The Chelan City Council approved an extension of Lodging Tax funding for the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce at Tuesday night's meeting, but spent almost half of the meeting discussing it. You'll remember that last year, the chamber asked for a five year funding agreement, but the council agreed on one year's funding of 700-thousand dollars, with a promise to set up a committee to explore future funding. It was objections by Councilman John Olson that brought that about, and on Tuesday night, Olson still had objections:
Chamber Executive Director Mike Steele said the city's money was crucial to the Chelan business community's success . . . and even its existence:
In the end, the funding was approved, by a vote of 5 to 2, with Councilmen Olson and Peter Jamtgaard voting against.