On Tuesday, Jan. 13, members of the Bucoda Town Council convened for their first regular meeting of 2026 at the Bucoda Community Center to discuss a number of agenda items, including changing the office hours for city staff at Bucoda City Hall.
Additionally, a number of grant applications have been submitted for various improvement projects in the South Thurston County community.
Thurston County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) Lieutenant Malcolm McIver also announced that for the new year, the TCSO is allocating a second patrol officer for the patrol area in the county which includes Bucoda.
McIver explained previous staffing issues had prevented the region from getting a second patrol officer, but recently the TCSO has taken on a lot of new hires.
“With some of the new hires we have, we’re generally seeing two deputies now in this district,” McIver said. “As the days go on, and the months go on, you’ll probably see the availability of more patrol cars down in this area. So that will help some things, have a little bit better of a presence now in town.”
As for McIver’s monthly calls report, he stated no major crimes were reported.
During the mayor’s report, Bucoda Mayor Callie Carpenter stated her “No. 1 priority” for the year was to focus on code and nuisance enforcement in town.
“When I’m looking through filtering what I’m choosing to do, my number one is enforcement,” Carpenter said. “The next is SOPs, standard operating procedures.”
She wanted her fellow councilors to brush up on the operating procedures for everything from general city business to processing payments for utilities.
When it came to grants for improvements, some have already been received and implemented, including one for a newly installed shelter over the town’s bus stop.
Other projects which grants have been applied for include Main Street improvements, Bucoda Volunteer Park upgrades and repair and upgrade work to the Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular Haunted House Gym.
For the gym in particular, Bucoda Town officials hosted state Reps. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, and Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis, during an open house last month, as previously reported by The Chronicle, in order to also ask them to advocate for state budget allocations to be made to also help revitalize the gym — constructed in 1939.
Aside from general renovation needs, the building requires safety upgrades including a fire suppression system and storm drainage.
Since the open house, Carpenter has been in contact with Barkis and Abbarno. While they liked the idea of restoring the gym and making it safe for regular use, they wanted a more concrete plan before trying to get state budget funds for the project and proposed waiting until 2027 to do so.
“We need to have a better outline of the entire project, what each section costs,” said Carpenter.
As for the change in office hours, Bucoda City Hall — located on the northeast corner of the Bucoda Community Center building at 101A E. Seventh St. — will now be open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, excluding holidays.
Previously, city hall was open on the same days from 2 to 6 p.m., and the shift in hours was made for both security reasons for city staff, and to better align their working hours with Thurston County staff working hours which usually end by 4 p.m.
For residents unable to make it during normal business hours, the town’s website bucoda.us does have online utility payment options, and appointments to meet with town staff can also be made.
The next regular Bucoda Town Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 10, starting at 7 p.m. inside the Bucoda Community Center.
