GOLDENDALE — The icicles of the Klickitat County hiring freeze dripped a bit more last week, when commissioners approved hiring some part-time bus drivers for public transit. Senior Services Director Sharon Carter told them that several drivers have procedures coming up and others are nearing retirement.
The positions are grant-funded and leaving vacancies empty would not save money. In fact, she said, this was a case where hiring people would actually save money, since the hires would be for “casual” (read: part-time) and would not be eligible for most benefits. And there’s another reason.
“I’d actually be worse off,” she said, “because I’m going to run into overtime, trying to fulfill the contract obligations with fewer people.”
In the morning workshop session, Public Works Director Jeff Hunter said crews were working on brushing roadsides. Occasionally, he said, people would ask them to spare, for example, blackberry bushes.
What we tell people is, ‘You brush it, or we will,’” he said. “If they don’t brush it, we have areas where we get long grass or brush when you get snow in the road, it becomes a hazard. We will work with people. If they want to hand-brush their area, that’s fine, but they need to do it before we come through. Because if it’s there, we’ll cut it.”
Hunter also noted the county is also looking ahead to deal with housing for the 3,000 construction workers expected for the Goldendale Pumped Storage project recently approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“We are surveying the property next to the fairgrounds in preparation to look for dollars. Then we’ll start putting together designs to see how many employee housing spots we can get. This will be 10 times what it was back in 2008-2009 when the windmills started going in. You couldn’t find an apartment, a motel room, or anything in this town, because everything was taken up.”
And county staff will draft an ordinance to charge wind and solar companies for false alarms. County Administrator Robb Van Cleave explained:
“If deputies are at the other end of the county, and a false alarm goes off on a wind farm it’s a hour and a half to get there,” he said. Then they get there and either the company’s boys are standing around or, you know, the door wasn’t secured. It can take a deputy off the road for hours, and that’s just not a good use of their time.”
Commissioners also discussed significant financial concerns related to the county landfill. They noted that a new landfill in Adams County creates competition that would likely result in the loss of contracts from eastern Washington counties, impacting a major source of county revenue.
Under the consent agenda, commissioners approved:
• Authorization to advertise for a payroll analyst in the Auditor’s Office.
• A certificate of appreciation for Klickitat County EMS board of directors.
• The appointment of Brian Andrews as an alternate commissioner to the Klickitat County Water Conservancy Board.
• Verification of the list of county assets for 2025 and directing the Auditor to file it as a public record.
• A request to carry over vacation hours to 2026 for Mackenzie Coleman.
• Supplement no. 3, expanding the deliverables, and adding $26,000 to the consultant agreement with AKS Engineering and Forestry, LLC for the Goldendale fuel station.
In addition, commissioners unanimously agreed to send letters of support for the White Salmon Valley pool’s funding request, Skyline Health’s project funding, and Senate Bill 6239, which aims to streamline the claims process for the Washington County Risk Pool.
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