The Goldendale Sentinel is the official newspaper of Goldendale, Washington and surrounding communities in Klickitat County.

Columbia River Bank shut down

     After posting losses in excess of $170 million—mostly from investments gone bad in construction and commercial real estate loans—Columbia River Bank (CRB) has been shut down and is now in the hands of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
     Employees at the Goldendale branch of what used to beCRB, along with those at all other branches, are now employees of the FDIC, says FDIC spokesman Greg Hernandez.
     “The acquiring receiver of a failed bank has the option to determine the status of the failed bank’s employees,” Hernandez says. “The process of determining status can take a few weeks. Usually there are long-term employees at a bank, people who’ve been there a while and know the system, and they could be kept on. But it takes a while to make that assessment.”
     CRB, headquartered in The Dalles, was shut down Friday by Oregon state banking regulators, who appointed the FDIC as its receiver. The move came unannounced and caught most customers totally by surprise.
     All bank deposit accounts were transferred to Columbia State Bank based in Tacoma, which received CRB’s assets from the FDIC. “Columbia State Bank had 10 branches,” Hernandez says. “Overnight they tripled in size when they acquired Columbia River’s 21 branches.”
     All CRB bank cards and normal activities are still effective, and no loss of depositor funds has been incurred.
     Hernandez says a full investigation is under way into CRB’s activities. “It’s called a Material Loss Review,” he states. “We conduct one when a bank comes into our receivership and its losses are more than $25 million. Obviously, with some $170 million in losses, Columbia River falls into that category. The full report takes about six months to complete.”
     If the report ends up suspecting criminal activity on the part of a bank’s dealings, Hernandez says the matter is then transferred to a regional office of the Department of Justice for action.
     “Most of Columbia River’s losses came from construction loans and commercial real estate loans,” Hernandez reports. “When you make those kinds of loans in this kind of economy, that’s a recipe for disaster.”
     CRB was placed in the FDIC’s Problem Institution list in November of 2008. When banks are first placed on the list, their names are not identified. As of third quarter 2009, 532 banks were on the list, of the more than 8,000 banks nationwide.
     “Commercial real estate loan failure is the next major shoe to drop,” Hernandez says. “Bank failures are likely to peak out in 2010 due to that kind of failure. This is happening across the country, not just in Washington state.”

Mistake blacks out KPUD

     Approximately 5,000 customers of the Klickitat PUD lost power from 10:47 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 21, due to an error at the BPA Harvalum substation.
     According to Doug Johnson, media representative for BPA, workers were trying to integrate a wind facility into the Harvalum substation near the John Day Dam. The workers were trying to set a relay that would avoid shutting down power to KPUD. However, a mistake was made on the settings, and power to KPUD was shut down.
     The mistake was immediately recognized at BPA control facility in Vancouver, and the substation switches were reenergized at 11:17. It took about another hour and 15 minutes for the whole system to come back on line.

Planning committees report on progress

     The name Goldendale may appear on signs for the I-84 exit to the Sam Hill Bridge in the near future, if the Goldendale Planning Project’s signage committee has its way.
     The desire to have Goldendale added to the signs was one of four recommendations from the committee during a Jan. 20 meeting at the Goldendale Grange. Also on the wish list presented by Larry Bellamy was a rest stop off Highway 97. It placed fourth on the list, behind rented billboards in The Dalles and stone monuments at city entrances, primarily due to the large expense. The rest stop would also likely house Chamber of Commerce offices and serve as an information center.
     Two other committees also reported their priorities. The business development committee listed a short term goal of pushing the “365 days in Goldendale” theme. Bette Wilde reported that a web-based listing of things to do in the Goldendale area would be supplemented with a blog to keep it current. For a long term goal, the committee wants a more robust business directory in hard copy and electronic form that includes all businesses regardless of Chamber of Commerce affiliation, in a “Think Local” campaign.
     The third committee, which looked at revitalization, generated the most public comment. The committee recommended tackling a beautification project involving the American Legion facility and back side of buildings located on the north side of Main Street.
     Jean Morgan explained that the committee began with a perspective of someone visiting the Presby Museum and what they see when they exit the museum. The first thing noticed is the American Legion parking lot and back alley of Main Street businesses. The recommendation calls for shielding the parking lot, painting a history-based mural on the Legion building, and dressing up the buildings along the alley. The cooperative nature of the American Legion was noted as a way to begin a revitalization project with a high likelihood of success.
     Public comments ranged from suggestions that a city ordinance could require building owners to spruce up the Main Street buildings to volunteers willing to help paint and others wanting rehabilitation that preserves the historic look of the buildings. There was much agreement that a source of funding is needed to give the projects momentum and the need of a grant writer was identified. It was also suggested that the city should consider a theme and perhaps have the public vote from a list of five ideas.
     Chamber president Tom Ireland stated that a master plan for the project did not exist, but the chamber and other relevant bodies were developing one. The Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee will review the committee recommendations, discuss potential partnerships and stakeholders and present recommendations to the Chamber board.