WARDEN – The Warden City Council met Tuesday to discuss the hiring of a new Warden Police Department Chief, acknowledge the clerk-treasurer assistant, receive updates on city projects, approve adding a climate element to the comprehensive plan and approve the development of a planning document for the wastewater facility and general sewer plan.  

Chief 

The Warden Police Department has been looking to hire a new chief after Rick Martin retired in June 2025. 

Currently, Lt. Nick Overland from Grant County Sheriff’s Office is serving as acting chief for Warden PD.  

However, City Administrator Kriss Shuler said the city is waiting on final reports for the new potential chief.  

“I don’t expect anything negative on those, everything verbal has been positive,” Shuler said. 

Once the city gets the final reports, city officials are anticipating the new chief will begin Sept. 15, Shuler said. She said until the chief is officially hired, she is unable to release any further information about the candidate.   

City projects 

The City of Warden has postponed the reconstruction of First Street North to the spring after a conversation with the contractor and the property owners on the road, Shuler said. 

“With that discussion, the contractor understood that it was not going to be feasible for that road to be closed during harvest,” Shuler said. 

She explained that the contractor had originally thought they would be able to mitigate traffic down the sides of the road; however, after a discussion with property owners they realized trucks would not be able to back in and out of different facilities with freight if the road was being repaired.  

The Transportation Improvement Board, which provided funding of nearly $900,000 for the project, has approved the timeline change, Shuler said.  

Sewer plan  

The City of Warden received a $285,000 grant from the Department of Ecology to develop a planning document for the wastewater facility and general sewer plan.  

The city has contracted Gray & Osborne to develop the plan, with unanimous council approval. 

The project will begin with getting background information. Then the contractor will begin planning and analyzing service areas. Next, it will analyze the wastewater flows and design criteria. Then, there will be a sewer video inspection completed. Next, the general sewer plan will be created based on previous information. Then, the water reclamation facility will be evaluated. Following, the solids treatment and biosolids management will be evaluated. Next, environmental analysis, permits and financial analysis will be completed. The council will then meet with the contractor and the Department of Ecology at a public meeting and the plan will either be approved by the council or revisions will be conducted. 

Clerk-treasurer 

Shuler wanted to acknowledge the clerk-treasurer assistant Lindsey Betts for earning public records officer certification. 

“She did a lot of training and testing for that,” Shuler said. “So, she has got that taken care of, and we are glad to have that certification.” 

Comprehensive plan 

The City of Warden received $100,000 from the Department of Commerce to develop a climate element for the city's comprehensive plan.  

The city has decided to work with SCJ Alliance to develop the elements, with unanimous council approval.  

The $100,000 is planned to be spent with $8,000 to start the project, $15,000 to explore climate impacts, $8,000 for audit plans and policies, $25,000 to access vulnerability and risk, $16,000 to pursue pathways, $15,000 to integrate goals and policies, $8,000 to document outreach to vulnerable populations and $5,000 for adoption.  

The scope of work starts with forming a Climate Policy Advisory team and establishing a public engagement strategy as well as a tribal engagement strategy. The first deliverable to council will be in October, where a summary of the plan and engagement will be provided. 

Following, there will be the identification of community assets, hazards and changes. The team will then analyze the assets and hazards to describe the exposure and consequences. Then, priority climate hazards will be identified along with their impact on the community.  

By Nov. 15, the council will receive a memo summarizing the model climate guidance. Then the team will begin reviewing plans for gaps, opportunities and barriers. They will then determine the next stem based on the Model Climate Guidance.  

By Nov. 20, there will be a plan in place for audits and policies. Following, the team will assess the sensitivity, capacity, vulnerability and risk of community assets. This will help decide the next courses of action. 

By the beginning of 2026, there will be a memo summarizing the above findings. Goals, policies and policy co-benefits will begin being developed afterwards with that report due by Feb. 2026. At the same time there will be a report on how and when vulnerable populations, including tribes, were encouraged to participate in the development of climate policies and goals.  

The team will then finalize goals and policies by consulting with partners, stakeholders and decision makers. 

By March 2026, the final project will be summarized with final goals and policies, along with stakeholder acceptance. The project should be completed by June 2026 with the final plan and goals being submitted.