Hall assumes BOCC chairmanship

DAYTON-The Columbia County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) accepted Commissioner Marty Hall as the new 2022 chairperson; hired accounting firm; accepted Jeremy Weiland as Interim Director of Public Works; joined the Prosecutor as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State and approved Resolution 2022-01 at the January 3 meeting.

It is customary for the commissioners to take their turn holding the chair position each year and Hall was the one appointed for the 2022 year.

The Flood Control Zone District convened with Director Charles Eaton, who requested another meeting later this month to work through the transition of him leaving the County. He asked for and was given approval to hire accountant Brad Patton of Patton and Associates, LLC, not to exceed $2,500 annually. He also requested approval of a contract with the Prosecutor’s Office for legal services to be drafted, but the approval was tabled until the contract is ready.

Flood repair work continues to be held up by FEMA and Eaton reminded the Commissioners that if any flood event occurs, that work needs to be done within 90 days of an emergency declaration to be classified as work done under imminent threat to avoid issues with additional regulations that come with doing the work later. When looking ahead, he thought that the Tucannon River was most at risk for flooding because of the burn from the fires last fall making for soil and silt run off.

Assistant County Engineer Jeremy Weiland will be taking over as Interim Director for the District and Public Works and Interim Chief Engineer by the end of the month. Eaton suggested they consider Weiland as the permanent Chief Engineer which would open up the Public Works Director position to more applicants by not requiring the engineering qualification for that position. Separating the positions would also “diversify the workload” according to Eaton and “it is budget neutral.” The Commissioners were in favor of forming separate job descriptions for approval at the work session on January 11 and posting the openings for each position separately.

Emergency Management Director Ashley Strickland said that with staff changes, the department will be filling the gap with a full-time employee to replace some of the part time positions. An updated hazard mitigation plan is being developed with changes after the 2020 flood reflecting the levee work that has been done and the changes after the last wildfire season. The plan will be presented in a public meeting to gain public input, then reviewed by the State before being submitted to FEMA.

County Prosecutor Dale Slack inquired whether the Commissioners wished for Columbia County to join with other county officials in the State in suing the State over the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act over the requirement that the counties pay for it despite elected officials receiving no benefit. They agreed to be added to the list of plaintiffs.

Slack then requested approval from the Commissioners for intervention using crisis services for a Blue House resident that has been persistently panhandling in an aggressive manner in or around Main Street businesses with repeated trespassing charges. Because the individual is deemed incompetent for a criminal investigation, Slack and colleague April King requested approval of a contract for the one-time professional crisis services of Dr. Wagner for the evaluation for emergency detention and possible extended 14-day detention at Eastern State Hospital. The Commissioners approved and passed Resolution 2022-01 which will detain a Blue House resident for repeated aggressive panhandling and trespassing of businesses on Main Street.to that end.