Chehalis Man Disappointed With City Rescinding Approved Latecomer’s Agreement Extension

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Chehalis resident Arnold Haberstroh was at the Chehalis City Council’s meeting on Monday, March 27, to comment on the final agenda item the council had before it adjourned into executive session — the rescission of a five-year extension to his latecomer’s agreement approved at an Oct. 10, 2022, council meeting. 

Haberstroh asked for the extension to give the city time to collect an estimated $11,000 he said he is owed from property owners near a water main line extension Haberstroh paid for through latercomer’s fees. 

Despite the council approving the extension last fall, it voted 6-1 to rescind it. 

“I’ll explain how we got here, which I don’t think is the way Chehalis generally wants to do business, I hope,” Haberstroh said at the meeting, later adding, “I just don’t think we do business where you tell somebody something and then go back and rescind it. What’s that say for new people coming to town?”   

The fees were used for a boundary line adjustment that was completed, a short-plat on a different parcel and a building permit for another. 

Haberstroh originally entered into the latecomer’s agreement with the City of Chehalis in September 2008 when he paid for a 1,080-foot water main extension with three fire hydrants that stretched down My Own Lane in Chehalis. 

The agreement allowed the city to collect fees from other property owners who connected to the water main extension for 15 years. 

Per the agreement, any fees collected were to be given to Haberstroh within 60 days. He added that didn’t happen. The last fee Haberstroh said he received took five months to be delivered. 

“I spent 107,000 bucks to put this water line down the road,” Haberstroh said.

During his time talking to the council, Haberstroh played voicemail messages on his phone left by Chehalis Building and Planning Manager Tammy Baraconi. In the voicemails, Baraconi explained the work, which involved the three fees that were still owed had been completed, but noted legally collecting the fees was not going to be easy. 

He also argued the city set precedent by previously collecting latercomer’s fees for building permits, short-plat approvals and boundary line adjustments throughout most of the agreement’s life. 

“I’m not an attorney, but that seems pretty straight forward that these are the qualifications that trigger the latecomer agreement,” Haberstroh said. 

The agreement is set to expire on Sept. 2, but last August, Haberstroh requested a five-year extension to give the city a chance to collect the $11,000 in fees. The council approved it based on advice from former city attorney Erin Hillier.



“Our city code allows for us to enter these latecomer’s agreements for the period of time as allowed by state statute and that period of time is 20 years,” Hillier said during an Oct. 10 meeting.

Though she supported the extension, Hillier also challenged two of the three fees Haberstroh tried to get the city to collect. 

Following the October approval that Haberstroh obtained, Hillier left the city and was replaced by new City Attorney Kevin Nelson, who said based on his research and additional analysis provided by the Washington Municipal Research and Services Center, the extension wasn’t lawful.

“It became apparent to me that there is no lawful basis for extending to 20 years from the 15 years as established by statute at the time of the original contract,” Nelson said during Monday night’s meeting.

Since the change in state statute happened after the latecomer’s agreement originally began, he said it can’t be extended. 

Nelson also argued that per his interpretation of the agreement itself, fees could only be collected when events like a boundary line adjustment, building permit or short-plat triggered the need for a new connection to be physically made to the water main. 

“If you read that, it doesn’t say connections, and the city also agreed because they paid one of the latecomer’s (agreement fees) for a boundary line adjustment. You’ve already done it, you set precedence for it,” Haberstroh said, later adding, “It does not say it has to be a (new) connection, it says ‘or.’” 

Haberstroh was also displeased about being told about the sudden rescission of the agreement’s extension, which he only found out about a week before the March 27 meeting. 

Haberstroh provided The Chronicle with a copy of the latecomer’s agreement. Paragraph five ends with, “for a period of 15 years from the date this agreement is executed, no person, firm or corporation shall be granted a building permit, short-plat approval, boundary line adjustment or final plat approval, or any new ‘connection’ to any structure or any property within the benefit area, until they shall pay all applicable reimbursement assessments.”  

Discussion between Haberstroh, the councilors and city staff over this issue lasted for about 30 minutes, with the council ultimately voting to rescind it through a 6-1 vote. Officials noted they would still work to try to get Haberstroh the fees he believes he is owed still before the extension expires on Sept. 2. 

“If there’s a permit or something that triggers the payment then, it’s still in effect, whether we extend you five years or not,” Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Spahr said. 

Chehalis City Manager Jill Anderson also thanks Haberstroh for his continued patience throughout the ongoing process.