Members of the Mossyrock City Council convened for their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 18, and appointed Mossyrock resident Mark Thompson to a council vacancy.
“While being newer to the area, I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest all my life. Vancouver, Portland, Battle Ground, Yacolt, Toutle, so I’ve been around,” Thompson said during his interview prior to being appointed. “... I’ve met some really nice people here and I love it here. It’s a great place to live. I used to drive for FedEx Freight, and this was part of my route. When I used to drive through here, we were living in Vancouver then — this is my wife, Kathy — we lived in Vancouver. And I knew when I retired, got older, I was going to move out in this area. We wound up in Toutle first, but things just weren’t quite right for us.”
However, they seem to have found a place that’s right for them in Mossyrock.
The vacancy was created following the resignation of former Councilor Shannon Mcarron on Jan. 1 due to family issues, as previously reported by The Chronicle. The couple has called Mossyrock home for over a year and a half. Thompson will now serve out the remainder of Mcarron’s term through the end of 2027.
Now that he’s been appointed, Thompson will be sworn in at the beginning of the next Mossyrock City Council meeting, on Wednesday, April 15.
During the meeting, Morton Police Chief Cole Cournyer also introduced his department’s newest officer, Laura Riebold.
“She was a lateral that came to us from Georgia and she has successfully passed the CJCT (Washington state Criminal Justice Training Commission) requirements, the academy, all state requirements, and she’s going to be some training with us onboarding, and will be working on her own with us shortly,” Cournyer said.
He also stated Morton Police Officer Jessica Stevens had also returned to duty after spending the last few months recovering from a dog attack at the end of 2025.
“We’re really thankful for that,” Cournyer added.
As for official council business, multiple draft ordinances were once again tabled due to lack of review for recommendations by the Mossyrock Planning Commission. Mossyrock Planning Commission Chair Marcia Manley was recovering from surgery over the past two months and finally returned during Wednesday’s meeting.
Manley told Mossyrock Mayor Randall Sasser the planning commission would meet and ensure the draft ordinances were reviewed to be submitted with recommendations to the council by the council’s next two meetings.
While the Mossyrock Planning Commission does have the minimum required number of members, two vacancies still exist on the commission, which meets once a month at the Mossyrock Community Center. Planning commission members are responsible for reviewing draft ordinances, development proposals, subdivision plans, rezone requests and other long-range planning projects, and to make recommendations on what they’ve reviewed for city council consideration.
Those interested in serving on the Mossyrock Planning Commission don’t have to live directly within city limits, but can live anywhere in the 98564 ZIP code area. Letters of interest to fill one of the vacancies can be submitted at Mossyrock City Hall.
Draft ordinances on the agenda pertained to the consolidation of fee schedules to simplify the fee schedule amendment process, conditional use permits, the storage of RVs and containers on private property, and clarifying the definitions for owning livestock and animals. Manley stated the fee schedule, RV and animal ordinances would be ready for council review by their next meeting in April, and the conditional use permit ordinance by May.
Also during the meeting, Lewis County Fire District 3 Chief Bill Edgington announced Mossyrock’s fire department would host a bingo night on Friday, March 20, starting at 6 p.m. The Lewis County Fire District 3 station is located at 238 Mossyrock Road E.
Mossyrock Historical Society member Buddy Rose spoke during public comment as well. He stated the first reprinted editions of the “Red Book” would soon be available for sale. Officially called “Memories from Family Albums of School District #206,” it’s also known as the Red Book as it had a red cover.
“We’re about to have 300 copies, and to start with, initial sales are going to be cash only, starting April 1 at the Historical Society meeting,” Rose said. “And then they will put together the online sales.”
Mossyrock Historical Society meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. inside the Mossyrock Community Center.
The book was originally compiled by Mossyrock Grange members in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration, and the Mossyrock Grange partnered with the Historical Society for the reprint to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday this year. According to Rose, 1,000 original copies of the Red Book were printed in 1976.
It will retail for $50, with proceeds benefiting both the Grange and Historical Society.
At nearly 400 pages, the book features the histories of the local churches, post offices and fire departments in the School District #206 area, along with photos and East Lewis County family genealogical history.
One of the stories featured includes the tale of Daniel Shaner, a U.S. Civil War Union Army veteran who had made his way out west after the war and eventually settled in Lewis County.
Before that though, Shaner was in Washington, D.C., on the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre.
In fact, he was assigned to guard the president and had just been relieved of his duty at 10 p.m. just before the assassination took place. His story is just one of many featured in the book.
The reprinting is being handled by Gorham Printing in Centralia, and once the initial 300 reprints are sold, Rose said more will be ordered.
