The devil is in the details when it comes to the Richland City Council agenda. Usually, the meetings don’t provide much detail. The council passes most of the agenda items in one group with no discussion and one vote. With others, they gloss over the particulars. At least two of Tuesday’s agenda items could get the “gloss over” treatment.
Budget amendments include $8 million for purchase and renovation of 1200 Jadwin Ave. for a police station.
City officials like to talk about “due diligence” and “negotiation” when they discuss purchasing the building at 1200 Jadwin Ave. for a police station for $7.750 million. Meanwhile, they’re setting up their accounts via a budget amendment so they can write a check for the 1980 building, and the amount never seems to change.
According to the staff report for the council in the attached 455-page packet, $8 million of the $12.7 million to be part of budget account transfers will “support the potential acquisition of property for a future police station. Funding would support property acquisition, demolition of certain structures, preliminary design work, and initial site improvements.”
The current owner paid $3.5 million for the building and about four acres under it on October 23, 2024. The city’s permitting website doesn’t show any completed renovation on the building since then.
This item requires a public hearing that will be held at the beginning of the meeting. Each person has three minutes to comment. Council will vote on it at the end of the meeting.
Pullen Street cleanup
The cleanup company hired by the city of Richland to haul junk off of the streets and sidewalks around 2100 Pullen St. will have their contract terms increased from up to $100,000 to up to $200,000.
The agenda item reads: “Resolution No. 2026-76, Authorizing Change Order No. 2 to Contract No. 395-25 with Clean Up Crew LLC for On-Call Junk Removal and Hauling”
The home is surrounded by junk and debris. The city continues to pursue the matter through the courts in accordance with the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution that protects against unreasonable search and seizure. According to the staff report, the cost of the cleanup will be assessed to the property owner in the form of a lien.
How to watch the council meeting. The council meets at 6:00 p.m. at Richland City Hall at 625 Swift Street. It will be live on cable channel 192 and it can be streamed on Richland City View
When you mention the consent agenda where Council passes a large number of items with one vote, the Franklin County Commissioners are really good at doing the exact same thing.
Hi Leona, I appreciate your comment. Any comparisons to Franklin County can’t be good. I’ll take a look at that. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
Keep up the good work!
Excellent reporting! Where else do we get this kind of information? I love this blog!
Thank you, Steve and Diane. Kind words like yours keep me going. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
In regards to the junk removal company, is the $200,000 just the cost of clean up on the Pullen house or is it an annual amount?
Hi Sarah, I appreciate your question. It’s a good one. I went back and reviewed the material and it seems to indicate that the company is working at Pullen. However, it isn’t crystal clear. I’ll ask city staff about this at toight’s meeting. In the meantime, Here’s the wording they used:
“The City currently maintains a contract with Clean Up Crew LLC for junk removal and hauling services valued
at an amount not-to-exceed $100,000. Ongoing abatement activities related to the protracted code
enforcement effort on Pullen Street have resulted in expenditures nearing the current contract limit. The
abatement effort is currently pending as a lawsuit filed in Benton County Superior Court against the property
owner.
Continued clean-up services are necessary to ensure that the sidewalk and right-of-way on Pullen Street remain
clear while the litigation is pending. Staff recommends increasing the current contract’s not-to-exceed amount
to $200,000 in order to continue abatement and clean-up efforts as needed.” Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
Hi Sarah,
At the Tuesday city council meeting I asked Deputy City Manager Joe Schiessl. If the payments to this junk removal company were for anything else but Pullen and he said “no.” Apparently, the city has paid $100,000 so far to clean up the streets and sidewalks and needed to update the amount to $200,000. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy