Members of the Toledo City Council renewed the city’s Washington state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) lease for the Front Street boat launch’s Cowlitz River aquatic lands access during their regular meeting on Monday, June 1.
Councilors also approved a permit for Toledo Cheese Days community booth for the South Lewis County community’s upcoming annual festival, and the council approved a water bill leak forgiveness request after initially motioning to deny it.
Initially, it was stated the forgiveness request didn’t meet the minimum threshold per city policy for a resident to be eligible for leak forgiveness on their water bill, as the amount overcharged to the resident was $22.10. While the resident did have a water leak, she found it and had it repaired quickly.
However, after Toledo Mayor Cherie Devore explained the resident was a low-income senior facing financial hardship, councilors unanimously voted against denying the request, and a new motion was made to approve the request.
Councilor Jamie Scalise added a stipulation with the approval that leak requests like this will be considered on a case-by-case basis moving forward.
As for the DNR Cowlitz River access lease, the City of Toledo pays no rent, but must pay taxes, maintain commercial general liability insurance for the property and cover costs for repairs and improvements. The lease’s length is 12 years, ending on May 31, 2038.
“It is something that helps us out, to some extent,” Devore said. “We get a little bit of the revenue from it.”
The boat launch is located at 140 Front St. in downtown Toledo, just south of the state Route 505 bridge over the Cowlitz River going into the downtown area.
Towards the end of the meeting, Toledo resident Gordon Schillinger, speaking on behalf of his sister Sally Schillinger Cole, proposed building a new “Welcome to Toledo” archway sign over the 505 coming into the city by the boat launch.
“She suggested the north end of the bridge by the NAPA store,” Schillinger said.
He stated with that road being a state highway, they would have to get Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) approval before building the archway. Schillinger proposed a second possible location, though he said he still supported at least asking WSDOT for approval of the project.
“Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t,” Schillinger added.
He also said his sister, along with other Vision:TOLEDO members, are searching for funding sources to pay for artist design and construction of the archway if approved.
Toledo City Clerk-Treasurer Rachel Campbell said she would reach out to WSDOT to see if it would be possible to get approval for the archway to go over the 505, but also stated she would look into other possible locations around town.
Campbell also asked Vision:TOLEDO and members of other local nonprofits to get her signed letters of support for the archway, which she said would help better their chances at getting WSDOT approval.
Vision:TOLEDO member Larry Davidson spoke during public comment at the meeting and added they did support the project and would get them a letter.
