GOLDENDALE — Money was on the minds of Klickitat County Commissioners at their March 10 board meeting. In looking at all possibilities to generate revenue, they considered raising certain event fees, but ultimately postponed the decision to have a larger policy discussion about whether the county should be fully recouping its costs for utilities and cleaning at facilities like the community center.
But County Administrator Robb Van Cleave did have some good news: “You may know,” he told commissioners, “but I want to make sure the public knows. Starting May 7, the Department of Corrections’ food service will be provided by the state Department of Corrections, and Aramark has given a termination of the contract for May 8. Timing is everything, and, as Bill has reported in the past, that will be a significant savings. Bill’s worked pretty hard on that, and I appreciate that.”
Van Cleave was referring to Jail Administrator Bill Frantz, who’s been pursuing the change since he came on board. He’s also been adept at obtaining grants, which has proved a boon to the county.
In other updates, Klickitat County’s Adult Probation Services received approval to hire a qualified internal candidate for a case manager position at a higher pay step than advertised, with the board agreeing that the county would absorb the additional cost to avoid altering financial agreements already in progress with Bingen, White Salmon and Goldendale.
Senior Services Director Sharon Carter then reported that her department faced significant challenges with recruiting transportation drivers due to strict state and federal requirements.
“We’ve got safety sensitive drug testing,” she said. “There’s pre-employment as well as random testing ... That eliminates them right off the bat. And the driving records are not just related to your work driving record; it’s your driving record, period.”
Another problem was that the cost of replacement vehicles for their fleet has more than doubled, complicating grant-funded purchases. Carter said demand for senior services has also grown substantially, with notable increases in transportation ridership, meals served, and volunteer hours, which rose more than 2,000 hours in the past year.
Separately, the county retained outside counsel to provide an expert review of a solar ordinance and to help with future land use matters, with the prosecuting attorney emphasizing that all communication would be centralized through her office to control costs.
Under the consent agenda, commissioners appointed Jan Sokol to Washington’s Energy Facility Siting Evaluation Council and represent Klickitat County as it considers an application for the Cascade Renewable Transmission Project (see related story here).
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