Chewelah City Council Swears in New Mayor

Chewelah’s new mayor and two council members took the oath of office Dec. 1, but the first order of business at the Dec. 3 city council meeting was a resignation.

Council member Katie Roberts submitted a letter stepping down from Position 1, effective immediately after accepting a job as the city’s deputy billing clerk.

“It has been an honor and privilege to have been elected to serve the residents of Chewelah,” Roberts wrote. “My decision to step down is due to a recent professional opportunity… Unfortunately, if I accept the position, I would not be able to continue in my appointment for the city. Therefore, I must vacate my council position.”

The council later voted to advertise the upcoming vacancy in the Chewelah Independent and on the city’s website, with the intention of having the new council appointment seated in January.

Following the reading of Roberts’ resignation, the city turned to swearing in its newly elected officials.

Incoming mayor Lindsay Baxter took the oath of office; two council members – Lonnie Hoxie, Paula Randall – were also sworn in for four-year terms.

Baxter acknowledged the steep learning curve of his first four-and-a-half days on the job.

“It feels a little like drinking from a fire hose,” he said, “but I’m very honored to be here. This is an awesome responsibility and an awesome opportunity.”

Baxter emphasized that he wants robust but respectful discussion on the dais.

“One of the things that’s important to me is discussion and debate,” he said. “We’re all capable of respectful discord. I hope you feel comfortable sharing opinions, especially as we run through ordinances and issues for the city. I think it’s valuable for us as a group and for the public to understand why you vote the way you do.”

Baxter added that while council members are not required to speak before voting, he may occasionally call on them by name to see if they have comments to share.

The mayor also noted he has begun visiting with department leaders and touring city facilities, including a lengthy ride with public works staff to see city assets and boundaries first-hand.

“I’m really impressed with the leadership and employees here,” he said. “It was a great learning opportunity.”

Public comment topics ranged from zoning code to holiday lights to a plea for a kinder civic climate.

Resident Tom Ward, who lives across from the city campground, asked the city to consider amending its fence code to allow a 4-foot fence in his area instead of the current 42-inch height limit.

Ward said pre-fabricated steel and vinyl fence panels commonly come in 48-inch sections, and he argued that raising the allowed height by six inches would still be consistent with neighborhood character while matching standard manufacturing.

He also noted that “six blocks that way and six blocks that way” would reveal numerous fences already out of compliance with the current code.

“I’m putting in a really nice fence, not just a little metal thing,” he told the council, adding that the planning department had indicated it would support the change. “Fences are like locks – they keep the curious people out. The determined ones are going to get in no matter what.”

Another speaker, reading on behalf of Chamber of Commerce coordinator Sherry Lindstrom, thanked nearly 20 volunteers and city staff who helped install a large Christmas light display in the city park, featuring a 25-foot tree, four 10-foot trees, and other pieces obtained from the longtime “Winter Spectacular” display in Spokane.

The remarks framed the lights as one of several recent investments in town – from business sales to building remodels and major grants – as signs that “people believe in Chewelah.”

Community member and business owner Carl Pickens urged both winners and losers from November’s elections to remember that public service is, at its core, the work of a servant.

City Administrator Tonya Wallace delivered a wide-ranging report on staffing, finances and major projects.

Wallace said interviews for the vacant police chief position are scheduled over the next two weeks and will include at least two rounds: one panel composed of staff who will work with the new chief and a second, larger panel composed of community members. The goal, she said, is to have a new chief in place by late spring.

On the finance side, the city has filed its 2025 property tax levy with Stevens County. Wallace noted the levy did not include the 1% increase the council approved at a previous meeting; that increase is being “banked” for potential use in a future year.

“The impact of the revenue decrease is something we will be considering for possible amendments in the 2025–26 budget,” she said.

The city has ordered a new bucket truck, expected to arrive before the end of December, according to Wallace, and staff are preparing to close out the year’s books and complete state-required annual reports. The city is also undergoing a two-year audit of its energy efficiency programs for 2022-2024.

Grant-writing is in full swing, Wallace added, including a request for roughly $1 million to continue the city’s energy efficiency program in 2026 and a separate application for a historic cemetery grant, which was discussed later in the meeting.

Wallace said the new municipal well project is scheduled to go out to bid next week, with an award expected in mid-January, while work on a gas line extension at the airport began this week. The city’s website will begin data migration Dec. 19; the vendor estimates three to four weeks, though Wallace joked she is “doubling that” expectation. She added that staff are continuing to implement new campsite management software to improve reservations and tracking at the RV park.

The mayor and administrator also recently attended Association of Washington Cities meetings on the upcoming legislative session, and Wallace said her team met with the Recreation and Conservation Office regarding park projects and with the Tri-County Economic Development District at the golf course.

In formal action, the council unanimously approved Resolution 25-41, authorizing the city to apply for up to $50,000 from the state’s Historic Cemetery Grant program administered through the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.

Wallace said the city’s application will focus on three areas: cemetery management software to replace paper maps and records; weed fabric and gravel for roadways at Chewelah Memorial Cemetery; and headstone repair and fence work at the historic Pioneer Cemetery.

“We have several flat headstones that are almost completely overgrown,” she said, adding that better records will help families and visitors locate graves – including the many veterans interred there, some dating back to the Civil War.

Council member Ron McCoy noted the city had previously taken criticism for the condition of its older cemetery.

“This is what Chewelah needs,” he said. “We’ve been slowly trying to improve it, and this will help us take care of all of our cemeteries.”

The council also passed Resolution 25-42, changing how the city pays stipends to its volunteer firefighters. Instead of monthly checks, volunteers who meet minimum participation requirements under state law – 10% of training drills and 10% of calls over a 12-month period – will receive a single annual payment each December.

Wallace said the change is meant to match state requirements for participation in the volunteer firefighter pension system and to simplify recordkeeping. The stipend amounts, set in a previous resolution, are not changing, she said.

Council member Aaron Alvarado, also a volunteer firefighter, told the council the checks are modest and not the reason people serve.

“When I first joined the fire department, I didn’t even know we got paid,” he said. “We’re volunteers – that’s the keyword. The pay is more like a nice dinner out.”

Council members took the opportunity to praise the department and to affirm the city’s commitment to keeping a local volunteer force rather than shifting to a county-run model.

McCoy, the mayor pro tem (the council member who presides when the mayor is absent), announced this was his last meeting, and the council briefly discussed how and when to select a new mayor pro tem.

Because two additional council members will be sworn in at the first meeting in January, several members said they preferred to wait and allow the new council to choose its own mayor pro tem for the coming term rather than appointing someone for just one December meeting. No action was taken.

In the final action of the night, the council voted to advertise the Position 1 council vacancy created by Roberts’ resignation. The council was advised that appointing someone on Dec. 17 would only seat that person until the first meeting in January because of how the election cycle is structured, so the council opted to begin recruitment now with the intent of having the new council make a longer-term appointment early in 2026.

The Chewelah city council is scheduled to meet next on Dec. 17, at 6:30 p.m.