Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021  - Week 8

Veteran's Village needs money

By GORDON WEEKS
gordon@masoncounty.com
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The Shelton Veteran’s Village will not feature 30 separate tiny homes as originally envisioned, but seven four-plexes and one duplex on North 13th Street in Shelton’s Mountain View area.  

Rising construction costs prompted the change in the site plan, which continues to feature a community center at the center of the 3-acre compound, Jaycie Osterberg, the executive director of Quixote Communities, told the Shelton City Council at its meeting on Feb. 16. But Osterberg also told the council ground cannot be broken on the nonprofit group has secured enough money to cover operating expenses.

Osterberg told the council members that the Bremerton Housing Authority said it does not have enough money for vouchers to help pay for the homeless veterans project in Shelton.

“We are struggling with our operating budget,” she said.

The group’s tiny homes village in Olympia usually get $100,000 in stipends, about a third of the annual budget, she said. The group is working with local legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, to try to get state funding. State Sen. Tim Sheldon is a longtime advocate for the project.

In the meantime, the nonprofit is pushed ahead. Last month, Quixote Villages applied to the city for permits for the structures. With adequate funding, the village could open as early as early 2022, Osterberg said.

In 2017, the state gave the Olympia nonprofit $3 million for the project. The City of Shelton has leased the nonprofit about 3 acres of city land at 2741 N. 13th St., across the street from Christmas Village. The city surplussed the property, which it currently uses to store materials.
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The location is ideal because it is near Mason General Hospital and Olympic College Shelton, and is on a bus line, Osterberg said.



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Library service limited, despite OK to open

By KATIE HAYES
katie@masoncounty.com

The Timberland Regional Library system has delayed opening its buildings for indoor use, despite guidelines from the governor’s office that eased restrictions in late January.

“Everybody is on a different timeline in terms of figuring things out with the 27 buildings,” Timberland Regional Library Executive Director Cheryl Heywood told the Mason County Commission Monday. “Sometime in March, no later than April 1, we are opening up (for) Phase 2.”

According to COVID-19 reopening guidelines from the governor’s office, libraries are permitted to provide in-person service for up to 25% of the building’s maximum occupancy in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington plan. However, Timberland Regional Library’s guidelines are currently much stricter than the state’s.

Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for Gov. Jay Inslee, said that while Phase 1 did not originally allow libraries to open indoor operations, the governor’s office updated the guidelines on Jan. 29.

“We heard a lot of feedback about this, had discussions with groups impacted and were ultimately convinced we could update the guidance to allow this safely in earlier phases, assuming the guidance is followed,” Faulk wrote in an email.

Currently, all Timberland Regional Library branches are only open for curbside pickup. In an interview with the Shelton-Mason County Journal on Monday, Heywood was not aware the guidelines for public libraries under Phase 1 and Phase 2 are the same.

Timberland Regional Library operates 27 locations across five counties — Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties. In Mason County, the Timberland Regional Library has locations in Hoodsport, North Mason and Shelton.

Heywood said that when the buildings open for limited indoor use, patrons may use the internet for up to 30 minutes but cannot use the restrooms or meeting rooms.

“We want to limit time in the building,” Heywood said. “... We want to keep everybody very safe right now, because the bulk of our population is still not vaccinated.”

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