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Forks council reviews lodging-tax funding requests and a $20,000 geolocation-data study
Summary
City Council reviewed multiple 2026 lodging-tax applications — including a $170,000 Visitor Center request and $40,000 museum and trail-extension asks — and heard a $20,000 proposal to study anonymized geolocation data; councilmembers raised questions about costs and data access.
Mayor Tim Fletcher and the City Council reviewed competing requests for 2026 lodging-tax funds at a Nov. 24 special budget workshop, including a $20,000 proposal to study anonymized, aggregated geolocation and geospatial data and several large grants for local attractions and events.
Attorney/Planner Fleck asked the council to set aside $20,000 to study how anonymized, aggregated geolocation data could be collected and used by the city. Councilmember Soha asked whether data from the proposed system would be available to others; Mayor Tim Fletcher responded, "the data would be available to anyone who asks." The council did not take a funding vote at the workshop.
Applications included a $12,750 request from the Peninsula Trails Coalition to produce two maps of the Olympic Discovery Trail and a $40,000 request from Clallam County Public Works to aid extension of the trail to Forks, citing costs tied to the Calawah River bridge. Bryon Monohon and museum president Tom Rosmond asked for $40,000 to support the Forks Timber Museum as attendance grows.
Other applicants included the Rainforest Council for the Arts seeking $6,300 for events, the Raincon Committee requesting $2,500 for a comic-and-nerd-culture event, the Piecemakers Quilt Club seeking $15,000 for Rainfest advertising and Whiskey Women & Wood requesting $8,750 to support its event.
The largest individual request came from the Forks Chamber of Commerce. Chamber Director Lissy Andros requested $170,000 for the Visitor Information Center and separately requested $50,000 for the Forever Twilight in Forks Festival plus $36,000 for the Forever Twilight Collection. Councilmember Soha questioned specific expenses within those requests, telling the council the "planned cost of a back-up generator at the Visitor Information Center is excessive" and later calling the $140,000 budgeted for two special festival guests "extreme." Andros replied she "has no control over those costs," adding the guests "are a huge draw for the Festival." She also said the Forever Twilight Collection drew 29,366 visitors through the end of October 2025.
Council members and staff discussed but did not decide allocations; the workshop record shows applications were presented for consideration as the council completes the 2026 budget. The council moved on to budget revisions and utility-rate discussions later in the meeting.
