In a unanimous vote, The Dalles City Council directed its staff to negotiate an intergovernmental agreement with Columbia Gorge Community College and Wasco County to use enterprise zone funds from the Google projects to pay for a revenue bond to provide $3.5 million to help match $7.3 million in state funding to develop the Treaty Oaks Skills Center and provide on-campus housing at CGCC.  The state funds would be used for the center to expand career and technical education offerings at the college, with the school constructing student housing as the match and committing to be responsible for $3.8 million of the bond to make that happen.  Most of the Council discussion did center on whether the City might have to dip into other funds to pay for its part of the revenue bond, but Mayor Steve Lawrence is confident that once the final figures are in for what Google will pay for its latest project for the next 15 years it won’t be an issue, adding he thinks those numbers will be finalized soon.  Wasco County Commissioners will take up the issue at their December 5 meeting, and then the college board will make a final decision.

The Dalles City Council postponed a planned public hearing on amendments to the City’s land use and development ordinance to encourage more options for housing.  Community Development Director Steve Harris pointed out there were two cases before the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals on apartment complexes could affect some of the measures that were up for consideration.  Mayor Steve Lawrence says he doesn’t expect LUBA decisions to be made until after the New Year.  Lawrence says the ordinance changes are intended to provide more opportunity for people to build small houses, accessory houses, and build on smaller lots.

The Hood River City Council has approved an ordinance to restrict when fireworks can be sold and used.  Under the ordinance, the sale of consumer fireworks will be allowed only from June 23 to July 7, and discharge of fireworks will be allowed from November 16 to July 14.  Even during the time period fireworks would be allowed, Mayor Paul Blackburn says the ordinance gives the fire chief the discretion to ban their use if fire danger warrants it.  Councilors had planned to pass the ordinance two weeks ago, but asked staff to do some final language revisions before taking action.

City of The Dalles officials are hopeful permits to proceed with the long-desired rehabilitation of the Dog River water pipeline may be coming soon.  Public Works Director Dave Anderson told City Councilors on Monday night that a draft permit has been issued by the Forest Service, and is in the midst of a 30-day public comment period.  Anderson hopes they get an answer around the start of 2019, and if they get the permits they would begin design work immediately with a goal of beginning construction work in 2020.  City officials have been waiting a number of years for the permits, and funds have been budgeted for the work.

Klickitat County is taking a look at its pay scale, and trying to determine if it is competitive as it can be.  County Commissioner David Sauter says with a tight labor market, they’ve had issues filling positions, noting they also want to make sure current employees are also receiving competitive compensation.  Sauter states that long-term they won’t be able to sustain the level of wage growth they’ve seen without making changes in spending priorities.  He adds the County has revenue potential in the Dallesport Industrial Park, and success in marketing it would grow the tax base, which Sauter points out under Washington’s current system is the only way for counties to deal with budget issues.

The Trump administration will allow a project to construct new tribal housing near The Dalles to resume.  The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that $1.8 million has been included in the Army Corps of Engineers budget to begin work on The Dalles Dam village plan.  Senate Appropriations Committee members Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Patty Murray of Washington added the money to a funding bill for the Corps without any dictates of how it must be used.   A bipartisan and bi-state group of lawmakers then wrote a letter to R.D. James, assistant secretary of the Army, to suggest the money be used to finish the village planning.  The money is needed to figure out where a village could be located near The Dalles Dam and how it would look.  The Army Corps and a committee of tribal members had identified three Washington sites in 2016, but now needs to determine if they are still options.  The site could end up on the Oregon side of the river.  Merkley hopes to start the same momentum for villages at the Bonneville and John Day dams.

New mobile libraries are on the road and coming to rural communities in Skamania and Klickitat counties.  Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries is introducing two new bookmobiles to replace the aging bookmobiles that combined serve over 35 stops throughout the region.  Among the new features is a much-requested wheelchair lift, which will not only provide additional access for patrons, it allows library staff to easily take book carts into remote locations as well.  In addition to seeing the new bookmobiles at their regularly scheduled stops, people can “check them out” at library and community events this December, including this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Christmas in the Gorge Bazaar at the Skamania County Fairgrounds in Stevenson and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the White Salmon Valley Community Library Wassail Celebration.  A new bookmobile will also be at the Goldendale Community Library next Saturday, December 8, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

A long-discussed refurbishment of a bridge over the Klickitat River appears to be set to proceed this summer.  Work on the small one-lane bridge north of the town of Klickitat that goes over to Horseshoe Bend up Swale Canyon has been discussed for about a decade. but permitting took years to complete due to various issues.  Klickitat County Commissioner David Sauter says the plan is to do the work this summer, and the bridge will be closed for 80 working days.  Sauter notes with the limited access that will result from the bridge closure, the County is coordinating with local fire districts and the Washington Department of Natural Resources for continued fire and EMS coverage.

The Hood River City Council will vote Monday night on an ordinance to restrict when fireworks can be sold and used.  Councilors had originally planned to vote on the ordinance two weeks ago, but asked for language revisions before proceeding.  Under the ordinance, the sale of consumer fireworks will be allowed only from June 23 to July 7, and discharge of fireworks will be allowed from November 16 to July 14.  Monday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Hood River City Hall.

A California man died in a single-vehicle accident on Saturday morning on Highway 97 about a half mile north of Kent in Sherman County.  According to the Oregon State Police, a preliminary investigation showed the 1998 Jeep Wrangler driven by 75-year-old Leroy Despain of Redding, California was traveling south on Highway 97 at about 8:25 Saturday morning when for unknown reasons the vehicle left the road and rolled multiple times.  Emergency personnel responding to the scene pronounced Despain deceased.  The OSP was assisted at the scene by South Sherman Fire and Rescue, the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.