By Don Nelson
The Town of Winthrop has extended its agreement with Okanogan County Fire District 6 to provide fire protection.
At its meeting last week, the town council approved a one-year contract for $47,080. The contract amount had been $44,000 a year since 2012.
The town has been considering annexation discussions with the fire district, but Town Clerk Michelle Gaines said there isn’t enough time in the remaining budget year to reach an annexation agreement.
In other action at the council’s Oct. 21 meeting:
• The council agreed to change its regular meeting time to 6 p.m. from November through March. The council has been meeting at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. The council will revert back to a 7 p.m. meeting time in April.
• Mayor Sue Langdalen announced that the surplus police vehicle familiarly known as the “purple police car” has been sold for a high bid of $3,500. She said there were about half-a-dozen bids for the 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am 400 hardtop coupe — also known as the “DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) car.” The car had appeared in local parades but was notable for being parked near the ball field in Winthrop with a manikin in the driver’s seat, intended to deter speeders.
• The council set Dec. 16 as the date for a public hearing on the proposed update of the town’s comprehensive plan. The town planning commission has been working on the update for several years, and the document represents a thorough overhaul of the previous comp plan, which was adopted in 1999 and has changed little.
The proposed comp plan includes a new zoning map that has fewer land-use categories than the existing plan. The plan includes chapters on land use, transportation, utilities, housing, parks and recreation, capital facilities, shorelines and economic development. It is intended to identify a broadly defined vision for the town’s development and also provide detailed guidelines for how that can happen.
Council members lauded the planning commission for the time and effort it put into the updated plan.
Planning commission member Julie Muyllaert said the comp plan revision “reflects what we heard from the community.” She said the commission also was attentive to making sure that the various parts of the plan were compatible with each other.
