Eatonville Town Council unanimously pass Resolutions

At its Jan. 27 meeting, the Eatonville Town Council unanimously passed Resolution 2020-D, authorizing the Public Works Board – a division of the Washington State Department of Commerce – to appropriate a grant contract award to construct a third water filter and converted clear water well in town with $1.4 million from the state capital budget as approved by the Washington State Legislature last year.

The water filtration plant has been operating with two filters, instead of the three it was intended for. The plant is not facing any problems. These improvements are redundancy measures meant to mitigate a failure, especially during the summer when water consumption is at its highest. A third filter and clear water well would help ensure Eatonville would remain at water capacity.

Also by a unanimous vote, the council approved Resolution 2020-C, regarding a paid family and medical leave policy for employees of the Town of Eatonville. It was explained that as of Jan. 1, 2020, premiums have been collected from employees for a year to form a pool of funds for those town workers not covered as such by union benefits who request said leave.

It was further explained this is mainly a time-management effort meant to avoid the time-consuming need to track down a 23-cents per quarter discrepancy between how the town calculates premiums and how the state Employment Security Department, which administers the Paid Family and Medical Leave program, calculates premiums. Indications were that this discrepancy should be rectified soon.

Washington state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave law, which the state Legislature passed in 2017, allows workers to take 12 weeks off with pay when they welcome a child, or to take care of themselves or family members when illness strikes.