A number of issues were discussed during the Winlock City Council’s regular meeting on Monday, June 9, beginning with some of the city’s upcoming road improvement projects detailed in its six-year transportation improvement plan.
Along with road projects, the council also discussed city code pertaining to permitting for temporary fireworks stands and moving forward with the creation of a farm board commission to help preserve farmland and the farming way of life in the community.
Additionally, Winlock Egg Day Queen candidate Georgia Sayler made an appearance and spoke during public comment to share her biography with the council, fulfilling candidate requirements in order to get elected Egg Day queen.
“I think my interests and skills represent Winlock well,” Sayler said. “My family has been in the Winlock area for nearly 100 years. I hope to become the next Egg Day queen, becoming the fifth in my family.”
The Winlock Egg Day coronation ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 19, followed by the Egg Day festival June 20 through June 22. For more information on the festival, visit https://www.winlockeggdays.com/.
Six-year transportation improvement plan
Some details of the transportation improvement plan were discussed during a public hearing held just prior to the city council meeting. According to Winlock Mayor Brandon Svenson, the road projects that made the list were only the ones city staff could secure grant funding for.
The plan itself is required to be maintained by the city to apply for grant funding.
“Quite frankly, the council and I would like to redo every road in the City of Winlock, but oftentimes, there are projects which TIB (Washington state Transportation Improvement Board) will not fund,” Svenson said.
One of the first road work projects that is getting tackled is the sinkhole on Nevil Road. Though a fix is in the works, city staff are still trying to secure more Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to construct a square culvert to solve the sinkhole problem, as this isn’t the first time Nevil Road has had one.
“Those funds, they’re very competitive and it’s hard to get your hands on them. WSDOT typically won’t step in on a project like this until it fully fails and is an emergency, which is what happened in the past,” Svenson said.
Other projects within the plan include paving a new parking lot at the old hostel building, city-wide road sealing, patching and restriping, installing sidewalks on several streets, widening Front Street from Stannon Street to Campbell Street, and more.
During the meeting, before the Winlock City Council made a motion concerning approval of the city’s six-year transportation improvement plan, Svenson took issue with one project added to the plan — a statutory stipulation that municipalities have a plan to preserve the railroad right-of-way should railroad companies cease operations.
“A lot of other cities use them for non-motorized trails,” Winlock City Attorney Marissa Jay said.
Svenson stated he had been working on the transportation improvement plan since 2020 and asked why the issue hadn’t been brought up before. Jay said she had informed the council about the stipulation via email on May 13.
“BNSF is not abandoning this railway anytime soon. If we need to add this to finish this product, we will. My irritation is it being brought up five years later,” Svenson said.
Ultimately, the six-year transportation improvement plan draft was amended and then approved unanimously by the Winlock City Council.
Updates to municipalities’ transportation improvement plans are required annually by the state’s Growth Management Act.
Temporary fireworks stand permitting
Also discussed during the meeting were temporary fireworks stand permits, as an application for one had been submitted to the city. But the application wasn’t from the Winlock Lions Club, which typically runs its fireworks stand in the city’s plaza every year.
The applicant who did apply was the owner of the Shell gas station just off of Exit 63 on Interstate 5. Deadline to apply for a temporary fireworks stand permit in Winlock was Tuesday, June 10, and as of Monday’s meeting, the Lions Club had yet to apply.
The Chronicle contacted Svenson on Wednesday, June 11, to see if the nonprofit had submitted its permit application. He confirmed they did before the deadline and are planning to have a variety of fireworks for sale, which would even satisfy Joe Dirt.
“They will have Black Cats, Roman candles, screaming mimis, lady fingers, snicker bombs, finger blasters, gut blasters, zippity do das, spleen splitters, hoosker doos, hoosker don’ts, Cherry Bombs, nipsy daisers — with or without the scooter stick — whistling kitty chasers and, of course, snakes and sparklers,” Svenson quipped.
However, the city’s temporary fireworks stand permit code still needed amending, as the council continued discussing Monday.
The Winlock Lions Club has traditionally sold fireworks in the city every year the week preceding the Fourth of July holiday. Sales from the stand are the club’s biggest fundraiser of the year, raising money for many club projects along with its scholarship fund, according to the club’s website.
Current city code dictates only one fireworks stand may be permitted annually, meaning if the council were to approve the stand permit application already submitted, the Lions Club won’t be able to sell fireworks within Winlock at all as it was not the first to submit its application.
Svenson acknowledged with the recent annexation and Winlock’s population growth, it might be time to amend city code to allow for at least more than one temporary fireworks stand within city limits.
However, the issue then became how the council would be able to ensure the Winlock Lions Club still gets a permit if more than one other application is submitted in future years.
“I’m not saying I want to play favorites with the Lions Club, but let’s be honest, they are the backbone and soul of our city,” Winlock City Councilor Jeramy Allman said.
As for why the Winlock Lions Club hadn’t applied for a temporary fireworks stand permit yet, Winlock City Councilor Jodie Curtis explained the club just had a new president take over.
“I’m not sure he is aware yet of all the hoops he has to jump through to do this,” Curtis added.
She also said the Lions Club doesn’t mind having other stands around, as they don’t all sell the same fireworks.
Jay suggested wording the new code to allow for a higher number of stands based on population numbers or overall acreage within city limits.
“There’s not a great way to ensure that this doesn’t happen (again) moving forward,” Svenson said. “… Bottom line is I wanna see the Lions Club be able to sell fireworks this year.”
Ultimately, the council moved to table amending the Winlock City Code pertaining to temporary fireworks stand permits to the next council meeting.
Winlock Farm Board Commission creation
The council also discussed the creation of a Winlock Farm Board Commission and agreed to have city staff move forward with drafting a resolution establishing it.
“This is something that has been on my heart for a while. It’s something that was spoken about during the annexation talks,” Svenson said.
With farming still being prevalent throughout Lewis County, Svenson wanted to create the farm board to act as an arbitrator between farmers and developers coming in looking to purchase farmland for housing developments as the county’s population continues to grow.
While he understands the growth is coming, Svenson’s hope is to still preserve farming in the area, especially with many smaller hobby farms popping up.
“Recently we had a complaint from a housing development that backs up to a farm, about farm smells. Farms have farm smells, and that’s fine, I understand that, but the farm was there prior to the houses,” Svenson said. “Robert and I went and spoke to the farm owner, and the farm owner had some concerns as well. Like having had vape cartridges thrown into his field and in his pens with his cows, and garbage and random food. So it’s not a one-sided issue here.”
Once created, the Winlock Farm Board Commission will have five farmer members to advocate for farmers and address farming issues around the community.
“It’s a balancing act, of course, and I think this will go a long way … to make sure farms have a voice,” Svenson said.
He added he already knew of three local farmers interested in serving on the board.
Once fully established, applications for the board positions will be accepted, and like other city boards and commissions, the council will review applications and make appointments to the board, according to Winlock City Clerk Maureen Crabtree.
