City Councilman Loren Belton has been appointed as the Toppenish representative to the newly created Yakima County Gang Commission.
The action came at the council’s June 14 regular meeting.
Every valley city was asked by Yakima County Commissioners to select a representative to the commission, which will meet monthly, alternating between Yakima and a lower valley city that has not yet been selected.
Councilman Randy Taylor was selected as the commission representative alternate.
Yakima County Commissioners created the commission May 18, as a non-regulatory body to provide support, technical assistance, coordination, consultation, and other resources to reduce gang activity.
The commission includes 14 cities and towns in the county, as well as the Yakama Nation, the county sheriff, the county prosecutor, Yakima County Superior Court, and a county commissioner.
The first meeting of the Gang Commission will be on July 20.
In other action, the council got an update on the project to upgrade the city’s wastewater treatment plant, from project engineer Nancy Morter, with Grey and Osborne civil engineers.
She said the project, which began in April of 2008, was nearing completion, and she expected the contractor to be fully offsite by the end of the summer.
Cost of the project will be about $11 million.
The council also set as the tentative agenda for its July 6 study session to meet with a representative of the Yakima Regional Clean Air Authority.
Council members expressed an interest in information about the services the Authority provides to the city.
Toppenish has resisted paying the annual Authority assessment for services, because the Yakama Indian Reservation is outside the jurisdiction of the Authority.
The Authority has insisted that the city pay the assessment anyway, and at one point turned Toppenish over to a collection agency. That action was later rescinded.
The Council also set June 28 as the date for the public hearing about the proposed Transportation Improvement Plan for the city.
The next regular meeting of the council will take place June 28, at 7 p.m., in the city hall council chambers.