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Aside from appointing Bucoda resident John Wood to the vacant Bucoda Town Council position, members of the council also discussed various different issues within the small South Thurston County community during their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 10.
Discussion topics included RV camp spots at Bucoda Volunteer Park, the Bucoda Haunted House and using the Haunted House’s gym building this summer for the Tenino Food Bank’s summer lunch program, and the town’s new contract with Thurston County Joint Animal Services to provide animal control and shelter services.
RV camp spots at the park shut down
One of the major issues was tenants renting RV camp spots at Bucoda Volunteer Park and abusing the park, according to Bucoda Mayor Callie Carpenter.
Given tenants not taking care of the park, the city not making much revenue to begin with as it only cost $20 a day to rent a RV spot, and the fact facilities at the park are already in need of renovation, the council voted unanimously to close the park at least until September, when grant funding for the renovations will be made available and work can begin.
“One incident was the person didn’t want to wait for Michael to help plug them in to the RV dump, so they started dumping in a 5-gallon bucket,” Carpenter said. “It started overflowing. They ran the bucket into the public restroom and started dumping it down the toilet. And that was all happening when I was supposed to be going to a musical.”
Another tenant who came in an RV left their camp spot “a disaster,” including dumping human waste on the ground.
“With our rates being as low as they are, I really don’t think it makes sense to have the RV park open right now,” Carpenter said. “... Twenty dollars a day, it doesn’t cover the cost.”
While closed to normal day-to-day renters, Carpenter added the town will still consider renting out the RV park to special events such as weddings or church groups looking for a campground.
Haunted House summer use
After voting to stop renting RV spots at Bucoda Volunteer Park, the council then began discussions revolving around its famous Haunted House.
The volunteer-run attraction is located in Bucoda’s old gym building and is open throughout each October when the town traditionally changes its name to Boo-Coda for its annual Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular celebration.
Some of those volunteers were in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting though, as the Haunted House set up had recently been taken down by Carpenter, who has been coordinating with the Tenino Food Bank to use the gym to distribute lunches to local children, along with letting the kids use the basketball court inside.
While they weren’t angry about the proposed use of the space this summer, displeasure was voiced as they claimed they were not given notice that the Haunted House was being disassembled.
Carpenter explained that she had been coordinating with one of the volunteers who runs the Haunted House — Rosemary Goolsby — and had received her approval to go ahead with the plan.
“It’s a big, beautiful building, but I think it could be used for more,” Carpenter said. “... I thought, ‘I just need to talk to Rosemary,’ because she’s the one who deals with the Haunted House.”
She stated Goolsby’s only concern with the Haunted House being disassembled was to ensure it was reassembled in time for the Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular.
“Rosemary was there to help direct,” Carpenter added.
Bucoda Town Councilor Miriam Gordon raised concerns on whether or not kids would actually show up to the gym during the summer.
“I understand wanting to bring more stuff in … There just isn’t a turnout and I don’t see a turnout of kids showing up. There’s no air conditioning. It’s hot. Who wants to play basketball on a half court?” Gordon said.
Councilor Steve Lyle concurred with this sentiment, and added the town has opened up the gym for use during the summer in the past and nobody used it.
Gordon also said she wished more discussion was held on the council before disassembly of the Haunted House began.
Carpenter stated if nobody showed up to use the gym during the summer or comes for the food bank summer lunch program, they would close it down and put the Haunted House back up.
Should it remain open, the plan is to still have the Haunted House reassembled by the end of August, when school is back in session.
Following nearly 50 minutes of discussion on this issue, which also included talks of also possibly renting out the gym for concerts or other events, a motion was made to open the gym over the summer and let the Tenino Food Bank run its summer lunch program out of it.
The motion was approved by a vote of 4-1, with Gordon opposing it.
Thurston County Joint Animal Services in Bucoda
Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Bucoda Town Councilor Laura Wilson announced the town was now in a contract with Thurston County Joint Animal Services.
“If you talk to people and they’re wondering what to do about a dog, or a complaint about an animal, we have a contract now with Joint Animal Services since May 1,” Wilson said.
Joint Animal Services can be contacted to assist with a variety of situations including excessively barking dogs, at-large dogs, dogs attacking other dogs or other animals, dogs menacing people outside of their owner’s property, cases of suspected animal neglect or abuse, cases of pets causing a nuisance or if someone has confined a stray dog or any injured or ill animal.
Joint Animal Services does not provide assistance with issues involving livestock, poultry, wildlife or setting traps for feral animals or stray cats.
However, Wilson added she is in talks with Joint Animal Services to try to get a catch and release program set up to spay and neuter feral cats in the community.
Residents will be advised if traps are set up so they know not to interfere with them.
For more information on Thurston County Joint Animal Services, call 360-352-2510 or visit https://jointanimalservices.org/.
