Ritzville City Council discusses EARH annexation request

The Ritzville City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 19, as the City continued to move ahead with East Adams Rural Healthcare’s request to have the City annex two parcels of EARH property into Ritzville’s corporate limits.

EARH CEO Gary Bostrom says that the hospital plans on using the two parcels, which are located near the Life Care Center on South Lewis Street, for facilities that will specialize in dementia care and potentially assisted living.

In accordance with the Revised Code of Washington, the Council unanimously passed a motion to accept the proposed annexation and require the simultaneous adoption of the comprehensive plan. Not included in the motion was requiring the assumption of any or all portions of existing indebtedness to the City by the area that will be annexed, because there is no indebtedness to the City for the two parcels that EARH seeks to have annexed.

City Clerk-Treasurer Julie Flyckt noted that there are a lot of pieces to this process that has been ongoing for several months, and said that the City wants to make sure it gets done right. Mayor Gary Cook added that the City doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned, which is why they have consulted with an attorney that has experience in land-use matters, to go along with the City’s usual consultant.

Bostrom said that he believes EARH’s planned developments for the property would be “a big boon” to the City, compared to having a vacant abandoned building just sitting there. Bostrom also thanked the City for its careful step-by-step approach to the process.

A public hearing was also held during the meeting for the proposed vacation of an alley at 310 E Elm Ave on the property of Block 33, Greene and Prouty’s First Addition to the City of Ritzville. The alley is located between Lots 1-8 and 9-16.

The request for the vacation of the alley was submitted by Kenneth and Joneel Russell, who plan on building one home on the property this year, and another home on the same parcel sometime in the future. The vacation of the alley between the two lots would allow for two houses to be built on the property.

No one from the public spoke at the hearing. Flyckt said that the City has been working with the Russells for nearly a year on this parcel. Ritzville Police Chief David McCormick noted that he thought the Russells did a fantastic job of cleaning up the property, and Councilmember Dennis Chamberlain said he thought it would be quite an improvement after the Russells had completed the process of building on the property.

Public Works Director Larry Swift confirmed that no utilities are located in the undeveloped alley. A review of the Comprehensive Plan and Ritzville Municipal Code Chapter 11.235 showed that the request is in compliance with the plan and city codes. Further, the City Attorney reviewed the request and indicated support for the approval of an ordinance to vacate the alley.

An ordinance for the vacation of the alley will be introduced at the next council meeting in March. The Ritzville Planning Commission must first review and make a recommendation to the City Council before a vote can be held to approve the ordinance.

In other news, Ritzville Fire Chief Joel Bell received a blessing from the council to pursue a lead on a new fire truck for the fire department. Bell said at the meeting that the department is having problems with one of the used trucks that was bought during the previous fire chief’s tenure.

“The truck hardly ever gets ran, and [it was] bought more for the fire rating than anything,” said Bell. “And I would hate to be the one to not have a running truck when we need a running truck.”

Bell said the department has a lead on a truck that is a few years newer than the truck in question, and it was previously in service in the Yakima area. Bell said the truck is being sold for a “dirt cheap” price, and is interested in traveling to inspect the truck in person and make sure it’s mechanically sound. One of Bell’s concerns is that the truck could be too tall to fit in the station.

Bell also received approval from the council to increase the fire department to a 30-person crew. Bell said that the department had already been approved to go to a 30-person crew several years ago under another fire chief, but couldn’t pinpoint the exact date when that approval was given.

The costs for the fire department would not rise unless more people actually join the fire department, but Bell said even then it would still be within budget. The most crew members Bell can remember there being during his time with the department is 26, and there are currently 25 crew members.

The next council meeting is scheduled for March 5 at 7 p.m.