Thursday, June 17, 2021  - Week 24

City eyes two more roundabouts

By Gordon Weeks
gordon@masoncounty.com
 
Improving the city’s Western Gateway and constructing roundabouts at two Wallace Kneeland Boulevard intersections are the top three priorities on the City of Shelton’s newly updated Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan.

The Shelton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adapt the document, which it will use to guide its transportation plans. The council hosted a public hearing June 1 on the plan.

The city now sends the plan to the state Department of Transportation.

In its report to the council, the city’s public works department said the document is mainly for to prioritize its projects for the next six years. But the report adds that the state Department of Transportation also uses it to know what projects are anticipated, to list those projects that have federal and/or state funding secured, to identify projects that haven’t secured those funds, and to allow the agency to create its own statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

No one spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing on the plan.

The top priority on the list calls for roadway improvements at the city’s Western Gateway, from Seventh Street to the city limits at Pacific Court. The improvements include pavement and water main replacement, storm drainage, sidewalks and ADA access.

The project will cost an estimated $4,354,580, with the city’s contribution estimated at $3,276.733.

The city constructed its first roundabout in June 2019 at the intersection of Alder and First streets. Proposed roundabouts are numbers two and three on the city’s priority list.

A roundabout at Wallace Kneeland Boulevard and Shelton Springs Road would cost the city an estimated $3,022,321. A roundabout at Wallace Kneeland and North 13th Street would cost the city an estimated $2,736,766.
The plan lists phase B of the Western Gateway project as its fourth priority, with a projected cost of $750,000. Number five is improvements in North Shelton from Alder Street to West Cota Street. The $3.2-million project includes new paving and sidewalks, ADA access and intersection improvements.

Priority number six is phase five of the Access Shelton project on Brockdale Road from Wallace Kneeland Boulevard to the northern city limit. The $1.5-million project includes new pavement, pavement stabilizing, storm drainage, landscaping, sidewalks and ADA accessibility.

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Where are the workers?

By Matt Baide
matt@masoncounty.com

The pandemic is slowly coming to an end, and that means the country, and county, will attempt to get back to some sense of normalcy.
For businesses in Mason County, that means a multitude of things, some good, some bad.

During the pandemic, a lot of businesses were impacted negatively, but not all of them, according to Heidi McCutcheon, President/CEO of the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce.

“It depends on the type of business. So those businesses that were considered to be essential to begin with, still took a hit because the economy is depressed then people hold back on their spending but some of our businesses saw banner years,” McCutcheon said. “You look at home improvement, landscaping, fast food, some big box retail, if they were considered essential, many of them had fantastic years from a monetary perspective.”

And while things are recovering economically, there are many businesses in Shelton and Mason County that now need more workers.

Sierra Pacific Industries didn’t shut down during the pandemic because they were considered an essential business, and their hiring needs haven’t changed much due to the pandemic. You may have noticed their sign driving by, offering incentives as well as employment, such as a $1,500 signing bonus.

“There is a huge demand for employees at almost every level in our company. We have increased our wages and are offering signing bonuses through the end of June for hourly employees,” Community Relations-Washington Lisa Perry of Sierra Pacific Industries said in an email. “Entry-level and skilled labor positions were in demand before and the pandemic has only exacerbated that. The jobs here are family-wage positions with wonderful opportunities for advancement, so we’re just trying to get that word out!”

The unemployment rate in April was 7.8 percent, which is the most recent data according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is 2.3 percent higher than the state average of 5.5 percent. This is 2.5 percent higher than the lowest unemployment rate in the last five years, which was 5.3 percent in October 2019.

The unemployment rate is down 9.7 percent from its pandemic peak of 17.5 percent in April 2020.

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