MOSES LAKE — The city of Moses Lake will re-enter the Grant County Conservation District in order to address the health of the lake, the city council decided in a 4-3 vote Tuesday.

Council members Don Myers, Dean Hankins and Deputy Mayor Daryl Jackson voted against, while council members Karen Liebrecht, Michael Riggs, David Eck and Mayor David Curnel voted in favor.

After originally joining what was then the Moses Lake Conservation District in 1975, the city voted to withdraw from what is now the Grant County Conservation District in 2017 over concerns about new fees being imposed, according to documents from the city.

At the beginning of 2018, the Grant County Commission approved a new fee of $4.96 on every parcel within the district. The Moses Lake City Council at the time elected to withdraw from the district, deciding that there was no benefit to city residents in exchange for the new fee, according to city documents.

The city began to reconsider its relationship with the conservation district after two consecutive years of blue-green algae blooms, which affected recreation and tourism, according to city documents. The conservation district, through a partnership with the city and state agencies known as the Moses Lake Watershed Council, presented plans to rehabilitate the lake and decrease the impact of algae blooms.

But to fully enact those plans and to secure outside funding, the conservation district petitioned the city to rejoin the district and to impose the nearly $5 fee on its residents. City staff recommended that the city rejoin the district in order to contribute to the health of the lake and the local economy.

“I think we all felt the impact when the lake shut down last summer because of the blue algae,” said City Manager Allison Williams. “The impact to our hotel-motel tax as a result and what that tax funds is very substantial for our city.”

Some council members expressed concerns about imposing the fee on city residents, including Jackson.

“The way things are going now, I don’t think that we should be imposing another fee on the citizens of Moses Lake,” Jackson said Tuesday. “I realize that we need to clean the lake, but I think that with everything that has gone on, everybody has to realize that’s not our lake, that’s (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation).”

“I don’t mean to negate what we need to do, but I don’t think a taxation of five dollars would go very well right now,” Jackson said.

Council member Karen Liebrecht replied by stating that the lake was vital to the local economy.

“I am for passing this this evening,” Liebrecht said. “We do not own the lake, but it is the lifeline of this city.”

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.