Goodrich Road resident Teresa Linwood testifies about long-running complaints held by some who live near the Discovery Trail entrance adjacent to the Centralia Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Residents of Goodrich Road near the Discovery Trail took advantage of another opportunity Tuesday to voice their complaints to the Centralia City Council.
However, their distaste for the traffic and disruptive activities by some who visit the entrance adjacent to the city wastewater treatment plant did not sway the council, which voted unanimously to approve the new parking location for trail users on the same property as the treatment plant.
City officials moved the parking lot in January from its previous location at the end of Goodrich Road, where residents reported illicit activities ranging from excessive noise to prostitution. The addition of reliable lighting and security cameras has cut down on the illegalities, but not the traffic and general patronage vocal opponents Teresa Linwood and Stacy Kaech say has continued to plague their neighborhood since the trail opened more than a dozen years ago.
Both women advocated Tuesday for the city to further explore building a new parking lot for the Discovery Trail south of Goodrich Road on an access road that leads to the treatment plant. City officials opposed the proposal for reasons ranging from cost to public safety.
“There are no security cameras, no power, and no lighting,” said Public Works Director Kim Ashmore. “We would have to install an additional gate on the access road. There’s one blind corner, the first corner coming off Harrison, where there’s a mound that makes it almost a blind corner. I’d be a little concerned with traffic in and out of there all day.”
Kaech and Linwood reiterated the offer by their families and neighbors to build the parking lot themselves at no cost to the city. Ashmore estimated in response to a query from Councilor Peter Abbarno that it would cost around $90,000 to build the alternate parking lot to meet specifications required by city code. The two women audibly scoffed in response.
“We’ve listed every concern under the sun and feel like we are still being neglected,” Linwood testified. She claimed city staff had not followed through on council direction to maintain open lines of communication with residents as they made decisions related to the Discovery Trail.
Abbarno asked city staff more than once during the discussion if larger signage could be installed up the road from the new lot not only making clear to visitors where they are supposed to park but that the area was monitored by city staff and surveillance cameras.
He also implored staff members in attendance to make sure workers use the access road when arriving and departing the treatment plant as instructed. They make up a good portion of the more than 120 cars per day counted during a recent traffic study of Goodrich Road.
Customers who purchase compost from the city at the treatment plant are also supposed to use the access road. Kaech used those instructions as reason to doubt Ashmore’s claim the road would be unsafe for regular traffic.
She asked the council before it voted to encourage the city to route all Discovery Trail traffic onto the city access road, calling it the logical and right thing to do for the neighborhood.
“I feel for the residents of Goodrich Road, I really do,” Abbarno said. “My feeling is there was one change that helped a little bit and helped reduce some of the issues. … At this point, my recommendation would be to leave it as is, but I think they have a very good argument as far as the traffic and speed, especially if there are city employees involved.”
Other councilors made comments that were less sympathetic to those lobbying for additional action. Sue Luond said the council hears from both sides of the issue, including people who live on Goodrich Road that don’t share the concerns of Linwood and Kaech. Mayor Lee Coumbs said he felt the city had come up with a good solution for their complaints and the city wasn’t treating them any differently than they would persons who live near Borst Park or on other well-trafficked public roads.
It was also not lost on members of the council that Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza and Centralia Police Chief Carl Nielsen stood in favor of the current parking arrangement. Snaza submitted a letter of support, which was included in the agenda packet distributed to council members prior to the meeting.
“I think my concern with the alternate parking would be that it’s a little more removed from public eye,” Luond said. “I think if you had that available to people, I think we could see more problems than what we currently see, because people could get down there and start sneaking around. … I think that could be more dangerous, actually.”
