Richland City Council will meet on Wednesday night, August 2, at 6 pm instead of the usual Tuesday night so councilmembers can participate in the National Night Out event. Agenda and packet items can be accessed here: https://richlandwa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4839/files
SURPLUS PROPERTY
Richland City Council will consider surplusing two acres of parkland adjacent to a bike and pedestrian trail next to Keene Road. According to City Manager Jon Amundson in an email to the Observer, Mike Lambert, owner of the strip shopping center at 112-120 Keene Road has asked to buy the property. There will be no discussion or separate vote on this consent agenda item.
A sale price will be provided when the council votes later to approve the sale.
According to the cover sheet in the packet for this item, the city originally owned the land under the strip shopping centers. When it was sold, a stipulation in the contract was that the new owner maintain the public property behind it for 20 years, expiring in 2029. According to the cover sheet, the city had a difficult time enforcing that requirement so they are selling the land.
The new stipulations are “…new curb cuts will not be permitted along Keene Road, and access will need to come from the existing retail center driveways. This will require the owner of the retail center to combine the surplus property and the retail properties through a boundary line adjustment.”
The “stipulations” make it almost impossible for anyone else to buy this property which is currently zoned C-1, neighborhood commercial. Because of its location near grocery stores, schools and public transportation, it could also be a good location for multifamily housing.
By stipulating development restrictions, as the city also did at 350 Thayer when it sold property to Councilmember Theresa Richardson’s church, the buyer pool is restricted as well.
PUBLIC ART
The council will hear a presentation about potential locations for public art donated by the family of artist Bernard Hosey. More details and pictures can be found here: https://tricitiesobserver.com/2023/06/29/richland-council-discusses-art-in-the-roundabouts-and-in-howard-amon-park-during-second-tuesday-workshop-randys-recap-june-27/
Several other items are on the agenda. https://richlandwa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/4839/files
Have any city councilmen travelled to Moses Lake to see what a caring community is doing to support their citizens? One would ask why a city of 25,146 citizens could solve a problem that a community of 60,560 citizens with, per capita, more scientists and engineers than any other community in the country can’t solve. It is a quandary.
Hi Patrick, I appreciate your comment. Members of the Richland City Council, primarily a group of like-minded individuals from the same area of Richland, are usually re-elected with little opposition. That creates no incentive for any ideas outside the box. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
Randy: How is the Tri-Cities Observer funded? There are no ads. Is it a labor of love?–Larry Ashby (ancient Tri-City herald reporter) https://www.facebook.com/larry.ashby.18
Hi Larry, I appreciate your comment. The Observer is a labor of love most days. Sometimes I’m not loving it so much. I tell my readers that I don’t look for subscriptions because when the “love” days become overwhelmed by the “unloved” days, I can say, I quit! Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy