Leavenworth City Council welcomes new member, prepares for Village of Lights

LEAVENWORTH – After canceling its Oct. 22 meeting due to a lack of quorum, Leavenworth City Council had a packed agenda on Nov. 12.

First, new City Councilmember Mike Bedard was sworn into office. Bedard was recently appointed by the City Council to fill the number four seat left vacant by Rhona Baron, who resigned due to health reasons.

During the meeting, the City Council approved a number of contracts for traffic control pertaining to the Village of Lights: Christmastown. Traffic control and law enforcement have been provided for the festival since 2018. However, since the event’s rebranding from the “Christmas Lighting Festival” in 2020, visitor numbers have increased from Thanksgiving through December. This year, the city plans to expand its traffic control from three Saturdays in December to five.

For 2024, the total funding request is $135,000, of which $100,000 is already budgeted. The funding will be allocated to Chelan County Sheriff Deputies, Washington State Patrol, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Traffic Management Personnel, and TBMM, LLC. 

This year’s traffic control strategy mirrors the 2023 plan, with the same number of flaggers and WSDOT traffic engineers and technicians monitoring traffic flow. The city also approved a 20-year operations agreement with WSDOT for annual traffic monitoring and signal support during the Village of Lights.

On the same day, the city announced new parking restrictions in residential neighborhoods that will allow for first responders to have faster access during emergencies. The city collaborated with Chelan County Fire District #3, Cascade Medical, Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, and Chelan County Emergency Management to identify and designate emergency response routes in preparation for the upcoming festival.

The parking restrictions will be in place Friday through Sunday starting Nov. 29 through Dec. 29. They will prohibit parking on either side of Pine Street from Fir Street to Ski Hill Drive, Ski Hill Drive from Evans Street to Pine Street, Evans Street from Ski Hill Drive to US-2, and Commercial Street from Division Street to 14th Street.

Additionally, no left turn will be permitted from North Road onto Chumstick Highway on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30 and every Saturday in December.

“This was not City of Leavenworth staff’s plan, this is a plan formulated by our emergency management partners,” said City Administrator Matthew Selby.

The city approved increasing the Parking Department’s enforcement contract with Pacific Security by $15,000 to meet the need for additional parking facilities and allocate resources to residential neighborhoods for the five Saturdays during Village of Lights.

Additionally, the council held three public hearings regarding the 2025 ad valorem tax and preliminary budget, restricting peddler permits, a 13th Street right-of-way vacation, and unit lot subdivision. It approved a professional agreement with Cleverciti for parking sensors and the annexation of 9646 Marson Drive. 

City Council also approved its 2025 Legislative Priorities, which include seeking funding for community projects such as Osborn reconstruction and the Autumn Strasse Connector Road, housing, fire prevention and mitigation, property tax cap revisions, behavioral health, infrastructure investments, public safety, and supporting the legislative agenda of the Association of Washington Cities.

It adopted the Ordinance 1700 with the ad valorem (property) tax increase of nearly $7,300, which is an increase of one percent from the previous year, and authorized the Mayor to sign the tax levy certification.

“I am not aware, as a finance director in our state, of anyone that leaves their one percent on the table. It is rare to do it. Leavenworth did it about eight or nine years ago when we annexed into the fire district, and we purposely did that to save our residents on their yearly tax,” said Finance Director Chantell Steiner.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media