The most significant agenda items discussed during Monday’s regular meeting of the Chehalis City Council were adding more electric vehicle (EV) charging by the airport, extending a latecomer agreement for a local resident and making a declaration for Fire Prevention Week.
More EV Charging
The city council approved a motion 6-1 to for two lots of land near the airport between Walmart and Home Depot on NW Arkansas Way.
Part of one of the lots is already being leased to EVGo to provide charging stations for EVs and a Tesla charging station has also entered a lease with the airport to provide more charging stations. One of the lots is where the new WSECU branch is located.
In order to accommodate both companies charging stations, additional land needs to be allocated.
Council Member Daryl Lund was the lone dissenting vote.
Lund told The Chronicle that he disapproved of this motion because he hoped instead to use the land to generate more sales tax revenue for the city.
“We need all the money we can get. It’s not cheap running a city,” Lund said.
Latecomer Agreement Extension
The council approved a motion 6-1 to extend a latecomer agreement concerning water infrastructure improvements on land owned by local resident Arnold Haberstroh.
City Attorney Erin Hillier explained that latecomer agreements are made when a business owner purchases land that doesn’t have the required infrastructure for planned developments yet. The agreement ensures new developments that come later are charged fees at the rates of when the agreement was originally signed and that the owner can be reimbursed for the infrastructure's installation costs.
Haberstroh and the city originally entered the agreement in 2008. The original length of the agreement was 15 years and Haberstroh requested a five-year extension. Recent changes in state law allow for these agreements to be 20 years and for existing agreements to be extended to 20 years.
Council Member Jerry Lord, the lone dissenter on this motion, thought that the motion was fair but was concerned about residents in the development getting time to voice any possible concerns.
“This was a contract for 15 years. They didn’t do anything with the property for 15 years. Arny’s had his 15 years to hope that people wanted to develop but they haven’t. To give him another five years, I understand why Arny would want this, but I also understand why some people might want to object,” Lord said.
Hillier explained that the city had already sent notices of this proposed motion to residents.
Fire Prevention Week
Finally, Mayor Tony Ketchum declared this week to be Fire Prevention Week in Chehalis. He advised residents to create fire escape plans and drills in case of emergencies as annually fire departments respond to 356,500 house fires on average.
“Residents who plan and practice home fire escape plans are more prepared and more likely to survive a fire but only one-third of Americans have developed and practiced a home fire escape plan,” Ketchum said.
For more information on fire prevention, visit the city’s website at https://www.ci.chehalis.wa.us/fire/public-education.
