Knifemaker Salem Straub proves
EARTH DAY IN TONASKET
to be a cut above.
Plant Frenzy, Saturday at Triangle Park; Being Green, Sunday at Tonasket High School Commons
See Page A11
SERVING WASHINGTON’S
OKANOGAN VALLEY
SINCE 1905
GAZETTE-TRIBUNE WWW.GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013 | 75 CENTS NEWSSTAND PRICE
Finding room for Guest Workers
NVH financial situation stabilizing
LET’S GO FLY A KITE
Hospital shows profit through end of February BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
Significant investment approved by Oroville Housing Authority BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – Last February representatives from Gold Digger Apples, Taber Orchards and Del Rosario Orchards approached the Oroville Housing Authority to ask if they could house more than 100 H2A guest workers, some staying for as much as half a year, at their farmworkers camp off Sawtell Road. Currently the OHA doesn’t have the capacity to house that many extra people in the 18 trailers it owns and housing them in the new Harvest Park is not allowed under the organization’s agreement with the US RDA which financed the facility. Last year the OHA put a couple dozen H2A workers and the overflow of migrant workers from the Harvest Park up in the trailers and in five large tents. The OHA board told the representatives from the orchards and fruit growers cooperative that they would invest in pouring additional concrete slabs so that they could rent another five 8-man wall tents and converting the recreation room to a bunkhouse to handle the influx of H2A workers. However, at their
SEE GUEST WORKERS | PG A3
Gary DeVon/Staff Photo
Isaiah gets a helping hand at Oroville Kite Day on Sunday, April 14, at Bud Clark Ballfields. A strong breeze in the morning helped get around a dozen kites airborne. Although rain threatened there were just a few drops among the sunshine. More on page A4.
TONASKET - The North Valley Hospital District’s financial situation is gradually improving, reported Chief Financial Officer Helen Verhasselt at the Thursday, April 11, NVH Board of Commissioners meeting. Verhasselt compared the hospital’s financial condition in a number of areas compared to a year ago: * Net income for the district through the end of February is about $196,000. Last year showed a loss of $321,000, a swing of more than a half million dollars. The hospital itself is showing a net profit of $330,000, while the Long Term Care division shows a loss of $134,000. * Compared to the budget, net revenue is over budget by about $95,000, operating expenses are under budget by $192,000. Net income is over budget by about $128,000. * On the balance sheet, the Accounts Receivable shows an improvement in collection of payments by about $800,000 compared to the same time last year. “We had some CPSI (rural hospital specialist) consultants here (Thursday),” Verhasselt said. “They were looking at our Accounts Receivable side and said ours were looking better than any facility they’ve been at. They commended us highly.” * Accounts payable waiting to be paid has been decreased by about $350,000 from the same point last year. * Registered warrants owed to the county are down $240,000 from the same point last year, but down $1.3 million from August. * Wages and benefits have decreased
by about $98,000. The warrants stood at $1.7 million on Thursday, up from $1.3 million two weeks earlier, thanks to a number of factors that Verhasselt said were temporary. “Medicare, a couple times a year, will hold up payments to us for several weeks at a time,” she said. “We’re going through one of those periods right now. They also have a nationwide glitch in their system (that is mistakenly kicking out legitimate charges). So we’ve had a significant cash flow issue with Medicare, which is why we haven’t continued that downward trend.” She said that expected payments of about $500,000 from Medicare and $270,000 from Medicaid will go directly into paying down the warrants. “Our warrants and our other liabilities are down,” Verhasselt said. “We’re looking way better. Some people would like quicker progress - like me - but the decisions we’ve made have us moving in the right direction.”
CEO REPORTS CEO Linda Michel, who attended the meeting by phone, submitted a written report that included a number of key findings about the North Valley Hospital district’s demographics. Among the key findings (dated for 2011), culled from a report from the Washington Hospital Association: * The hospital serves an average of 161 patients per day, an increase of 12.4 percent since 2006; * The combined Medicare and Medicaid in-patient payer mix was 82 percent. Medicare patients made up 53 percent of the overall mix, up 23.3 percent since 2006; Medicaid was at 29.0 percent, down 23.7 percent; * Charity care rose by more than 373 percent during that period to $437,574; meanwhile, bad debt for 2011 was
SEE NVH | Pg A2
Grant minutiae require city to find 5% to complete project Event vendor resolution passes BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - The Tonasket City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday, April 9, to direct city engineering firm Varela and Associates to delay awarding a bid for the Third/Fifth/Sixth Street stormwater repair project by 30 days in order to buy time to come up with about $19,000 that will be needed to finish the project. The need for the extension arose when Varela informed the council that a portion of the project that is to be completed by the Department of Transportation could not be credited to cover the five percent of the project not covered by a state Transportation Improvement Board grant that covers 95 percent of the project. The issue is the five percent, said Mayor Patrick Plumb, not the dollar amount. “The TIB project says that we can’t use what the DOT is going to do as the five percent match (which was previously thought to be allowed),” he said. “They want real money, which is about $19,000. “(Changing the project) wouldn’t help because they want the five percent regardless of the cost.” City clerk Alice Attwood said the options were to ask Varela for the extension in order to pursue the additional needed funding, or, she said, “decide the amount of match that we could meet, and
redesign the project to fit the cur- rational expectation for an exterrent financial constraints of the nal organization,” said Olson. city and rebid.” “We’ve got to have something to The council discussed multiple show the residents of the city that avenues to explore, including ask- they have a return on their investing the county for “.09 money,” ment with their taxes,” Plumb which is a portion of the state said. “There’s going to be plenty sales tax returned to economical- of it, but when you drive down ly depressed counties; a portion third (between OK Chevrolet and of the pool fund not allocated Subway)... I want something tanfor this year; or gible there.” a loan. Council memENDOR “For any agency look- VRESOLUTION ber Scott Olson particularly ing at us, if someone’s PASSES objected to taking giving us 95 percent, willOrganizations out a loan withnow be the out knowing if coming up with five final authority the funds would which venpercent is a rational on be available for dors can ply their repayment. expectation for an wares at public “But if (the sponexternal organization,. events road) fails comsored by those pletely, we or g a n i z at i on s Scott Olson, could be lookTonasket City Council Member on city proping at a loan for erty according $400,000,” Plumb to a resolution said. passed by the “I really want to encourage council Tuesday. finding the funds to do it,” Olson Organizations that purchase a said. “I don’t like the idea of a loan permit from the city may then unless we guarantee a way to pay charge vendors at their discretion for it. I like the idea of (Varela’s for the right to sell at their events. Kurt) Holland looking for other Organizations that encounter money. You say this is what we unauthorized vendors at their pay taxes for ... infrastructure events may seek city support (i.e. is what our city does. I would law enforcement) to have those encourage us to be willing to bite vendors removed. the bullet on this one and find a The permit this year will cost way to pay for it without taking $35 for one event (appropriate away from our bare bones budget for an organization like the socthat we have now.” cer league that sponsors one big The council voted after plenty tournament each spring) or $75 of additional discussion over the to cover a year’s worth of events benefits and pitfalls of various (more appropriate for groups funding sources. like the Community Cultural “For any agency looking at us, Center). if someone’s giving us 95 percent, The resolution had been discoming up with five percent is a cussed at several meetings
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 109 No. 16
throughout the past year and was passed unanimously by the council with minimal additional discussion.
PILKINTON RECOGNIZED The contributions of former public works director Bill Pilkinton, who recently passed away, were recognized by the city council during Tuesday’s meeting. “I propose we do something to memorialize him,” council member Jill Vugteveen said. “Something permanent, like a park bench or a tree.” Plumb issued a formal statement of condolence. “I salute his service to our community,” Plumb said. “I’m saddened, and so are multiple people, on his passing. I commend Council member Vugteveen for coming up with ideas to memorialize his service to our community. I stand with the family; we’ll miss him greatly.” SURVEILLANCE CAMERA POLICY SUBMITTED
Police Chief Rob Burks submitted a revised camera surveillance policy for the council’s review, one which he said was based upon a similar policy currently used by the Pullman police. “The points I like - it talks two or three times about infringing on rights to privacy, “he said. “It also covers any and all cameras, because 8-10 years from now, as things advance who knows what will be a camera? Whether it’s in a pen or cell phone, this covers all possible cameras.” Plumb assigned the policy
SEE COUNCIL | PG A3
BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - Tonasket Mayor Patrick Plumb said at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting that he would do whatever he could to secure the final five percent of funding needed to complete the 3rd/5th/6th Street stormwater repair project. On Monday, April 15, Plumb said the Okanogan County Board of Commissioners approved the use of $19,510 of so-called “.09 money” to complete the funding of the project. A Transportation Infrastructure Board grant will fund the other 95 percent of the project. Without the final five percent, the city was at risk of losing a nearly $400,000 grant for much needed repairs to streets in the city’s business core. “I give a lot of credit to the commissioners,” Plumb said. “They looked very closely at how the grant was put together. They saw the project for its value, and really this is what that .09 money is for. This is an opportunity; it would be hard to let $400,000 vanish if we couldn’t come up with $19,000.” The .09 funding is a portion of state sales tax revenue that is returned to economically depressed counties for county and city governments to direct into projects to help enhance their local economies. Twenty percent of that is earmarked for “emergent opportunities,” and Plumb said this project perfectly fit that description. “It’s wise on the state and county’s part to set aside money for those reasons,” Plumb said. “This is right in the middle of downtown, and some of those streets are getting tough to traverse, especially when it rains. “Opportunities to get state funds are probably going to become a lot more limited in the future, and we’ve been in the right place at the right time to get some of this money for our infrastructure. And that, to me, is what we need to be doing: providing infrastructure so people can live, work and play, and I credit the council for staying on board with this.” Plumb also credited Roni Holder-Diefenbach, director of the Economic Alliance, and city planner Kurt Danison (Highland Associates), for their work. “Pretty much all of downtown is going to be torn up,” he said. “But the infrastructure fixes will be well worth it.”
INSIDE THIS EDITION
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UPDATE: COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HEED MAYOR’S REQUEST FOR ‘.09 FUNDING’ FOR REPAIRS
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Valley Life Police Stats Obituaries
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