Friday, March 29, 2024

Chelan Council tackles full agenda

Hears unfavorable opinion

Posted

CHELAN – City council and staff convened for a full agenda of items to be discussed and heard during the regular council meeting, Tuesday, April 24 at City Hall.
During public comment, Chelan resident Tom Clark approached the podium. “I want to talk about integrity and character,” he began, “if you have integrity, it’s not a problem, it’s alright. And if you do not have integrity, it’s the same thing, it’s not a problem. And that seems contradictory to me … I remember a time in a particular city where there was a time of a very corrupt city government and there came a point where this corrupt government wasn’t putting the citizens first, so they tried to pull the FBI into the problem, and this FBI agent said, ‘you people have a problem.’ Unfortunately, I see this problem developing again. And that city, years ago, was Lake Chelan.” He proceeded to express his perception of the lack of integrity with the current city government, and that he believes that the city is “acting in ways that are not in the best interest of the citizens.” Moving away from the topic of integrity, he began to speak on the topic of public access to waterfront and the issue of the last piece of waterfront access, the Three Fingers, suggesting that the council allow the topic to be discussed with the public. Mayor Cooney responded to Clark’s request after he completed speaking, reiterating the establishment of town hall meetings and their purpose, answering the last his last request.
Moving into agenda items, the first of two public hearings for the night was the Chelan Fruit Annexation, which was led by Planning Director Craig Gildroy. The annexation is of approximately 90 acres in the Chelan Falls area, he explained. The hearing of the annexation went through without any public commentary.
The next public hearing, the North Lake Division II Development Agreement, prompted discussion from council and community members alike. “The Developer, Whiskey Ranch LLC and Cascade Property Ventures LLC desires to enter into a development with the City to modify the approved Northlake Division 2 preliminary plate from 41 to 40 lots,” Gildroy began explaining, “actually title 16 land divisions allows the subdivision administrator to allow that kind of amendment.” The road configuration would remain as previously approved for the preliminary plat and would complete the subdivision in three separate phases, he continued. The first phase would include one residential lot, with phase two consisting of 22 residential building lots and phase three with 17 residential building lots. The development will take place around the area across from The Lookout development. The conditions of the development will not necessarily follow the updated comp plan guidelines, as the process began prior, in 2016. During the public comment portion of the public hearing, Manson resident Brian Patterson spoke to the health and safety concerns he sees with the development. “I do believe these developments have significant human health consequences,” he began, “the North Lake Division II development site consists of mostly old orchard land, including orchards that existed prior to 1948 … lead arsenic was used extensively as a pesticide in orchards prior to 1948, leaving behind lead and arsenic residue in the soil, as has been demonstrated in other sites.” He proceeded to list issues that the presence of the chemicals may present or how they may impact residents later down the road. The development, already well into its planning phase, has already passed a determination of non-significance (DNS).
The following motion considerations were discussed, and all approved by Council
• RCO Grant Application Resolution 2018-1343
• Chelan Fruit Annexation Ordinance 2018-1539
• North Lake Division II Development Agreement 2018-1540
• North Lake Division II Final Plat Phase 1
• Cryptocurrency Interim Official Controls Ordinance 2018-1538
• SCJ Professional Services Agreement for irrigation, water and electrical
• Chelan Municipal Code 2.19 Amendment Ordinance 2018-1541
For more information on agenda items, visit the city’s civic web portion of their website, at cityofchelan.us.
City council meetings are held every second and fourth Tuesday, beginning at 6 p.m. at City Hall. The next scheduled meeting will take place Tuesday, May 8.

Chelan, council, meetings

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