Waitsburg City Council on sirens, burn ban, flood prep

WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg City Council met for its regular meeting on October 19 at City Hall. The hall was crowded with residents who showed up to support recommissioning the siren located on the roof of the Weller Public Library on Main Street.

The meeting opened with public comments, focused on using the siren for flood, fire, and other emergencies. The crowd was also in support of bringing back the noontime use of the siren Monday through Friday.

The Waitsburg Commercial Club had opened a survey on the siren’s use. Most respondents supported using the siren for all emergencies and at noon. The city asked local businesses on Main Street to provide the council with any concerns. Since it had been several years since the siren was used, and several new businesses had opened, some owners asked if they could hear it tested.

Instead of testing the proposed noontime use, a single sound lasting 10 seconds, the city ran a test of the emergency use. This test was conducted the following Friday, at 10 a.m., sounding the siren for six seconds on and off repeatedly.

The council voted to deploy the pre-World War ll era siren for flood, fire, or emergency use by the city. The use of the siren at noontime on weekdays was approved for 30 days after it was operational. Volunteers, led by resident Louie Gagnon, are waiting on parts and work by an outside contractor to complete upgrading the siren, including adding a timer for the noon whistle. They hope the siren will be ready by early November.

After the siren is used at noon on weekdays for a month, the council will decide at its next regular meeting on its continued use.

The council heard from a representative from the Department of Ecology concerning the burn ban imposed several years ago. Residential yard and garden burning are still not allowed, and debris cannot be taken out of city limits to be burned.

Burning by the city can only be done to dispose of flood or fire debris from a declared emergency. The city has up to two years after an emergency to complete the burning of damaged debris.

Council member Jillian Henze commented that she has noticed more smoke in the air recently and asked if there was an increase in burn permits. The representative explained that there had been more burning in a concentrated timeframe due to the late harvest. In a typical season, farmers have around one and a half months to burn wheat stubble after harvest. With the late harvest and other factors, including air quality, the time to burn has been reduced to around three weeks.

The council discussed the city’s Flood Plan. The plan proposes the city hall as the incident command center during a flood event. Director Jim Lynch, the city’s Public Works Director, would be the incident commander, with Mayor Dunn taking command should Lynch not be available.

City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe reminded the council of the work done over the past years to mitigate flood danger.

Royal Block co-owner Joe Roberts asked the council what residents should do if they hear the flood siren. Mayor Dunn jokingly answered, “grab your ankles.” Others told Roberts not to worry, that he would be fine.

The Community Health and Protection Committee is still working on the plan, and details of what the public should do when alerted by the siren have not been decided.

The council approved the Walla Walla County Interlocal agreement for emergency management services.

Hinchliffe reported the city is still working well within the annual budget. He said the sewer scoping project has been completed and relining of the lines will begin in November. He said residents who live on the affected sewer lines would be notified to tape and cover their plumbing to avoid sewage blowback.

The final item in his report was that the last four blue traffic lights are scheduled to be replaced.