It was mostly routine business for the Wasco County Commissioners Wednesday.
One of the first items on the agenda was to appoint a Vice Chair to fill in for the Board Chair when he is gone. Commissioner Jeff Justesen was appointed to the position.
Melissa Napoli, Wasco County Wildfire Coordinator had a correction to an Inter-Governmental Agreement with Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue that was changed.
But while she was reporting to the Commissioners, she mentioned Fire Safety and creating defensible space around your home:
“Just want to remind everybody to go do your defensible space work. Zero to thirty feet, don’t stack your wood piles next to your home. For residents in South Wasco County, Friend down to Pine Grove, west of the Sportsman’s Park and east over to the city limits of Maupin, we are doing the assessments. I’ll come out and do an assessment for you; we have partners that will do them and we’ll get that defensible space work done in the zero to 30 foot zone.”
Commissioners also held the first hearing on establishing the Wasco County Endowment and Resiliency Fund.
Wasco County anticipates receiving significant, non-recurring revenues driven by Strategic Investment Program (SIP) agreements and tax abatement initiatives. To ensure these one-time windfalls generate lasting value rather than funding short-term expansion, staff and the Board have developed a dedicated capital preservation mechanism.
Ordinance No. 26-003 establishes a permanent, restricted endowment-style fund designed to maximize compound growth over time. The goal is to build a self-sustaining financial cushion that protects local services during economic disruptions while funding transformational infrastructure and economic development projects in the future.
The second hearing on this matter will take place on September, 2nd.
If you would like to read about this, we have a link to the Board Packet below, it starts on page 174.