From a meetings standpoint, Tuesday was a day where officials in both Chelan and Manson looked to the future. The city of Chelan met to get details of the TIF plan, meaning Tax Increment Financing, for improvements to the water infrastructure in East Chelan that could benefit the entire city. We reported on that meeting yesterday.
In Manson on Tuesday, the Community Council held an open discussion about incorporation. And like the meeting in Chelan, there was confusion about what it entailed, and what the pros and cons were. Those who attended asked questions of the council, who generally had no answers. Council member Chris Willoughby gave a rundown on what doing a study on incorporating could answer:
From that point in the discussions, there were opinions, one from this resident:
Council member John Frolker actually stood up and left the council table to give his opinion, not as a council member, but as a citizen:
But was Chelan County responding to Manson's pushing? That was brought up by Council President Kari Sorenson, who brought Chelan City Council member John Olson into the discussion:
The tug of war between Manson and the county was brought up by another resident:
In the end, the general feeling was that some study needs to be done to determine the pros and cons of incorporation. Just who will do that is a good question; in an email yesterday, Kari Sorenson clarified the council's role in the discussion, saying the Community Council has never been the leader of any discussion of incorporation, and that the only reason it appeared on the agenda was because community members asked the council to host the discussion. So at this point, the incorporation issue seems to have been put to rest – for now, anyway.