Members of the Toledo City Council convened for a regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 19, and approved an addendum to an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the City of Winlock to assist with treasurer services.
Toledo Clerk-Treasurer Rachel Campbell — who recently began assisting Winlock city staff with financial work after former Winlock Treasurer Michelle Francis resigned — explained the addendum was needed to help cover fuel costs and extra hours associated with her work in Winlock.
“I’ve been over there a little bit longer than I planned, and I foresee myself being over there a lot longer than I planned,” Campbell said. “I’ve been going over there a couple times a week, and with fuel prices, $8 a gallon for diesel, it’s catching up. And then, since we are in budget season, trying to fit their work in with mine here, I’ve been working overtime hours, which wasn’t calculated into our first contract.”
This isn’t the first time the neighboring South Lewis County communities have helped each other out with city services, and Winlock also recently entered into an ILA with the City of Vader for assistance with city clerk duties.
During the Toledo City Council’s Oct. 19 meeting, it also approved Ordinance 843, updating the city’s sign codes which had been recently discussed earlier this year.
TRJ Planning Inc. consultant Todd Johnson, who helped the Toledo Planning Commission update the code, stated the main changes allowed for businesses to put up one sign outside of their location in city-owned right-of-ways, though placing them in state-owned right-of-ways is still prohibited.
“They have to be in the most proximal location to that business, which I think most businesses wanted to do anyway,” Johnson said.
He added business owners are also allowed to paint signs on both the inside and outside of their business’ windows.
Councilors also heard a proposal from Toledo Park Board Chair Elizabeth Buell, who wanted to start an improvement project at Kemp Olson Memorial Park and RV Campground in Toledo, aiming to upgrade the park’s electrical infrastructure to better accommodate both campers and vendors set up at the park for various community events.
Also discussed was the state Route 505 water main line replacement project, which the City of Toledo recently received approval for a Washington state Department of Health (DOH) Drinking Water State Revolving Loan application they filed to fund the project.
The DOH loan totals $2,281,400 with an interest rate of 1.75% over 24 years, though the council has yet to vote on whether the city will accept it. The water main line on Route 505 in Toledo is in need of replacement as it is an old, cast-iron pipe.
While they did get acceptance of their loan application, Toledo City Councilor Dan Anderson questioned whether or not it would still be able to pay for the project with ongoing inflation.
“I have a hard time believing it’s only going to cost that much. I think it’s going to cost more,” Anderson said. “I’d like to see what the bids come in at, because engineering alone is probably going to be probably $500-$700,000.”
Campbell told Anderson she had an upcoming meeting with DOH officials to discuss loan details, and invited him to sit in on it. Anderson added the water main line replacement project might need to be “broken up into sections,” or sections of the line rerouted away from the state highway to lower project costs.
The section of line in need of replacement is approximately 4,700 feet long. Toledo Mayor Cherie Devore added they wanted to get the line replaced “and not have it impact both the citizen’s pocket books as well as the city.”
Consideration of the DOH loan acceptance was tabled until the council’s next regular meeting, scheduled for Nov. 2.
