All-Community Town Hall set for April 27

Residents of the local towns will have the opportunity next month to hear from–and address–all four mayors and most council members at one joint public meeting dedicated to area-wide issues, the Regional Board of Mayors decided at their March 6 meeting.

The all-community town hall will take place Saturday, April 27 at 10:30 a.m. at the Coulee Dam Town Hall Ballroom. The Star editor and publisher Scott Hunter will moderate the event. 

The idea has been out there since Grand Coulee Mayor Mike Eylar floated it at the February mayors meeting. Over the last month, the four mayors brought it up with their councils to gauge interest, and have decided to move forward.

Electric City Mayor Diane Kohout proposed several agenda items, including road chipseal projects that span multiple town boundaries, animal control, and the possibility of asking voters to authorize creation of an emergency medical services district and a regional fire authority in the future. 

“If there’s something in there we can get together and perform as a group, I would think that that’s what we’re looking at,” said Coulee Dam Mayor Bob Poch.

The final agenda and format will be determined at the next RBOM meeting in early April, but it appears some of the meeting will be dedicated to public comment. 

There’s one long-standing community debate that will not be on the agenda, however. 

“This is not a meeting regarding consolidation, this is a meeting about collaboration,” Eylar said, referring to the past efforts to combine Electric City, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and Elmer City into one town. 

“I really hope that we’re able to knock this thing out of the park.”