A Washougal City Council vote on the 2011 budget is not expected to occur anytime before Monday, Dec. 6. That is also when a public hearing regarding the budget will be continued. Several supporters of the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society spoke out during last night's council meeting regarding the potential budget decrease from $25,000 this year to $4,000 in 2011.
Diana Alcomendas remembers participating in a children's TV show at the age of 5, in the Philippines. She and her sister Lea, 7, performed ballet along with other children. Alcomendas, 29, still recalls seeing the "stage mothers," who attempted to convince the youngsters to smile and perform in a particular way. Then and now, Alcomendas prefers that children be allowed to enjoy their performances. As the dance director for the Virtuosity Performing Arts Studio, she can do just that.
It looks like City of Washougal officials will not need to use $184,680 in cash reserves in order to fund expenditures in the 2011 budget. Changes to the preliminary budget - as presented to City Council last night - include the elimination of a vacant police position. According to Assistant Finance Director RJ Stevenson, the position had been included in the 2010 budget but remained vacant. A budget for next year had included $90,000 to hire a police officer who would focus primarily on traffic enforcement.
Camas Police Officer Tim Dickerson remembers that he did not like to read books when he was a child. "My mother was a schoolteacher, and she made me read," he said. "My older sister read 'Gone With the Wind' in two days and 'War and Peace' in three days. I hated to read until almost 25 years ago." Dickerson was bored while on a layover at an airport, so he purchased a book related to police work at one of the stores in the terminal.
More than 100 people gathered Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Port of Camas-Washougal. They included current and former local port commissioners and staff, as well as representatives from Clark County, the cities of Camas and Washougal, and the ports of Vancouver, Ridgefield and Woodland. Attendees included former Port of C-W Executive Director Sheldon Tyler and previous commissioners Ken Powell, Jean Moszeter, Donna Roberge Nozel and John Raynor.
A longtime local resident who has been a gun club member and a private collector of firearms for 15 years has opened a new business in downtown Washougal. Erik Cain, 41, sells pistols, revolvers and rifles, as well as ammunition, scopes, swords, knives and binoculars at NW Cain Inc. armory. Examples of the current inventory include a Ruger P95 automatic pistol and a Smith & Wesson 629 Classic revolver. Cain is a licensed federal and state firearms dealer, and his business is an authorized Swift Sport Optics and ProTec gun cleaning supplies dealer.
Washougal residents interested in the potential water, sewer and storm water rate increases are invited to speak at a City Council public hearing. Council last night approved the setting of Monday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m., as the public hearing for the proposed 2011 rates. That hearing is expected to occur prior to a hearing on the city's $32.2 million preliminary budget.
The E Street Market & Deli has been robbed by a man described as having a dark complexion, according to Washougal Police. The suspect is also described as standing approximately 5'4". He was last seen, wearing black and white Converse-type sneakers, a zip up black hoodie and blue jeans.
A "Joe Papermaker" banner is among the items expected to spend some time in space next week, as a Camas High School graduate prepares for his mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Astronaut Michael Barratt, a 1977 CHS grad, will serve as a mission specialist for the Space Transportation System-133, which is scheduled to launch Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The 11-day mission will be the final scheduled flight of Discovery. During a phone interview Thursday from the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas, Barratt said he planned to take a "few little things" from his five children on board the shuttle.
An expenditure of $184,680 from cash reserves is included in the City of Washougal preliminary budget, as proposed by Mayor Sean Guard. The $32.2 million preliminary budget includes $11.1 million in general, street and fire funds; $10.6 million in utility funds; $8.5 million in projects and grants/various funds and $2 million in other funds. The use of some of the city's cash reserves sparked some debate during last night's council workshop. Councilman Paul Greenlee said previous councils prepared for the "non-boom times" by building reserves to cover shortfalls.
dawn.feldhaus@camaspostrecord.com
