Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Early summer chores should get you outdoors: Look for winter damage, ward off mold and rot, sharpen your tools and patrol your home’s perimeter for pests and other problems.

With the start of a typical Tri-Cities summer and warmer weather, you can focus most of your maintenance chores outdoors. First, however, attend to a couple of jobs that will help you stay comfortable and safe inside the house.

Switch ceiling fan blades: Switch ceiling fans to push cool air down, where you’ll most enjoy it. Observe the fan while it’s running: In summer, you want the leading edge of the blades (the part that goes around first) higher than the trailing edge (the part that rotates last). Locate the fan’s switch o9n its outside body. When set correctly for summer, you can stand beneath it and feel the breeze. this should allow you to adjust your thermostat higher (or set the air conditioner lower), saving fuel while enjoying the cooling effect of the moving air.

Clean dryer vents: Although you probably know to remove lint from your clothes dryer’s lint filter after each use, you may not have heard that maintenance also includes cleaning the hose that pipes the warm, moist air from the dryer to the outdoors. Use a long-handled brush, found in hardware stores. Also, clean the recess beneath the filter with a lint-trap brush. Check vent hoses to ensure that they fit tightly to each other, to the dryer and to the outside of the house. Pull out the dryer and vacuum accumulated lint under and around it.

Clean gutters: Take advantage of dry weather to clear out leaves, needles and debris, leaving gutters free to carry rainwater away and protect your home from mold and rot. Depending on your home’s surroundings, you should do this several times a year.

While you are at it - inspect your gutters. Look for joint separating, loose connections and attachments, sags, dips and corrosion. Tighten or reattached loose gutter connections.

 Check for foundation cracks: Make a yearly tour of your home’s foundation to spot any cracks. Hairline cracks and diagonal cracks that start at windows are unlikely to signal serious problems, but keep an eye on them to see if they change. Call a structural engineer if a small crack grows wider or if you find any of the following:

• a crack wider than the thickness of your fingernail
• horizontal cracks
• a stair-step crack that break bricks, blocks or solid concrete
• a pattern of cracks that rounds a corner
• a crack with one side higher than the other
• a crack that starts narrow and grows wider

To keep moisture out of cracks that you’ve found to be stable, fill them. Purchase a foundation crack repair kit that uses an expanding polyurethane filler for a permanent seal. Caulk and concrete aren’t effective for this.

Patrol the grounds: Spend a half-hour walking around your house with an eye to where the foundation meets the ground, Make sure the earth around the house slopes away from the structure — about an inch per foot is good — so water does not collect around the foundation. Dampness invites mold and mildew and, in worse cases, weakens a foundation. Also, keep your eyes open for signs of termites.: wings or droppings that look like little pellets. Rake leaves away from the foundation to discourage mice and rats, Keep garbage cans tightly closed. Store recycling and clean bottles and cans well before putting them out so food odors don’t attract rodent. Turn compost piles regularly and compost only vegetable matter, not animal products.

Scrub the decks and porches: On a sunny day, wipe down and hose off lawn, garden and deck furniture. Sweep decks and porches. Inspect wood decks and porches for rot by pressing the wood with your hand, foot or a tool to find any soft spots. Gently probe soft spots with a screwdriver to learn the extent of the damage. Paint stores carry epoxy putty used to harden seal and stabilize rotted wood. If the damage is severe, replace rotted boards.

Seal decks against weather: Wood decks need to be painted every two or three years - more often if they face extreme weather. Watch the weather forecast for a spell of several dry days before treating decks, because you don’t want to seal moisture into the wood and encourage rot.

Source: msn.com

An energy conference in February could bring 800 people to the Tri-Cities and generate about $315,000 in visitor spending, officials with the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau said Tuesday.

Climate Solutions, facilitator of the annual Harvesting Clean Energy Conference, decided to hold the event at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick because of the Tri-Cities’ concentration of clean energy companies, said Rhys Roth, Climate Solutions’ director of strategic innovation.

The conference should run February 7-9. The Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau learned about a month ago the conference will be in the Tri-Cities, but released the information Tuesday after contracts were finalized.

A local steering group with members from the Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau, Benton PUD, Energy Northwest, Franklin PUD, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and other organizations worked for about a year with Climate Solutions to bring the conference to the Tri-Cities.

By December, the group was confident Climate Solutions would choose the Tri-Cities, said Gretchen Strother, director of sales for the Visitor & Convention Bureau.

Roth described the conference, which is in its 10th year, as an opportunity to foster rural economic development by bringing agriculture and clean energy production entities together.

The speeches and breakout forums are geared toward farmers, ranchers, and other rural landowners; agricultural organizations; public and private utilities; rural economic development leaders; local, state, federal and tribal officials; clean energy firms, consultants and supporters.

Each year, the conference’s location rotates between Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.

From a business and utility standpoint, Debbie Bone-Harris of Franklin PUD, who worked with the steering committee, said the conference provides an opportunity for companies, organizations and individuals to collaborate on future energy projects.

For example, Roth said landowners can learn how to work with energy companies to get wind turbines on their land. Or organizations can learn how to better utilize biomass or solar energy.

From a tourism and visitor perspective, Visitor & Convention Bureau CEO and President Kris Watkins said the conference will showcase the Tri-Cities. “We’re always looking to promote activities in the Tri-Cities,” she said.

She hopes the hundreds of visitors plan future vacations to tour the area’s wineries or spend a weekend golfing. “The best marketing tool you can use is word of mouth.” Watkins said.

The conference last visited the Tri-Cities in 2002, Roth said, drawing about 200 people. Roth said the 700 to 800 expected visitors to the 2010 event would be a record.  “It’s sort of gradually grown each year,” he said.

Source: Tri-Cities Herald    www.harvestcleanenergy.org/conference

Federal stimulus money and a warm spring helped the Tri-Cities show some job growth at a time when other Washington communities are losing jobs.

Since May 2008, the Tri-Cities has gained 500 jobs in professional and business services, education and health services, leisure, hospitality and food services, said regional labor economist Dean Schau.

And since April, the local economy added 1,200 jobs — some of them seasonal — to bring the total nonfarm jobs to 95,200 in May.

That was thanks largely to Hanford and the construction, food processing, wholesale and retail trade areas, Schau said,

And though the number of workers in the community grew by 5,640 to a rate in Benton and Franklin counties dropped from 7.7 percent in April to 7.2 percent in May.

That’s a testimony to the fact that the Tri-Cities is continuing to grow, Schau told the Herald. “If you create 1,000 jobs, you’ll have 1,200 workers come in. That’s been like that for years.”

Several areas of the economy benefited from the federal stimulus money and the warmer weather that helped produce a good asparagus crop and drew tourists particularly from Western Washington.

Local employers including those in agriculture, food processing, retail and hospitality businesses, lately have come to WorkSource looking for employees for the season ahead, said Candice Bluechel, business services outreach manager at WorkSource Columbia Basin.

Many companies are even offering full-time, long-term jobs in security and transportation, she said, adding it could be a spinoff of stimulus projects.

“I’m feeling optimistic,” she said.

In contrast, Washington’s unemployment rate increased to 9.4 percent in May from the revised April unemployment rate of 9 percent, as the state lost 6,700 nonfarm jobs mostly in construction, information, financial and government areas last month.

In the Tri-Cities, the food services industry added about 100 jobs last month, and about 300 jobs since last May, said Schau, who is staying on with the state Department of Employment Security indefinitely despite his recent announcement of plans to leave the agency.

He said he suspects people are spending their money locally instead of vacationing far from home. Warm temperatures, wineries and outdoor activities may have lured many of them to the Tri-Cities.

Also, professional and business services, which includes engineering and wastes services, added 100 new jobs in May and about 400 for the year, Schau said.

For the next two to three years, Hanford cleanup will provide new jobs and save positions that were supposed to be eliminated, said Carl Adrian, president and CEO of Tri-City Development Council.

But the Tri-Cities is also being discovered by corporate America, which will help the area in the long run to diversify economically, Adrian said. For example, Cascade Natural Gas recently announced plans to move its main office to the Tri-Cities from Seattle.

Last month, the local government sector added 100 jobs as cities hired workers for summer recreational programs. But job growth in federal government has remained flat since April 2008, when it peaked at 1,300, Schau said.

The availability of a lot of fresh produce helped the warehousing sector gain 300 positions in May, compared with April. Growth in the financial services industry, which includes banking and real estate, remained stagnant. May saw a loss of 200 jobs compared with May a year ago. The health services industry also gained 100 positions in May.

Good weather helped create seasonal agricultural jobs, pushing the number of hires from 8,500 in April to 11,800 in May, Schau said. He said he expects seasonal ag hiring to continue because the cherry crop is expected to be good.

In late June and early July, workers will be needed for taking care of onions, peaches, apricots, watermelons and cantaloupe, said Bluecheel of WorkSource.

But no one is yet talking about an immediate recovery from the recession.

The state lost 116,000 jobs in the last year, a 3.0 percent decrease. “We’re still losing jobs, but at a lower rate than before,” said Mary Ayala, chief economist for the state Department of employment Security Department.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Vista Field, particularly the 70 acres used for the airport operations, is worth about $5.33 million, the Port of Kennewick Commission was told Tuesday.

Gary Chamberlain of Chamberlain and Associates, which did an appraisal of the port-owned property, said that was the estimated value as of April 1.

Having that information may play a role in the commission’s decision about the future of Vista Field, said Tim Arntzen, the port’s executive director. The appraisal will be a useful tool for port officials, he said.

“We can’t set a budget unless we know what this creature called Vista Field is going to throw at us,” Arntzen said.

Chamberlain said the audit indicates the property after development and improvements would fetch about $9.65 million at today;s prices. But it would take about nine years to sell all the parcels, thereby reducing the real gains, he said. The discounted value, calculated assessing risks, would come to about $5.66 million, he said.

The report comes with a caveat, Chamberlain told the commissioners.

It’s based on an assumption that the land is vacant — and suitable for commercial and industrial development — with access to roads and offsite utilities, and is shovel ready. It also doesn’t include the costs of potential environmental mitigation and asphalt removal if the airport were to be closed.

The report also assumed that a single developer would purchase the entire parcel and be responsible for the master plan, and that there’s no major change in the economic health of the community. From 1998 through 20008, the Tri-Cities had healthy growth, but there’s no way to predict future trends, Chamberlain said. “In reality, the absorption could be 15 years.”

In a separate development, a Benton County pilot who supports keeping the airport open raised the issue of potential conflict concerning Port Commissioner Calvin Dudney, who was elected last year to fill out former Commissioner Linda Boomer’s term through November.

Dudney serves of the board of the Kennewick Public Facilities District, Chep Gaunett told the commission, adding that’s an appointment made by the city of Kennewick, which also is responsible for a budget shortfall of the district.

“I’m not accusing him of anything,” Gaunett said. But there could be a possible conflict on any vote on matters related to Vista Field, Gaunett said. He requested that port commissioners get a legal opinion on the matter.

Dudney said he volunteers with several Tri-City organizations, including the Tri-City Water Follies Association, Tapteal Foundation and Leadership Tri-Cities. It’s his way of serving the community, said Dudney, a Fluor community program manager who estimates he spends over seven hours a week volunteering.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Property owners with limited incomes are getting some relief in the form of a tax deferral program, the state Department of Revenue announced Tuesday.

Homeowners making $57,000 or less in 2008 can apply to defer paying their second half property taxes due Oct. 31.

Applicants must have owned the primary residence for at least five years and have sufficient equity, the department said. Deferred taxes cannot exceed 40 percent of equity.

Deferred taxes must be repaid with interest when the home is sold or no longer used as the primary residence. The interest rate for 2009 is 5 percent.

For more information visit www.dor.wa.gov and see the Property Tax Deferral for Homeowners with Limited Income publication or call 360-570-5900.

Homeowners also can call local county assessors’ offices: Franklin County, 545-3506; Benton County, 786-2046.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Awarding subcontract also helps Washington Closure meet minority hiring goals.

Jonetta Everano’s gamble to start her own company has paid off with a subcontract worth up to $4.2 million with Washington Closure Hanford. Now’s she’s busy leasing rigs and hiring union drivers to start hauling Hanford nuclear reservation waste in July.

Everson, who grew up in White Swan on the Yakima nation, has been taking well-calculated risks for years.

The most recent was to start Phoenix Enterprises NW, based in Richland, to see if she could win subcontracts for construction work. The timing seemed right as the federal government prepared to spend $1.96 billion in economic stimulus money at Hanford.

It’s the first subcontract she’s bid on, but she’s working to get other Hanford work and will look at opportunities for commercial work when that industry improves.

The Washington Closure subcontract was reserved for small businesses, and Phoenix submitted the lowest bid among qualified bidders on the project, according to Washington Closure, Her company qualifies not only as a small business, but as woman- and minority-owned.

Although that was not given weight in the bidding award, it will help Washington Closure meets its goals in those subcontracting categories. Last year Washington Closure awarded more than 90 percent of its subcontracts to small businesses for work to clean up the Hanford nuclear reservation along the Columbia River.

The Phoenix subcontract, which falls under Hanford’s annual budget, covers transportation, using heavy dump truck and dump trailer combinations - or truck and pups - to transport nonradioactive soils, debris, concrete and steel from cleanup sites near the Columbia river. Phoenix will take them to the landfill in central Hanford.