Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Klickitat County Commissioners met yesterday. There was a feeling of accomplishment at last week’s meeting on the news that the two-person committee of Dan Gunkel of Klickitat PUD and Lori Zoller of the County Commissioners had reached agreement to award a $185,000 grant to the Dallesport Water District.
But when Ms. Zoller went to the meeting of the water district the next day, she didn’t bring a check. Instead, she brought a document containing four conditions that the district would have to meet before the committee would consider their application.
After presenting the document, she told the commissioners that:
“I was asked to leave the meeting so they could have a private conversation, so I honored that. Afterwards, we needed to have communication with them by 8 o’clock that evening so that our girls could get it on the agenda and get it run through today’s session and have their money.”
But accounts of the meeting differ. Dallesport Water District Commission members who were present that meeting say Mrs. Zoller stated at the beginning of the meeting she had limited time and other meetings and work to attend to.
Later in yesterday’s meeting, she told other commissioners about the conditions:
“There were four requirements in it, and all four were things they would be doing moving forward anyhow. So Scott during the meeting felt like he didn’t have a problem with them. I know there was discussion about requirements, but they were fairly simple requirements that I knew they were gonna do or I wouldn’t have taken it forward to them. There was nothing that was extortion or holding ’em to the fire for anything.”
The Scott she referred to was Scott Dixon of the Water Department. Members of the Department said that they had problems with the first three of the four requirements.
Yesterday’s meeting also gave a heads-up on a couple of public meetings of interest. Emergency Management Director Jeff King described one of them:
“The City of White Salmon Wildfire Preparedness Community meeting is scheduled for next Monday, May 5 at 6 pm at the city fire hall in White Salmon. And Emergency Management will be there and can sign people up and give them a short presentation on signing people up in the emergency notification system.”
And next Thursday, May 8, at 9:30 in the morning, Commissioners will schedule a workshop on the budget. Unlike other Thursday workshops this one will be held upstairs in the commissioner meeting room and will be Zoomed for the public to attend.
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