Royal City City Council swears in members, discusses water line replacement
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 8 months AGO
Royal City Council Member Hector Rodriguez, right, takes the oath of office at the council’s Tuesday meeting, as Council Member Perla Garcia, left, and Mayor Michael Christensen look on.
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. | January 3, 2024 3:47 PM
ROYAL CITY — The Royal City City Council swore in three council members at its meeting Tuesday evening, all returning after the November elections.
Hector Rodriguez, who holds Position 3, Perla Garcia, who was reelected to Position 2, and Ryan Piercy, who retained the Position 4 seat in the November election by a single vote, all raised their right hands and swore to uphold the Constitution and carry out the duties of their office. Deputy City Clerk Sherrie Rodriguez administered the oaths.
The water main replacement project is moving along slowly but surely, Public Works Director John Lasen told the council. The upgrades are underway on the west end of town, Lasen said, starting with Hemlock, Grape and Calla streets and moving on to Calla Loop, Balsam Street and Royal Avenue.
“Then there's other places throughout town (where) we've got these isolated, small pipelines that need to be replaced as well,” Lasen said.
Some of the pipes being replaced are made from asbestos cement, Lasen said, which was common until the 1970s. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, asbestos is only harmful if the fibers are inhaled.
“You hear ‘asbestos’ and you worry about health risk, but there isn't,” Lasen said. “The only time you have a health risk with asbestos is if it's dry and what they call friable. If you drill it and it creates dust and it gets into your lungs, that can cause problems. But if it's wet, even if you ingest it, to my knowledge, you can't cause any health problems at all.”
The crews replacing the water lines will restore the roads they tear up in the course of their work, but that’s as far as they’ll go, Lasen explained.
Garcia asked if the roads would be repaired in the process of replacing pipes underneath them.
“There is an element for (repairs) to the road,” Lasen replied. “Are they going to be brand-new roads? Absolutely not. They're not going to be in much better condition than they currently are.”
“That's dirt now,” Garcia said. “Literally, that's mud. You drive through there, it’s mud. And it's only gonna get worse, people driving it (when) it’s wet.”
“They have some (repairs) that they have to do but it's only where they actually dig,” Lasen said “And then there's gonna be some BST, bituminous surface treatment, which is what those roads were originally constructed as. That's where they just put down oil and gravel.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email 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.