Members of the Vader City Council approved their side of an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the City of Winlock during their Wednesday, Oct. 7, meeting, to help with city clerk services following the recent resignation of Winlock’s city clerk.
While approved by Vader, the ILA will be up for consideration and approval by the Winlock City Council at its regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 12.
If the ILA is approved in Winlock, newly sworn-in Vader City Clerk/Treasurer Cody Lord will assist Winlock city staff with clerical work when needed. Lord was sworn in at the Vader City Council meeting by Vader Mayor Joe Schey, who explained the ILA dictated that Lord’s priority would still be finishing his work in Vader to the tune of 40 hours a week.
“It’s in the agreement that Vader’s work comes first, and they will try to schedule ahead with us, so that we can adjust our workload properly,” Schey said. “And also if we are too busy, we are not compelled to help them. We can say ‘no.’”
Per the ILA, Winlock city staff anticipate needing Lord’s help for around 10 hours a week, with the City of Winlock paying Lord $60 an hour for work done between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., and $80 an hour for work done outside of those hours, not to exceed $2,000 a month.
The ILA was approved by a quorum vote of 2-1, with Vader City Councilor Sheri McKernan-Kindell opposing it. Councilors John Hurt and Jason Daily were not in attendance to vote, as they had other engagements and reached out to Schey asking to be excused from the meeting.
During his mayor’s report, Schey announced a new section of city code would soon be up for council consideration as the Vader’s water system receivership process nears completion — transferring control of the local water system from Lewis County back to the City of Vader.
Lewis County staff have operated Vader’s water system since 2010, when a Lewis County Superior Court judge ordered county officials to take control due to the city’s financial instability, on top of failing to secure grants or loans to fund water system upgrades. Between 2006 and 2010, Vader residents saw at least 17 boil water advisories.
A resolution to approve the transfer of the water system on the city’s side was on the agenda during Wednesday’s meeting, but failed by a vote of 2-0-1, with Councilor Nicole Hansen abstaining from voting.
While a quorum was present and a majority of the quorum voted to approve, since the resolution deals with city financial matters it requires a full majority of at least three out of the five councilors to approve it per state law.
Schey also discussed a recent population census conducted following the approval of the annexation of Vader’s urban growth area (UGA).
“The census results came in for the UGA. There was a 29% increase in the city’s population, we’re now at 914 residents, and that puts us just behind Morton in the size of cities,” Schey said.
During the community development report, Vader Building & Planning Lead Darren Hutton announced that work would soon begin on the construction of a new 76 Gas Station at the site of the old Quick Shop gas station and Spirit Lake Espresso coffee shop — located at the intersection of Winlock-Vader Road and state Route 506 in Vader.
“I think this winter we’re supposed to see demolition of the (old) building),” Hutton said. “They’re going to use the existing fuel island that’s there, and then they’re going to put in a whole new, I think it’s a 3,200- or 3,300-square-foot, convenience store. And on the back side of that, they’re going to put diesel pumps for tractor trailers, fifth-wheels, bigger vehicles … The meetings we’ve had, they noticed the amount of log truck traffic we have through here, so they’re gonna get the special kind of diesel for tractor trailers."
Hutton added the developers are eyeing having it opened by next summer.
The new 76 isn’t the only improvement coming to Vader soon, as during Wednesday’s meeting, Troop 9373 Life Scout Alex Mersereau announced his Eagle Scout project — improvements at Vader’s J.K. Werden Memorial Park.
“I’m hoping to help level out the ground at Werden Park, and I’m going to put some stones around the sign, maybe some wood chips down, or gravel, to make that look a little bit nicer,” Mersereau said. “There’s some patchy grass and stuff I’m hoping to get actually growing. Stuff like that, just making those smaller things all come together and making it as good as can be.”
Mersereau told the council hopes to start work later this month, starting with getting fill dirt. He added he already has some private donors lined up, and is planning on contacting staff at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Longview to see if they would be interested in donating bricks for a decorative wall around the park’s main sign.
Meeting attendees added they’d be willing to assist Mersereau in both getting materials and volunteers to help with the project. His Eagle Scout project is the second one undertaken in Vader in the past two years, following Eagle Scout Celestine Schey completing her Vader mural project in December 2025.
