Lead man Keeton to retire from Raymond Public Works

For items from the public, Denny Porter requested permission to use South Fork Landing Park for the Elk’s picnic on August 10. He inquired if there are restrictions involved in using the park, to which the council informed him he needed to check city ordinances and with the Department of Public Works.

The council held a public hearing for the Six Year Street Plan, which will include Commercial Street and First Street to Eleventh Street. The project will involve overlay involving surface grinding, patching, resurfacing; pedestrian ramp reconstruction where required; storm drain alterations as necessary; and reconstruction of curb, gutter, and sidewalks where deteriorated.

Under department head reports, Fire Chief Todd Strozyk reported that the Fourth of July went by with little disturbances. “We had one reported structure fire, but it turned out to be some children that were playing with smoke bombs and it just appeared to be a structure fire. But otherwise, nice quiet weekend for us,” Strozyk said.

Filling in for Police Chief Chuck Spoor, James Samplawski reported that the city’s ATV laws have undergone minor changes. All ATVs must now have a license plate and ATV drivers must now be 16 years or older, with a Washington driver’s license. These updates are in conjunction with Washington State law.

Public Works Director Dean Parsons submitted change order #19 for the wastewater treatment facility, for $241,566.92. These funds will be used to improvement the settlement of the facility.

Parsons continued to explain the situation with the Raymond water tanks, which need to be inspected as they have not been inspected for ten years. He urged the council to accept a bid for the inspection from Liquid Engineering Corporation for $3,195. If the inspection reveals that the three million gallon tank requires repairs, he will bring it to the council’s attention before taking action. “We can’t afford to go any longer without checking it out,” Parsons explained.

Mayor Bob Jungar reported lead man at the Department of Public Works, Meritt Keeton, will be retiring August 31, after almost 30 years of serving the City of Raymond. “He’s done a good job. One would say he’s grown up in the job,” Parsons said. “He’s really improved as he’s been in service there as the lead man and he’s been doing a good job with the city.”

Councilmember Vicki Flemetis brought up the topic of fluoride in the city’s drinking water, questioning if it was necessary to put fluoride in the water.

Randy Flemetis, a fellow councilmember, responded: “As of right now, there is no scientific evidence [that fluoride is harmful], and they’ve studied it a lot.”

“And there is scientific evidence that tooth decay has decreased tremendously,” Councilmember Ian Farrell added.

Mayor Jungar added: “The medical community is strongly in favor of it.”

The next Raymond City Council meeting will be Monday, July 21 at 6 pm at City Hall.