Klickitat County Commissioners sign off on Under Canvas

Commissioners also granted an occupancy certificate to Under Canvas, the controversial glamor camping site. Planning Director Scott Edelman and Public Works Director Jeff Hunter both said that Under Canvas had satisfied all the requirements.

“There was a small area that was brought to our attention,” Hunter said. “We went out and looked at it yesterday. We notified Under Canvas. Under Canvas got it fixed this morning, and there you go.”

The company had already began booking stays for Memorial Day weekend more than a week ago.

Then there was good news for the Public Works department: “The board would like to acknowledge that Public Works has received a Certificate of Good Practice that was approved by resolution of the Washington State County Road Administrative Board,” Chair Ron Ihrig said. “This is recognition of a significant achievement for Public Works. So congratulations, and let your staff know our appreciation.”

Also, to keep a funding stream that helps pay for marine officers, the county has to guarantee to meet certain benchmarks. One was to have the sheriff’s boat in the water at least 138 hours in the season, but that’s not all, as Chief Civil Deputy Karen Elings told commissioners.

“We have to complete 92 boat inspections,” she said. “Which means anybody in this room, anyone listening, anyone anywhere, who has a boat, 15 feet, 10 horsepower or more, call  509-773-4545, and they can connect you with a marine deputy.”

Having an inspection before putting the boat in the water means no violation if the inspector finds a safety violation that you correct. If they find the violation while on the water, she said, that will trigger a fine.

Additionally, commissioners enthusiastically reappointed Valerie Fowler as Klickitat County’s representative on the Columbia River Gorge Commission, saying that she has done a wonderful job representing the county. One citizen even used his three minutes of public comment time to urge her reappointment.

Finally, commissioners got a hint of things to come when they asked their Olympia lobbyist Zak Kennedy what the governor will do with the budget sent to him by the legislature, which is now out of session.

“My inside sources are kind of indicating that he’s probably going to do a lot of line-item vetoing,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like he’s going to veto the entire budget, but it’s probably going to look like a text somebody bled all over.”

What those cuts will be and what they will mean to Klickitat County have yet to be seen.

Items under the consent agenda approved by commissioners included:

• A credit card limit increase for the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office.

• Amending Resolution 04225, reappointing Klickitat Lead Entity Technical Committee members.

• A request for consideration of approval of Short Plat SPL 2024-12, Muzechenko.

• A resolution approving annexation of properties into Klickitat County Fire Protection District No. 3

• A grant agreement with the County Road Administration Board (CRAB) for the Sleepy Hollow Phase 1 Project.