Royal City gains new council members, approves water main upgrade
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 2 months AGO
Royal City Finance Director Shilo Christensen, left, administers the oath of office to incoming City Council Member Ryan Piercy at Monday’s council meeting.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 13, 2023 3:25 PM
ROYAL CITY — The Royal City City Council swore in two new members during its meeting Monday evening. Rick Kannely and Ryan Piercy were selected to fill vacancies left when other members moved out of town.
“I'm here as a volunteer to support the community, to serve the community that I live in,” Kannely said. “I love this place. It’s the best place I’ve ever lived.”
The Council ordinarily meets the first and third Tuesday of each month, but the June 6 meeting had to be rescheduled for lack of a quorum. Council members Tiffany Workinger and Mackenzee Anderson resigned last month as they no longer met the residency requirements, leaving council members Michael Christensen, Perla Garcia and Hector Rodriguez. Rodriguez was unable to attend the June 6 meeting, thus eliminating the possibility of a quorum.
Mayor Kent Andersen attended the Monday meeting by phone, and the council elected Christensen to serve as mayor pro tem. Two applicants to replace Anderson and Workinger were present at the meeting and the council voted to appoint them to the vacant positions. City Finance Director Shilo Christensen swore in the new members.
Position 4, Anderson’s seat, was filled by Piercy, a graduate of Royal High School who works for Trident Soil Fumigation.. He was encouraged to run for Anderson’s seat, which would have been up for election in November, by Anderson herself, he said.
Kannely took over Workinger’s seat at Position 5. Kannely, a California native, retired as an ag teacher at Royal High School five or six years ago, he said. Before that he had taught in Mount Vernon on the west side, he said. Kannely’s wife, a nurse who retired from the Royal School District at the same time, passed away last December, he said.
The newly repopulated council voted to accept a bid from Premier Excavation to complete a water main improvement project for $2.3 million. The project includes replacing about 10,000 feet of old steel pipe, Public Works Director John Lasen explained.
“(The pipe) was put in in the late ’50s,” Lasen said. “Its life expectancy at the time was 30 years. Well, we got our 30 years out of it.”
“So it’s a possible liability,” Piercy said.
“It is a possible liability,” Lasen answered. “There are other communities that have waited for too long and had major system failures in their distribution system as a result of that.”
“It’s the last area to be upgraded,” Michael Christensen said. “All the other areas have been upgraded.”
Joel Martin may be reached at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.