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,' Page A-20 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016
By BRIANNA LOPER
brianna @masoncounty. com
With no public comment, Port
of Allyn commissioners approved
a hike in water rates for a water
utility the port has owned for more
than a decade.
During a meeting Monday night,
commissioners voted to accept a
new base residential rate of $22.95
per month and $29.95 for a com-
mercial monthly rate.
The new rates are expected to
generate $8,880 in revenue for the
port in 2017, compared with $5,700
this year.
"Right now, we're not even meet-
ing operating costs," said port com-
missioner Jean Farmer during the
meeting.
Despite hosting public hearings
Monday on the port's 2017 budget
and the increase in water rates,
two residents attended the meet-
ing, and neither spoke about the
budget nor water rates.
The port is expected to pay
$22,201.21 in expenses this year
for its water utility, according to a
water utility budget presented to
commissioners by po~ executive di-
rector Lary Coppola. That number
includes repaying a $12,350 bond,
which will be paid offthis year. The
port budgeted $9,857.06 in expens-
es for 2017, which includes pay-
ments to the water system man-
ager, paying back an international
development district loan and well-
house electricity.
Previously, the residential rate
was $19.48 per month and $25.48
for commercial rates.
Coppola said he researched wa-
ter rates in both Mason and Kitsap
counties, and found the port's util-
ity was the lowest rate.
After the increase, Coppola said,
"We're no longer the lowest, but
may be the second- or third-lowest."
He added the port has not raised
rates while operating the water
utility, which it has owned since
about 2003.
The water utility provides 13
hook-ups in the port district, but
"has water rights for about 1,000
hook-ups Coppola told the Herald.
He added lack of new construction
in the service area has hindered the
port receiving new hook-ups.
see WATER, page A-22
Herald photo by Shawna Whelan
The North Mason Dance Team performs during halftime of the North Mason varsity football game Nov. 4 against
Tenino High School. For more about the game, see page B-1.
Warming center closes
to make way for early
childhood learning center
By BRIANNA LOPER
brianna@masoncounty.com
John Campbell remembers pulling
a donated mattress out of the closet,
flopping a sleeping bag on top and lay-
ing down to sleep in the same room as
a complete stranger -- olden several.
Campbell volunteered at a warm-
ing center, hosted in the Mary E. The-
ler Community Center, for the past
two years. During nights when tem-
peratures were expected to dip below
freezing, the center opened its doors
to give anybody who needed a place to
sleep.
Volunteers helped hand out food
and toiletries, and ensures safety of
those inside the shelter throughout
the night.
"I go back and forth," Campbell
said, recalling his time volunteering
at the warming center. "Were we do-
ing so much (for them) or too little?"
More people
in Belfair may
thatbe withoUtshelter "| go back and forth,
this winter; the
community cen-
Were we doing so much
District plans a new future for the
community center.
The school district hopes to turn
the building into an early childhood
learning center,
which could in-
clude a preschool
or classes.
However, be-
cause the time-
ter will lock its
doors at night
from now on,
a change from
the past two
winters when
the center could
{fmr them) or too JittJe?" line for the
proj-
ect is unclear,
Moore said The-
John Campbell, volunteer ler center era-
for the warming center in the ployees decided
Mary E. Theler Community Centerto nix the warm-
ing center pro-
stay open as
North Mason's only overnight shelter.
"It's not going to happen this year,"
said Joan Moore, coordinator at the
community center. "The Theler Center
is going to have a new life, and with
the possible construction, it's a safety
thing."
The warming center program ended
this year as the North Mason School
gram.
"It's too bad, because we have a
community that needs it," Moore said,
adding that she didn't know any other
place in the North Mason area that of-
fered similar programs.
North Mason does not have a home-
less shelter. The closest facility in the
see THELER, page A-23
by keynote speaker Dan Weedin, "Unleashed: Living a Better Life Outside the Fence." This month's Shop Local media sponsor is iFIBER One !
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