Spring Update from the City of Waitsburg

By Randy Hinchliffe, Administrator

With spring finally arriving, the City would like to update you on a few items it is working on for the upcoming months.

You may have noticed that the Walla Walla County Public Works crew has been in the City recently, crack sealing and patching some of the streets. This work is being done in preparation for the County crew to return and chip seal Orchard Street, Academy Street, Harmon Street and East Camp Road around the middle of June. This work is being done as a preventive measure to help keep up our street system.

The Taggart Road Extension Project is still on hold due to inclement late winter/early spring weather and is now not expected to be completed until later this year. While a construction timeframe has not been set, the City was successful in securing some grant funding from the State to complete a substantial amount of improvements to the City’s water system as part of the project.

The City crew is in the final stage of installation of the new dewatering press at the wastewater treatment plant and hopes to have the new press online sometime in May. In addition, the City was able to source and buy a used vactor truck for use in cleaning out our aging sewer lines. It is the City’s plan to purchase an inspection camera later this year as means to video and inventory our sewer system to get a sense of what the entire system looks like in order to prioritize future repairs.

Last, the City Council voted to outsource garbage billing to Basin Disposal, effective May 1st. This means that the utility bill you receive from the City in May, which is for for April’s service, will be the last one from the City to include garbage collection on it. After May 1st, you will begin receiving a separate bill from Basin Disposal for garbage collection services. Like water and sewer, this service is required for all residents living within the City of Waitsburg.

As always, should you have any questions regarding something the City is doing or not doing, please feel free to contact me at City Hall or by e-mail at rjhinch@gotvc.net