief discussion of his plan to share substitute teachers between the Dayton, Prescott, and Waitsburg school districts in an attempt to ameliorate the shortage of substitutes. Next, Strot moved on to a discussion of r...

  • Dayton City Council moving forward with 1st Street Bridge repair

    Justin Jaech, The Times|Oct 14, 2021

    DAYTON-A Special Meeting of the City Council was held both in person and on Zoom at 6 PM, October 7. The single agenda item, Resolution No. 1480, would authorize the mayor to execute a Public Works contract with Don Jackson Excavation for the 1st Street Bridge riprap repair. Anderson Perry & Associates opened the bidding on September 30 receiving two bids. Don Jackson Excavation submitted the lowest bid for $52,300. FEMA will fund 75 % of the repair cost. Riprap is loose stone used to form a...