BOARD OF SKAMANIA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Meeting for Week of October 11, 2004
The Board participated in a staff workshop from 9:00 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. to discuss vacant positions in the Solid Waste Division, with no action taken.
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. Monday, October 11, 2004 at the Commissioner’s Meeting Room, 240 NW Vancouver Avenue in Stevenson, with Commissioners McKee, Quinn and Talent present, opening with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to authorize Public Works to fill a vacant permanent part-time position in the Solid Waste Division.
Brent Holman, Public Works Director/County Engineer, reported on Road Crew maintenance activities, hauling grindings to surface Carson Creek Road and a section of North Fork Road, assisting with disposal of old track covering at Stevenson High School, upcoming Rural Arterial Program meeting, Drano Lake project, and engineering costs associated with the Hamilton Creek project.
Darlene Dickson, Senior Services Director, presented programs counts, advised of a decline in attendance at the Senior Meal program, and presented a report on Equipment, Rental and Revolving Fund costs for fuel, mileage, repairs, and insurance for the Dial-A-Ride program.
Commissioner Quinn moved, seconded by Commissioner Talent and motion carried to approve the Consent Agenda as follows:
A. Minutes for week of October 4, 2004.
Commissioner Quinn moved, seconded by Commissioner Talent and motion carried to approve contract amendment #1 with Strategic Change Concepts to increase the per case rate and adjust the mileage rate for providing family therapy services to moderate to high risk juvenile offenders and their families.
Commissioner Quinn moved, seconded by Commissioner Talent and motion carried to approve an interlocal agreement with Washington State Department of Printing to provide printing services for the Department of Emergency Management as needed by separate contract.
Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to approve contract amendment #2 with the USDA Forest Service to modify the grant budget to transfer $40,000 from construction to contractual for additional costs associated with research and change in water rights at Wind River Nursery and to contract with an entity to manage the site.
Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to ratify the Chair’s signing and submission of a forest practices application to the Department of Natural Resources for timber harvest at Wind River Nursery based on a timber cruise conducted by Stanley Benson, Forestry Consultant for the Public Development Authority.
Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to approve a letter to the Cities of Stevenson and North Bonneville advising that the County is proposing to budget only the unincorporated County portion of the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD) membership assessment for 2005. This would allow the Cities to independently choose whether or not they want to continue participation in MCEDD and fund their own membership assessment.
Commissioner Quinn moved, seconded by Commissioner Talent and motion carried to approve a letter of support to Clark County Health Department for submission of a grant proposal to Washington State Department of Health’s Office of Health Promotion for funding for review of health issues related to poor nutrition and lack of physical activity in residents of Skamania County.
The Board reviewed the proposed Waters/Cameron Annexation to the City of Stevenson submitted from the Boundary Review Board (BRB). Also considered were requests to invoke the Boundary Review Board’s jurisdiction from Bradley Andersen, representing George and Gloria DeGroote, and from Public Works, which would allow the BRB to hold a public hearing on the proposed annexation in which the BRB could approve, deny or modify the proposal. Mr. Andersen would like the BRB to consider including property owned by the DeGroote’s in the annexation, and Public Works would like the BRB to consider including the small segment of Gropper Road that would be left out of the City limits. Commissioner Talent recused himself from the decision process. Commissioner Quinn moved, seconded by Commissioner McKee and motion carried to not invoke the BRB’s jurisdiction, citing that the two requests should be considered as separate actions.
The meeting recessed at 11:50 a.m. Monday, October 11, 2004 and reconvened at 1:30 p.m. the same date, with Commissioners Quinn and Talent present. Commissioner McKee was on personal business.
A public hearing was held to consider an appeal from Douglas and Brenda Fredrickson for a variance to Skamania County Private Road Standards to comply with applied conditions to Fredrickson Short Plat, tax parcel number 07-05-15-3-3-2001, to up upgrade St. Helen’s Drive (private). Discussion included road width, vertical clearance, grade, and the Board’s observance of the road during a recent site visit to St. Helen’s Drive. Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to deny the variance request because of the inability to meet the Private Road Standards (narrow road width for the full 1.75 mile road length, limited vertical clearance, and steep roadbed grade of up to 18 and 19 percent for stretches of over 100 feet in length, having a consistent grade of 12 to 14 percent).
The meeting recessed at 2:25 p.m. Monday, October 11, 2004 and reconvened at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 12, 2004, with Commissioners McKee, Quinn and Talent present.
Dan Gustafson of A&B Rock Distributors LLC gave a presentation regarding his business of quarrying and selling decorative stone and specialty building materials. Following discussion, Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to approve an agreement with A&B Rock Distributors LLC for lease of approximately 31,000 square feet (.75 acres) of land located in the City of North Bonneville and owned by the County for storage of decorative rock as part of a commercial business.
Commissioner Talent moved, seconded by Commissioner Quinn and motion carried to approve agreements for web services with the Association of Oregon and California Counties for web based tools to assist with implementation, oversight and tracking Title II and Title III Projects and for creation of Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
Commissioner Quinn reported on the Columbia River Gorge Commission meeting of October 12, 2004.
The Board participated in an executive session from 3:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. regarding potential litigation, with no action taken.
The meeting recessed at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 12, 2004 and reconvened at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, October 14, 2004, with Commissioners McKee, Quinn and Talent present.
Walt Loehrke and Kathy Sheehan, Columbia River Gorge Commission (CRGC) members, reported on the CRGC meeting of October 12, 2004, advised of the recent Governor’s appointment of Harold Abbe, filling an expired position previously held by Wayne Wooster, and advised that Ms. Sheehan was recently elected as Vice-Chair.
Commissioner Quinn moved, seconded by Commissioner Talent and motion carried to approve vouchers for the period ending October 14, 2004 in the amount of $54,907.61.
The Board participated in a workshop with Sheriff Dave Brown and Tony Estey, Buildings and Grounds Director, to discuss options for storage of evidence needed for the Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff advised he would consider options discussed and come back to the Board with a proposal.
The Board discussed options for recognizing Skamania County volunteers, with no decisions made.
The Board discussed a request from Work Force Development to consider an individual for a training program for the vacant Solid Waste laborer position. The Board chose instead to adhere to the present County policy for filling vacant positions.
The Board advised they would be attending a luncheon meeting at Skamania Lodge with elected officials and representatives from Washington State Association of Counties and Washington Association of County Officials.
The meeting recessed at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, October 14, 2004 and reconvened at 1:45 p.m. the same date, with Commissioners McKee, Quinn and Talent present.
The Board and elected officials met with Debbie Wilke, Executive Director for Washington Association of County Officials (WACO), and Bill Vogler, Executive Director for Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) and discussed issues and challenges for Washington Counties and how WACO and WSAC can help Counties meet those demands.
The meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m. Thursday, October 14, 2004.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
SKAMANIA COUNTY, WASHINGTON