Winlock City Council members met for their second regular meeting of the month on Feb. 23, and to begin the meeting, the council voted to remove two items from the meeting’s agenda.
The first was an authorization motion allowing Winlock Mayor Victoria Marincin to issue a 90-day contract termination notice to the city’s current legal representation — the Buzzard Law Group — and the second another authorization motion starting the request for proposals process for a new municipal legal services contract, with Buzzard Law Group permitted to re-apply for the contract.
These agenda items were proposed by Marincin following the first Winlock City Council meeting this month when Marincin suggested the city should look for other options when it comes to municipal legal representation after publicly questioning the work of Winlock City Attorney Jim Buzzard and his associate Marrisa Jay.
Winlock City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Jeramy Allman made the motion to remove the pair of authorization motions from the meeting’s agenda, and the motion passed.
During her mayor’s comments, Marincin thanked Winlock City Clerk Maureen Crabtree and other city staff for their recent work in locating and providing financial records to Washington State Auditor’s Office staff and reiterated her commitment to increasing transparency in the city’s government within the bounds of state and federal law.
“The council also helps facilitate what our town feels like. Whether it is safe, clean, respectful and welcoming. In the coming weeks, I will be talking with council members about committee work, so we can stay organized and focused on the needs of the city,” Marincin said. “I recently mentioned to Councilman Allman that he might be a good fit to help keep an eye on public work needs. Even though that was just an informal conversation, he is already ensuring updates about emerging issues and keeping me and (Winlock Community Development Director) Robert (Webster) informed about new issues. That kind of cooperation is greatly appreciated.”
She added her role as mayor, while she might not always agree with the council, was to work with the council to carry out the lawful decisions approved by the council.
Among the other agenda items up for council consideration included a rental lease agreement renewal for Winlock Youth Baseball to use the fields at Winolequa Park, which was approved.
The lease dictates that aside from an annual amount of $60 charged to the nonprofit youth sports organization, Winlock Youth Baseball is also responsible for paying the Lewis County Public Utilities District electric bill for the park.
A Winlock Youth Baseball representative added ToledoTel also helps pay the electric bill. According to the council’s agenda report, Winlock Youth Baseball will be using Winolequa Park Monday through Friday from April 13 through May 1 for pre-season practice from 4 to 8:30 p.m., with games held on weekdays from May 4 through June 26.
Prior to the end of the season on June 26, Winlock Youth Baseball intends on hosting a special Winlock Egg Day baseball game open to all community members on June 20, with more details to be released soon. For updates on the season and to find out how to get involved with Winlock Youth Baseball, visit its Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/247yfuk4.
Councilors also approved a lease renewal for space at the Winlock Community Building used by the Winlock Lions Club to store the club’s bingo boards. Specifically, the Lions Club uses the storage room next to the stage in the community center, for an annual rent payment of $60.
Finally, councilors further discussed whether or not the City of Winlock should keep paying an annual $137 membership fee to be a part of the South Lewis County Chamber of Commerce, an issue that was tabled at this month’s earlier meeting.
Winlock City Councilor Chuck Camps wanted to know specifically what the city was getting for its money. Chamber representatives explained dues help fund Chamber events and advertisements for Chamber ribbon-cutting events — like the one held in Winlock recently for the new retail cannabis dispensary The Evergreen Egg.
Marincin added neighboring communities like Vader, Toledo and Napavine are all members, and also disclosed she herself as a private business owner was also a member.
Allman opposed renewing the city’s Chamber membership, saying that aside from a recent ribbon cutting event the Chamber did for the city as a whole as an effort to revitalize the downtown area, he hadn’t really seen any benefit from the city being a Chamber member.
“They’ve grand-opened the city that never closed to begin with. A lot of citizens are confused and upset with the whole spectacle that was made, and I don’t see what the city gets out of it,” Allman said. “... I understand that other cities are a part of it, and other groups are a part of it. I personally, don’t feel we should be a part of it.”
Winlock City Councilor Alishia Hornburg disagreed with Allman, saying she felt the $137 wasn’t that much considering the advertising value, and also felt that Allman simply didn’t like the Chamber’s involvement with the Lewis County News weekly publication.
“They’re putting us on the map, the businesses,” Hornburg said.
“They’re not,” Allman replied. “They are promoting a newspaper that is bashing Winlock businesses that help us, and are helping our city, and they are supporting the newspaper by doing so.”
Lewis County News is run and edited by Lynette Hoffman, who also serves as a South Lewis County Chamber of Commerce board member.
Allman made a motion to deny the Chamber membership renewal, while Hornburg countered with a motion to approve it. Both motions ended in a 2-2 vote tie, with Councilor Jodie Curtis abstaining from voting.
While Marincin would normally hold the tiebreaker vote as mayor, with this motion being one approving the spending of city funds, she legally could not cast a vote.
Ultimately, the issue was once again tabled for further discussion at the next Winlock City Council meeting, scheduled for Monday, March 9, starting at 6 p.m. inside Winlock City Hall.
