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NEWPORT — The Newport City Council on Monday, May 5 heard updates from the Port of Pend Oreille.
Jessica Garza, Port economic development director, announced to the council that the Economic Development Advisory Committee’s quarterly meeting is at 9 a.m. May 14 at the Ione Train Depot, 101 Railroad Ave. Versatile Industries and Partners for Rural Washington are giving presentations at the meeting.
“We will be giving a full rundown of some of the Port projects that we have going on,” Garza said May 5.
The Port is also finalizing the release of its new website at EDAC’s May 14 meeting. The Economic Development Council’s old website was “completely not updated and didn’t have current information,” Garza said, so she has been working to update “everything” for the last six months.
“In another week, we will have a live, brand-new, lots of resources, wonderfully rebranded Port website to disseminate out there,” Garza said, adding later that an updated Port property list was one of those resources.
In the meantime, the Port has been hitting state Department of Commerce reporting benchmarks, meeting with state representatives and continuing to work on the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad Shop. The POVA Shop is booked through 2028 and “actively pursuing” an expansion, Garza said, as well as training some apprentices.
EDC has also been disseminating as many grants as it can to other entities in the county, including the Newport Food Bank, the Newport School District, the Pend Oreille County Historical Society and the Greater Newport Area Chamber of Commerce.
While EDC does not apply for entities, it does offer them grant application resources such as polling statistics and proofreading. At least one entity has applied for a grant disseminated by EDC.
“We’re going to count that as a win,” Garza said. “Grant money is always good.”
Earlier in the meeting, County Commissioner Robert Rosencrantz announced to the council two public hearings on the county-wide emergency services district. The first will be at 1:30 p.m. in Metaline, and the second at 1:30 p.m. at the Pend Oreille County Offices, 625 4th St. in Newport.
City administrator Abby Gribi suggested holding a workshop about the EMS district at the council’s next meeting, inviting South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue chief Shane Stocking and one or two SPOFR commissioners “to have an overall discussion and see if the council would like to framework written comments to the process,” she said May 5.
In other business, Jeremy DeLano, who has about a decade of experience with the Washington State Patrol, was sworn in as a Newport Police Department officer.
City clerk Nickole North’s request to approve an amendment to the 2025 fiscal year budget increasing it by $67,310 was approved by the council. This amendment will fund a sales tax correction for the Newport Founders RV Park, and repayments toward a state Department of Ecology loan that funded the first phase of the city’s sewer project.
The council also adopted the county Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan for resubmission to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as updated the city’s fee schedule to add charges for accessory dwelling units.
“Definitely necessary for hazard assessments,” Gribi said of the plan. “We have a lot of projects identified in there and different mitigation strategies.”
Toward the end of the meeting, the council went into a 10-minute executive session regarding land acquisition. The Newport City Council’s next meeting is at 6 p.m. May 19 at Newport City Hall, 200 S. Washington Ave.
