KVH decides on new board commissioner
School tech director appointed to post

Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor

     The Klickitat Valley Health hospital (KVH) Board of Commissioners appointed a new commissioner Monday evening during an open board meeting.
     Longtime Goldendale resident, John Quinn, was selected in a consensus opinion following a public interview.
     The new commissioner, who has lived in Goldendale for 24 years, currently serves as director of technology for the Goldendale School District.
     “He’s been in the community for a number of years,” said interim CEO, John Rohrer. “He looks at the hospital as an important, valuable asset to the community and he simply wants to be able to serve his community by serving on the board.
     “I’m looking forward to working with [him],” Rohrer added. “He seemed on first meeting to be pleasant, attentive.”
     The board went into an executive session Monday following a round robin-style interview, which was open to the public.
     When they emerged, a decision had been reached.
     “It looked like he’s willing to voice his opinion but then support the decision of the board,” said Ron Ihrig, president of the board.
     Ihrig said they were looking for someone who brought complimentary skills to the table.
Quinn said he views the hospital as an integral part of region.
     “I would like to participate in making sure that it is a positive part of our community,” he said.
     “I didn’t really have any particular issues I wanted to resolve, I just want it to be the best that it can be.”
     Other candidates included Karla Better, Isaac Carmickle, Richard Hope, and William Kelley.
     Quinn, who was sworn in Monday, now fills the position left vacant when Bill Martin stepped down in August.
     The term will run through November 2009.

 Goldendale gets first ever state DOR audit

     The City of Goldendale has been selected for a random audit through the Washington State Department of Revenue (WDOR) for the first time in history.
     According to City Treasurer, Tracy Hansen, the state department draws city names on a regular basis, but Goldendale’s name has never come up.
     The auditor who contacted her, she said, only discovered the idiosyncrasy when entering the name into the database and finding a blank history.
     She emphasized the procedure is not federal but through the state, and will involve a typical tax audit.
     The City is also up for the more standard accountability audit, which the state auditor will conduct in October. That measure occurs every two years and can include things like contracts, fixed assets, warrant procedures and policy outlines.
     “An accountability audit is everything - literally,” said Hansen. “It’s your accountability to the community. They just start picking a choosing…you never know what they’re going to pick.”
     The last audit of that type was in October of 2006 and revealed no findings, Hansen said.

 City tables KVH hospital rezone
Administrators say they can’t afford to pave lot; council opts for 6-month hold on request

Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor

     The City of Goldendale has tabled a rezone request by the Klickitat Valley Health hospital (KVH) after administrators said they cannot pave the parking lot right away.
     “The hospital may not be able to afford to pave that parking lot if putting in a heli-stop was a competing interest,” said John Rohrer, KVH interim CEO, on Monday.
     At a Sept. 15 meeting, City Council members voted to put the request aside for 6 months until they can look into various legal matters.
     Paving the lot, which KVH Board President Ron Ihrig estimated will cost about $50,000, was a condition the City originally asked administrators to meet before granting the request, put forward this spring.
     However, this week City Administrator Larry Bellamy said he needed to see if the City can legally attach conditions to rezones and, if so, what recourse is available if they are not met.
     Ihrig said he was also interested in finding out the possible recourse.
     “If you require us to pave it and we don’t have the finances within the year, what happens?” said Ihrig. “Why are we being required to pave it when city ordinance doesn’t require other commercial or industrial businesses to pave their lots?”
     “I don’t want to get into a Catch-22 with the City.”
     The property up for rezone stretches over four lots, including a piece of land recently acquired from the Emery estate, a local family.
     Administrators requested the rezone earlier this year after the City told them the parking lot was out of compliance with city ordinance.
     Part of the reason administrators are concerned about the paving is money is also needed to get a helicopter landing site built.
     They have been several ideas for where to put that.
     “One thought was the possible relocation of the Tupper building, which is that green structure that is on our parking lot to that lot…and use the area that is vacated by the Tupper building for a heli-stop.”
     There was also brief talk about using the adjacent property to land the helicopters, but Roherer said it is unlikely due to concerns about noise impact on nearby residents.
     When asked where they would come up with the funding for the parking lot, Ihrig replied that it was a “good question.”
     “Right now we’re dipping into our reserves today in order to maintain the hospital day-to-day.”
     The board president said he asked the City to make the heli-stop a priority project for the Economic Development Authority’s annual funding, which comes up around November.
     He said they they seemed surpised by the request.
     “I think I stunned them,” said Ihrig. “I got the sense they would have to think about it.”
     Bellamy said he had spoken with a legal consultant and guessed he would be in talks with the hospital by October.