Members of the Bucoda Town Council convened for their monthly regular meeting on Tuesday, July 14, and among the agenda items for council consideration were a trio of Washington state Department of Commerce contracts.
The Department of Commerce has a program offering contracts to fund infrastructure projects in communities throughout the state.
Councilors approved motions for the mayor to sign the contracts — which specifically are for stormwater system improvements on Main Street in Bucoda, roof repairs on the Bucoda Town Hall & Community Center, and the many repairs needed to get the Bucoda Gym back open.
Additionally, during the meeting, Bucoda Mayor Callie Carpenter announced she had recently been contacted by representatives of BrightNight LLC, who were interested in making a donation to the city and looking for recommendations for what specifically to fund.
While she wanted to see if any councilors had their own ideas, she also pitched her own idea of using the BrightNight donation to pay for a spay and neuter clinic in Bucoda to try to help control the feral cat population in the South Thurston County community.
At previous Bucoda Town Council meetings, local residents have complained about the feral cat problem.
“They didn’t want to set down any specifics until they actually have a plan worked out, but they were thinking in the $10,000 (donation) range,” Carpenter said. “But with vets and all that stuff, I think it could easily slip into the $15,000 range. They were talking about if they were going to invest so much, to maybe accommodate it to a two-day (spay/neuter) event.”
She added a lot of planning was still needed before BrightNight committed to the donation, though they were considering using the Bucoda Gym for temporary kennels for cats waking up after surgery.
Councilors like the idea of the spay and neuter clinic, and approved a motion letting the mayor continue trying to plan a spay and neuter clinic with the BrightNight donation.
BrightNight is a Florida-based business focused on building “reliable, resilient and affordable energy, enhanced by AI,” according to its website.
Currently, the business has a proposal for a 228,000-square-foot lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) to be built near Bucoda. Their proposal is still active, despite the Convergent Energy & Power proposal for another BESS near Rochester being withdrawn at the end of June after Rochester-area residents expressed opposition to the proposal, as previously reported by Thurston Chronicle.
Opposition was raised after concerns about a lack of regulations and safety requirements for the large energy generation facilities surfaced, and Rochester residents stated they intended to also help Bucoda residents oppose the BESS near them.
