125 years ago
July 15, 1892
As will be seen by the council proceedings published in another column, the plans and specifications submitted by C. H. Fenner for a sewerage system, have been accepted, and steps are being made to submit them to a vote of the people for acceptance or rejection, as soon as possible.
If possible we should like to give the plans in detail, but space will not permit, and an abbreviated statement would be hardly intelligible to the most of us.
The pipe throughout the city will be eight inches, except the main leading to the river which will be 10 inches. The gentlemen preparing the plans claim that this size is sufficient for a city of 10,000 people, and can be extended to cover an area of 320 acres.
The proposition as submitted estimates the cost of the plant at $15,000.
100 years ago
July 13, 1917
Elma is planning a big patriotic meeting Sunday afternoon at the park on Main street, in which the entire county is asked to take part. A big automobile parade, followed by a program of music and speaking are the features of the day announced by the committee on arrangements. J. W. Strubel and A. F. Gookins, of Elma, were in this city Monday evening and addressed a gathering of Montesano business men at the city hall in explanation of the affair.
Montesano is asked to turn out several hundred strong and it is likely that a large number of local people will attend. This city has been given the chairmanship of the meeting in the person of Mayor B. G. Cheney, who will preside at the program of speeches and music.
75 years ago
July 16, 1942
Camp Montesano of the civilian conservation corps has received its marching orders.
It will be officially closed on July 23, according to instructions just received by Elbert Johns, camp commander, and the remaining enrollees will then be sent home, most of them to points in the east and south.
Thus end hopes that the camp might have remained in operation throughout the summer season as a further safeguard against forest fires.
“All of us are mighty sorry to leave Montesano,” said Johns. “The relations between the town and the camp have always been most cordial, and all of us will remember Montesano and its people most pleasantly.”
Johns himself expects to return to his home in Kentucky and later plans to go overseas in the service of the Red Cross.
Since the camp was established on its picturesque hilltop west of Montesano in October, 1939, some 1,500 boys have received training there and have contributed their part to a far reaching program of soil conservation in this area. Most of their work has been on river banks, although more recently they have been chiefly occupied with the construction of military roads.
50 years ago
July 15, 1967
A mass meeting of residents east of Montesano in the area that would be served by the proposed sewer to Montesano’s new elementary school on Beacon Avenue East has been called by the city council.
Residents in the Renton Addition and on Ballpark Hill would be included.
“We have a new lower-cost project to present, looking to the formation of a new guaranteed local improvement district,” said Mayor Lloyd Metke. “Because the school is expected to share in the cost, we will be able to cut costs to individual househoulders substantially. We want everyone to understand what is planned and we want their own opinions.”
An earlier proposal for an LID, which would have cost about $9 a front foot, was turned down. The new proposal, with school participation, is expected to cost no more than $5.
Councilman Kenneth Roberts said the health factor is becoming acute in the growing area.
“Ultimately, a local improvement district will be forced by the health department,” he said.
The entire project, including laterals to serve a larger area, has been estimated to cost $57,000, of which the school would pay a substantial amount.
25 years ago
July 9, 1992
The entire Chehalis watershed is being slighted because of a technical loophole holding up thousands of dollars worth of water quality improvement projects, according to local Conservation Districts.
“It’s a catch 22,” said Troy Colley, District manager of the Grays Harbor Conservation District. In the meantime, “projects that need to be done are left wanting.”
Colley’s sentiments are shared by Craig Harper, an employee of the Lewis County Conservation District and coordinator of the $217,000 Chehalis River Basin Management Project. There are “problems that need to be addressed.” Activities which have the potential to reduce the flow of pollution into the river system are being held up, he says.
The debate is over Centennial Clean Water grants, a series of which were approved by the Department of Ecology (DOE) last month. None submitted from agencies in the Chehalis watershed were among those approved. DOE says the grants were turned down because there is no approved Action Plan for the watershed. Conservation District people say no one told them such a plan had to be in place as a condition of grant approval.
Left hanging is a Grays Harbor Conservation District proposal and another for a water quality education project.
10 years ago
July 12, 2007
It’s not the weather or the potholes that give the Ocean Beach Road and the Monte-Elma Road the dubious honor of being the top two roads to feature car wrecks on Grays Harbor last year.
Both are straight stretches that tempt drivers to go dangerously fast with disastrous consequences.
“Just speed and driver error,” Paul Easter, the county’s pubic services director, noted in presenting the 2006 Annual Traffic Accident Report to the county commissioners this week.
When looking at a 10-year average, the four roads with the highest accident rates are all in east county—the Middle Satsop tops the list, followed by Elma-McCleary, South Montesano and Blue Slough.
The report is a summary of accidents on county roads and doesn’t include state highways. It’s prepared each year by John Kirkwood, administrative engineer. He notes the county maintains 702 roads totaling 551 miles.
Of the 175 reported motor vehicle accidents last year, two were fatalities and 69 were injury accidents. One fatality occurred on Ocean Beach Road, the other last Christmas Eve on North River Road.
That’s a decrease of four over 2005 but seven more than the average over the past 10 years, according to the report. The total estimated cost of all accidents on county roads last year was $6.73 million, the most in the last 10 years. The 10-year average is $5.8 million when adjusted for inflation.
While speed was the most common cause given for accidents at 25 percent, it was followed closely by alcohol, drugs and inattention.
