Dwayn's Flushing 4P's: Pee, Poo, Paper & Puke!

Public Works reports that clogs at the sewer plant have improved due to the decrease of wipes being flushed.  Please continue the good work by not flushing ANY wipes, even if they say “flushable”.  Remember Dwayne’s 4P’s of what’s okay to flush:  pee, poo, paper, & puke.  J

Also, Palouse, Washington is a fortunate participant in the Avista pilot study for LED street lights.  Yesterday, three different sample LED street lights were installed at the following locations:  Church & K Street, Church & Beach Street, and Church & Bridge Street, in Palouse.  Feel free to check them out at night and if you have any feedback, let City Hall know. 

City of Palouse / Avista Utilities LED Street and Area Lighting Pilot Program

Recent studies by the State of Washington Transportation Improvement Board were conducted to determine the feasibility and economic benefits of converting existing street and area lighting systems to new low energy LED (light emitting diode) lighting systems.

The studies focused on the evaluation of potential demonstration sites (including the City of Palouse); research and evaluation of regulatory requirements and tariffs; opportunities and barriers to LED deployment; performance of LED street and area lighting technology; and deployment in selected communities.

The six Washington communities selected and funded for the Pilot Study (the Study) include: Benton City; Blaine; Buckley; Coulee Dam; Palouse and Ridgefield.

As a community participant in the Study, the City of Palouse will work with Avista Utilities in converting existing street and area lighting to the LED technology. With funding provided by the Washington Transportation Improvement Board, this work will include replacement of City-owned lighting (along Main Street) as well as Avista-owned street and area lighting throughout the community. Work will begin in late October 2013 and continue through early 2014.
 

Lift-Lid Levy Information from Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove and Palouse Fire Department Chief Mike Bagott

VOTE * VOTE * VOTE *

From Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove:

In the next few weeks voters will begin to receive their ballots for the November 5th general election. Along with our annual Street Maintenance and Swimming Pool levy requests, voters will be asked for the first time to consider a “levy lid-lift” measure.

“Lid-lift” measures reset the baseline folks pay in property tax. Currently the city of Palouse collects approximately $2.49 per $1,000 of assessed value. The ballot request seeks to “lift” that value to $3.10 per $1,000 - an increase of 60 cents.  In everyday terms it would mean that a home with an assessed value of $100,000 would see a $60 increase in their yearly taxes.

A similar measure was passed by voters in Pullman just last month.

Monies generated from this request will be utilized in two basic areas - our Current Expense fund and a proposed new effort to recapitalize our local Fire Department.

Support from Olympia with state shared revenues (monies collected statewide and re-distributed back into our communities) has been on a steady decline over the last ten years. These funds have historically gone into our Current Expense fund. Our Current Expense account funds a host of city programs including our cemetery, a portion of employee wages, our parks, our Police and Fire Departments, etc. A good example of belt tightening that has occurred in this area is when our employees were asked to take a 3% salary reduction several years ago. Revenues generated from the proposed lid lift will help keep the programs and amenities we enjoy in Palouse strong.

The city is also proposing a new long-term strategy of setting aside up to 10% of our local property tax monies into our Fire Department Equipment Reserve Account. Chief Bagott has done a tremendous job leading our Fire Department, and has developed a long-term strategy to keep the Fire Department strong. This will require a commitment of approximately $150,000 from the city to be set aside over the next ten years. The proposed levy lid-lift measure enables the city to meet this objective.

Thank you for your consideration of our upcoming ballot measures and please remember to mail in your ballot by November. 5, 2013.

From Palouse Fire Department Chief Mike Bagott:
The lid-lift proposal is very important to the future of the Palouse Fire Department. We are anticipating the need for approximately $300,000 ($150,000 each from the City and the RFD) by the end of 2020 to replace two fire trucks and our air packs.

The lid-lift proposal allows the City to collect these funds gradually over this time span. This will be much less burdensome to the taxpayers than larger levies closer to the time when the equipment needs to be replaced. The Fire Department has worked hard over the past decade to improve our capabilities by purchasing better and safer equipment and we want to be able to continue to do so in the future.

The fire we had up on Cannon Street last February likely would have had a much worse outcome had we not made the equipment upgrades we did over the past decade. When I started with the Fire Department in 1995, we could bring less than 4,000 gallons of water to a fire, and we had very little capability to pump it in large volumes. By comparison, we now bring 8,500 gallons of water to a fire. We also have the capability to pump large volumes at high pressure for an extended period of time before we even need to be concerned about accessing the City's water system. Fortunately, structure fires of any consequence have only been happening about once every 5 years recently - but we still need to be prepared to hit them hard when they do happen.

Your support of the proposed levy lid-lift measure will keep your Palouse Fire Department strong for years to come.     Thank you.

 

October 6, 2013, Reception for Palouse Watercolor Socius Artists Exhibiting at Dahmen Barn October 3-27, 2013

October exhibit at the Dahmen Barn is Palouse Watercolor Socius

Each year Artisans at the Dahmen Barn features an exhibit and sale of original watercolor paintings by members of the Palouse Watercolor Socius.

 

This year the exhibit runs from October 3 through 27, with the opening reception scheduled for Sunday, October 6, 2013, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  The show will offer paintings in a variety of sizes and price ranges.

 

Some PWS members are well-known Northwest artists with works featured in collections throughout the United States and abroad.

Artisans at the Dahmen Barn is a non-profit creativity center in Uniontown on highway 195 in the big white barn behind the famous iron wheel fence.  The three storey facility is fully handicap accessible, has no daily admission fee and is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.  Information:  www.artisanbarn.org or 509-229-3414.

 

Palouse Discovery Science Center Program: Geology and Soil Sciences June 24, 2013 at Colton Branch Library.

Children’s Summer Reading continues at the library on June 24, 2013 at Colton Branch Library with a fun program from the Palouse Discovery Science Center about Geology and Soil Sciences. Summer Reading meets Mondays at 10:30 a.m., with lots of fun including crafts, stories and a snack.

Join The 2013 Palouse Swim Team

SWIM TEAM
2013

JOIN THE PALOUSE SWIM TEAM! 

The first day of the 2013 season will be:
Monday, June 24^th at 12:00 pm

Come dressed ready to swim!  We will have sign-ups at the pool followed by a short
practice afterwards.

Weekly Practice Schedule
Monday - Friday

12:00 to 1:00 p.m

For more information

call or email Kelly Dow:
878-1690
kadow@live.com

Prerequisite: Must be able to swim one pool length  (any stroke - 25 yards).
No minimum age required.

Register for Swim Lessons at Palouse Pool

There are still openings for our first session of swim lessons, beginning July 2 (12 more days).

Call City Hall today to register 878-1811

You can also call and register for our other sessions.

Palouse Swim Team Solicits Swimmers - June 19, 2012

WANTED:

SWIMMERS

FOR THE PALOUSE SWIM TEAM!

Tuesday, June 19^th at 12:00 pm:  Sign up at the pool and celebrate with popsicles!
Weekly Practice Schedule
Begins Wednesday, June 20th
Monday through Friday 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Prerequisite: Must be able to swim one pool length (25 yards).
No minimum age required.

For more information or to sign up early call:
Kelly Dow 878-1690

Monday, May 14, 2012, 7:00 Palouse resident Aaron Flansburg is having a community meeting at 530 E. Alder Street to discuss his goal of building a skate park in Palouse.  Public is welcome to attend and share their thoughts and questions. 

Call him at (509) 878-1417 for more information.