By Rodger Nichols
For Columbia Gorge News
GOLDENDALE — Rumors of a big housing development planned for Dallesport got attention from Klickitat County Public Works Director Jeff Hunter at the commission’s Jan. 6 workshop session.
“We’re looking at a development with a potential of, say, 500 people,” he said. “When you have that many people in an urban setting like that, my experience is you’re best to have those owned by the government, just because [they need] to get maintained. If they don’t, you’ll have a mess.”
Hunter was referring to the roads and streets in the development, a sentiment that was echoed by Commission Chair Ron Ihrig, who emphasized that it was the responsibility of the developer to build the streets and roads to county standards, and that the whole project can’t be served by a street that is just a loop.
“This county’s not taking a road with a dead end,” he said. “It would have to be a through road, built to the county standards and paved, at no cost to the citizens of the county.”
Hunter said he would be meeting with the developers on Jan. 7.
In other updates, new County Administrator Robb Van Cleave told commissioners he was already prepared to do some departmental reorganization.
“There’s been various discussions in the past about moving the emergency management program from Emergency Management Department to public works,” he told them. “Public works has prior experience years ago managing the emergency management program, and is willing to assume that leadership today. Based on a critical staffing issue, vacation schedules and other issues, I’m recommending that the transfer be on or before Jan. 16.”
Van Cleave said he’d spoken to heads of each department, and both were committed to making it work. Under the plan, Jeff King would be focused on 911 dispatch and the radio communications network, which is overdue for an upgrade. Van Cleave said he would bring the commissioners’ Jan. 13 meeting to be voted on.
Another reorganization would place building codes, code compliance, economic development and natural resources all under the Planning Department, with the idea that the county can create a new, not yet named, one-stop shop for development. In the future, Planning Director Scott Edelman would report monthly on activities of those departments to commissioners at their workshop sessions.
Van Cleave also proposed placing fiscal services, the Department of Corrections, human resources, coroner, IT, 911, and Washington State University Extension, under his purview.
“If any issue requires an action item or more in-depth discussion, then we would schedule that separately so the public would know that that’s a separate issue.”
The theme for the formal afternoon session was one of continuity and stability. Ihrig was re-elected as chair and Todd Andrews as vice chair, and the board decided to maintain most committee assignments to preserve their “good working order” and not disrupt ongoing projects.
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