Dayton Chronicle - Your Hometown News Source

DAYTON–The City Council held a workshop on February 20 for the purpose of discussing a possible golf cart policy, reviewing the council policy and ethics handbook, and discussing the request for a ballot initiative on the topic of library annexation.

The council discussed the request for a golf cart ordinance that would allow residents to drive their golf carts from their homes to the golf course. Clarity of the law in this matter must come from the Sheriff's Office, but have not had that discussion, yet.

Most of the council continues to have concerns about the cost of the project, and the potential liability this could create for the city. In addition to the cost of updating intersections and purchasing signs, there is a need to get permission from the state patrol to place signs on main street as well as updating the bridge coming into downtown.

Public Works director Ryan Paulson said "the bike lane is not wide enough for a golf cart, and to be truthfully honest the sidewalks are not legal on that bridge. They must be five foot wide, and they are not five foot wide." He is not sure why the Washington State Department of Transportation has not investigated this yet, but he was also not sure they would add the bridge project to their top priorities for the city to use it for golf carts too. The city is still interested in talking to the sheriff's department before making a final decision.

The Council worked through the City Council Code of Ethics handbook making necessary corrections and changes. They are updating verbiage to be more specific, as well as adding policies that align with the current needs of the city and the council.

The city council briefly discussed the request they received in January from a Dayton city resident asking for an initiative to reconsider annexation in the rural library district on the November Ballot.

Mayor Rodger Trump and Ryan Paulson met with the citizen who asked about an initiative to reconsider annexation of the rural library district and considered more information from people involved with the library process. "The thought was if we could have the historian who is Tanya Patterson, who was there at the beginning of the annexation, said Ryan Paulson, and the current Director, as well as County Auditor Will Hutchens, who could say where the money can and would go from said trusts."

The city will hold another workshop, inviting the public before making a final decision.

Councilwoman Laura Aukerman clarified some misunderstanding as to why the person was asking for the city to consider placing an annexation initiative on the ballot which would allow all tax paying citizens, county and city, an opportunity to vote on future library issues. "I believe the person who came here and brought this to us...did not come to ask our opinions on whether the library is great or if we think the library is not great, said Aukerman, that person came here and asked for a re vote for the people of the city of Dayton. And no matter what I think, it doesn't matter whether I think the library is wonderful. That person came asking to get the city citizens the right to vote and we turned it into, more than once, the library is great, we love the library. That's not what that person asked of us."