Tenino council expresses support for study into extending trail, sewer line to Bucoda
May 6-Bucoda Mayor Callie Carpenter, along with other Bucoda city representatives, were in attendance for the Tenino City Council meeting on April 28 to ask for a letter of support for ongoing feasibility studies looking into extending both the Yelm-Rainier-Tenino Trail to connect to Bucoda along with the City of Tenino's sewer line.
With the trail already connecting Tenino to Rainier around 8 miles away and extending east almost another 6 miles to Yelm using old logging railroad lines, Bucoda could be connected to Tenino to the north with around another 4 miles of trail.
Given the old railroad lines already have the forest cleared, Bucoda representatives explained they were also looking at installing a sewer line along with the trail extension.
This is being explored as with Bucoda being on the banks of the Skookumchuck River, ecological contamination and health hazards come around with each flood event, with the potential for flood waters to reach septic tanks on residents' properties.
Members of both the Bucoda Town Council and Tenino City Council will also hold a future joint workshop to further discuss the creation of a regional wastewater system and collaboration options they can explore to try to get it done.
Councilors unanimously approved the letter of support for Bucoda's feasibility studies.
During the meeting, councilors also approved dissolving the Tenino Police Department's investigation fund, which had been nearly empty for almost a decade, according to Tenino Mayor Dave Watterson.
Additionally, councilors approved extending the inter-fund loan repayment schedule from three to 10 years.
Going back to 2021, misreporting issues resulted in the city's budget expenditures outpacing revenues by an estimated total of $1.4 million, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
The budget issues were discovered by city staff and Watterson shortly after he took office. They led to the city spending an estimated $1.6 million from restricted sewer and water funds for other city expenses.
Because it's a violation of state law to use the restricted funds on non-fund related items, the city council had to retroactively approve use of the funds as an interfund loan.
The city must now pay back the loan to the sewer and water funds at a 4% interest rate for a total of approximately $1.8 million.
While Watterson and city staff were initially hopeful the loans could be repaid within three years, it soon became clear they would not be able to afford to pay them off that quickly as the city's financial situation became clearer.
Because of these loan payments, the future of the Tenino Police Department remains uncertain after Watterson announced the city faced the possibility of bankruptcy if it tried to keep funding the department amid the budget recovery process earlier this year.
Watterson along with Tenino city staff were working with Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders to draft a contract for policing services with the Thurston County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) similar to the neighboring cities of Rainier and Bucoda.
However, no items on the Tenino Police Department's future or a possible TCSO contract were on the Tenino City Council's April 28 agenda.
Though Sanders was not present to provide a draft contract or an update, Sanders had already announced TCSO deputies were already patrolling and responding to calls in Tenino earlier in April.
To view a recording of the Tenino City Council's April 28 meeting along with previous meetings, visit the City of Tenino's website at https://www.cityoftenino.us/meetings/recent.
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