GOLDENDALE — Last week’s Klickitat County Commissioners meeting started with some good news regarding jail updates from Public Works chief Jeff Hunter. He told commissioners that cameras were being installed that week, and that the jail generator had arrive. He said getting it set up involved a lot of coordination.
“You’ve got to coordinate with PUD, you’ve got to coordinate with an electrician, with our people and on top of that, you also have to have Cummings come out so they can bring it online,” he said. “It’s quite a coordination, but we’re going to try and get that one done as soon as possible.”
The morning session also saw Planning Director Scott Edelman explaining a misconception that has grown up around a public hearing scheduled for June 16. He said people thought it would be a hearing on the final solar ordinance. That will take time to process through the Planning Commission before it can reach the commissioners. But, he said, the committee were concerned that there could be a new solar farm application filed before the ordinance could be enacted.
“They wanted to compose an interim measure for the commission to consider,” he said, “which includes two major components, and one that’s a bit more vague. One is that any solar project, industrial scale, is a conditional use. It doesn’t change standards, just adds another level of revue. The other one is clarify that BESS (battery energy storage system) is not a supplemental use. They also get a regular conditional use permit.”
Conditional use permits require applicants to prove why they should get an exception to the rules for the zone in which they are applying, and provides for public hearings.
Hunter said the third component would be a definition of what constitutes a large project.
The afternoon session brought a revelation. As commissioners considered a supplemental budget for this year, County Auditor Heather Jobe told them of a problem last year while preparing the 2025 budget:
“It does appear that there were some technical errors in the spreadsheets,” she said. So, while I don’t believe it was anybody’s intention to reduce the wages and benefits for patrol, ultimately, it did happen. If they weren’t inadvertently removed, what would have been in the Sheriff’s wages and benefits budget for this year, would have been an additional $246,000.”
The Sheriff had been asking for a supplemental budget of $382,020, which would include the funds for jail administrator transferred from the Sheriff’s department to the Corrections department when the jail was moved, and that’s what was presented to the commissioners.
Sheriff Songer gave an forceful statement in which he said the lack of deputies could endanger those who are now serving, who face dangerous situations such as domestic violence calls, and could be hurt or killed without timely backup.
Ultimately, the board voted to reduce that request down to the $246,000 that should have been there at the beginning of the year. Commissioner Todd Andrews, who had been a supporter of adding the full amount, abstained in the final vote. Chair Ron Ihrig said he wouldn’t support the additional funding until they had clear information about revenues.
Under the consent agenda, commissioners approved:
• Klickitat County Historical Preservation grant agreement with Twin Bridges Historical Museum/Lyle Historical Society
• Klickitat County Historical Preservation grant agreement with West Klickitat County Historical Society
• Bingen City Fire and Fire District 1, 8, 11, & 15 Radio System Use and 9-1-1/Dispatch
Services Agreements
• A public meeting on June 10, 2025 for a boundary line adjustment for Spadaro, Denny & Ventnor LLC
• A public meeting on June 10, 2025 for a boundary line adjustment for Riggleman & Verrey
• A public meeting on June 10, 2025 for a boundary line adjustment for KC Valley, LLC & Verley
• Final acceptance and release of contract bond for 2024’s White Plastic Edge Line Project
• A request from Lyle School District to waive fees for building rental, with the understanding they will return the building into the same condition in which it was received.
• Concurrence to award a bid to repair the fire-damaged Alderdale guardrail.
At the request of Commissioner Todd Andrews, a Behavioral Health professional services agreement with Brett Merle was pulled out of the consent agenda list for consideration at a later date.
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