Waitsburg City Council Update

Board members KC Kuykendall, Marty Dunn, Kevin House, Karl Newell, Kate Hockersmith and Mayor Walt Gobel were all present.

-Community Input: Citizen Delores Nettles complained about the number of wrecked cars parked on Bruce Street. Citizen Carl Peck expressed frustration that a property owner, who keeps his property spotless, was asked to move a trailer from city property and yet boats and broken down cars are parked all along Kinnear Street. Following discussion, council agreed to review city ordinances, giving consideration to abandoned vehicles, seldom-used vehicles, and the condition of the property where the vehicles are parked.

-Approved a required Water Efficiency Goal Review after modifying the title to include the words “recommended measures.”

-Approved the Critical Areas Report, Shoreline Development Permit, and the SEPA Checklists submitted by Anderson-Perry and required for the Main Street Bridge replacement. The permits/reports were previously presented to the Waitsburg Planning Commission which recommended approval.

-Disapproved a rezone request to change property located at 503 W. 2nd from residential zoning to commercial zoning. The application had already gone to the planning commission which recommended disapproval until the commission can develop a new zone for that specific lot that will have appropriate limitations on the type of business that could be developed there.

-Lengthy discussion on a major code review regarding ordinances to be updated, revised or removed. Several audience members spoke regarding possible revisions to codes relating to how the city deals with tree management, especially the possible removal of the Tree Committee from the city ordinances. There was discussion of retaining the committee as an advisory committee, which would not interfere with the city’s ability to deal with dangerous or time sensitive issues such as hanging branches. Discussion on updated codes, with possible action, will continue at the July council meeting.

-Discussed the addition of an ordinance related to the use of ATVs on city streets. City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said there is currently nothing in the code regarding ATVs and the burden is shifted to the County Sheriff to address issues without a specific ordinance to reference. The council leaned toward allowing street legal side-by-sides on city streets with speed limits of 35mph or less. Discussion will continue next month.

-The council voted to approve amending a policy dealing with the surplus of real property to make it easier to simplify the sale of property with a low monetary value. Hinchliffe said the current process could be simplified by adding thresholds which would allow the bypass of the current “drawn out process” of public hearings, surplus declarations, notices, sealed bids, and review for property under a set value. Hinchliffe will return to the next council meeting with proposed ordinance changes for the simplest way to deal with low value property sales.