Winlock resident Tommy Thompson was honored by the Winlock City Council as the Volunteer of the Year during the Monday, Dec. 22, council meeting at Winlock City Hall.
And he wasn’t the only local volunteer honored.
A Volunteer of the Year award was also given to Winlock City Councilor Jodie Curtis.
As for city business, councilors approved interlocal agreement (ILA) renewals with the City of Vader for side sewer inspection services and wastewater treatment plant testing, along with ILAs with Lewis County for use of the county jail and Lewis County Fire District 15 for fire inspection services.
Councilors also passed city contract renewals with Jackson Civil for engineering consultation and Buzzard Law Group for legal services.
The council also approved an ordinance changing the speed limit on state Route 505 going into Winlock and the no parking zone on Northwest Arden Avenue.
Volunteers honored
Monday’s meeting began with Winlock Mayor Brandon Svenson honoring Thompson for his volunteer work in the city.
“This individual has been volunteering around Winlock for a number of years, maybe kind of flown under the radar a little bit,” Svenson said. “But has spent plenty of time helping people around Winlock, plenty of time in the museum, and, as of late, has put together a program to put up flags all over the city of Winlock during the holidays in which it makes sense.”
Along with helping his neighbors and donating his time to the Winlock Historical Museum, earlier this year Thompson started Winlock Patriotic Citizens, a group of locals who line the main roads going through Winlock with U.S. flags on federal holidays.
After honoring Thompson, Svenson explained he decided to nominate Curtis for a volunteer award as well.
“Oftentimes, if you’re on council, you end up voting for these things but you're never awarded one yourself for obvious reasons. We tend not to vote for ourselves. However, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that this individual has been volunteering for a number of years, has put in countless hours and hasn’t asked for anything,” said Svenson.
Curtis has spent years spending time and cooking for local seniors at the Winlock-Olequa Senior Center and has also been on the Winlock Egg Day Committee helping organize the city’s annual Egg Day celebration for 11 years.
Winlock City Councilor Chuck Camps also thanked Winlock residents for taking time out of their days to attend city council meetings.
“Thank you to the town for coming together to make your voices heard, even with the tough debates. I appreciate you guys coming out and sharing what’s on your mind, because our council, that’s what we need,” Camps said. “We need to know how you feel about decisions, and like I said, even if it’s a disagreement, we need to know. So, thank you guys for coming out.”
Speed limit and no parking zone changes
As for the speed limit change on Route 505, Svenson explained the speed limit had been lowered from 50 mph to 40 mph going west past the entrance to the Grand Prairie Estates.
“We’ve been requesting for years to lower the whole (Route 505) down to 40,” Svenson added. “I’m sure everybody who drives through there that doesn’t live there isn’t going to care for it. But every one of the residents that lives on the 505 has been requesting for years for that to get dropped down.”
According to Svenson, the Washington state Department of Transportation has stated it will not lower the speed limit on Route 505 to 40 mph over its entire length from Interstate 5 to Winlock until a planned roundabout is constructed on the road, which may begin next summer.
Changing the no parking zone was focused on the established no parking zones along Northwest Arden Avenue in front of the Historic Sacred Heart Church.
Last month, church members showed up to ask for this change to allow for congregation members to be able to park on the street for Sunday services, as there is no nearby parking area on the neighborhood street.
Some church members had been parking on the street for Sunday services, and had been confronted about it by some of the residents there.
Winlock City Councilor Jeramy Allman was concerned that if the no parking zone was removed, residents on the street itself might just start leaving their cars parked on the street all the time. He suggested changing it to no parking during peak times, like school and business hours.
Winlock City Attorney Jim Buzzard also had concerns as the street had been upgraded at one point using Washington state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) grant funding.
He also cautioned against making this change on behalf of the church as it would need to apply to everyone, and added the council may have to revisit this issue in the future for further amendments.
“This will hold for now, until we can dig more into the (TIB grant) language and everything,” Allman said. “At least this gets you guys taken care of for Sunday, and then we’ll keep digging down this path for the rest of the week.”
While the request was originally to change the no parking zone on Sunday for church services, another church member in attendance at Monday’s meeting stated church members are often there for events throughout the week as it is a very active congregation.
