News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 792 - 816 of 1383
Following the move from the old elementary and middle school buildings in Grand Coulee to the new school complex in Coulee Dam, hundreds of items left in the two buildings will be tagged for sale. The new school has all new furnishings, so the desks, chairs and more from the old schools need to find a new home. Those items from the old Center Elementary School were declared surplus Monday night by the Grand Coulee Dam School District board. Items will be offered first to other school districts and government agencies, and after 30 days will be... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School Districts board at its Monday night meeting approved seven construction change orders for $613,199 for work relating to the building of the new school complex, upgrading the old high school and associated work: • $109,312 for construction of stairs to the lower campus, not in the original design, but needed due to the extension of the retaining wall that was connected to the gymnasium foundation. • $243,278 to resurface tennis courts, repairing major cracks using post-tensioned concrete to be colored and str... Full story
Dr. Dennis Carlson’s contract as superintendent of schools was extended for an additional year by the Grand Coulee Dam School District board Monday night. The extension will take Carlson’s contract through June 30, 2016. This is the second extension of Carlson’s contract. Carlson came to the district in 2010, and immediately started working on funding for the district’s new school complex, which was completed in September. Carlson has stated that he would like to continue with the effort to develop the new gym before he retires from the dis... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board approved a number of hires, allowed a leave of absence, and approved the retirement of a veteran counselor at its meeting Monday night. The board met in the new school after providing a tour of the building for the North Central Washington Educational Service District board of directors and Superintendent Richard McBride and hosting the group for an evening dinner. The board meeting started at 7 p.m. The board approved eight hires for the 21st Century SHARP Kids program. Hired for that program were... Full story
Smoke from an electrical panel in the new school kitchen set off an alarm and caused evacuation of some 700 students at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The incident put the school's emergency plan into action and students were walked to the old Lake Roosevelt High School gym awaiting the arrival of parents and buses to take them home for the day. School will reopen Thursday, after the electrical panel is checked and fixed, and after staff has been briefed on Wednesday regarding the incident. There... Full story
The Grand Coulee Planning Commission turned back visitor input last Wednesday night so that members could discuss among themselves the merits of accommodating a request for a zoning change so that an auto repair business could move to a new location. MPH Automotive is located on Midway Avenue at Spokane Way where it is “grandfathered” in because it was already there when new zoning laws were created. Chair and Councilmember Tammara Byers said the planning commission wasn’t taking public comments that night, but would at its next meeting, Nov.... Full story
Grant County Transit officials have their fingers crossed that their plans for a transportation hub in the middle of downtown Moses Lake will become a reality and link far flung corners of the county to other transportation. The GTA’s longest route is the one that comes to the Grand Coulee area, about 77 miles. The group submitted a grant request to the state Department of Transportation Oct. 6, for $1.998 million, according to Lyle Brand, hub project manager. The proposed “hub” project is located at Division and 5th Streets on 1.1 acres near... Full story
You can get a coat, free, Nov. 1, at the American Legion’s “free coat” giveaway. The coats were gathered during the Legion’s summer garage sale each Saturday at the Vet’s Center in Electric City, where people donated items for the sale. “No one wanted coats in the summer, so we decided to make then available later for those who need coats,” stated Cindy James, legion commander. The coats have been cleaned, come in all sizes, and some have scarves. James stated that everything is free to the public. And to make it an event, the legion is als... Full story
The issue of a lack of a local recycling program was raised again at the Regional Board of Mayors meeting Monday afternoon. Raising the issue was Gayle Swagerty, mayor pro-tem of Coulee Dam, who was filling in for Mayor Greg Wilder who is recovering from a stroke. She read from the mayors’ contract with Sunrise Disposal that recycling was part of the agreement. Swagerty it had come up at one of her town’s meetings. The mayors have had similar discussions before and explained that the economy of scale wouldn’t permit recycling beyond corru... Full story
Electric City is inching closer to a new logo. The council looked at four samples developed by graphic artist Richard Button and council members had a good time selecting the one they liked. The problem was that several preferences were noted. At one point it was suggested that they have one of the logos for vehicles and a different one for letterheads. But the council finally settled on one, with mayor Jerry Sands making some small alterations to the design. The council wants to change the color scheme of the logo. The logo design is oval... Full story
Proponents of larger accessory buildings in Electric City made some headway at a city planning commission meeting a week ago. It is expected that the planning commission will recommend to the city council that zoning be changed to allow 1,728 square foot buildings up to 26 feet in height. Other details such as whether the siding will have to match the homeowner’s house are still to be decided. A healthy showing of proponents showed up at the meeting and voiced their interests. Some voiced their concerns. The pros and cons of the issue are a... Full story
The city of Grand Coulee, by ordinance, has lifted restrictions on lot coverage. As a result of the ordinance, passed Oct. 7, there will be no lot coverage restrictions on all but one zone (C-H) in the city. That zone will allow 75 percent coverage allowance. In the R-1 zone, the maximum height you can build is now 30 feet, with no limit on lot coverage. The same is true in R-2, and R-3. The three zones had a 25-percent limit on lot coverage prior to the passing of the ordinance. In the C-3 and I zones, building height is 35 feet with no... Full story
If you believe Banks Lake is a good place to fish, then you can thank a couple of local men who helped make it happen. Reg Morgan, long since retired from U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Bill Brashears, who passed away about a year ago, teamed up back in 1987, and started a program of providing fish for Banks Lake that continues today. The organization POWER (Promoter of Wildlife and Environmental Resources) was founded about that time, with Bill's wife Betty coming up with the name. Morgan... Full story
Elmer City council passed a cross-connection water system program at its meeting last week. The object of the cross connection program is to reduce the risk of contamination of the public water system. Officials also stated that the new program will reduce the town’s liability arising from the backflow of any contaminant originating from the customer’s plumbing system. The town plans to make available information concerning cross connections and backflow, so water users will be able to understand what is involved. The town passed a cross con... Full story
The Coulee Area Park & Recreation District is moving forward on the planning of an “Aquatic Wellness and Fitness Center.” District President Bob Valen said Monday that the district will soon advertise for qualified firms to indicate an interest in developing conceptual drawings of what the center would look like. The district commissioners then would ask qualified firms to submit their ideas for such a center. The firm chosen would make a set of conceptual drawings for two possible locations, one across the highway from Coulee Medical Cen... Full story
A local businessman who wants to relocate his business despite resistance from Grand Coulee left a city council meeting Tuesday night with some hope. Mike Horne, owner of MPH on Midway, wants to relocate his car and boat repair business a few hundred feet north, but has run into a zoning problem. He said it has been his dream to own his own building and get set up for retirement. The very reasons people object to his business, Horne says, are the things he wants to correct. He would like to purchase a building just north of the Pepper Jack’s p... Full story
A burned out house at 611 Holly Street in Coulee Dam is going to get cleaned up. The town accepted bids from Eastside Wood Recycling of Moses Lake to rid the property of the buildings and vegetation. Town officials said the Moses Lake firm will begin the cleanup on Monday, Oct. 20. It will cost the town $8,925 to remove the burned out buildings and another $5,775 to removed burned trees and other debris. The total cost will total $14,700. The house burned Sept. 18, 2012, and has been a Holly... Full story
The waterline project to service Sunbanks Lake Resort is underway. The $300,000-plus project, first scheduled to begin in April, was started late last month and will provide Electric City water to the popular resort. While the overall project is being paid for by the resort, the city is making an investment of between $18,000 and $20,000 to enlarge the line from 8-inch to 10-inch, so the city can service any future development south of the causeway. That city expense is the difference in cost from 8-inch pipe to 10-inch pipe from State Street t... Full story
The waterline project to service Sunbanks Lake Resort is underway. The $300,000-plus project, first scheduled to begin in April, was started late last month and will provide Electric City water to the popular resort. While the overall project is being paid for by the resort, the city is making an investment of between $18,000 and $20,000 to enlarge the line from 8-inch to 10-inch, so the city can service any future development south of the causeway. That city expense is the difference in cost from 8-inch pipe to 10-inch pipe from State Street t... Full story
This year’s SHARP Kids program will kick off Oct. 28, as part of a new and enlarged five-year $1.3 million grant. Kids in the program will get a heavy STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) related curriculum experience with hands-on projects. The program is for K-12 kids who may be struggling to maintain grade-level academic results. Director Mary Schilling said students in kindergarten through third grade will have morning groupings from 7:15 - 8:15, and all other grades will have after-school activities. The annual $260,000 p... Full story
The port district is inching its way into the black at Banks Lake Golf Course. Grant County Port District 7 is about to end its third year as caretaker of the 18-hole golf course. In its first management year, the district invested about $100,000 to keep the course open after making a pledge at a community meeting that the district would not allow the course to close. At a report last Thursday, port commissioners talked about the successes of maintaining the course this past season with volunteer help, increasing membership at the course and... Full story
One Electric City council member’s dream of a city park could soon be a reality. Lonna Bussert, who has shown interest in park matters ever since she has been on the city council, has finally started the ball rolling on getting one. Mayor Jerry Sands has advised the Baptist Church board that the city is interested in purchasing part of the Baptist Church’s school play area. The area being looked at is 80 feet by 180 feet, and is all of the playground’s lower tier and part of the upper tier. Bussert sees acquiring the property as a start. She t... Full story
Police Chief Mel Hunt retires next Tuesday after 39 years of service in Grand Coulee. It all started for him in 1975, when Hunt signed on as a reserve officer. Then things happened fast, and he was named chief in 1979. It was a big step then for an Oklahoma farm boy who had lived there and in Colorado before moving with his family to Grand Coulee, where his father, Lester Hunt, took a position with the Bureau of Reclamation. The idea of retirement came crashing in on Hunt at last Tuesday's city... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam School District had 719 students for its official start-of-the-year count last Thursday. That’s about a full classroom more than the district had at its first day count last September. The official count was 719 students. This shook down to 712.71 “full time equivalent” students, since some are only part time. Still, it was an abrupt increase as new facilities attracted new students. The secondary wing, the senior and junior high, had 330 students; the elementary wing had 389. The totals were down from the initial openi... Full story
The two new libraries at Coulee Dam schools have a lot of new books. And more are on the way. A good share of the new books in the elementary and secondary libraries have been placed there by North Central Library District, and Director Dan Howard said this week that a lot more are on the way. North Central, the hub for nearly 30 community libraries in Central Washington, connected with the Grand Coulee Dam School District because doing so fit the organization’s goal of creating an environment where lifelong reading can take place. District o... Full story