🏞️ Fall in Skamania: Squirrels, Sewer Plans & Seasonal Markets - City Govt Round-up for Sept. 2025
Ground squirrels cause a fire in North Bonneville, Stevenson eyes infill housing challenges, and Underwood parks crews prep fall upgrades. Here's what happened across Skamania's city governments in September, and what to expect next.
🌿 North Bonneville City Council Sept. Meetings
This month’s meetings in North Bonneville reflected a mix of small-town quirks and forward-looking planning: from ground-squirrel-caused wildfires to fresh efforts in community farming and economic development.
🧾 September 9 – Regular Meeting
Council approved vouchers and excused Councilmember Margie Lee, then turned their attention to 2026 planning and project updates.
- Sheriff's Office reported on recent calls and flagged a brush fire caused by ground squirrels chewing through electrical wiring: a strange but real reminder of wildfire vulnerability even inside city limits.
- Planner’s Report included updates on:
- Cascade Business Park development
- Permit activity at Coyote Ridge, with multiple single-family homes moving forward
- The City Clerk shared updates on digitizing historical documents, coordinating with the fire department on future records, and department-level budget estimates.
- Resident Cindy Dunn inquired about fencing progress at the community garden, highlighting ongoing public interest in shared green space.
- Council held an executive session on litigation matters, with no action taken afterward.
- Budget season began with Councilmember Randall submitting an initial request.
🛒 September 23 – Regular Meeting
The highlight of this session was a presentation and proposal from Farm Happens, a local nonprofit dedicated to connecting residents with seasonal, locally grown produce.
- Council approved a seasonal use agreement that will allow Farm Happens to host a produce stand on city property, building momentum for community-based agriculture and small-scale local commerce.
- The discussion reflected a desire to make North Bonneville a more self-sufficient and resilient community, offering residents access to fresh food and meaningful economic participation.
Council also approved prior minutes and vouchers.
👩⚖️ September 25 – Special Meeting
In a brief special session, councilmembers:
- Approved Ordinance 1171, which updates mayoral compensation to resolve some historic confusion about the mayor's eligibility for public employees' payment into retirement funds.
- No additional discussion or public comment was recorded
🏙️ Stevenson City Government – September 2025 Round-Up
📆 September 21 – City Council Meeting
This month’s Stevenson council meeting opened with public comment urging bold action on housing and community infrastructure. A longtime resident delivered an impassioned call for affordable housing mandates, warning that without policy change, Stevenson will lose the very people who give it its character. He also spoke in support of rehabilitating the old Grange Hall as a much-needed community gathering space.
Other highlights included:
- ✅ Council approved updated engineering standards (Ordinance 2025-1231) for public works infrastructure. These changes modernize long-outdated specifications dating back to 1999, ensuring newer materials and practices can be used efficiently on city projects.
- 👩💼 The city welcomed new finance staffer Jane Borden.
- 💧 A water bill adjustment was debated at length after a pipe break in a resident’s private pump house led to a $12,000 water usage spike. Staff explained that a combination of meter-reading glitches and a protracted leak caused the issue to go undetected, prompting a partial bill waiver.
- 🧾 Council also began budget season in earnest, coordinating October dates for special meetings and reviewing the calendar of hearings and adoption deadlines.
🏗️ Stevenson Planning Commission – September 11, 2025
This month’s Planning Commission meeting dove into the implementation phase of the city’s recently adopted Housing Action Plan, with commissioners focusing on how to translate strategic goals into actionable zoning and infrastructure changes.
🛠️ Top Priority: Missing Middle Housing
Commissioners reaffirmed that Stevenson needs more duplexes, triplexes, ADUs, and similar housing types to meet growing demand. There was consensus that while the comprehensive plan identifies the need, real change hinges on removing regulatory barriers, especially where lot size minimums or infrastructure gaps make small-scale development difficult.
🔌 Infrastructure is the Bottleneck
A recurring theme was the mismatch between planned zoning density and the actual capacity of existing infrastructure, especially water and sewer. Commissioners discussed how underbuilt utility systems make otherwise promising infill areas financially unviable for builders.
“We can say we want more housing, but until we fix the infrastructure—physically and financially—it’s just words,” one commissioner noted.
💬 Zoning Reform & Regional Coordination
There was support for better alignment with Skamania County zoning, particularly in boundary areas, to avoid fragmentation that discourages development. Commissioners also discussed exploring pre-approved development templates or form-based code elements to simplify the permitting process.
📣 Public Engagement Needed
As implementation ramps up, the commission acknowledged that outreach has been limited so far. They brainstormed ways to host informal listening sessions, visual workshops, or neighborhood walkthroughs to gather input, especially from renters and younger residents who may not attend traditional meetings.
🔜 What’s Next?
The city will work with staff to map areas where missing middle housing is physically possible and begin prioritizing infrastructure upgrades that unlock housing potential. Upcoming meetings will also address funding strategies and updated development incentives.
📆 Underwood Parks & Rec: Community Roots Growing
At the September 10th meeting of the Underwood Parks and Recreation District, commissioners and volunteers continued advancing small but meaningful projects:
- Heard updates on the RCO grant, recently awarded for recreation and safety improvements
- Reviewed the Post Office site project
- Discussed maintenance needs, including fencing, baseball backstop repairs, and a facelift for the Cook-Underwood sign
Reports were also given by the Friends of Underwood, the community garden team, and on communications efforts, showing continued engagement from local residents and volunteer groups.
🔜 Next Up
Want to stay engaged or comment? Here’s how:
🗓️ North Bonneville – City Council next meets on Oct. 10 at 6:30 PM at City Hall
🗓️ Stevenson – Budget workshops are scheduled through October; check ci.stevenson.wa.us for details
🗓️ Underwood Parks & Rec – Next meeting is October 8 at 6 PM at the Community Center