The Toledo City Council convened for a regular meeting on Monday, June 16, to discuss a number of issues in the South Lewis County community.
While Councilors Rebecca Duerst and Jamie Scalise were absent from the meeting, Toledo Mayor Cherie Devore and a quorum were present, with Councilors Tawni Shepherd, Eric Hayes and Kathy Hill.
Among the topics of discussion were planned road improvement projects around Toledo, the completion of the second round of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) testing, the approval of both Toledo Cheese Days and Art Gallery 505 special event permits, and a request from the Toledo Historical Society to use the old skating rink area at Toledo City Hall for storage.
Road improvement projects and PFAS testing
Monday’s meeting began with a public hearing for Toledo’s updated six-year Transportation Improvement Plan — a Washington state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) required plan outlining road improvement projects a municipality is seeking TIB or other grant funding for. Updates to the Transportation Improvement Plan are required annually by the state’s Growth Management Act.
“It’s an ongoing wish list,” Hayes said.
Toledo City Clerk-Treasurer Rachel Campbell laid out some of the projects city staff hope to tackle first.
“We have the (state Route) 505 sidewalk improvements, the Hemlock street improvements, the Augustus Street improvements,” Campbell said. “I think we were also gonna (extend) the sidewalk in front of the Cheese Depot and the realty owner.”
The public hearing was then closed following some brief council discussion concerning some of the projects. The council will approve Toledo’s six-year Transportation Improvement Plan at an upcoming meeting.
The City of Toledo is one of a number of Lewis County municipalities that have either completed their six-year plan update or are in the process of doing so.
Additionally, Toledo Public Works Department Assistant Director Jay Crow announced the second round of PFAS testing had been completed in the city.
“Our second round of PFAS testing, the results did come back with no detection — matching the first round,” Crow said. “So I think we’re all good there until next year … That was new territory for a lot of the drinking water (departments in) municipalities, and we weren’t sure what to expect. That said, everything is good.”
Historical society storage and permits approved
The Toledo Historical Society made a formal request to the City of Toledo, asking for assistance with finding storage space.
Previously, the historical society had space inside the Toledo Community Library. According to Toledo Historical Society member Joh Jones, the volunteer-run library recently got grant money to expand its children’s section, meaning the historical society needs to now find new storage space.
The proposed solution? Using the old roller skating rink inside Toledo City Hall, which the city now uses as storage space.
“We really need the storage right now because we’re losing the space at the library,” Jones said.
She added the historical society still has the goal of eventually opening up its own museum in town in the old food bank building, but currently lacks any major fundraisers to generate revenue to build it.
“It would take away from everyone else. Everything that we’ve been able to come up with, either the date is being used by someone else, or, it’s a thing they all need to use,” Jones added.
Ideas were also proposed by a council member to possibly use either the old Toledo Police Department office for a museum space, or even renovate city hall itself and create a separate access way to the old skating rink and make it the museum space.
“It was kind of my dream a couple years ago to turn this into a hallway that goes back to the (skating rink) … And give the historical society a place, so they could open this door and there would be a separate door for the council chambers where we could lock up the computer stuff,” Hayes said.
For now, only the use of the space as storage was approved by the council.
Also during the meeting, a pair of permits were approved unanimously by the council.
The first was submitted by Art Gallery 505 owner Mike Morgan for the Summer Solstice Art Show, which will be held at the gallery from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21. Art Gallery 505 is located at 102 Kellogg Way in downtown Toledo in front of the Historic Old Toledo City Jail.
The other special event permits approved were special events taking place during the upcoming Toledo Cheese Days festival — the first being the Toledo Wine and Cheese Garden on Sunday, July 13, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Steamboat Landing, located at 115 Ramsey Way in downtown Toledo. Admission to the wine and cheese garden will be $25 per person. The event serves as a fundraiser for Vision:TOLEDO.
The second event will be the Cheese Days beer garden hosted at Donna’s Place starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12.
This event will feature two musical performances, with country artist Chris Guenther performing Friday and the Pacific Northwest self-described “party band” Groove Syndicate on Saturday. Admission is $15 each night.
Donna’s place is located at 112 Ramsey Way in downtown Toledo.
Organized by the Toledo Lions Club, The Toledo Cheese Days festival runs from Thursday, July 10, through Sunday, July 13, and features a variety of events throughout the South Lewis County community. For more information, visit the Lions Club’s website at https://toledolionsclub.org/events/cheese-days/.
