Public hearing for state-mandated updates at BOC meeting

While counties are required to update their codes to match changes in state legislation and agency rulemaking, they are allowed to impose additional, stricter, requirements. That was the idea behind a new locally-generated chapter 15.30 regulating industrial-scale solar farms. Many local citizens have opposed a proposed large-scale solar farm in the county, and thought such a chapter would add controls or even discourage the whole project.

Building Director Lynn Ward carefully noted that her authority only deals with building codes for structures. “I have nothing to do with planning, zoning or critical area ordinances,” she said. “None of that.”

In a phone call Friday, Ward explained some of the nuances involved.

“The panel’s themselves are to a degree still considered a structure,” she said. “So I do receive engineering on the solar panels for their method of being connected to the ground, but I don’t do anything with the electrical portion, like the wiring to connect them into the grid or anything like that. If they have a structure that those batteries are housed in, I would need to know, for example, the quantity of batteries so I would know what hazard occupancy to assign to that structure. But I don’t have anything to do with them getting a conditional use permit from Planning or any rezoning. All of that is outside the scope of the building codes.

Commissioners ultimately voted to drop section 15.30 and just adopt the state standards. They did close verbal public testimony, but agreed to allow written testimony up to 5 p.m. Friday, March 8. The motion also instructed staff to prepare for formal adoption of the state-mandated changes at the March 12 meeting, ahead of a March 15 deadline.

Earlier in the day, commissioners welcomed the county’s new planning director, Scott Edelman. Edelman said he had grown up in a small town near Nampa, Idaho, but in college he met a girl from Goldendale, Emily Cochran.

“I fell in love with the girl, with her family, and with this community,” he said with a grin. The two were married here in 1998.

After college, he said their jobs took them to North Carolina for four years, where she was a teacher. He went to graduate school for planning at North Carolina Chapel Hill, then they moved back to central Oregon because his wife’s older sister lived there at that time. He was an associate planner for the city of Redmond, served as planning director for the City of Prineville when Facebook built their data center, spent eight years at Oregon’s Land Conservation and Development Commission, and most recently was community development director for Jefferson County.

He said Jefferson County, which is directly south of Wasco County, is a county “surprisingly like” Klickitat County in having a similar size population and an east-to-west orientation.

Edelman and other officials praised the work of Lori Anderson who had been acting planning director in the interim.

Commissioners also discussed the problem of the lack of public defenders. The state Constitution guarantees that any criminal defendant who can’t afford an attorney will be appointed one. As part of that guarantee, state law caps the number of cases public defenders can take on at 150 felony cases a year.

Those in public defender work say that number is not sustainable and recently, the Washington State Bar Association has proposed cutting that number by more than two-thirds, eventually capped at 47 cases a year.

The proposal would have created a new unfunded mandate that would require counties to hire more attorneys to cover the caseloads.

Commissioners had a Wednesday deadline to comment, and decided to consult with Klickitat County Superior Court Judge Randall Krog about the situation.

“When I first came, we had three or four attorneys doing public defense work,” he said. “Now we don’t have anyone in Skamania County and only two in Klickitat County.”

Krog noted this problem wasn’t confined to Washington State, nor to just public defenders. “I talked to [Prosecuting Attorney] Quesnel,” he said, “and they’ve had difficulty in finding anybody for their office. And much more than just the criminal field. It’s impacting us trying to find people to handle guardianship cases, unlawful detainer cases. There are a multitude of areas where attorneys need to be had, and we just don’t have access to them.”

A number of factors have contributed to the shortage — baby boomers retiring in large numbers, law schools graduating few students, and new graduates reluctant to take on lower-paying county jobs due to soaring student loans.

Earlier proposals, to have the state subsidize law school expenses in return for years of service as public defenders, have not made it through the legislature.

Commissioner Dan Christopher commented on the proposal to cap the caseload:

“Maybe they’re doing this to make it a financial incentive for attorneys to pick up the task,” he said, “but by doing it this way, they can pass it off as an unfunded mandate to counties, versus repaying college debt, then they would have to pay for it.”

Commissioners agreed that lowering the caps would have a serious fiscal impact, particularly for smaller counties.

Human Resources Director Robb Van Cleave’s various departments reported what he described for the most part as routine updates, but did single one out.

“Mackenzie Coleman, our solid waste coordinator, pointed out that we do a lot of cleanups, as more and more communities have started their own. White Salmon and the Centerville School District have had longstanding cleanups, but Goldendale is in its second year, and Dallesport has expressed an interest in doing a cleanup day. I think there are seven now. It’s exciting to see the communities coming together for a good cause.”

Commissioners also approved the consent agenda, which included:

• A Statement of Work Contract between the county and software supplier Civic Plus.

• A letter of appreciation to Senator Maria Cantwell for her support in obtaining a $200 million grant toward a new Hood River/White Salmon bridge.

• Appointment of Rod Smith to the Civil Service Commission.

• A revised organization chart for the IT department.

• An agreement between Klickitat County Public Health and FastNet Billing, LLC to process electronic medical claims.

• Approval of Publication Notice of County Force Costs for 2023 Bickleton Highway widen/chip seal project of $729,048.58

• Notice to vendors to bid on supplying liquid asphalt for county roads, with engineer’s estimate of $400,000-$700,000. Bid opening is set for March 19 at 1 p.m.

• Agreement between SafeSpace Children’s Advocacy Center of the Gorge and Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney on behalf of the Klickitat County Child Abuse Multi-Disciplinary Team. SafeSpace provides medical assessments and forensic interviews of alleged child abuse victims in the Columbia Gorge region.