In what has become a tradition, Mayor Bryon Monohon delivered his State of the City address to members of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, as well as other interested citizens at the chamber meeting Wednesday, Jan. 25 in Forks at Blakeslee’s Bar and Grill.

The mayor called 2016 a long and difficult year in the political world. “We’ve got quite a few new people to work with now across all political levels but I’m only expecting good relationships and open dialogues,” he said. He went on to outline the issues that will impact the community in 2017.

Transportation

Monohon said, “Keeping all of the highways and the Elwha bridge open is very important. I don’t really understand why with a federal highway around a national park that we’re supposed to be competing for funds or asking some of the questions that we ask.”

He added, “If all of the highways were closed, you would expect the outside world to be clamoring to get to the area not us justifying why we need to get out while our project competes with something in King County that has more vehicles per day than we do.”

He said he would continue to try to get transparency, planning and coherency out of the Park Service regarding Lake Crescent work, too.

Crime

He outlined the treatment of crime simply as “we’ll keep arresting folks that break the law. That’s what we do as the city. We try to prevent and we arrest.”

Public works

The mayor praised the city’s new Public Works director Paul Hampton, saying he is doing an incredible job. “We’ve got projects coming with water tank overhauls and some new sidewalks. Eventually, we’re going to be dealing with some sort of sewer expansion as well but that is still a few years away,” Monohon added. He complimented the new Spartan field, “We also got a great new field at the stadium this last year which will serve all of the citizens of the West End.”

Timber issues

“We’ll continue to make sure that our citizens and businesses have a voice and are treated fairly and comparably to other areas. It is really hard to have a constructive discussion about timber as people are so entrenched in opinions that are not often based in fact.” Monohon said he had a list of the most common arguments that get used against our community and they are not the least bit warm or respectful.

The mayor was thankful that 2016 did see the long-delayed Olympic Experimental State Forest Plan completed. “We have maintained an excellent working relationship with the DNR and the Public Lands commissioner.” He also congratulated Clallam County Commissioner Bill Peach, who was in attendance, on his vice-chairmanship of the DNR board.

West End Thunder

Monohon told the group that it’s time to renew with the FAA again and the city is actively working on that.

Monohon said as always the city is on the lookout for ways to foster business growth and also to improve the overall living climate for the local citizens. He said the city will continue to work with a very tight budget and the council has taken extra steps this year to make sure that some money will be put into reserve.

He thanked city staff for continuing to get more done with less funds than what most municipalities would think is possible. At some point in the near future however, he said there likely will be a need to reprioritize just how much can get done with what they have and the realization that the ways the city has traditionally done business will have to change.

He told the crowd, “As always it is an honor and a privilege to serve you and I am thankful of your support over these many years.”

Questions followed concerning Uber drivers, sidewalks, break-ins, 9-1-1 dispatch problems, for which the mayor said the city and the police department will continue to work with PenCom to better the service but that local dispatch is just too costly to reinstate.

Chamber President Don Grafstrom thanked the mayor for the good work done by jail trustees who do such a good job picking up litter, that the Chamber canceled its clean-up day this year.

In closing, the mayor urged citizens to call in if they see signs down, etc. He also urged everyone to call 9-1-1 if they see something suspicious.

“We don’t see everything, we can always use the community’s help.”