SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake City Council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between the Soap Lake Creative District and the city to move forward on a $40,000 ARTS Washington grant application for new wayfinding signage. The council also approved for city officials to move forward on finalizing a budget for the project before the grant application was due Thursday.  

“This is going to be a great infrastructure improvement for the city,” Creative District Representative Ruthanne Tobiason said. “Wayfinding sign projects are a small investment overall but will receive a big return. Hopefully, we have set the stage for the city to go further with this and replace all of the signs around the city, not just within the creative district.” 

The proposed plan asks for a total of 13 signs. This includes five vehicular signs with four located on Daisy Street North and one located at the intersection of Division Street North and Main Avenue East. Three pedestrian signs are located at Canna Street North, in front of East Beach Park and at the intersection of Main Avenue East and Daisy Street North. Additionally, five vertical signs attached to light poles are located on Main Avenue East and on Canna Street.   

“The number we have today for the cost, may not be the same number we have when the awards are given, so there is some flexibility from us to make the project financially feasible,” Tobiason said. “We might have to change some things, or remove a couple of the things we want to make sure we are fiscally responsible.”  

According to Tobiason, the city will help match the grant funds, if the grant is approved, by paying public works employees to remove the old signage and install the new. The Friends of Lower Grand Coulee which helps the Creative District will also be contributing around $5,000 in funds, according to Tobiason.  

The city’s match and the documentation needed for that wasn’t clear to city officials during Tobiason's original presentation at the Nov. 5 meeting. She had asked for a budget of the hours it would take, along with wages of public works employees to make a budget. Tobiason began Wednesday’s presentation saying they would be unable to apply for the grant because those numbers were not provided by the city.  

However, after discussion with council and Mayor Peter Sharp, it was decided that the numbers could be given to Tobiason early Thursday morning and they would still meet the afternoon deadline.  

“I think they really didn’t really understand the first time around, the communication wasn’t well understood. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because the city council is basically volunteers,” Tobiason said. “The mayor doesn’t get paid that much for what he does. They are just doing their best. In the end it all worked out.”   

The application will be submitted Thursday and the creative district will know whether it was accepted or not, around March 2026. 

“We are really hoping we get accepted,” Tobiason said. “I think this would be a great addition to our city and we are feeling optimistic about the potential of this project.”