he Cascade School Board is considering a four-year Maintenance and Operations Levy next year which would generate $12.8 million. The rate would be $1.39 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. In addition, the board is considering running a technology-safety levy alongside, which would raise $1.4 million over four years at 15 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. Wednesday, November 23, 2016
After considerable debate, the Leavenworth City Council denied the request for a four-way stop at Sholze Street and Enchantment Parkway. The council promised to continue to work toward a solution there, short of a four-way stop. That intersection is currently a two-way stop. The request came from nearby homeowners, Jefferson Robbins and Briar Hoper. "We received that request and our Public Works Director, Herb Amick, went out and installed some traffic counters, so we did get some traffic counts on this one," said City Administrator Joel Walinski, at the Oct. 25 city council meeting. "We've also talked with Public Safety Liaison officer, Sergeant Bruce Long, who presented at the October Public Safety meeting. At that time, the Public Safety Committee reviewed all the warrants and the warrants checklist." There are six warrants. One relates to accident data. Walinski said there were no accidents at the intersection, at least none reported. In terms of visibility, he said both Public Safety and Public Works did not find a visibility issue. Wednesday, November 23, 2016
At the October city council study session, Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar reported the Chelan County Sheriff's Office had made a request for rent assistance at the Leavenworth Fire Hall. The Sheriff's Office previously had an office at city hall for many years, Farivar said. "We raised the rate from zero to $500 a month. They said they would move. It was very acrimonious and not pleasant," Farivar. Interestingly, the Sheriff's Office moved to the Leavenworth Fire Hall, which the city also owns. Farivar said the rent there was raised from $300 to $500 a month. Wednesday, November 23, 2016
A student at Cascade High School is seeking to begin new club called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Cascade Superintendent Bill Motsenbocker presented the application for the club to the Cascade School Board at the Nov. 14 meeting. He told the board the ASB Constitution determines how clubs are approved. "The constitution says an application to form a club must be presented to secretary of the ASB, which shall include a signature of sponsorship from at least five students, the signature of a staff members who is willing to be their advisor and a brief overview of the goals and activities of the club," Wednesday, November 23, 2016
At the end of the Oct. 25 city council meeting, Leavenworth Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar reported there had been some discussion and a recommendation from the Housing Task Force regarding the need for a housing study. "We need to understand where we are with inventory, rentals, pricing. What is the demographic of who needs housing here in Leavenworth?," Farivar said. "And possibly to expand our scope outside our boundaries to determine if there are other areas that might be good for housing. There is no time like the present. Time is wasting." Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Thanks to a dramatic increase in valuation for the city of Leavenworth, most city residents will be paying the same, if not less property taxes next year, despite a $20,000 tax increase passed by the city council last week. City Finance Director Chantell Steiner, at the Nov. 8 city council meeting, told the council they had two options on the property tax for 2017. "Option A takes just the 1 percent increase plus new construction, annexation and refunds. That will net you about just under $5,000 for the 1 percent increase," Steiner said. "The second option includes grabbing $20,000 of your banked capacity on top of your 1 percent increase." Thursday, November 17, 2016
The city plan to use lodging tax to pay for garbage clean-up downtown is drawing some criticism, as expected. Bavarian Lodge Owner Lyman Boyd said this has been a hot button lodging tax issue for 30 years. "I would just like to get a little bit of insight. That's probably the number one question about this budget. I want a summary on how that shift in expenses came about," Boyd said at the Nov. 8 city council study session. In 2025-16, the city conducted a cost allocation study, in terms of looking at where people spend their time and what services were provided, City Administrator Joel Walinski told Boyd. Thursday, November 17, 2016
New U.S. Highway 2 crosswalks have been planned going on three years now. Now comes the news the Washington State Department of Transportation is suggesting the city to add a new, more expensive crosswalk system. "Originally, it was set to be two crosswalks, one at Gustavs and one at the Link Park and Ride. They were going to be like the one we have at city hall. The discussion came up that the crosswalks were going to cause some traffic issues," said Herb Amick, city public works director, at the Nov. 8 city council study session. Thursday, November 17, 2016
Free parking is a premium in Leavenworth. Everybody knows that. The closer to town, the better. That's what has made the city hall parking lot so attractive. It was free and in the middle of town. Unfortunately, for anyone using city hall or the library, the lot is often full, and not by patrons of the library or employees of city hall. In response, the city council is now discussing a two-hour limit on the city hall lot. "We don't currently have two-hour designated stalls in the city hall lot, but we have talked about changing everything to two hours," said Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar at the Nov. 8 city council study session. Thursday, November 17, 2016
Republican Brad Hawkins was a state representative for the 12th District of Washington, but now his stature has been elevated as he becomes the first new 12th District State Senator in 16 years effective January 2017. Before that George Sellar held the post for nearly three decades. "I am honored by the results and am pleased I received the majority of votes in all four counties that I represent," Hawkins said. "I want to be the representative for the entire district and the voting shows that the people have trust and confidence in me," Hawkins said. Thursday, November 17, 2016
Billy Thames is the Chelan County Veteran's Services Coordinator. He's been on the job since March. First and foremost, he manages the Veteran's Assistance Fund throughout the county. He is also accredited through the Washington Department of Veteran's Affairs. Thames is able to help veterans filing compensation claims, etc. through the VA. The county program for vets has been around awhile, he said. "It used to be a volunteer position. Chelan County has served low inc Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Several hundred area Vietnam veterans were honored by the John Kendrick Chapter (JKC), National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) at Pybus Market here Oct. 20 in a 50th Anniversary "Welcome Home" reception and ceremony. Vietnam War and Vietnam Era veterans attended the event, many wearing military hats, insignia, ribbons and medals, that came complete with reception, commemorative pins, service decals, posters and koozies, certificates for every vet that pre-registered for the event and cake and cupcakes with coffee afterwards. There was even a brief video tribute to the war narrated by Sam Elliot. Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The Cascade Kodiak girls' soccer team is headed the state tournament as a number one seed. The Kodiaks beat Naches Valley 8-1 on Nov. 3 in Leavenworth. Cascade pressed the action in the Ranger's end for 19 minutes until finally breaking through. Junior Ashley Parton scored at 19 minutes to get Cascade on the board. Ten minutes later, freshman Truh Merriman hit a nice one at 29 minutes. Two minutes later, Parton connected again, on the Merriman assist. Two minutes later, Emily Gaines scored. Naches Valley got on the board with 20 footer that cut the lead to 4-1. Then, Parton scored her third goal in added time to make it 5-1 at halftime. Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The season came to an end for the Cascade Kodiak football team last week. The week began with a three-way playoff in Wenatchee against Okanogan and Cashmere on Nov. 1. The mini-playoff is formatted like overtime rules. In the first playoff, Okanogan beat Cashmere 7-6. Cashmere went for the two-point conversion and failed. Then, Cascade played Okanogan. On 3rd and 10, Cascade hit a screen pass to Jose Valdez for the touchdown. Wednesday, November 9, 2016
here have been a number of meetings on overnight rentals over the past year. At most of the meetings, two sides squared off, the local residents against overnight rentals and the mostly out-of-town folks in favor of them. It made for some passionate discourse, to be sure. Another meeting was held on overnight rentals, Nov. 2 at the Leavenworth Fire Hall. This meeting was a little different in the respect that the pro-overnight rentals folks were not there, or at least did not speak up. Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The Chelan County PUD held another meeting regarding the planned new Leavenworth substation on Nov. 2 at the Leavenworth Fire Hall. There were about 40 people in attendance. Scott Bradshaw, a member of the PUD focus group on the substation, said he thought this was something very needed. The community needs to be involved with these types of decisions, Bradshaw said. Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Cascade High School sophomore, Gianna Pistoresi, is competing for the title of Miss Teen Washington USA. Having never before competed in a beauty pageant, Pistoresi said this started out for her when she saw an ad on Facebook. "It was for the pageant. If you want to be in the pageant, we will interview you and have a workshop with you. Then, you can be a contestant," Pistoresi said. "I'm usually into sports, hunting and stuff. This would take me outside my comfort zone. I would learn something new. I thought it would be a really fun experience. I thought I would try it." Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The design teams for Cascade High School and Alpine Lakes Elementary School are busy getting those designs up to date, reported Cascade School District Construction liaison John Henri at the Oct. 24 Cascade School Board meeting. The elementary school design has been submitted to the city for a building permit, Henri said. Also, at the Pine Street site, they have submitted the JARPA (Joint Aquatic Resource Permit Application) and wetland mitigation so they can pipe the water at the site. "That has been submitted to the city for signature. We'll be pushing to get that done," Henri said. Henri reported they had me Wednesday, November 2, 2016
The Leavenworth City Council, at their Oct. 25 meeting, approved a small, public works contract with Grindline Concrete Skatepark Design and Construction. The contract, worth $175,000, calls for the design and construction of the Leavenworth Skatepark. The Skatepark Committee, which includes three council members, the mayor and two skaters, reviewed this, said City Administrator Joel Walinski. Three companies submitted qualifications. Wednesday, November 2, 2016
The Leavenworth City Council has set a public hearing as they consider selling some surplus property on the east end of town. The property in question is adjacent to the P2 parking lot and borders U.S. Highway 2. The city acquired the property as part of purchase of an old warehouse a few years ago. Local businessmen Jeff Soehren and Oliver Brulotte have expressed interest in buying the property from the city. The two investors are also looking at purchasing the Langston property next door, which would square up the overall property, making for a better development. Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Cascade Medical ER doctor, Emily Johnston, shared her mountain guiding experiences with a group of Osborn fourth graders last week. The kids were learning about natural disasters, so Johnston's experience in the 2015 devastating earthquake in Nepal helped the students learn about that natural disaster. Johnston said she is a mountain guide, river guide and ski patroller. As a mountain guide, she's climbed Mount Rainier 122 times. She grew up in Seattle, skiing, climbing and hiking. After college, she got a job guiding on Mount Rainier for Rainier Mountaineering. Later, she would guide for International Mountain Guides. "Guided Mount Rainier, Mount McKinley. Also was a ski patroller, most recently at Stevens Pass and I was a white water rafting guide. I did all those things after college. I did those for years after college. That is the way I made my living," Johnston said. Thursday, October 27, 2016
