By Matthew O. Stephens
Reporter 

Medical Lake council approves grant for community outreach

 

Last updated 2/3/2022 at 5:09pm



MEDICAL LAKE – Medical Lake Community Outreach was approved for a grant for $50,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act funds the city has received, and the Memorandum of Understanding to finalize that grant was approved on February 1.

In the memorandum language states the group must follow ARPA regulations in spending the money, and the group will be required to make quarterly reports until the grant is depleted.

Upon council approval, City Administrator Doug Ross asked for the paperwork to be sent straight to him so he can prepare it to be signed tomorrow. Ross said if he could get the memorandum directly after the meeting “we can cut them a check tomorrow.”

City attorney Kendel Froese agreed and said, “let’s get the money to the people that need it.”

The city is also set to hold a special council meeting to discuss possible ideas for ARPA spending and develop a “city wishlist” as described by Mayor Terri Cooper, and council agreed to hold this discussion on March 9 at 7 p.m.

Cooper also said they are updating the technology in place in council chambers so meetings can be held in person soon.

Judy a concerned citizen in Medical Lake asked about the multi-unit apartment construction taking place and was informed by Froese that with that construction being an administrative process council members are encouraged not to participate in those discussions.

Long time administrative worker Karin Morris was introduced as the city’s new administrative assistant, and she said she is happy to serve the community and loves to have an active role.

Administrator Ross briefly discussed public works updates and said the city had distributed 107 door knocker shut off notices to residents, and so far all but 17 of those notices have been paid.

Fire District 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach defined some statistics regarding the district’s activity in Medical Lake, and gave a brief history of the past couple years.

Rohrback said in 2019 when the annexation discussion was on the table, nearly one out of every four calls would go without a response.

He said since that partnership has come into fruition, he said station 311 which serves Medical Lake has grown considerably. He said in 2021 station 311 answered 820 calls in total with an average response time of seven minutes, and many of the responders are also reaching higher levels of certification.

Council woman Heather Starr is continuing to allocate resources to present a citizen award to a resident of Medical Lake.

Matthew can be reached at reporter2@cheneyfreepress.com

 

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