Ritzville City Council hears process for creating quiet zone

The Ritzville City Council met on Tuesday, March 1, for their regularly scheduled meeting.

The first topic discussed was Resolution 2016-03, a request to name Highway 395 after Thomas Stephen Foley.

Foley was a Washington native and served in the United States House of Representatives from 1965 to 1995. He was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives from a state west of the Rocky Mountains.

Foley worked to change Highway 395 to a four-lane highway from the Tri-Cities to Ritzville.

The resolution proposes the naming of the highway from the Washington and Oregon border at Plymouth to the Washington and Canadian border at Laurier.

The renaming process includes no changing of current signage but adds additional markers showing the highway as the Thomas Stephen “Tom” Foley Memorial Highway.

The council discussed if there would be any monetary costs associated with the approval of the resolution and they were informed there would not be as the State will pay for all signage.

Councilpersons Mark Weigand and Ben Cross opposed the resolution but with a majority vote the resolution passed.

This resolution along with ones from other cities along the highway will be presented for approval on April 20 in Moses Lake at the Highway Commission meeting.

The Council also approved to set a Public Hearing for the next council meeting, March 15, to close out their previous Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) from the 2012 water system plan update.

Excessive dumping became a major discussion as Larry Swift with City Public Works advised of an issue of leaving various types of debris in the city dump.

The Council discussed the issue at length and chose to lock the gates to the dump and put up signage advising trespassing is not allowed.

They also discussed the possibility of having a week in the Spring and Fall where residents are able to bring their yard debris and dump them but they no longer want it open all year round.

Residents still have the option of taking their items to the county dumpsite.

Ritzville Police Chief Dave McCormick updated the council on several trainings the department is taking part in. He additionally presented Resolution 2016-02 for the Council to approve, which designates an outdated police vehicle as surplus.

This designation allows the department to trade it in when they collect their new vehicle from North Bend, which the Council approved in the previous meeting.

City Clerk and Treasurer Kris Robbins polled the Council on if they would be available for an executive session in regards to Well Number Nine at a time outside of their regularly scheduled meetings.

Robbins also updated the Council on the City’s income survey, which is set to be distributed the second week in March.

This survey will be included in the City’s application for CDBG funds. The survey has to be updated every three years and their last one became outdated in 2013.

Ritzville Fire Department Chief Bill Banner presented the Council with a fire department contract for appointing Joel Bell as the Assistant Fire Chief for the department.

Banner’s request was unanimously approved.

At the end of the meeting Mayor Bruce Blackwell of Connell presented to the Council Connell’s recent project to become a quiet zone for passing trains.

They were able to complete this a year ago by building curbs down the middle of the street extending from the gate on both sides for 100 feet.

Mayor Blackwell stated this cost the city just $6,000 per intersection of which they have two.

The Council wondered how this would work for them when they have tracks outside the arms of the crossing gate.

One of the items council members hear from residents is in regards to the noise of the trains but any quote they have received from the railroad has been too expensive for the council to deem it a viable expense.

Mayor Blackwell stated when he asked the railroad about creating a quiet zone they were quoted $60,000.

This quiet zone classification simply means the conductor of the train is not required to blow the whistle, but if they see an obstruction they are able to blow their horns as they see necessary.

The curbing acts as a barrier for those who try to beat the train in a sense by going around the arms of the crossing. By driving over this curbing the person is showing a preconceived desire to circumvent the obstacle therefore removing liability from the City and the railroad.

The Federal Railroad Administration deems these curbs to not be a safety issue and Mayor Blackwell stated he has seen several studies showing the curbing to help lower accidents taking place on the tracks.

The Council was very interested by the proposition and stated they would discuss the possibility of implementing such curbing within Ritzville.