Close to 20 attendees filed into the Bucoda Community Center on Tuesday, June 9, for the regular monthly meeting of the Bucoda Town Council.
Tensions were high during the meeting as, over the past month, some residents have protested the town government dropping its official sponsorship of the Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular month-long Halloween festival amid liability concerns.
The liability concerns extend to the Bucoda Gym and the Bucoda Community Garden. Some residents are also unhappy about a proposal to connect Bucoda to the City of Tenino’s sewer system.
While Boo-Coda appears to no longer be happening this year, during the meeting, councilors approved entering into a memorandum of understanding for a partnership with the PARC Foundation of Thurston County.
PARC, which stands for Park, Arts, Recreation and Cultural, is a nonprofit that aids rural communities such as Bucoda in finding philanthropic and grant funding for projects and events like the Bucoda Gym open gym time and Boo-Coda.
Bucoda Mayor Callie Carpenter explained the same liability concerns were also raised by the city’s insurance provider over the city’s sponsorship of the community garden next to the community center and open gym time at the Bucoda Gym.
Since then, some residents have spoken out against the city dropping its sponsorship, along with another recent announcement Carpenter made — that feasibility inquiries are being conducted to see if the town could be connected to the existing sewer system to the north in the City of Tenino.
On the Community of Bucoda Facebook group, calls to remove Carpenter were made, with one resident going as far as to make accusations of communism against both her and Councilor John Wood, who was described as a “Los Angeles California native communist.”
In a playful response to this allegation, Wood attended Tuesday’s meeting sporting a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap paired with a bright red shirt featuring the communist hammer and sickle logo.
Political hyperbole aside, Wood was initially appointed to the council in June 2025 after former Councilor Michelle Layton resigned due to health issues. A former music festival and event organizer who is now retired, Wood was looking forward to helping run the Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular together with longtime organizer George Sharp.
However, following Carpenter’s announcement last month about the liability concerns, both Wood and Sharp have since resigned from heading up the Boo-Coda organizational committee. While Sharp was not in attendance Tuesday, as he had another meeting to attend, Wood told The Chronicle he still has a desire to organize the event if possible after Tuesday’s meeting.
During the meeting, Henry Dietz, risk management insurance analyst for the Association of Washington Cities, explained to the council there were various liability threats the Town of Bucoda assumed every time it has organized the Boo-Coda Spook-Tacular in the past, from child injury lawsuits to alcohol-related incidents.
The biggest threat to Bucoda wasn’t the lawsuits themselves, but what a potential lawsuit could trigger if the courts rule the town is liable combined with the threat of not being able to afford insurance premiums — bankrupting the town, which could result in its disincorporation. This situation also applied to the open hours at the Bucoda Gym.
“You can take on this risk, but you could have such a high insurance rate that you would not be able to afford it as a town,” Dietz said. “And we have seen the looming threat of disincorporation for other small cities and towns due to high claims risks.”
In order to continue holding Boo-Coda or open hours at the Bucoda Gym, Dietz suggested finding third-party nonprofit sponsors.
“The gym, CPR training, definitely needed. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. But having a whole other organization do it, like the Boys & Girls Club to handle it, that’s a recommendation. Not necessarily needs to be followed, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t at least saying that’s an option. I want to give all of our members all of the options. So yeah, you can still have them. You can still do Boo-Coda, you can still do the community garden, you can still do the open gym and all those things. But I would love to see risk management elements to reduce the likelihood of an increasing amount of claims,” said Dietz. “Because having those activities is what makes Bucoda, Bucoda.”
PARC Foundation of Thurston County CEO Heather Antanaitis also spoke to the council and explained Bucoda’s situation is exactly why PARC was created. She said she wanted to help bring third party resources in.
“One of the key benefits of partnership is access to nonprofit funding and grant support,” Antanaitis said.
Whether or not PARC is able to assist Bucoda with finding third-party sponsors and funding, Carpenter told attendees her priorities as mayor are still ensuring the city’s budget is balanced, and making sure code enforcement and infrastructure improvements are carried out.
She is also pursuing grant funding for many projects, which is why the town can no longer afford to not have proper insurance for events like Boo-Coda. Ensuring the town is also in compliance with state and federal law is another job she oversees.
“Even if it’s uncomfortable, part of it is going through and making sure we’re doing everything to limit the liability for the town. My goal is to make sure the town is feasible. That if for some reasons, I wasn’t the mayor anymore, someone could come in and have a good foundation of what is right,” Carpenter said.
She added when it came to the issue of creating a sewer system in Bucoda, she stated it was a Comprehensive Plan project mandated by state law. Her proposal of connecting to the City of Tenino’s existing sewer system is being explored as a way to try to save money.
“If we refuse and just say we’re not going to put a sewer system in the town, or to take the steps to prepare to plan, basically, the state can come in and mandate that we don’t have a choice. We have to do it. Which would then equate to being reactionary. Then we have to get a $20 million loan, the town has to figure out a way to pay it back. Residents living in town are mandated to hook up to the sewer system. That’s a bill that just comes straight to the homeowner,” Carpenter said.
With Bucoda being in the flood zone on the banks of the Skookumchuck River, she added past flooding events have already resulted in septic tank contamination.
“I know there’s been floods in the past that literally, the poop went across the street. We do not have a retaining barrier in our ground, so whatever is in our water, goes straight down (into the aquifer),” Carpenter added.
She added in the Twin Cities and other areas downstream on the Skookumchuck River, there have already been high nitrate level warnings, with residents being advised to avoid swimming in the river due to contamination.
Carpenter also reiterated the proposal to connect to Tenino’s sewer system is still only a proposal, with feasibility being explored to ensure due diligence was being done.
