The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

The town of Coulee Dam is facing a lot of issues with the sewer plant, huge increases in utility rates, the impacts of a new school, needed improvements to our parks, sidewalks, and roads. We need a better and growing relationship with our local...

About three months ago, the Coulee Dam Town Council was presented with a petition signed by hundreds. Two of the items on that petition were a roll-back of the burdensome sewer rates and a demand for the town to look at alternative solutions for the...

My first meeting with Guillermo Guzman was for my son’s parent-teacher (Spanish) conference. The second time I met with him was this Sunday past - at the Okanogan County jail. Mr. Guzman and I have exchanged emails from time-to-time regarding...

The town of Coulee Dam recently held a meeting regarding the problematic sewer treatment plant project. The meeting was closed to the public and the mayor directed that “Greg Wilder was not to be admitted.” When I asked what would happen if I...

The mayor of Coulee Dam has again defined his allegiance — that being with and for the engineer (Gray & Osborne). The townsfolk petitioned the mayor and council to roll back the ever increasing sewer rates and review other project alternatives and...

As best I can determine, we (the town of Coulee Dam) paid our engineer (Gray & Osborne) about $80,000 to prepare a Wastewater Facilities Plan. What did we get? We got a document replete with inaccurate planning assumptions, non-compliant with the...

The town of Coulee Dam began increasing our sewer rate about a year ago. In December, 2011 we were paying a reasonable $37 a month — one month later, our rates were increased by 33 percent! Thinking that there must have been a good reason, we...

The town of Elmer City has worked tirelessly to find financial assistance to help fund the improvements to the sewer treatment plant it jointly operates with Coulee Dam. And for good reason, they can’t afford what Coulee Dam is building! On the...

Last week you published an article about the Coulee Dam/Elmer City sewer plant project that painted a very positive face on the Coulee Dam Town Council. And, as it was, they earned that praise — they deserved that praise! They were courteous, they...

As most of you know, the town of Coulee Dam is investing (spending) over $5 million to upgrade their “aging” sewer treatment plant. I’ve written letters about this before. The town continues to pursue a design that is both antiquated and...

The Colville Confederated Tribes took the high-road regarding the overly expensive Coulee Dam Sewer Treatment plant project. The tribe offered to help, in exchange for involvement … for a legitimate place at the table. In a letter to the...

Coulee Dam paid $70,000 to have its engineer prepare a facilities plan for the town’s sewer treatment system. The plan presented TWO viable build options: One was to go ahead and spend over $6.2 million dollars now for a project with all of the...

The saga continues. At the advice and suggestion of the state Department of Ecology (DOE), Coulee Dam extended the Olive Branch to Elmer City… well, sort of; they suggested a meeting between the two towns’ mayors to “explain” the reasons for...

My last letter to The Star editor helped define the reasons I am reviewing Coulee Dam town records … not a willy-nilly vendetta, as Mayor Snow has described it, but a real attempt to see how and why it is our cost for municipal services are among t...

Given the recent decisions of the Coulee Dam Town Council, I must admit that I’m feeling empowered! That I could almost single handedly force the Town of Coulee Dam to create a new position to deal with their legal and ethical responsibility is,...

A number of months ago I requested water service for the home I’m building on Yucca Drive in Coulee Dam. I requested the same level of service as enjoyed by the town’s folks that live on the west side of the river. I received no answer, so a few...