Letters to the Editor

To the editor,

To summarize past meetings, both with the Columbia County Port Commissioners and also the Columbia County Commissioners in the Spring of 2020, the citizens of Columbia County that are concerned about the proposed Touchet Valley Trail were told by Port Commissioner Chairman, Earl Marvin, that in the Fall of 2020, he would ensure that we were allowed to meet in a public forum so that the citizens could have their concerns heard by all present. This was not allowed at the previous meetings at the Dayton Fairgrounds nor at the meeting in Waitsburg.

Per the Dayton Chronicle front page article dated October 22, 2020 “Port Commissioners call for Touchet Valley Trail Public Meeting”. Chairman Earle Marvin stated “the Port plans on having a public meeting in January” 2021 and “strongly advocates for an in-person meeting to present the design and not hold it by Zoom”. Port Commissioner Sean Milligan thought that choosing a venue that would provide a gathering space large enough for the meeting is possible. We very much appreciate the integrity of both of these gentlemen to remember the promise that was made to allow the concerned citizens of Columbia County to be able to address their concerns in the public forum. Many were upset that at those public meetings they were not allowed to ask questions in front of the public.

At that point, per the Dayton Chronicle, “Dickinson questioned the Commissioners about the intention for the meeting. She stated “The Port of Columbia is the decision maker on what happens with this trail,” “It’s not the County, it’s not a vote, it’s the Port. What are you hoping to accomplish at the public meeting? Is it information sharing? Is it letting people have their say? Is it going to change anything?” It’s the citizens of Columbia County that elect the Port Commissioners therefore don’t they have a right to be heard on a major decision such as the trail?

To Chairman Earle Marvin’s credit, he “replied that the meeting was for public information, feedback, public opinion, all for consideration about the trail.” He further stated that “What we’ve said at previous Port meetings is we want to inform the public and get their feedback positive or negative, as to the public opinion as to the construction of such a trail. After that, we would make a decision on how we want to do it or whether we want to scrap it.”

Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 in February, we had already collected over 600 signatures from voters in Columbia County who would like this on a ballot. Many were upset that at the previous public meetings, they were not allowed to ask questions in front of the public. I personally collected over 200 of these signatures, spending many afternoons going from door to door all along SR 12 and in Huntsville, in addition in the city of Dayton and found that approximately 80% were against the trail, 10% were undecided and 5-10% of it were for the trail.

The trail would cross the live rail 3-4 times and, after talking to the train engineer, he is not in favor of the trail because he felt it was a safety risk along with the fact that if someone were to cross the rails in front of the train, he couldn’t stop it that fast. I talked to Sheriff Helm and he said they would not be able to respond to problems on the trail because they are so short staffed, they have problems manning the jail. The other deputies I talked to were also against it. Law Enforcement also felt it would be another conduit for drugs in the area. It would be next to a live airport and 2 active grain elevators. There is no money for maintenance. It would also potentially impact the Right to Farm policy that Columbia County has. Prior to the election, I talked with Perry Dozier at length about the trail, along with our Right to Farm Policy. He stated while he was a Walla Walla County Commissioner, they had a problem with a claim that overspray from a crop duster had drifted onto someone. After much work, they found out that on the day in question, there were no crop dusters in the air.

In last week’s Waitsburg Times, there was an article “Palouse RTPO seeks community input on Active Transportation Plan”. It gave a survey link for citizens to give their input on the proposed trail. On checking with the Dayton Chronicle, they were not aware of this article nor approached by anyone to put it in the paper so the citizens of Columbia County could also respond to the survey and give their input.

Columbia County is not Walla Walla County. Just because the citizens of Walla Walla County may want the trail and respond favorably to the survey, the citizens of Columbia County need to be heard also.

Bottom line is that concerned Columbia County citizens need an in person public meeting at the fairgrounds with the Port Commissioners to be able to stand up and let the Port know how we feel. We also need to be aware of the survey link that was in last week’s Waitsburg Times so we can voice our concerns in that venue also.

To weigh in on the Trail, go to the survey at http://palousetrails.palousertpo.org/survey.htm

Charles Beleny

Dayton, Wash.