The city of Clarkston is going to ease up on late fees for tardy sewer and garbage payments for the next six months in light of the economic punch anticipated from COVID-19 layoffs and closures.

At Monday night’s city council meeting, officials discussed the importance of supporting Clarkston businesses that remain open and agreed to a grace period for people who can’t pay their monthly utility bills on time.

The payments still have to be made, but the city intends to be more lenient during this unprecedented upheaval, officials said.

Councilor Skate Pierce suggested extending the late-fee waiver until August, saying it will take some time for folks to get back on their feet. Once they go back to work, people who have been laid off will likely have to wait at least two weeks to get a paycheck, and the bills will be piling up, he said.

“We have the opportunity to show a little grace here,” Pierce said.

Avista, Sparklight, the Asotin County Public Utility District and other businesses have made similar concessions to help the community get through the pandemic.

“I would encourage other businesses to think about the citizens in our community who are going to be greatly hurt by this coronavirus,” Councilor Belinda Larsen said.

City Attorney Todd Richardson said he’s been impressed with the level of cooperation between local governmental entities tackling virus-related issues. Numerous meetings have been conducted in recent days to keep everyone updated and prepared, he said.

A solid plan is in place for first responders, Richardson said, and Walla Walla Community College is working on streamlining clinical training requirements to infuse additional health care workers into the field.

“The cooperation between entities has been exceptional,” Richardson said.

According to the latest data from Washington public health officials, about 93 percent of the COVID-19 tests have come back negative in this state, he told the council.

“I thought that was really good news,” Richardson said.

Councilor Melyssa Andrews, who attended the meeting telephonically, said the community is stepping up to help make masks and give donations to Tri-State Memorial Hospital during the pandemic. She wants the hospital board to reconsider its decision to seek tax-exempt status and three years of retroactive payments.

“We have a lot of people who won’t be able to pay an extra $200 in property taxes next year,” Andrews said. “I would ask the hospital to rethink this, especially with what’s happening now.”

Mayor Monika Lawrence said she spoke with the state Department of Revenue earlier in the day, and no decision has been made on Tri-State’s request. At the last council meeting, Lawrence was asked to write a letter to DOR, 9th District lawmakers and Tri-State that spells out the city’s concerns.

The letter was mailed to an Olympia official Monday afternoon.

“Though it would be a hardship, we agree that we can absorb the loss of tax revenue for 2020,” Lawrence wrote. “We feel that Tri-State Memorial Hospital should have been a better neighbor by giving us advance notice that they were seeking further exemptions for multiple years. Please do not grant Tri-State Memorial Hospital the three-year retroactive exemptions since it would place an undue burden on our taxpayers.”

City officials don’t dispute the hospital’s right to ask for the status, but said they did not learn about it until 2020, after budgets were set. No one from Tri-State was at the council meeting, but hospital officials have previously said the tax-exemption was requested at the state level last fall.

In other city business, the council gave Public Works Director Kevin Poole the green light to fix an accident-prone intersection near Eighth, Elm and Diagonal streets. The goal is to get the project “shovel ready” to secure grant funding.

Poole has recommended a peanut-shaped roundabout to improve the intersection, but the council asked him to first install two new stop signs to alleviate the problems while the roundabout funding is in flux. Poole said the intersection has the second-highest rate of accidents in the city.

The No. 1 spot for fender benders is near Second, Diagonal and Bridge streets, where a roundabout will be installed in a couple of years. Additional funding for the project has been approved by the Lewis Clark Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Gov. Jay Inslee’s latest “shelter-in-place” restrictions were discussed at the end of the meeting, which was attended by one member of the public. Police Chief Joel Hastings said his department will be educating the public and posting lists of “essential” jobs on the city’s website as the new restrictions go into effect.

Poole said some playground equipment at Clarkston parks has been roped off to prevent groups of children from gathering in close proximity. To date, swings and monkey bars and other features that allow one person at a time are not prohibited, he said.

Sandaine may be contacted at kerris@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2264. Follow her on Twitter @newsfromkerri.