West Richland Real Estate Blog » West Richland News

Earth Day 2010 Stats

Matt McGee — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:52:51 +0000

In case you missed this on the reverse side of the city utility bill insert, West Richland says the 2010 Earth Day cleanup event was a success. Here are some of the stats:

563 loads dumped
89.12 tons of household garbage and yard debris
80 yards of wood that was chipped and recycled
3,167 tires collected

That doesn’t include any measurement of hazardous waste, like batteries, paint, insecticides, and so forth. Hats off to all who participated this year!

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

Earth Day 2010 Stats

Earth Day in West Richland

Official: Charter Cable Coming to West Richland in September

Matt McGee — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:39:28 +0000

Confirming the rumors that we reported three months ago, Charter Cable is coming to West Richland (and Benton City) and will begin offering service here in September. We received a form letter at Casa McGee today from Charter with some details about what’s going on:

Charter has acquired Suddenlink, the current provider in West Richland.
Charter “will make significant upgrades to the existing cable system over the next few months.”
Charter will offer digital TV, Internet access, and local/long-distance phone service.

The letter (see below) says Charter services will be available in September. Charter will also send more details about its services this summer.

Here’s the full text of the letter we just got as non-Suddenlink subscribers. You can click it to see a larger, more readable version.

I wonder if existing Suddenlink subscribers received letters today, too? Probably.

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

Official: Charter Cable Coming to West Richland in September

Brian McElroy: West Richland’s New Police Chief

Matt McGee — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:35:37 +0000

Assuming KEPR-TV has its facts correct, we have a new police chief in West Richland and his name is Brian McElroy.

McElroy is currently a Sergeant in the Ellensburg Police Department and has been with that agency for almost 20 years — 12 of them as a Sergeant. The Ellensburg PD recently gave him a special award for “revitalizing the Ellensburg Police Reserve Program in 2009.”

Outside of that, he’s also President of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Kittitas County, a group of trained volunteers that helps represent abused and neglected children in court matters. His bio on their web site offers a little more background into our new police chief:

Brian has lived in the valley for more than 20 years and lives on a small farm with his wife. He enjoys riding horses, hunting, fishing and hiking, 4H projects, and shooting sports, and giving back to the community through CASA.

Sounds like he’ll fit in very well in West Richland, don’t you think? Welcome to town, Chief McElroy.

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

Brian McElroy: West Richland’s New Police Chief

No related posts.

Traffic Changes Coming at Warbler/Aspen/Mulberry Area

Matt McGee — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:31:18 +0000

If you live on Bird Hill in the area around Warbler Lane and Aspen/Mulberry drives, the city is planning some work there on Wednesday (May 19). It’s traffic control-related: the city is going to move the stop signs from Warbler Lane to Aspen/Mulberry Drive.

“The intersection will remain a two-way stop,” the city says, “but the east/west legs will will be free while the north/south legs will be stopped.”

Drivers and residents in the area should be on the lookout for work crews on Wednesday.

The city says the changes are in response to several complaints about traffic in the area, and follow a study that determined the change will help traffic flow more smoothly.

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

Traffic Changes Coming at Warbler/Aspen/Mulberry Area

Hogs & Dogs 2010: Traffic Information

EMS Levy Has Passed

Matt McGee — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:20:47 +0000

West Richland voters have passed the levy that will bring emergency medical services to Benton County Fire District #4. The election results page shows the measure passing 64% to 36% with only 25 ballots left to count, so it’s a done deal.

The levy asked 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 will cost about $6 to $7 per year. According to the Fire District’s web site, here’s what passage of the levy means:

24 hour, 7 days a week staffing with trained fire fighters/EMS personnel.
Response time of 5 minutes or less to 90% of EMS calls for service.
Help the District to meet national standards for EMS care.
Quicker delivery time to definitive care.
Low/No direct cost for actual transportation for citizens living with in the District.
Purchase of ambulance and remodel to station for storing ambulance.
Citizens have a voice to the Commissioners who direct and make policy about ambulance service.

In a nutshell, it means 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.

Cari and I aren’t generally fans of higher taxes, but this is one we’re glad to pay.

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

EMS Levy Has Passed

Fire Hydrant Flushing Starts Monday, Lasts 2-3 Months

Matt McGee — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:07:27 +0000

Did you know there are 650 fire hydrants in West Richland? I didn’t. Did you know there’s an annual program that involves the city and the county fire department flushing out those fire hydrants? I didn’t. And yet the announcement that the city sent out clearly says “annual.” Don’t think I ever remember hearing about this, and we’ve lived in West Richland since late 1998.

Anyhoo, the fire hydrant flushing starts on Monday, and will last between 8-12 weeks. City and fire crews will be flushing out fire hydrants from 8 am to 3 pm every Monday through Thursday. The goal is to make sure everything’s functioning correctly, as clean as possible, etc. There may also be some nuisances for homeowners:

Fire hydrant flushing may cause temporary inconveniences such as a reduction in water pressure and aesthetic issues such as discoloration of the drinking water. Flushing stirs up sediment, iron and manganese mineral deposits in the water mains causing temporary discoloration. Discolored water poses no threat to the public’s health, but may stain laundry and if consumed may have an unpleasant taste. Residents should be certain all discolored water is out of their home’s plumbing lines and hot water heater and that the water is clear before laundering clothes or drinking it.

That’s taken from the city’s news release, which can be downloaded in PDF form from the city web site.

It also says that, if you still have discolored water after crews have stopped working in your area or after 3 pm, you should:

run your water faucet for a few minutes
if that doesn’t work, call the Public Works department at 967-5434

You might want to read that PDf for more information about washing/drying clothes and such.

And … am I the only one who’s never heard of this before?

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

Fire Hydrant Flushing Starts Monday, Lasts 2-3 Months

Keene Road Closure Starts March 1st

West Richland Golf Course Clubhouse Update

Matt McGee — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:35:27 +0000

The Tri-Cities Journal of Business has a nice update on the West Richland Golf Course, where construction began earlier this month on the new clubhouse.

From the windows of the makeshift bar, customers could watch as workers poured the concrete foundation and walls of the new 9,000-square-foot in early March.

Owner Michelle Marcum expects to have the main floor of the new two-story clubhouse open by July. The project will cost more than $1 million, she said.

Marcum is quoted in the article saying that a lot of people still don’t realize the course is open, which no doubt has only made a tough financial situation even harder.

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

West Richland Golf Course Clubhouse Update

West Richland Golf Course Clubhouse – a “total loss”

Rumor: Charter Cable coming to West Richland

Matt McGee — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:50:35 +0000

I’m somewhat hesitant to even post about this, but let’s give it a try because it would be pretty big news for West Richland if it happens.

Two different people who would/should know about this stuff have told me that Charter Cable will soon be providing service in West Richland. I haven’t been able to find out when it might happen, but the company is apparently waiting on some kind of approval/response at the city level.

I contacted Charter, but their staff are only allowed to talk about areas where they currently offer service, not about future plans.

Right now, as you know, West Richland is served by Suddenlink. I have no idea what will happen if and when Charter begins servicing our town. Does it replace Suddenlink? Compete with Suddenlink? No idea whatsoever.

Update: Someone using the name “anonymous” left this comment yesterday (see below):

“As someone on the inside I can tell you that the 2 Suddenlink employee’s will be employed with Charter after the take over. It will be a transfer of power so there will be only 1 cable company here.”

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

Rumor: Charter Cable coming to West Richland

South Highlands road closure next week

Matt McGee — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:12:47 +0000

Roscoe Slade from the city’s Public Works department sent us a note about this upcoming road closure on South Highlands Blvd.:

S. Highlands Blvd between Keene Road and Glenbrook Loop will be closed from about 9am on Monday March 15th through 5pm Friday, March 19th to allow the City to make a repair at this location.

Now you know…

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

South Highlands road closure next week

West Richland EMS Levy Election Coming April 27

Matt McGee — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:12:05 +0000

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.

This is a post from the West Richland Real Estate Blog by Cari and Matt McGee.

West Richland EMS Levy Election Coming April 27