Just over 100 Centralians attended a community town hall held in Centralia College’s TransAlta Commons on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
The town hall featured Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston, Centralia School Board President Tim Browning, Port of Centralia Commissioner Kyle Markstrom and Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope. The elected officials spent nearly two hours discussing various topics and fielding questions from those in attendance.
Topics of discussion included local infrastructure and economic development, housing and homelessness, education and public safety.
Two of the most substantial topics of discussion were when the county’s new night-by-night homeless shelter would be ready, and what was being done to help support students in elementary and high school who are also facing homelessness.
According to Centralia School District Superintendent Lisa Grant, who attended the town hall on Wednesday, just under 200 students in the school district are currently experiencing homelessness.
“There is a new housing project by Reliable Enterprises that is addressing that very issue with homeless students in the Centralia School District,” Swope said.
He estimated there were between 15 and 20 units currently designated to not only house the students, but their families as well. Smith Johnston said this is still a huge issue the city and school district is dealing with and a lot more work needs to be done.
According to Swope, the county’s new night-by-night shelter should be open within the next two months. The shelter will be located on county-owned property near the former WSECU branch along Kresky Avenue in Chehalis.
“We are on pace to open up the shelter by March,” Swope said.
Other forms of housing are being considered as well.
“A night-by-night shelter is not sufficient. We need a place for people to be during the day as well,” Smith Johnston said. “That’s something that I’ll be continuing to work toward, it’s expensive and there’s a lot of complications but we need it.”
It’s not just more shelter space that Centralia needs, according to Smith Johnston, who said all types of housing need to be increased in order to keep up with Centralia’s growth projections.
Other topics discussed throughout the evening included the new Centralia Station development and WinCo Foods, other infrastructure improvements, including the Westside Connector project, the upcoming Centralia School District replacement levy special election, and public safety issues.
To watch the full community town hall, visit The Chronicle’s Facebook page at https://fb.watch/pXOUH9jlwp/.
