Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

DAYTON–The City Council approved Resolution 1482 to contract with Waitsburg City Administrator, Clerk, Treasurer, the hire of new Public Works Administrator, approved a real estate purchase and sale agreement, advised that the new Deputy completed his training, treasurer contract with Waitsburg, heard the Christmas Kick-off schedule, and other ongoing items at the November 10 Zoom meeting.

Mayor Zac Weatherford, Interim Clerk Deb Hays and Human Resources Committee Chair Misty Yost have been receiving applications and conducting interviews for the three open positions for the Administrator/Clerk position but was not able to hire a candidate. Weatherford met with Waitsburg City Administrator, Clerk and Treasurer Randy Hinchcliffe about contracting with Dayton to offer his services temporarily for $40 per hour mainly to help with the final budget and to review the financial situation for the City of Dayton. The Council passed Resolution 1482 to approve the contract.

The Public Works Director received three applications and after interviews, the city chose to hire Ryan Paulson who will start next month. No applications have been received for City Planner and it was suggested the Finance and Human Resources Committees revise the job description and salary to make the position more attractive.

An addendum to the Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement was approved for property owned by Bryan Martin. This was an extension of the previous contract of six months that applied $16,000 of earnest money towards the purchase of the land and was about to expire for investigation for possible use of the land for the waste treatment facility. Though the various inspections have all provided satisfactory results, an extension is needed to provide time for the County to grant a conditional use permit, to get an appraisal and that the funds are in order. Bryan agreed to the extension until March 14, but asked for a non-refundable payment of $30,000 not to be applied to the purchase price. Weatherford expects it will only take an additional three months for those needs to be met.

Sheriff Joe Helm told Council The new deputy Riley Conahan finished the field officer training program. Plans for the creation of a narcotics task force for Columbia and Walla Walla counties are hinging on getting approved for a grant to fund it. Helm said he is planning to hold some Town Hall meetings to address the impact of the recent law changes for drug possession and law enforcement. He also indicated that there has been an increase of people coming to Columbia County with mental health issues resulting in increased calls with some being tied to criminal activity.

Belinda Larson reported from the Chamber of Commerce and said that the Christmas Kick-off is planned for the weekend after Thanksgiving with the usual activities including the Ugly Christmas Sweater 5K Dash, Christmas Bazaar, Mule Drawn Hayrides, Live Nativity, Lighted Parade, Tree Lighting and Fireworks.

Ashley Strickland from Columbia County Emergency Management provided numbers for call volumes for the last month in the city with 337 for the Sheriff's department, seven for the Fire District and 37 for EMS in the City. He said calls for the city over the County come in at an average of two to one.

County Planner Dena Martin brought before Council the Rowe re-plat project to separate six existing parcels on South First, Second, and McCall streets into 17 parcels to allow home owners the opportunity to purchase the land their homes sit on. Council approved unanimously.

Also presented was the Safety Action Plan by Dain Nysoe of the Safety Committee. Once approved, Nysoe told Council the plan is ready to be implemented once the city hires a planner.

Mayor Pro Tem Dain Nysoe appealed to the Council to consider use of a portion of the City Park land between the ball fields and fishing pond for the childcare facility for which the committee working for this purpose is applying for a grant with a deadline of December 1.

December 13 and 20 have been scheduled for leaf pick-up days.

The next meeting is November 23 when the final budget is presented.