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

The chamber of commerce has signed a contract with Electric City for use of the city’s hotel/motel tax dollars for 2016.

The contract is for nearly $27,000, to cover qualified promotional expenses for the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce to advertise various festivals in the area.

The contract had been issued early in the year and returned in April, but with its language altered in a bid to loosen up restrictions on the use of the money. The Electric City Council voided the contract because of the language being altered.

Everything is now operational, and Deputy Clerk Russell Powers said Tuesday the city is already processing chamber invoices.

The chamber and the city have been at odds because of how Electric City is planning the use of hotel/motel funds. The city has voted $40,000 to get a pathways project off the ground and has also voted to set aside $400,000 of that lodging tax money to get phase one of a trail system started.

The chamber has argued that the intended use of the money, promotion of tourism, should be the target for the funds.

This has caused bad feelings between the two entities. The contract signing gets a fresh start on chamber festivals planned for 2016.