By Don Nelson
You won’t need the Town of Winthrop’s permission if you want to get married on the Spring Creek Bridge over the Methow River.
But you might need to be ready to have the nuptials interrupted by uninvited guests such as bicyclists, joggers, pedestrians and dogs.
The Town Council found itself discussing the issue last week after the town received a request for a permit to be married on the bridge.
“Nobody has come to us before and asked,” Town Clerk Michelle Gaines told the council.
The bridge is a public right of way so can’t be restricted for an event, Gaines said. She said the person who made the request “knows there might be people walking across.”
“You can’t reserve it, but you can use it,” she said.
Council members were clearly not interested in getting into the permitting business for such a heavily trafficked public amenity. “I don’t think a special event application is necessary,” said council member Rick Northcott.
In other business, the council heard from Craig Lints, former owner of the River Run Inn, who said the town’s Westernization code is not being vigorously enforced and urged the council to take a harder line on insisting that businesses adhere to Westernization requirements.
Lints said enforcement is “deteriorating” and cited several examples of downtown businesses whose signage he said does not conform to Westernization guidelines.
Some of the signs may be attractive, he said, but “they’re not Western … not typical of the period.”
“The signage really needs to be tightened up,” Lints said. He added that the boardwalks need to be completed on both sides of Riverside Avenue where they are interrupted.
Lints said the town could take advantage of its Western theme to help educate residents and visitors alike about the Methow Valley’s rich history.
“I hate to see it [Westernization] diluted and diluted,” he said. “I believe in this town … [Enforcing] the vision now will pay off in 100 years.”
The council also heard comments from Mark Harreus, who recently left the town Marshal’s Office under circumstances that neither Mayor Sue Langdalen nor Marshal Rikki Schwab would comment on, citing personnel issues. Harreus has not commented publicly on his departure.
Harreus, who was hired as a deputy marshal in November, noted that the council does not tape record its meetings and suggested that creates “issues of transparency” and accountability about council actions.
He cited a Dec. 17, 2014, council meeting at which the issue of whether the town’s police officers could take their patrol cars home was discussed. Harreus said that parts of the discussion were “disturbingly omitted” from the written minutes. “It doesn’t seem forthright to me,” Harreus said. He asked that the council consider putting the issue of taping its meetings on a future agenda.
Harreus also raised questions about what constitutes an acceptable response time for officers who may be out of town when a call comes in; whether the town pays for health club memberships for its officers and if they are allowed to work out while on duty; and council members’ lack of response to emails and phone calls about town business.
Council members did not respond to any of Harreus’s remarks or questions.
