The Chehalis City Council is one vote away from kickstarting the annexation of the city’s urban growth area (UGA.)
Councilors voted 6-1 Monday to pass the first reading of an ordinance approving annexation. The second and final reading will be voted on by the council on Monday, Nov. 24, when citizens will have one final opportunity for public comment.
The first reading followed the continuation of a public hearing on annexation first held on Oct. 20.
Councilor Kevin Carns was the lone opposing vote on the first reading of the annexation ordinance. He clarified that while his mind is yet to be made up for the second vote, his opposition for the first vote is solely based on process.
“I am not opposed to the annexation on final, but process wise, I just can’t get there tonight because I think we should be waiting until the county takes their vote and then we take ours,” Carns said. “If they make an amendment, you guys are going to have to come back. Not that they’re going to, but legislative bodies are unpredictable. If they take a different vote than the (interlocal agreement) we pass, then we’re gonna have to go back to the drawing board and start this process over again.”
City Manager Stacy Denham noted that the Lewis County Board of Commissioners has made it clear that it would not vote on annexation before the city council does.
Eleven citizens spoke in front of the council Monday to share their views and ask questions.
Bud Goodwillie, a former fire chief of Lewis County Fire District 6, began the public hearing by presenting a petition with roughly 90 signatures for certain residents in the UGA to be exempt from the annexation.
“I have presented a petition basically from the Bishop Road and Jackson Highway intersection south to include Taylor Road to be exempt from the UGA and the annexation,” Goodwillie said. “While getting signatures through those developments, concerns that I was hearing were that they’re going to increase our taxes, the response time for law enforcement and response time for the fire department are going to increase, and they don’t want that.”
Goodwillie also claimed that the fire department would need to hire at least 10 firefighters and build another station, adding that he doesn’t “see the purpose” of the interlocal agreement between the Chehalis Fire Department and Lewis County Fire Districts 5 and 6.
Denham clarified multiple inaccuracies in Goodwillie’s comment, including how taxes will see an overall reduction and how response times for law enforcement and fire departments will improve.
Greg Cole, who was recently elected as a Lewis County Fire District 6 commissioner, told the council and city staff that road maintenance and improvements for the potential annexed area will be necessary, namely on Jackson Highway. He added that future developments will put more stress on Jackson Highway and more pressure on the city to upgrade the road.
“The City of Chehalis is having a difficult time maintaining the roads they already have. If you want to understand that, just go down Third Street, also known as speed bump,” Cole said. “How is the city going to maintain all these roads that are going to be coming in with 21 miles of roads that are going to be added?”
Bill Vanderhoff, a resident within the UGA, tacked on to Cole’s concerns about road maintenance, explaining his hope for the level of service to be maintained if annexation goes through.
“If the city intends to assume maintenance of the roads, I expect significant investment in personnel, equipment, and funding will be necessary,” he said.
Additionally, Vanderhoff detailed what he called a “notable increase” in traffic congestion in the Jackson Highway area and agreed with Cole’s assessment that the issue will worsen with upcoming growth.
“Looking at recent construction or projected growth in this area, there is every reason to believe congestion will only get worse and, more likely, very quickly,” Vanderhoff said. “I am hopeful planning has already begun to address this already worsening situation. I would hate to see Chehalis repeat the issues existing along North Harrison Avenue in Centralia.”
Ted Knapp, vice president of development for CRG, a real estate development and investment firm, provided his support for annexation. CRG is under contract with the Port of Chehalis for about 105 acres of land near the Jackson Highway and Rush Road area, he said, and the company is aiming to start construction next spring or summer.
“We strongly support the annexation just for the continuity and uniformity of processing our plans and so forth,” Knapp said.
J. Vander Stoep, a Chehalis School District board member and Chehalis Basin Board member, also expressed his support for the annexation and said that the move is an important step toward growth.
“I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about pros and cons. I believe that the future of this community, 10 years from now, it will seem that your action, if you take this, will be seen as an important positive net milestone for the City of Chehalis,” Vander Stoep said.
Sen. John Braun, who owns Raindrop Properties, LLC, said the company supports the annexation as it owns 680 undeveloped acres in the northern part of the proposed annexation area.
“This is property that represents an opportunity for our community of probably around 4,000 homes over the next 10 to 20 years,” Braun explained. “I don’t know about any of you, but my wife and I raised four children here. They’re currently spread all over the world, but I’d like them to come back here someday. If we want them to come back, we’re going to have to provide housing that is accessible and affordable, and this is how you do it.”
Jason Alves, a member of the Lewis County Planning Commission, said annexation is critical for both the county and the city to move forward.
“The only way to get out of some of the issues we have that we hear about all the time in our commission — high cost of living, infrastructure, those kinds of things — you have to grow your way out of it,” Alves said.
Tim Potter was perhaps the strongest voice against the annexation during the public hearing. While he acknowledged the work of the city staff to bring the ordinance forward, he claimed that “90% of the people you’re trying to annex don't know about it.”
“I haven’t heard any discussion about how this is going to affect your future constituents out there,” Potter said. “What happens to the people that have cows, goats, pigs and roosters? I don’t see them here in town. Do we have to register our pets? Nobody knows.”
He gave the councilors and city staff a piece of advice: give annexation a test run. Potter told them to take the point-of-sale district, take some residences and some port property and test how bringing those areas into the city works.
“Nobody past Bishop Road wants to be in this city, and we certainly don’t want you to drag us down with messing with our fire departments and everything else,” he said. “Maybe just draw the line there at Bishop Road.”
The next council meeting, which includes another annexation public hearing, will be held on Nov. 24 at 5 p.m.
