EPHRATA — The Ephrata City Council is reviewing options for a logo for the city, which could be used for marketing and other purposes and discussed how to move forward during their April 3 meeting. 

“A logo is a graphic symbol or emblem that visually represents a company, organization or entity,” said City Clerk Kaitlin Kapalo. “It distinguishes us from others and gives us something to recognize (us for). Logos matter because it’s our first impression as a city.”  

Kapalo said a logo and a seal or other graphic are different because of how they’re used. While a graphic or seal may represent certain official functions of a city or group, a logo is used when a city is trying to stand out in a crowd in a significant way in the manner that the Nike swish or the city of Blaine’s logo does. Blaine’s logo shows a ship on the water, so when Kapalo attended an event there, she said she expected to be near water and to experience weather associated with a large body of water. She packed for that trip based, in part, on that logo.  

Council considered whether to have a small committee or a workshop to address getting a logo finalized before work was completed on the city’s website redesign with an early May deadline. However, after discussion, council members opted to table the issue and wait until community feedback could be received and hearings could be held to ensure the logo met community expectations. 

Council also voted to pay about $2,500 to Ephrata Forward, a group that includes the city, Port of Ephrata, Ephrata School District and other entities that serve the community.  

Mayor Pro Tem Matt Moore and City Administrator Ray Towry explained that the purpose of Ephrata Forward is to get the agencies that serve Ephratans to better coordinate their efforts by having regular meetings. This helps ensure projects like the new Grant County Jail, road projects and others are done in a coordinated manner that can save money for taxpayers by eliminating duplicated efforts.  

Moore pointed to the example of a similar effort in Wenatchee that has helped the city coordinate with East Wenatchee and other entities to help ensure projects are efficient and mutually beneficial.  

The purpose of the $2,500 in funding is to help pay for the analysis of a community survey that will help the different entities receive feedback from residents on what the city, school district, port and others should prioritize. 

“We decided the first action for this group was to create a community survey,” Moore said. “You may have seen that over the last few months. They did some private fundraising to organize and pay for that end of it, and tried to make it a more open-ended survey than I’d seen before.”  

Moore explained that while most surveys include ratings from one to ten or similar information, questions on the Ephrata Forward survey allow for written responses that require more in-depth analysis, which can be more expensive but is hoped to provide more actionable results than rated questioning does. 

Toward the beginning of the meeting, Reim issued the oath of office to the Ephrata Police Department’s newest officer, Jake Leenhouts.  

EPD Chief Erik Koch said in an introduction that Leenhouts was born in Pasco and raised in the Spokane area. He is married to his wife, Amber, and the couple live in Ephrata with their three children. Leenhouts previously served as an officer with the Soap Lake Police Department.  

Ephrata Forward Members
Grant County Economic Development Council
Grant County Public Utility District
Ephrata School District
City of Ephrata
Port of Ephrata

    While the City of Ephrata has a seal, shown here, it doesn't currently have a logo that can be used for marketing purposes. A seal is generally used for more official purposes than a logo would be.