Chehalis City Council elects Tony Ketchum as mayor, approves ambulance financing and awards water intake contract

Chehalis — The Chehalis City Council opened its Jan. 12 meeting with the swearing-in of reelected council members and moved to elections for mayor and mayor pro tem. Council members nominated Tony Ketchum for mayor and a McDougall for mayor pro tem; the nominations were closed and approved by voice vote, and the results were declared official.

Council then heard a presentation from Lindsay of the Port of Chehalis, who reviewed recent acquisitions and projects. Lindsay said the port purchased the Basie property at 2710 Jackson Highway for $1,440,000 and completed Department of Commerce industrial-readiness work supported by a $250,000 site-readiness grant. She said the port finalized a Dec. 9 sale of a 3.34-acre parcel to Amazon for $9,320,000 intended for a roughly 1.2 million-square-foot fulfillment facility and provided an employment estimate of “500 to 1,000 jobs starting,” with seasonal increases expected. Lindsay also described CURB grant-supported marketing and feasibility work (examples include a $100,000 CURB grant with a $25,000 local match) and an 8-acre lease to Lewis County Transit for a hydrogen refueling station. “This is meant to be just the highlights for you,” Lindsay said, summarizing the materials staff had prepared.

During public comment, Derek Fine of Lewis County identified himself and described a series of complaints involving Amazon customer service and interactions with the state Attorney General’s office. Fine also made broader assertions about political violence; council took no action on his remarks.

On new business, staff asked the council to adopt two resolutions to finalize financing for a new ambulance. Staff said the vehicle is near final inspection and that the city seeks authority to enter a financing contract with the Washington State Treasurer to pay Braun Ambulance directly for no more than $450,000, and to adopt a reimbursement form to allow later reimbursement for ancillary equipment purchases. Staff noted the packet listed an interest rate of 2.8 percent and said the expected rate after Feb. 3 was likely to be about 2.77 percent on a seven-year term. Council waived the standard two-reading rule for finance-related resolutions and adopted both resolutions on first and final reading.

The council also considered a sealed-bid award to replace a traveling screen at the Newaukum intake. Staff reported two bids: Associated Underwater Services submitted the low responsive bid of $141,487.93 plus tax and met qualifications; Atlas SSI submitted a higher bid. Council approved awarding the project to Associated Underwater Services, authorized a 15 percent contingency, and authorized the city manager to execute project documents not to exceed a total construction cost of $174,596.11. Staff said the work will be funded from the Water Capital Fund and that the bid amount was considerably lower than last year’s approved budget of $360,000 for similar work.

In administrative reports, the city manager updated the council on annexation negotiations with Fire Districts 5 and 6. The manager said the city had previously sought negotiations and had adopted a resolution to pursue an interlocal approach, but that both districts had subsequently passed resolutions opposing annexation and had initiated litigation. The manager said the districts declined to continue negotiations while the lawsuits proceed and said staff will propose options, including rescinding or revising the earlier city resolution, if the districts do not return to the table. He also told the council the city will sign a joint-defense agreement with Lewis County to coordinate response to litigation stemming from annexation actions.

The meeting closed after routine council and community reports and an executive session for collective bargaining; no final decisions were announced on the executive-session matters when the council reconvened and adjourned.

Votes at a glance - Election of mayor (nomination: Tony Ketchum): approved by voice vote (recorded as passed). - Mayor pro tem (nomination: McDougall): approved by voice vote (recorded as passed). - Resolution authorizing ambulance financing and related reimbursement resolution: approved on first and final reading after motion to waive second reading (motion recorded as passed 6–1 in the transcript). - Award of traveling screen replacement contract to Associated Underwater Services ($141,487.93 plus tax; 15% contingency authorized): approved by voice vote.

What’s next - Staff expects final ambulance inspection and delivery procedures to conclude this month; financing documents were prepared for signature to allow state treasurer disbursement on Feb. 24 per staff’s update. - Council scheduled committee-assignments discussion for the next meeting in two weeks and will review options related to annexation and the fire district litigation if the districts do not return to negotiation.