Council discusses McCormick retirement

RITZVILLE – Mayor Scott Yaeger laid out various factors regarding the replacement of Police Chief Dave McCormick during the City Council's June 18 meeting.

McCormick is set to retire at the end of June.

Considerations include a competitive salary, connection to the community and experience, as both an officer and administrator.

"This is clearly the mayor's decision," Councilman Dennis Chamberlain said of the hiring process. "Those of us on the council can talk all we want. But in the end, the mayor is the one with this burden."

Under the law, the mayor appoints and the council approves the police chief, Clerk-Treasurer Julie Flyckt said.

In other matters:

The council discussed a single bid for a broadband co-location building to be located next to the old fire station at West First Avenue and Adams Street. The 9-by-15-foot building, called a "thermal telecommunications shelter," will sit on a concrete pad and house electrical and electronic gear to be used by broadband providers.

Public Works Director Dave Breazeale gave an update on Well No. 8, noting the city received a transformer and will install a pump before the end of the month. Flushing and sampling is scheduled for the second week of July. "Hopefully, by the middle of next month, we'll have a working well," he said.

"We have a lot of development work going on right now. Les Schwab is getting closer to receiving their building permit. On the Maverick side of the road, the building is going up and we are finalizing plans for Homestead Avenue," Clerk-Treasurer Flyckt said.

The Maverick gas station will be located along state Highway 261, at the Interstate 90 interchange, across the road from Love's Travel Stop and next to Big Bend Electric. An existing truck driveway at Love's will align with a new road called "Homestead Avenue" next to the Maverick lot. The gas station will be built on a "short plat" of approximately four acres.

Derek and Susan Schafer own the 287-acre property - known as Grainland Acres - that was annexed to the city in April 2021.

"We received a preliminary plot from Grainland Acres," Flyckt said. "We're reviewing what that subdivision will look like, and in the next few weeks we'll convene a formal pre-development meeting."