Woodland — At its Dec. 15 meeting, the Woodland City Council voted unanimously to approve a series of contracts, grants and ordinances, including a $715,297 Transportation Improvement Board grant for a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) grind-and-overlay project on Main Street and approval to begin the process of bringing the city’s utility billing in‑house with Tyler Technologies.

The council authorized the mayor to sign the TIB grant agreement that will fund the project segment from the US Bank area up to the railroad tracks. The city will supply a budgeted 20% local match. “No contingencies here,” said the mayor (not named in the transcript), who and council members called the award a strong opportunity for Woodland.

On legal services, council authorized an interlocal agreement with the city of Kelso for prosecution services. The mayor said Woodland lacks a full‑time in‑house prosecutor and budgeted the higher costs for contracted services.

Council members also moved forward on traffic and school‑safety improvements. The mayor was authorized to sign a construction and maintenance agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation to install official school‑speed‑zone signage at North Fork Elementary. Chief Gibbs (participating online) told the council enforcement will be aligned with regular school days and that the city is coordinating with WSDOT on sign timing and ownership.

On utility billing, the council authorized termination of the existing vendor contract (vendor name appears with inconsistent spellings in the transcript) with the required 90‑day notice and approved an agreement with Tyler Technologies to implement in‑house utility billing. The mayor said the implementation budget includes about $30,000 to bring the Tyler Tech billing system into city operations; staff estimated full implementation in late summer or early next fall.

The council adopted Ordinance 15-80 on final reading to establish fire impact fees authorized by chapter 82.02 RCW (amending Ordinance 1059) and adopted Ordinance 15-83 (first and final reading) to eliminate a clearing-account provision in the Woodland Municipal Code, a change the mayor said will reduce recurring bank fees. All votes on the evening’s action items were recorded as unanimous “ayes” by the members present.

The council also approved routine vouchers and consent items and noted a forthcoming Granite Construction groundbreaking on Jan. 8 and other calendar items. The next council meeting with the newly seated members will be Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.

Votes at a glance: approve vouchers — unanimous; Kelso interlocal agreement — unanimous; WSDOT school speed‑zone agreement — unanimous; TIB grant $715,297 (20% match) — unanimous; authorize Tyler Technologies agreement/terminate current vendor — unanimous; Ordinance 15‑80 (fire impact fees) — adopted; Ordinance 15‑83 (eliminate clearing account) — adopted.