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NEWPORT — The City of Newport is planning to level the bicycle motocross track to make way for another parking lot.
A few months ago, the Pend Oreille Little League raised concerns about horses damaging the field by the Newport Rodeo Grounds during rodeo events. That field is utilized by the POLL, which plays both baseball and softball.
The parking lot, to be accessible through Garden Avenue, First Street or Fifth Street, may prevent additional damage to the field.
“Right now, they just park and have the horses tied to the trailers,” city administrator Abby Gribi said at the Newport City Council’s Monday, Aug. 17 meeting. “And so, some of [the horses] paw at the ground, and that’s the damage that’s being seen in the outfield.”
The BMX track was established years ago by Spokane Community College’s Newport location, an effort headed by the Rotary Club and Boy Scouts, council member Mark Zorica said. Their target demographic has since phased out, causing the BMX track to go underutilized.
Council member Nathan Weathers, who attended a meeting between the city, Newport Rodeo Association and POLL, suggested a BMX track be incorporated into future developments on the South Bench or other areas of Newport.
“Parking is a premium,” Weathers said. “And so, we look at the whole city property that we own there, and it would be advantageous to have some more parking.”
The council unanimously motioned to amend the city’s agreement with the Newport Rodeo Association, create a new agreement with the POLL and bring forward a proposal to level the BMX track.
Later in the meeting, the council unanimously approved two resolutions proposed by newcomer council member Mark Collins.
The first resolution established a public policy and procedure register that will make policies, procedures, manuals and plans, as well as any associated reviews or updates, further available to the public. The register will be viewable at the city clerk’s office and on the city website, newport-wa.org.
“This was something that was brought forward by council member Collins and a way to continue to increase transparency as we update policies,” Gribi said.
The second resolution established a monthly policy workshop as a regular council meeting, on a pilot basis through April 2027. These workshops will serve as venues for the review, discussion and development of policies, procedures manuals and plans, streamlining regular council meetings and reducing ad hoc demands of city staff, Collins said.
No action will be taken during these workshops. While the council can allow public comment at each workshop, it will not be a requirement.
The council agreed to skip the workshops in November and December due to the holiday season.
“In our regular meetings, we should just discuss what we want to work on in our workshop,” Collins said at the meeting.
“That way, we’re just knowing going into that and stick to that subject during that workshop meeting.”
Lastly, Gribi introduced the council to a 2027 budget timeline prepared by city clerk-treasurer Theresa Schoener.
The timeline begins in early September with a council meeting and some advertisement for a Monday, Sept. 21 public hearing, then ends in December with budget finalization and adoption.
This comes almost a year after the 2026 budget adoption was delayed due to reservations surrounding the water-sewer rate increase, resulting in city staff working to adjust the budget right before deadline.
Weathers thanked Schoener for the 2027 budget timeline.
“That was an eye-opener for me, realizing how much the state mandates that we have to have certain things ready at a certain time,” Weathers said. “And that has time implications on all of us and the staff.”
In other business, the city has selected a location for the life-sized bear statue: toward the front of T.J. Kelly Park to the right of a tree.
The statue has been commissioned from Kalispel Metal Products by the Newport Creative District via a Washington State Arts Commission grant.
