Open house draws plenty of feedback
Mar. 6—The city of Pullman wants to hear from the community about what should be prioritized in the next biennium budget.
City staff are preparing to create a budget for the next two years. As part of its first steps, an open house was held before the city council Tuesday evening for Pullman residents to voice their top concerns.
The discussion was a successful one, according to Mayor Francis Benjamin, who said he was happy to see community members engaging with the city.
Councilor Megan Guildo agreed, saying there's been an increase in involvement since developing Project Downtown Pullman, the city's plan to revitalize the town's Main Street.
Councilor Eric Fejeran said a big goal of his is to create conversations with citizens and improve the city's communication. He added this is a great way to get people to be a part of city planning.
The city will take community feedback throughout March. Benjamin said a meeting will be held April 27 to go through recommendations and priorities.
City Administrator Mike Urban said the council would like to adopt its priorities by May and begin to build the budget through the summer.
In October, he added, the mayor will propose a biennial budget, and in November the council will take action.
Gil Rezin, a Washington State University student, said the biggest thing he wants is the city and students to be involved with one another. He added it's a mutually beneficial relationship, and the city is defined by its students. When they aren't giving input, he said, a large chunk of the population isn't being represented.
He said he and many students would like improved transit services, with greater frequency of bus service and an expansion to places like the airport that are inaccessible without a car.
He added he would also like to see an expansion of trail networks through rail banking, the process of making old rails into trails.
Kevin Owens, Pullman resident, said he has many priorities for the city, including addressing emergency preparation, homelessness and Indigenous representation.
Owens said he'd like the area to have a community emergency response team to get people ready for events like power outages, gas outages and even illness, as well as employing a search and rescue team.
He said the region doesn't have a great plan for homelessness, and would like the city to consider creating a place for them.
He added the Nimiipuu tribe is underappreciated and should be involved in city events. He added the city has been putting up art installations and statues but not one honors Indigenous people and he'd like that to change.
Bryan and Colleen MacDonald said Pullman needs to find a way to make housing affordable. Bryan said they bought their first house in Pullman in 1999, which cost only a fraction of what the housing market demands today.
Bryan said the city needs to find ways to encourage people to start small businesses here, and added Moscow has found a way to do that. Also, the community needs to be "awesome" at supporting small businesses during the downtown construction period. He said Pullman desperately needs to do something about unoccupied downtown buildings, like the old Mimosa building.
Steve Flint, of Pullman, said there's been talk about a bypass and he'd like a way to divert traffic from downtown.
Douglas Habib, Pullman resident, said roads always need attending and traffic on Grand Avenue is always awful.
Marilyn Von Seggern, of Pullman, said one of her top priorities is urban forestry and trees in the community, especially on College Hill. She added the city should also be considering topics in the comprehensive plan, an outline to better the community as it continues to grow.
Linda Meyer, Pullman resident, said she's sent about 31 suggestions to the city. Though she'd love to share all of them, she said some of her top concerns are better crosswalks for pedestrians, a roundabout at Johnson Road, Professional Mall and Bishop Boulevard, and a reservoir to recharge the aquifer.
Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com
