Soap Lake allocates tourism funds, discusses contractors
NANCE BESTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 weeks, 2 days AGO
Soap Lake City Council unanimously approved tourism funding for 2026, including the Soap Lake Lantern Festival which recently celebrated its first year.
FILE PHOTO
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake City Council on Tuesday approved $52,350 in tourism funding for 2026 events and signaled its intent to contract with both Kovach Architects and Safe Built LLC to address planning and permitting needs.
The tourism allocation passed unanimously after more than an hour of discussion about event requests, budget capacity and the city’s reimbursement process.
“We budgeted $50,779, and we’ve already got $138,000 in cash on hand,” Councilmember Kayleen Bryson said. “I don’t recommend that we always go this large, but since this is a special year, I would.”
Council members said approving funding does not automatically approve the events themselves. Each organizer must still obtain sign‑offs from the police department, fire district and public works.
“Just because we approve the funding does not mean we approve the event,” Councilmember Susan Carson said. “They have to be permitted. It’s a process.”
Council also discussed the city’s longstanding practice of reimbursing event organizers only after receipts are submitted. The funding for tourism comes from the city's Lodging Tax Advisory Committee funds, which are taxes the city gets on hotel or motel stays.
“This is not money just handed out,” Carson said. “You cannot turn in your receipts before you have your event.”
Planning services
In the second half of the meeting, the council discussed how to move forward after the City of Moses Lake notified Soap Lake. It will stop handling building permits at the end of March.
The city must also complete major components of its state‑required comprehensive plan update by June.
“We need to get this handled,” Carson said. “The comp plan is due in June, and we have deliverables we have to meet.”
Council members expressed support for splitting responsibilities between Safe Built and Kovach Architects.
The proposal would have Safe Built complete the comprehensive plan update while Kovach Architects returns on a short‑term contract to process building permits and inspections.
“He knows the builders. He knows how to talk to them,” Councilmember John Carson said about Kovach. “He can calm people down and help get things back on track.”
Safe Built representatives have indicated they are willing to work alongside Kovach, according to the council.
“They have no problem working with each other,” Carlson said. “They can rewrite the contract to reflect whatever we need.”
No vote was taken, but the council directed staff to bring draft contracts to the next regular meeting.
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