West Richland Real Estate Blog

No doubt you’ve seen the blue election signs around town: It’s almost time to vote again on a levy for funding emergency services in West Richland. The Benton County Fire Protection District has a detailed web page that explains what the vote is about and why it’s needed. It includes this chart that shows 50% of the district’s calls in 2009 were for medical/EMS reasons.

So far in 2010, a whopping 93% of the district’s calls have been EMS-related.

The levy is asking for 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to be added to residents’ property taxes. For a home valued at $150,000, the levy would cost about $6 to $7 per year. Unlike the 2008 election that included a bond measure, this year’s vote is only for an EMS levy.

Benefits of Approving the EMS Levy

If the levy passes with 60% of voters saying “yes,” BCFD #4 will begin providing round-the-clock trained staffing of local EMS/ambulance services. No more waiting for an ambulance to arrive from Richland or Benton City.

Local ambulance service will have “low/no direct costs” for people living within the district.

The funds raised will pay for purchase of the ambulances, related medical equipment to provide EMS, and remodels of the stations to house the ambulances.

Just as in we did in 2008, Cari and I will be voting for this levy this year, too. God forbid something happen at home … I don’t want to wait 15 minutes for an ambulance to get here. No thanks. West Richland is growing. We need ambulances nearby.

The election is set for April 27.

Here’s an update to our post from a couple weeks ago about an upcoming closure on Keene Road. The city’s original plan was to do the closure in late February, but Public Works Director Roscoe Slade says it’ll start on March 1st:

Keene Road will be closed from the Bombing Range Road round-a-bout to West Lattin Road from about 9am on Monday, March 1st through 5pm Friday, March 12th to allow the City to make several repairs to Keene Road. During this time, traffic will be able to cross Keene Road at S. Highlands Blvd. Access to the LDS Church will be off of West Lattin Road via the gravel portion of Watkins Way.

Message Reader Boards will be installed on Keene Road starting February 22nd informing the traveling public about the upcoming closure. The flyer will also be included in this month’s utility bill, on the City’s website, and hopefully the Tri-City Herald will print a brief on the upcoming closure.

Residents with questions about the closure can call the Public Works dept. at 967-5434. Slade also sent the map/flyer below that you can see below, and you can also download it in PDF form.

Sometime later this year, the city of West Richland may decide on a new technology to power the city’s street lights. Up for discussion is a switch to either LED or induction-based street lights.

Public Works Director Roscoe Slade tells us via email that street light “technology is rapidly improving and the cost continues to decrease.” He says the city is reviewing both induction and LED light manufacturers with the Benton REA, but he doesn’t expect a change in the city standard until later this year.

LED vs. Induction Lights

I’m no expert on street light options, so while trading emails with Roscoe and writing this post, I did a little online research to learn more about LED and induction lights. I quickly found this Frequently Asked Questions page on GreenStreetLights.com. If explains what both LED and induction lights are, and offers this three-point list about the benefits of switching to energy efficient street lights:

Reduced energy usage.
Savings can be as much as 30 to 60%.

Long bulb life.
Bulbs are rated at 100,000 hours, which can equal about 20 years of life, based on normal street light operating hours.

Short pay back of initial investment.
Depending on energy and maintenance costs, pay back can occur between 3 and 7 years.

Benton REA is currently testing some induction street lights on Kona Drive (near Belmont) to verify actual energy savings compared to regular street lights. You can tell which ones they are because they have a whiter light than the rest of the street lights.

If the city does choose to change its standard for street lights, Slade says news developments would be built with the new lights and “then the City would pursue grants / funding to begin retrofitting the rest of the City.”

The Benton REA building in West Richland will have a new interior look soon, and part of that will involve closing the drive-up payment window. The window is closed for good right now, and will not be open during business hours tomorrow.

The local office is expanding so that engineering and operations employees will all be under one roof in the main office building. To do that, they’ll be converting the area that’s currently being used for the drive-thru payment window. The walk-up payment drop box will stay open at the front of the office building.

Construction starts tomorrow (Feb. 8th) but the office itself will stay open during regular business hours. The project is expected to be finished by the end of the April.

Keene Road will be closed for a couple weeks later this month while the city does some road repairs. The closure will affect the portion of Keene Rd. between Bombing Range Rd. (the roundabout) and South Highlands Drive.

This’ll be an inconvenience for some folks who use that route to access Wiley Elementary for drop-off and pick-up. It’s also an inconvenience for the LDS church along Keene — the city says access there will be available via West Lattin Rd. and a gravel portion of Watkins Way.

The closure will last about two weeks, and will start later this month. Roscoe Slade, the city’s Public Works Director, says they’re aiming for the last week of February to begin the closure, but it will depend on the weather.

It’s not posted on the city’s web site yet, but the February edition of the “City Scene” newsletter — that’s the thing you get in your utility bill — includes a message from new mayor Donna Noski.

The most interesting part to me is the news that West Richland will soon be sending out its “first community wide survey in almost a decade.” She also mentions that there will be “neighborhood meetings” and “community events” coming up to get more citizen input.

I’m trying to find out if all West Richland homes will receive the survey, or just a smaller selection. Will update this post if I get a reply from the mayor.

Update: And in about an hour, already have an email reply from Mayor Noski. She says the survey will be city-wide and will probably be done via direct mail. The goal is to have the surbey out in March, but that may depend on the City Council’s review of the survey during the February 16th meeting. If they have a lot of changes, it may get pushed back.