GOLDENDALE — A proposed Trout Lake senior center will not be built in that town’s Buler Park. Klickitat County Commission Chair Ron Ihrig said at the Jan. 20 meeting that the proposal had been withdrawn.
“We’ve been receiving a lot of emails, calls, and I’d like to just put this to bed,” he said. “My intention would be Buler Park stays as a park. If anything, I’d like to see us do a little better job in promoting it a lot better.”
Short session updates
With the short legislative session in full swing in Olympia, Tuesday’s commission meetings have been starting at 9 a.m. instead of 9:30 a.m., enlivened by reports from Washington Association of Counties lobbyist Zak Kennedy.
Among other things, he described SB 5964, which proposes oversight committees with the power to remove elected sheriffs, as “kryptonite.”
He also delivered an ironic assessment of the governor’s proposed budget. “They’re robbing every fund they can, moving money around, raising taxes — and they’re still gonna be short,” he said. “This is really going to come to a head at the end of session. I don’t know, we may see a special session; it’s really hard to say.”
Upgrades to existing wind turbines are currently taking place at Juniper Canyon.
Rodger Nichols photo
Wind farm upgrades
Commissioners were later asked by this reporter about upgrades now under way on the Juniper Canyon wind farm, and whether they triggered an increase in the assessed value of the units. An email the following day said the county did receive a construction permit fee of $724,467.87, plus $8,100 for the laydown yards and $90 for the laydown fuel tank, for a total of $732,657.87.
Some 63 turbines are involved in the upgrades, which includes increasing the height of the towers to 422 feet, and blade tip height from 404 to 453 feet, reinforcing foundations, adding new nacelles and generators, and installing new underground 34.5 kV collector lines.
The one-time permit fees work out to $11,629.49 per turbine.
Under the consent agenda, commissioners approved:
• SafeSpace Advocacy Center Contract.
• Behavioral Health Pro-Act License Agreement.
• Consultant Agreement with Kittelson & Associates, Inc. for on-call Traffic Engineering Services.
• Contract amendment no. 10 for Klickitat County Health Department 2025-2027 Consolidated.
• Amendment No. 4 for Senior Transportation Services.
• Amendment No. 8 for Senior Nutrition Services.
• Reappointment of Brandt Whalin to the Klickitat-Skamania Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board.
• Appointment of Jessica Hoff to the Klickitat-Skamania Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board.
• Local Agency Federal Aid Project prospectus for the preventative maintenance bundle deck repair project, CRP 376.
• Local Agency Agreement supplement for the preventative maintenance bundle deck repair project, CRP 376.
• Concurrence to award for the Columbia Gorge Community College aircraft maintenance facility project.
• Local Agency Federal Aid Project prospectus for the Snowden Road overlay project, CRP 386.
• Local Agency Agreement Supplement for the Snowden Road Overlay Project, CRP 386.
• Appointment of Jay McLaughlin to the Klickitat County Planning Commission.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.