HOOD RIVER — The Hood River County Board of Commissioners met Aug. 18. In her administrator’s report, Allison Williams spoke about the Rowena Fire traffic impact stakeholder meeting she and Chair Jennifer Euwer attended on Aug. 11.
Allison Williams, Administrator, Hood River County
“We had a great showing of emergency responders and agencies from both sides of the river,” said Williams. “The bulk of the meeting … was given to ODOT to talk about the issues that would arise due to their current funding situation … It was a great start to getting everyone together. What I took home was [that] the intermingling of all of our communication networks is just really paramount.”
Participants in that meeting began creating a procedural book for emergency road management around three lines of effort, Williams said, “reducing traffic coming into the county and facilitating traffic coming out of the area, creating local traffic flows to reduce congestion within specific port and downtown areas, and prioritizing critical routes to critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, fire stations, etc.”
Euwer said that commissioners should be aware of the impacts of the Rowena Fire and the efforts of those rebuilding, as it may serve as a warning for the difficulties Hood River County residents may face in the event of a similar emergency, especially when dealing with the challenges of building in the National Scenic Area.
County Forestry Director Doug Thiesies also updated commissioners on the Carbon Project, a carbon offset acquisition program managed by the Climate Trust. The trust, in accordance with the agreement, is beginning pre-sale marketing for a small percent of the county’s carbon credits that will be made available through this project, but a “lull” in interest, according to Thiesies’ report, made some commissioners hesitant, and they asked for clarity on what a lull specifically looks like. “It’s moving forward. I wouldn’t say that there are any alarms going off at this point,” he said.
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