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

Bruce Bartoo doesn't like the direction the town of Coulee Dam has headed the last four years.

"Except for the wastewater treatment plant, it seems like everything that's been happening has involved trees in one form or another," said Bartoo, a retired powerplant operator.

But the town has other problems that need to be addressed: the fire department has been downgraded, the ambulance service doesn't exist, and he'd like to see more fiscal responsibility.

Although he said he's never looked at the budget, he's heard of some expenses that made no sense. He cited a town-wide tree inventory done in 2015 after one had been done in 2004.

"Things haven't changed that much," he said, "and I think we have the capability to figure out what needs to be removed."

Bartoo tried to remove a town tree himself at one point, leading to a legal tussle with the town. Bartoo "girdled" a town-owned tree across the street from his home, which eventually kills a tree. Last week he insisted the tree is not dead, but its branches snap like dry, dead twigs.

"I have a letter from an arborist stating it's not dead" dated last March, he said.

In the next four years, Bartoo would like to see the fire department upgraded, the ambulance service restored and more public involvement with "adequate opportunity for public opinion in some of the decision-making processes."

His top priority would be to help the ambulance and fire department service.

Bartoo said the town government should be open to everyone and listen to the people.

"No matter what they're trying to do, whether it's a sewer plant or an application for a grant, the public should have input," he said. And they should have adequate opportunity to participate, not at "a 9 o'clock meeting on a Thursday."