The City of Montesano will be on the receiving end of generosity, with local parks and the fire department winning in the end.

The Kelsey Foundation, a local philanthropic nonprofit established in the memory of Forest C. and Ruth V. Kelsey to assist residents in Montesano and East County, has donated funds for Kelsey Park, Fleet Park, and new equipment for the Montesano Fire Department.

“The Kelsey Foundation was very generous to the City of Montesano over the last week,” Mayor Vini Samuel said.

A donation of $2,500 was made for upgrades and maintenance at Kelsey Park on North First Street. in Montesano.

Fleet Park could soon be home to permanent bathroom facilities. Currently, portable toilets are available at the park. The Kelsey Foundation has offered to match the city’s financial contribution up to $15,000.

“It would be my hope this will create other contributions to come,” wrote Charles Caldwell, Kelsey Foundation president, in a letter to the city on Nov. 12.

Installing permanent toilets at Fleet Park is estimated to cost some $60,000.

A first in the county, according to Montesano Fire Department Chief Corey Rux, the Kelsey Foundation is donating enough funds to purchase a Zoll ventilator. The cost is about $16,000.

“It’s basically a breathing machine — for the lack of a better term. It allows us to give additional ventilation during transport,” Rux said during a city council meeting on Nov. 22. “It should allow us to take critical patients to specialized care. It’s kind of a big deal for us.”

Other business

Also during the meeting on Nov. 22, Councilman Dan Wood and Mayor Samuel briefly disagreed about public comment periods specifically for feedback about potential changes to the hearings examiner language in municipal code, and a potential RV ordinance.

Wood has recently proposed revisions to the hearings examiner language in city code, and the council has been discussing adopting an RV ordinance. Wood had asked the city to hold a public hearing but not take action. Samuel had said she didn’t believe a public hearing was appropriate given that the city had not selected a specific ordinance to be discussed.

In the end, the city had advertised to hold separate hearings for each of the issues. No members of the public spoke to either issue, not during the public comment period nor during the hearing.

Samuel urged the council to first find an ordinance they’d like to adopt and then to hold a public hearing.

“I don’t want to draft this. This is obviously the city council’s issue they want to address,” she said, noting that she had supplied the council will several ordinances from cities throughout the state. “Look through them. They’re in your packets. You don’t have to go anywhere for them. Circle the provisions that you like, and do whatever you want with them. But you need to give myself and the city attorney some direction as to what you want in the code.”

Following a short executive session, the council authorized the mayor to negotiate and sign a lease for the property formerly leased by Mary’s River Lumber.

Mary’s River Lumber closed its Montesano location in March. The city has not named the entity interested in leasing the property.