Klickitat County Commissioners had a mixed bag of news at yesterday’s meeting. Public Works Director Jeff Hunter reported progress:
“Jail upgrades – getting a lot of that stuff accomplished now. Jail cameras are installed; smoke alarms have been upgraded. The jail generator is here; installation is scheduled July 21, that’s when we could somebody from Cummins to come up here.”
Public Health Director Erinn Quinn reported a loss:
“We did attend the Washington State Public Health leaders association meeting two weeks ago. Our Foundational Public Health Services funding is being it. We all had to vote on which was the best choice and we lost. We will be losing about 22 percent of our FPHS funds starting July 1.”
Quinn said she doubted that the loss would have a significant impact on her or her budget because they had been preparing for such an event.
In the formal afternoon session, Commissioner Lori Zoller responded to a question about the controversial glamor camping site Under Canvas, now that it’s up and running:
“I think they expended a lot of funds, and I think they’re going to do the best job possible, because they have a big investment. There are a lot of staff on duty – 32 people – helping people coming in, and I was impressed with their facility, and the benefit to such communities as BZ to route those people through BZ for gas and groceries.”
And, tucked into the consent agenda, was Commission’s formal approval of a Landfill Gas Fund grant of $185,000 to the Dallesport Water District, this time without any conditions that caused Dallesport to reject an earlier proposal.