The Ocean Shores City Council voted to spend most of the remaining surplus funds from closing the books on 2017 to pay off more of the city’s debt obligations.

However, by a 4-3 vote, the council denied a request by the Ocean Shores Fan Fest Event (formerly known at the Mighty 12’s Fan Fest), recommended by the city’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, for $10,000 to help with sponsorship. That money would have come from a separate source from what the council was considering for how to allocate the 2017 surplus.

The council also voted 4-3 to take no action on a request by Fire Chief David Bathke to purchase a pumper truck recently used as a demonstration model at what he said was a discount price of $310,000 that could save the city $100,000 over the price of a new one needed as part of the effort to replace aging and sometimes unsafe equipment.

City Finance Director Angela Folkers noted the bottom-line amount to be considered for the surplus was $593,432, adjusted from about $850,000 that was originally before the council. The council previously approved $14,700 to continue a Parks Board project at North Bay Park that was not completed in 2017; $30,00 for a human resources specialist for a half year this year, $12,000 for a part-time information technology assistant; and $200,000 for the street maintenance and repair fund.

On Monday, the council voted 6-1 to use $213,270 to pay off the city’s remaining debt obligation on city property from the road Local Improvement District (LID) project from 2010, and 7-0 to pay off two other interfund loans totaling $114,138. Another 5-2 vote was taken to support using $100,000 for the street reserve fund, and a majority of four members approved spending another $7,400 for a police radar trailer.

The rest of the money will remain in the city’s General Fund.

Council member Holly Plackett offered her proposal to take part of the surplus and reduce the ambulance utility rates, previously enacted by the council, for a period of a year, then restore them back to the current rate. But most of the council members seemed to favor paying off debt, and Plackett’s motion failed with Susan Conniry as the only other supporter of the proposal.

Fan Fest

The Ocean Shores Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) voted 3-1 last week to recommend helping out the Fan Fest and Beach Party, after it was reported that new promoters of the Aug. 17-19 event were having trouble securing sponsorship for this year. The City Council on April 23 voted to change the LTAC bylaws to allow it to consider emergency requests, such as the one from the Fan Fest, but the proposal lacked majority support on Monday night.

Piper Leslie of the Ocean Shores/North Beach Chamber of Commerce was the only LTAC member to vote no on the proposal, and she outlined both her support for the event and the reason she didn’t support the funding decision: “The reason I was the ‘no’ and am still the ‘no’ is not for a lack of wanting this event. I really would like to see this event happen.” However, she questioned the process and what the decision might mean for “any other event down the road that considers something an emergency.”

Canterbury Inn manager Shannon Rubin, who said she has offered rooms for the event, also was among those who spoke against the proposal, and she urged other business to step up and help out: “This is going to set a horrible precedent. There is no definition for an emergency and I urge you to figure out another way if you want to support this in another manner. My opinion is that all business should step up and contribute so there is less of a burden on the city.”

Council members Jon Martin (the LTAC chair), Plackett and Lisa Griebel voted for the proposal to fund the event, but Coinnry, Diane Solem, Bob Peterson and Steve Ensley voted against it.

Martin said LTAC’s focus is “to bring more people into the city, and we all have different definitions of what that means and what is a good event versus a bad event. This was an organic event where there was no promoter behind it. They came in and they succeeded without any help from the city. … They have never asked for money from the city before.”

Martin, who manages the McDonald’s in Ocean Shores and is an owner of Martin Bruni Liquors, noted the Fan Fest “has grown to be the second biggest weekend of the year behind Fourth of July” for those businesses.

“This is a one-time request they are asking,” Martin added, noting the funds would come from hotel/motel tax revenue. “I think it is something that is worthwhile that we should take a look at.”

One of the two new promoters of the event, Michael Goff, said during the meeting that efforts were ongoing to find additional local sponsors after title sponsor Quinault Beach Resort & Casino pulled back support they had been counting on.

“We would love nothing more to get the local businesses involved,” Goff said, “… Our goal is to make this one of the biggest annual events in the Ocean Shores area.”

Fire Truck

Fire Chief David Bathke and Capt. Brian Ritter presented a request to purchase a pumper truck, but the council voted 4-3 to take no action on the proposal. “The Fire Department has a need for a pumper truck to replace aging equipment,” said the background to the council. Via speaker phone, Bathke told the council the current truck would have to be replaced in seven months as part of the next budget cycle.

“The city has the opportunity to save money in the short term,” Bathke said.

A new pumper truck would cost approximately $400,000 plus taxes. “The Fire Chief was made aware of a used demo pumper truck with a total cost of approximately $310,000 including taxes. An additional $10,000 will be needed to equip the truck,” according to the information presented on Monday.

The City requires competitive bidding for purchases of goods and equipment over $15,000.

“Because of the nature of this pumper truck, it is difficult to solicit competitive bids for the same item as no other item exactly like it exists,” the council was told, and the purchase of the pumper truck “constitutes a special market condition.”

But the majority of council members indicated they would prefer the request come up during discussions for the overall budget, with the city also applying for a grant for another replacement engine.

New website builder

Also approved on Monday was a request for $23,162 to develop new websites for the Convention Center and for tourism. The city selected website builder Zipline out of Spokane, which built the website for theSpokane Convention Center among other businesses and organizations.

Razor Clam Bridge

The Razor Clam Bridge Replacement Project is about to be completed ant the city has planned a grand opening celebration at noon May 21 at the project site. The original Razor Clam Bridge has been closed since 2012 because of numerous deficiencies to the old wooden structure. The bridge was replaced by Cascade Bridge LLC from Vancouver, WA, in a $3.6 million project that was granted Federal Bridge Replacement funds.

Public Works Director Nick Bird noted the construction of the new structure was completed in less than a year, which included a four-month shutdown caused by inclement weather. Comments and questions can be directed to Bird at (360) 940-7502 or by email at nbird@osgov.com.