[1:14] Good morning, everybody. It is 10 a.m. on the 3rd of October, and we are here for our regular weekly commissioners meeting. It's a pleasure to see everybody

[1:23] this morning. Thank you to all those who have joined us to begin our meeting. As always, I'd love to ask you to please stand and join me in the

[1:31] of Allegiance.

[1:51] I'm here.

[1:55] All right, thank you very much. And do we have any modifications

[2:03] noted to the agenda today?

[2:07] I believe the modification is we're going to be removing item 3a from

[2:13] today's agenda. Is that correct? Yes. All right. Are there any additional modifications

[2:18] to the agenda move

[2:22] to approve the agenda as modified. It has been moved and

[2:25] now seconded to approve our agenda as modified namely removing item 3a all in

[2:31] favor please say aye. Aye. Aye, there are none opposed that motion passes our

[2:35] modified agenda has been approved. That does bring us to our first

[2:38] opportunity for public comment here at the beginning of the meeting we are

[2:43] looking for comment specific to agenda items please. We do have a second

[2:48] general open public comment period at the end of the meeting at which point we'd

[2:52] love to hear from you on any subject whatsoever but at this time again I'm

[2:57] just looking for comment specific to our agenda. Mr. Bowen I see your hand is up

[3:02] please unmute yourself and go right ahead sir.

[3:07] Good morning commissioners at

[3:09] Bowen P.O. Box 11 Collin Bay and just a short public comment on agenda item

[3:15] four B is in Baker.

[3:19] Appreciate the fact that you're posting a call for

[3:22] hearing today on this topic that's of a value to the county. I do not meant to

[3:29] influence some interest that I have in this, but I do want to make note that it's

[3:36] dear to my heart this particular topic and for me to prepare for the hearing.

[3:40] I do want to recognize the the county administrator for assistance grant

[3:46] provided me in the past week and the ongoing effort to address my issues

[3:52] concerns in preparation for the hearing. So I think that is a tremendous

[3:58] value that the County Administrator brings to the table when a member of

[4:03] the public is having a difficult time navigating the county's infrastructure or

[4:07] staffing infrastructure. I'll call it that. Thank you very much and those are my comments today.

[4:14] Thank you very much Mr. Bowen. Appreciate it as always. Is there anyone in the

[4:18] boardroom who would like to make comments specific to any of our agenda

[4:22] items this morning.

[4:26] Alright anyone else online or joining us virtually interested

[4:31] in making comments specific to any of our agenda items if so please raise your

[4:35] hand come on camera or otherwise indicate your interest.

[4:40] Alright seeing

[4:41] none we will go ahead and move on through the agenda and again we'll

[4:46] have a second public comment period once we get through all of our action

[4:49] items, but let's go ahead and begin with our consent agenda, please, Mr. Malki.

[4:53] You bet, commissioners. We have five items on today's consent agenda. Item 1A is the

[4:59] approval vouchers for the week of September 25th. 1B is the approval

[5:04] of payable for the period ending September 15th. Item 1C is the

[5:08] approval of minutes for the week of September 25th. 1D is a letter of

[5:13] support to Dr. Michael Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer of the North

[5:18] Olympic health care network regarding their redesignation as the service area

[5:23] competition application and that that letter goes to the health resources and

[5:30] services administration and item 1e is a proclamation recognizing the second

[5:36] Monday of October as indigenous people say. I move to approve the consent

[5:41] agenda. It has been moved and I will second approval of the consent

[5:45] agenda all in favor of approval please say hi. Hi. There are none opposed.

[5:51] Theresa Lehmann, would you please join me at the podium.

[6:05] Thank you very much.

[6:06] This morning it is my honor to read a proclamation recognizing the second

[6:13] Monday of October 2023 as Indigenous People's Day in order to promote

[6:19] tolerance, understanding and friendship, and to combat the

[6:22] prejudice and discrimination stemming from colonization. I'm honored today to be

[6:28] joined by Teresa Lehman from the Jamestown's Clowham tribe. Whereas Clowham

[6:34] County recognizes that we occupy tribal ancestral land and that tribal people

[6:39] have lived on this land since time immemorial and whereas the county values

[6:45] the many contributions of knowledge, labor, technology, science, philosophy,

[6:52] arts, and the deep cultural influences which have shaped the character of this county.

[6:59] And whereas Clowham County recognizes that systemic racism toward Indigenous people,

[7:11] education and social crises, and whereas the idea of Indigenous People's Day was first

[7:17] prepared by

[7:20] a delegation of Native Nations to the United Nations-sponsored International

[7:24] National Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas.

[7:29] And whereas, in 2011, the affiliated tribes of Northwest Indians representing 59 nations

[7:37] from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Northern California, Western Montana, and Alaska passed Resolution

[7:44] Number 11-57 to, quote, support to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day,

[7:51] end quote, and whereas Clowham County joins a growing number of counties that

[7:57] have recognized the second Monday of October as Indigenous People's Day,

[8:02] creating an opportunity to promote appreciation, tolerance, understanding,

[8:07] friendship, and partnerships among all peoples. Now therefore, we the Board of

[8:12] Clowham County Commissioners hereby proclaim the second Monday in October

[8:15] as Indigenous People's Day in Clowham County, and we encourage all to

[8:20] celebrate the thriving cultures and values of the indigenous peoples of our region to learn more

[8:25] about the history of indigenous peoples and their cultures, and to continue efforts to promote the

[8:30] well-being and growth of our indigenous communities. Sign this third day of October 2023,

[8:37] Mark Ozias, Randy Johnson, and Mike French. And Teresa, thank you again so much for being here.

[8:43] The proclamation speaks to learning, cultures, values, partnership, and a lot of aspirational

[8:54] words and concepts which the Jamestown Scalillum tribe through years and decades and centuries

[9:03] of generosity have shared with those who have arrived here over the course of many years.

[9:12] so thank you very much and we would love to hear a few words. Thank you Mark and

[9:20] thank you the County Commissioners we really appreciate it. Good morning my

[9:26] name is Theresa Lehman and I am from the Jamestown tribe I'm the current

[9:34] treasurer. My family name is Kurt Kordonsky. These are words we must acknowledge when we

[9:43] first speak to people because it gives honor and respect to our families. Today I am present

[9:52] here to represent Indigenous people day this day commemorates and honors our beautiful history,

[10:02] tradition and our culture on these lands and afar. These lands are currently, the

[10:11] the lands we currently stand on represents three column tribes. They are the

[10:19] Jamestown tribe, Port Gamble tribe and the Elwa tribe. When we step outside and

[10:26] look around at the beauty our Creator has given us. We must remind ourselves we

[10:34] are the caretakers and and appointed by our Creator to take care of these lands.

[10:41] Unfortunately for several years due to colonization we were victimized. We

[10:49] lost many of our women. We lost many of our children. Our children were

[10:55] replaced in boarding schools, boarding homes. Many of those children did not

[11:02] return back to their own homes. This has saddened our tribes not only here but

[11:09] nationwide. We are now reviewing what has happened to our children. We will

[11:16] never ever allow our children to ever face these tragedies again. We

[11:23] encourage our children to go on in society, hold their heads up high, and the

[11:31] rest of our Native Americans to hold our heads up high. This is important to us

[11:36] plus our education value is important and what we can teach our children. We

[11:42] have taught our children respect and this is carried on today.

[11:52] the county commissioners and

[11:54] Clollum County for their

[11:59] annual proclamation. Thank you.

[12:03] And it's a wonderful day.

[12:09] Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.

[12:12] I'll give it to Ron.

[12:14] Thank you for being here today.

[12:16] Thank you.

[12:37] Commissioner French, is there

[12:39] anything that you would like to

[12:40] report on this morning. Okay, so I did a lot this last week. Of course, we attended the

[12:45] Dundas-Levy Town Hall and I would say that that was a very successful event

[12:49] thanks to all the county staff that put some good work into making that, you

[12:53] know, a good event so the public could come and discuss that project with us

[12:57] and give us their views. I also attended for Randy the EDC board

[13:01] meeting and it was a great board meeting. One thing that we took kind

[13:05] of a little bit of a deep dive into was what the PTAC, the, I can't, I

[13:10] I never remember the acronym,

[13:10] but they've also now changed the acronym.

[13:12] Now it's called the APEX Accelerator.

[13:14] And so we had a good little deep dive on that

[13:17] and it sounds like that project is moving forward.

[13:19] And they've actually, I think,

[13:20] also gotten some funding so that they can expand

[13:22] how many employees are gonna be involved at the EDC

[13:25] in providing that service.

[13:27] Oh, wow, that's wonderful.

[13:30] Let's see, I attended the public health staff meeting

[13:32] yesterday, which is a great meeting

[13:34] of some really great staff members

[13:36] who are, you know, I think doing really good work.

[13:38] one thing that I learned at that meeting is we're hopeful I don't I don't

[13:42] want to announce anything out of turn but I think we're hoping sometime in the

[13:45] middle of October to have the help the harm reduction health center new location

[13:48] open right in the middle of October and they're working very hard to make that

[13:52] happen I also attended one of our tourism master plan town halls I don't

[13:57] know if you attended the one in Skwim or I did not there is one in Fort Townsend

[14:01] one in Skwim one in Port Angeles and one in Forks I was not able to make the

[14:03] one in Forks I apologize to Lizzie for that but I did it make the one

[14:06] important to us earlier that day.

[14:08] And it was a really good turnout, 40 or 50 people,

[14:12] a mix of residents as well as professionals

[14:16] who are in the industry.

[14:18] They got over 1,300 responses, 1,200 responses

[14:21] on the resident survey that they delivered.

[14:24] And they got over 160 responses on the stakeholders

[14:28] survey that they targeted to people that are specifically

[14:30] working.

[14:31] So they had a lot of good public input

[14:33] both from the industry and from our residents.

[14:37] So I think it's going to create a very good plan.

[14:40] The things that they talked about,

[14:43] that I think we will probably see represented in that plan

[14:45] is the strategy of becoming a four season destination.

[14:48] So we don't just have tourism happening

[14:50] in the warm times of the year,

[14:52] but we continue to build that shoulder season

[14:54] and off season, which I think has been a strategy

[14:56] that we've been pursuing county-wide for some.

[15:00] They talked about the need for, you know, more transit opportunities, both public and

[15:04] private, and that's something where I know that we've had a lot of those discussions at

[15:08] Clown Transit. They talked about developing one singular events calendar. That's something

[15:12] that, you know, we've had a couple of fits and starts on, and hopefully we'll figure

[15:16] that out as a community on who should hold that calendar and who should push it out.

[15:22] They also talked about, you know, kind of the idea of becoming a sports tourism area

[15:27] because that could be something that helps supplant our off-season if we find indoor venues where we can bring, you know,

[15:33] traveling teams in, which is something that we've done in small amounts, but that I think presents a big opportunity for growth.

[15:39] They all talked a lot about the challenges of being a tourist destination, meaning, you know,

[15:43] the number one, of course, is housing accommodations that we need, more accommodations for tourists, and more housing for our workforce.

[15:50] And of course, that's tied to workforce shortages, and that creates, I think, a real challenge to the

[15:56] peak season when our workforce in service industry, restaurants, and, you know, the kind

[16:03] of the cultural experience part of that, when we don't have the workforce to accommodate

[16:11] peak season, that creates bad experiences.

[16:15] And then we, you know, one of the other challenges

[16:17] is that we do have limited offseason experiences where, you know, obviously people want to

[16:21] come here in the high season because of how beautiful it is outside and the weather

[16:24] changes and so that limits our offseason experiences and but it was a great event. I think we're

[16:30] going to have a great plan come out of that that will really help us create strategies to

[16:39] become more of a four-season destination. I do think that there are policy implications

[16:43] that we should always be thinking about. If we're saying right now we don't really have

[16:49] enough capacity to increase offerings in the peak season, you know, I think that there is

[16:55] a nexus between that and when we talk about short-term rentals, well, more short-term

[16:58] rentals are available during the peak season. So we're creating capacity that we can't

[17:02] serve. So that's something that we should, you know, I think it's very hard to make

[17:07] some of those deliberations, but we should be thoughtful about it. But I think it's

[17:12] really important that we're creating a strategy that we can then reform our policy discussions

[17:17] about that. Great event though, I think, you know, Marcia and Debbie did really good work

[17:22] putting this plan together, putting the public participation part together because they did

[17:28] get really good turnout. I attended the City of Swim, City Council meeting, talking about

[17:34] a re-compete letter of support, and while I was there, they were having a good discussion

[17:39] about the 1590 funds and the potential of an inaugural agreement. So I did briefly

[17:45] please speak to the council about, you know,

[17:48] what our process has been looking like,

[17:50] how they have been involved,

[17:51] but I believe that they have to motion at that meeting

[17:54] to have their staff connect with our staff

[17:56] about what an ILA might look like.

[17:58] And so we'll see how that goes.

[18:03] And, you know, what I would say about that

[18:05] at this point is what is more typical

[18:09] in how these kinds of funds are distributed

[18:12] is when cities combine funding sources

[18:15] and reduce process. It is not difficult to increase the amount of process that we do by

[18:20] separating them. So I hope that we'll have a good conversation with our staff about that.

[18:25] And then of course, the big amount of meetings I went through this week was a Recompete Plan.

[18:30] And I think we were pretty close to actually having a fully developed Recompete Plan. We,

[18:37] of course, have one more day to do so. But we've been putting in a lot of work.

[18:40] And I think we have a pretty strong application that has good data to back it, good narratives

[18:46] behind it that contains a mix of infrastructure projects and job creation projects, job training,

[18:55] workforce development projects, mostly center ground and into college, and social support

[19:02] services that will help connect people to those jobs and make sure they're successful

[19:05] along that pathway, including supports that they might need to move barriers to entrants

[19:11] into those for force development opportunities and job opportunities.

[19:15] Do you want me to go over any of the specific projects?

[19:19] Why don't we cover those next week after the application has been put together?

[19:24] Maybe we can.

[19:25] Great.

[19:25] I'm not sure we'll have to take a look at it, whether it would be appropriate.

[19:29] Yeah.

[19:30] Where we have had a lot of discussions have been around specifically how the county

[19:34] is going to help administer and manage the grant opportunities,

[19:39] specifically if that's strategic development grant.

[19:42] And that's been a difficult conversation.

[19:44] I think that's going to help finance and from our administrator.

[19:49] But one of the things that's been challenging

[19:52] is with the big grant, the Recompete Plan,

[19:55] a lot of the positions don't have to be made today.

[19:57] We're putting together a framework.

[19:59] I think we're putting together a very good framework,

[20:01] but we're going to have another process to deepen that with the student development grant.

[20:06] We're having a very precise right now on a very short time.

[20:09] I'm not going to challenge.

[20:10] But I think every effort that's been put into this, especially Angie.

[20:17] Excellent.

[20:18] Thank you very much.

[20:19] Thank you again for your participation and leadership.

[20:23] It has been a very challenging summer getting all of this put together.

[20:28] I also appreciate all of the support that Angie and others on our team have provided.

[20:35] I think the lift has been a little bit heavier than we anticipated in some ways at the beginning

[20:41] of the summer.

[20:42] I'm wondering if you have any thoughts, you know, once we get past applications in

[20:47] middle, you know, there's all this effort that's gone in, you know, to sort of take

[20:51] a breath once we get the application, you know, once we hit send.

[20:55] And then there's just going to be sort of a period of waiting.

[21:00] Has the steering committee had any conversation

[21:03] about any potential follow-up steps once the groups

[21:08] had the chance to breathe for a week or two?

[21:12] What would be an appropriate way to continue

[21:15] to maintain some lines of communication and momentum

[21:19] while we're waiting?

[21:20] The good thought, and we haven't really talked about that

[21:23] because we've been so focused,

[21:24] but I do think it's important to keep this group at least talking to each other.

[21:28] I would say that there's two things that come to mind first.

[21:30] One is direct staff-to-staff connections that we've made between large institutions,

[21:34] right, where we have staff members from the Port of Port Angeles talking to Peninsula College,

[21:38] talking to Qualum County staff members, and they're making professional development

[21:43] connections that can be, that might be really useful, especially in this world where

[21:48] we've seen such an immense amount of different grant opportunities coming down

[21:52] from the federal government, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation

[21:56] Reduction Act, and it's not always easy to figure out who swats in well for them.

[22:02] So that connection has been really important, and I hope that that continues.

[22:05] And then at the task force level, one thing that we've noted is how many of these different

[22:11] ideas already have motions, you know, they already have action going in and have other

[22:20] potential funding sources and so that's something where we want to make sure we

[22:23] keep the momentum going that we don't just you know slump our head we don't

[22:28] get this money and say well we tried but we keep momentum going and say where

[22:31] else can we find resources to make these things happen because I think the

[22:35] projects we've identified are all very good projects that would have

[22:39] meaningful results you know in our region. Excellent thank you. I'll bring

[22:45] that up to the task force so that's a good yeah no that I would

[22:48] appreciate that that would be great. Would it be appropriate

[22:54] update for Monday so

[22:56] that you can share the application and talk a little bit about the projects I'm

[23:03] not sure you know depending on how much time and how deep you would you would

[23:07] think would be appropriate we could either do that as part of our reports

[23:10] and presentations on Tuesday or we could just you know notch up work

[23:16] I think either way would work okay well also down with money afterwards we can

[23:23] talk about what we think is best and one way or the other we'll get a little bit

[23:27] more of an update next week. Thank you. And briefly also on the concept of an

[23:34] interlocal agreement with the city of swim with regard to $1590 just a little

[23:39] bit of history behind that concept. When the county decided to go ahead and move forward

[23:47] with the public hearing process for adopting that revenue stream, we reached out to the

[23:54] City of Squim. The City of Port Angeles had of course already proactively adopted that

[23:59] on their own. We did reach out to both the cities of Squim and Forks to let them

[24:03] know what the county's intent was so that each of those cities would have time to take

[24:09] action ahead of the county should they be interested.

[24:13] Squim indicated at the time that they were not going to go ahead and move forward, but

[24:17] we did talk about in general the concept of ensuring that some portion of that 1590

[24:24] revenue is deployed in and around Squim.

[24:27] So I think as we look to developing some language for that interlocal I just

[24:35] would ask that we keep that basic concept in mind as that was the genesis of

[24:40] the of the concept for an interlocal is you know how do we ensure that some

[24:45] portion of those dollars are spent in and around the squim area. Of course the

[24:49] Housing Solutions Committee has been developed and formed since then that

[24:56] group has developed a significant amount of process and put a significant amount of thought

[25:03] into that process. And I don't think it would be appropriate for the interlocal to build

[25:10] a new process or to do anything that's going to usurp the work that the Housing Solutions

[25:14] Committee is doing. But that's the basic context that led up to the concept.

[25:21] I want to echo your comments about the public meeting on the Dungeons and Slavies

[25:25] setback project last week. You know that is obviously a project around which

[25:29] there is a lot of concern and opinion in the community. There are a lot of

[25:35] factors that we are looking at and weighing internally and I really

[25:40] appreciate all of the work that staff did from multiple departments to make

[25:46] that meeting happen considering the contentiousness of the issue. It was

[25:52] a remarkably civil public meeting which I appreciate very much and say thank you to everyone who

[25:59] participated and helped to ensure that that was a productive and civil public meeting.

[26:06] I attended a staff meeting with the IT staff last week and as always I am amazed at the

[26:14] breadth and depth of work that that team does.

[26:17] I have noted in meetings with other departments a significant difference from several years

[26:25] back. You know, there aren't a lot of complaints that I'm hearing about the IT department. And

[26:31] as I told them, you know, staying out of the headlines and hearing nothing generally

[26:36] means you're doing a pretty good job. So I hoped that that was a compliment. It

[26:41] certainly was was intended that way and I you know that that that team the heavy

[26:49] lift never ends and you know once they once they get through with one

[26:53] project they're already you know working on the one that's to down the road so

[26:58] it's always an honor to get to meet with teams of professionals that's one

[27:03] of the actually one of the privileges of of this position I've lastly wanted

[27:09] to note that the housing panel I participated in last week was actually all of the audience

[27:16] were legislative aides of state senators, which was a wonderful audience. I have never

[27:25] seen that group put together before and I let the facilitator know that if there are

[27:31] other opportunities for our county or for counties and cities generally to get in

[27:37] front of that group then I would love to take advantage of it so we will see

[27:43] and lastly I did have the honor to participate in a panel on Friday

[27:49] morning the state gathering of PUD commissioners was held in our county

[27:56] late last week it looked like they had a really great agenda over several days

[28:00] is the panel that I participated in

[28:03] had to do with sort of the nexus

[28:06] between tribal water rights and municipal water rights.

[28:10] I was certainly the least directly knowledgeable

[28:16] panelist on that topic,

[28:18] but was able to spend a little bit of time

[28:20] talking about the role that the county plays

[28:23] as sort of connective tissue in some ways

[28:25] between various entities

[28:28] and how what structures it takes and what we're doing in this county to allow

[28:35] us to work together through difficult conversations like that. So that also is

[28:40] a valuable audience to be in front of and I appreciated the invitation. That is

[28:44] all I've got for this morning. So Mr. Melkey, let's go ahead and move back

[28:49] into the agenda beginning with item 2A, please.

[28:53] is an agreement with the Port Angeles School District for Mental Health School Support Services.

[29:00] This is the third year of the contract. There really are no changes to it. The services

[29:06] are costed out at $97.43 an hour, not to exceed $72,000 for the year.

[29:13] I move to approve the agreement with the Port Angeles Public School District for Mental

[29:17] Health School Support Services.

[29:18] I will second your motion. It has been moved and seconded to approve an

[29:22] agreement with the Port Angeles Public School District. Commissioner Frantz, any

[29:25] final comments, questions? In that case, all in favor of approval please say aye.

[29:30] Aye. There are none opposed. That motion passes. We can move on to item 2B please.

[29:35] Item 2B is the contract amendment D with the Salish Behavioral Health

[29:39] Administrative Services Organization for substance use disorder outpatient

[29:44] services. This is an agreement that we have every year. It is a redistribution to existing

[29:50] providers. There is a slight increase in this contract.

[29:55] I move to approve the contract amendment D with the S-B-H-A-S-O or S-B-H-A-S-O.

[30:00] Substance use disorder outpatient services. I will second your motion. It has been moved and

[30:05] seconded to approve contract amendment D with the Salish behavioral health administrative services

[30:10] organization. Any additional comment or question? In that case, all in favor of approval, please say

[30:16] aye. Aye. There are none opposed. That motion passes and contract amendment D with the Salish

[30:22] BHASO has been approved, which moves us along to agenda item 2C. Please, Mr. Malki.

[30:28] I am to see is an agreement with the Department of Commerce for behavioral health services within the secure crisis residential center

[30:36] The amount of this agreement is three hundred and fourteen thousand dollars

[30:40] Excuse me three hundred and fourteen

[30:42] nine hundred and forty six dollars

[30:45] It is a grant renewal and it aligns with the state fiscal year. I

[30:50] Move to approve the agreement with the Department of Commerce for behavioral health services within the SCRC

[30:56] All right, I will second your motion. It has been moved and seconded to approve an

[31:00] agreement with the Department of Commerce. Any additional comment or question? In that

[31:05] case, all in favor of approval please say aye. Aye. There are none opposed. That motion

[31:10] passes and an agreement with the Department of Commerce for behavioral health services

[31:14] and the Secure Crisis Residential Center has been approved. That moves us on to

[31:19] item 2-D for this morning please, Todd. So, commissioners, the next three items

[31:24] as deal with the transition program services.

[31:27] This is a program that is based,

[31:30] or as the purpose is for individuals

[31:32] with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

[31:35] The cost of these contracts are based

[31:38] on the number of students anticipated

[31:41] for the 2023-2024 school year.

[31:43] So there are different dollar amounts.

[31:46] So item 2D is the agreement with the Squim School District

[31:50] for the transition program services.

[31:52] this agreement is for the amount of $43,200.

[31:57] I move to approve the agreement with the Squim School District for Transition Program Services.

[32:02] I'll second your motion. It's been moved and seconded to approve an agreement with the Squim School District for Transition Program Services.

[32:08] Any final comment? All right. All in favor of approval please say hi.

[32:13] Hi.

[32:14] There are none opposed. That motion passes and the first of three agreements this time with the Squim School District for Transition Program Services has been

[32:22] approved moving us along to item 2e please Mr. Malki. 2e is an agreement for

[32:27] the same program with the Quillute Valley School District. The amount of

[32:31] this agreement is valued at fifty thousand four hundred dollars. I move to

[32:35] the agreement with the Quillute Valley School District for transition program

[32:38] services. I'll second your motion. It has been moved and seconded to approve

[32:42] an agreement with the Quillute Valley School District for transition

[32:45] program services. Any final comment or question? Alright seeing none all in

[32:50] my favor of approval please say aye.

[32:52] Aye.

[32:52] There are none opposed that motion passes

[32:54] and an agreement with the Quilley Valley School District

[32:57] for Transition Program Services has been approved.

[32:59] Moving us along to item 2F please.

[33:02] 2F is the third of these three agreements

[33:04] for Transition Program Services.

[33:06] This one is with the Port Angeles School District.

[33:09] The value of this agreement is $55,200.

[33:12] I move to approve the agreement

[33:14] with the Port Angeles School District

[33:15] for Transition Program Services.

[33:17] I will second your motion.

[33:18] it has been moved and seconded to approve an agreement with the Port Angeles School District

[33:22] for Transition Program Services. Any additional comment or question? All right. All in favor

[33:27] of approval please say aye. Aye. There are none opposed. That motion passes and an agreement

[33:32] with the PA School District for Transition Program Services has been approved. Moving

[33:37] us along to agenda item 2G, please. Mr. Melke. Yes. Item 2G is an agreement with

[33:42] the Washington State Military Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for

[33:46] operation stone garden. This is an agreement that comes about every year and it actually

[33:53] acts in a way or so. It's always based on the year of application and then it takes

[33:57] a couple years to process the payment. This is the second agreement. This agreement

[34:03] replaces the previous one at the suggestion of the military department and it is for

[34:10] the same fiscal year and it includes the remainder of the amount for border patrol and security purposes.

[34:17] I move to approve the agreement with the Washington State Military Department and the U.S.

[34:22] Department of Homeland Security for Operation Stone Garden. I will second your motion. It has now

[34:27] been moved and seconded to approve an agreement with the Washington State Military Department

[34:32] and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Operation Stone Garden. Any additional

[34:36] comment or question. All right. In that case, all in favor of approval, please say aye.

[34:42] Aye. There are none opposed. That motion passes. We have removed item 3A from the agenda. So that

[34:49] brings us to item 3B. Please, Administrator Melke. Sure. And just a reminder for item 3A,

[34:54] we are removing this project in the 2024 construction season. So we do anticipate going

[35:00] going back out for bid on this project in spring

[35:04] in anticipation of a summer construction schedule.

[35:07] So just want to make sure that public is aware of that.

[35:09] Item 3B is a proposal opening.

[35:13] This is for behavioral health programs

[35:15] and related services, a proposal for 2024.

[35:21] Excellent.

[35:21] Well, we will take a couple of moments

[35:23] and open these individually and

[37:33] kick us off here.

[37:34] I am looking at a propelled

[37:39] education and early intervention for mental wellness.

[37:44] The requested funds amount for 2024 would be $168,200 for 2025 would be $187,400.

[37:56] $200.

[37:57] Proma

[38:04] -informed support groups from Nature's Academy, Davis, this is Unbounded Horizons,

[38:10] and that's in the amount of $25,310 from the 2024 year, and $45,475 from the 2025 year

[38:19] for a total of $70,785.

[38:23] All right.

[38:24] Next up is a proposal from Olympic Personal Growth Center titled Filling the Gap in

[38:32] in the amount of $39,240 in both 2024 and 2025.

[38:40] I have a proposal from the School of High School titled Education and Early Intervention for

[38:45] Mental Wellness and in 2024 requesting $191,800 and 2025 requesting $212,250.

[38:55] I am reviewing a proposal from first step family support center titled parents as teachers behavioral health and early intervention program.

[39:08] They are requesting $100,000 in 2024 and $100,000 in 2025 to support this program.

[39:17] I have a proposal from West End Outreach Services titled West End Outreach Behavioral Health Services.

[39:23] The request is an equal amount of $24,000 and $25,645 each year.

[39:31] Next up is a proposal from Lutheran Community Services Northwest titled Clalem Community

[39:37] Resource Center requested amount in 2024, $212,272 in 2025, $223,846.

[39:52] I have a proposal from the Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic. Title of rediscovery, unfunded-undefunded, requesting in 2024, $277,200 and in 2025, $296,780. I'll disclose that I am a member of this Board of Directors.

[40:09] I'm looking at a proposal from Reflections Counseling Services Group titled Crisis Intervention

[40:17] and they are requesting $189,800 in 2024 as well as $189,800 in 2025.

[40:29] I have a proposal from a real health for the past project which is project for

[40:37] transition homelessness requesting $23,301 in 2024 and $24,470 in 2025.

[40:45] All

[40:57] right next up is a proposal from the Port Angeles Fire Department for the

[41:04] community paramedic program. They are requesting $206,259.33 in 2024, and $145,611.91 in 2025.

[41:22] I have another proposal for mental health. This time for mental health per se.

[41:26] funding in both 24 and 25 of $12,000 per year.

[41:37] This is a proposal from Prevention Works of Clalem County titled Prevention and Early

[41:44] Intervention Education and Awareness Campaign. They are looking for this proposal for $12,595

[41:53] in 2024 and $12,650 in 2025.

[42:17] And my last proposal here is from the boys and girls club. It does not contain the same cover sheet.

[42:27] So let me just dig through this for a moment and I'll see if I can get through it.

[42:31] can find their proposal.

[42:33] While you're digging, I have a proposal

[42:35] from transformations by Olympic Angels

[42:37] called Love, Box, and Dare to Dream Case Management for $31,468.24

[42:43] and $47,402.25.

[42:49] OK, I found it.

[42:52] This proposal is from the Boys and Girls Club

[42:54] of the Olympic Peninsula.

[42:56] It is for their Comprehensive Behavioral Health

[42:58] and Wellness Plan.

[42:59] They are requesting $21,681.20 in 2024 and $12,247.20 in 2025.

[43:13] I look

[43:15] forward to these proposals to Clalent County Health and Human Services for recommendations.

[43:20] It has been moved and I will second the motion to remand these to Health and Human Services for their additional review and recommendations.

[43:29] questions.

[43:39] Commissioner French any additional comment or question. All right. In that case

[43:45] I want to thank the behavioral health advisory board as always for their good work. That

[43:51] group has just in my observation anyway continued to gain traction over the last couple of years.

[43:58] There's been a lot of evolution in how this RFP process works and I am really looking

[44:05] forward to the recommendations forwarded by the behavioral health committee after

[44:10] they've had the chance to review all of these proposals. Obviously it will not be

[44:15] an easy job trying to figure out how to how to sort through and prioritize

[44:20] these. So Christine, thank you and thanks to your team for their leadership

[44:24] thanks to the behavioral health advisory board for doing some very

[44:29] difficult bit of work on behalf of the public. So it has been moved and

[44:35] seconded to remand these proposals to Health and Human Services. All in favor

[44:39] please say aye. Aye. There are none opposed. That motion passes. Thank you

[44:44] again Christine. And with that Administrator Melke, let's go ahead and

[44:49] move on to the administration section of the agenda with item 4a please.

[45:00] There are two. One is in the amount of $100. That is the prosecuting attorney's petty cash

[45:05] fund. The other one is in the amount of $50. It is the prosecuting attorney's child support fund.

[45:11] These accounts have not been used. They're no longer necessary, and this would eliminate

[45:16] the need for long-term accounting. I move to approve the resolution, closing

[45:22] the prosecuting attorney's office petty cash funds. I will second your motion. It's been

[45:28] moved and seconded to approve a resolution closing the prosecuting

[45:32] attorney's office petty cash funds. Any additional comment in that case all in

[45:36] favor of approval please say aye. Aye, there are none opposed. That motion passes

[45:42] and with that we can move on to item 4b please Mr. Melkey.

[45:47] I'm going to go ahead and call Christina St. John forward to answer any

[45:51] questions that you may have but this is with regard to the weed

[45:56] assessment rate and she can give you a little bit of maybe history about this

[46:04] is one that has not been adjusted in quite some time.

[46:11] Yeah Christina thank you very much for being here if you could highlight for

[46:15] us just a little bit of the remind us of the composition of the Noxious Weed

[46:22] Board maybe share a little bit of their deliberation with us and then remind

[46:28] us what the additional revenue would help to accomplish. Of course. So the

[46:34] Noctua-Suite Control Board is made up of five volunteers representing five

[46:38] districts within the county and they are the board that oversees the Palm County

[46:44] Noctua-Suite Control Program. Part of that program is the inspection and

[46:49] general education program where we work with private landowners who have

[46:55] regulated noxious weeds on their property and make sure that they know what

[46:59] they are, how they can safely and effectively control them, and make sure

[47:03] that they are complying with state and county noxious weed control laws. Our

[47:08] general program also works with the community in general informing them

[47:11] about what noxious weeds are, why they're important to control, and what

[47:16] are effective ways to do that. This program is funded through the general

[47:20] of the suite assessment. This was enacted in 2000 and the rates were $1.50 per parcel and

[47:27] 13 cents an acre and it has not been increased since then. Obviously our program has grown

[47:32] since the 2000s and we're asking for an increase or the Noxious Control Board is recommending

[47:38] that we have an increase to $3.60 a parcel and 31 cents an acre. And this will help

[47:46] to fund a full-time inspection program. So previously our inspection program has

[47:51] not been able to be fully funded. We work with the public when we can, but we've

[47:55] also had to take on grants and contract work in order to pay for staff. And so

[48:00] this program would fund a full-time inspection program where we can really

[48:04] work with the public, let them know again what Noxious Weeds are, how they

[48:07] can control them, and what the laws are, and to educate the public about

[48:11] what Noxious Weeds, why they're important to control. And so the

[48:15] Noxious Weed Control Board has been thinking about this weed assessment increase recommendation

[48:21] for a number of years and we feel like it's time for our county to have a full-time inspection

[48:27] program to work with the public. Thank you so very much. Any additional questions this morning

[48:32] for Christina?

[48:36] I moved to call for a hearing to be held on Tuesday, October 17, 2023,

[48:40] regarding an ordinance amending Chapter 5.28 of the Clown County Code

[48:43] assessment levied for not just weed control. I will second motion. It has been

[48:48] moved and seconded to approve a call for hearing that's scheduled for Tuesday

[48:53] the 17th of October regarding an ordinance submitting chapter 5.28 of the

[48:58] Clowlam County Code, namely assessment levied for not just weed control. Any

[49:03] additional comment or question? All right in that case all in favor of

[49:07] approval please say aye. Aye. There are none opposed that motion passes and we

[49:12] We will look forward to that public hearing scheduled for 10.30 in the morning on October 17.

[49:19] With that, Mr. Malke, let's go ahead and move on.

[49:22] Thank you, Christina.

[49:23] Let's go ahead and move on to item 4C, please.

[49:26] 4C Commissioners is a resolution appointing Katina Hester to the Planning Commission.

[49:32] I move to approve the resolution appointing Katina Hester to the Planning Commission.

[49:36] I will second your motion.

[49:37] it's been moved and seconded to approve a resolution appointing Katina Hester to

[49:42] the Planning Commission. Any additional comment or question? We're always grateful when the

[49:46] public joins us in these volunteer commissions. Yes we are. All in favor of

[49:52] approval please say aye. Aye. There are none opposed that motion passes and a

[49:56] resolution appointing a member to the Planning Commission has been approved.

[50:00] That is the final formal agenda item which brings us back around to our

[50:05] general opportunity for public comment. I suspect we've got comment from both

[50:09] folks in the boardroom and online. So I'm going to go ahead and take turns. I'll

[50:14] start with people here in the boardroom. Is there anyone joining us in the

[50:17] boardroom who would like to make general comment? Yes, please join us at the

[50:20] podium. Let us know who you are and where you're from for the record and

[50:25] then you've got three minutes.

[50:29] Sure. I'm Kate Halk and I'm from 4501

[50:33] from Dunge Nest Way in Dunge Nest and I just wanted to come in and talk to you

[50:38] about what happened at my house this summer during the drought. I live on

[50:43] Mediver Creek adjacent to the the project the Levy project and I started

[50:51] my lawn mowing guy told me in June that he couldn't get the lawn mower along my

[50:59] Yard the way he always did every summer and then in August where I thought things would dry out instead it got wetter and

[51:10] I was concerned, but also I was kind of ignoring it doing other things and then I

[51:16] It wasn't a plan

[51:18] But I happened to see a guy with a clipboard in the culvert

[51:22] Where the meta work creek goes under swim nunch nunch way?

[51:26] I was going by on my bike and I said, hey, I seem to have a problem in my yard.

[51:31] Can you come and take a look?

[51:33] And so he said he was a county employee from the streamkeepers and he came over and looked

[51:41] at what was going on and we threw out a tape measure and took a picture and the water

[51:49] was coming in and it was about 20 feet from my deck.

[51:53] And so he also said that when he was on the levy, because there are often a lot of county

[52:02] people there, he would come over and check this out again for me, with me, whatever.

[52:08] And so I just knew that he was a county employee and that he had taken up a piece of data

[52:17] about the situation.

[52:18] And then, surprisingly, as drought wore on, the water kept coming more and more into my

[52:26] yard until it was concerned that it got to pretty much a panic state in my mind because

[52:33] it was coming from two different directions, not just the first direction.

[52:38] And so the numbers changed from 20 feet to 10 feet to 4 feet.

[52:43] and two trees fell over because they got so inundated with water that the roots

[52:49] just didn't hold. So then I called the county and took a couple days got the

[52:57] call back from Bruce Emery and he said he'd follow up with an engineer on

[53:05] Monday that didn't happen and then it was the next Monday and he did get in

[53:12] touch with me at the end of the week or I called him and he said he'd send a

[53:17] biologist out. So she came out yesterday and we checked it all out and so what it

[53:25] was was in a close area of the squimmed under Nesway, Meadowbrook Creek had four

[53:30] different beaver dams and one of them was actually in that culvert that

[53:38] went underswimmed under Ness Way. So I'm here to request that you would monitor this situation

[53:49] because, you know, it's a tidal creek and so I have water pushing two different ways.

[53:54] We have the project and we have the coming spring where we're really going to see snow

[54:00] melt, heavy rains, possibly high tide all at once. So I'm hoping that we can set something

[54:08] up where you will clear this debris because it's affecting and I understand that you have

[54:15] to maybe contact the state. So it would be great if you could monitor it because if the

[54:23] state has to get involved and it might take longer and longer. In the meantime, you know,

[54:29] it's getting crazy in my yard. I am a 100-year-old house there, close and a low elevation.

[54:35] other people that moved in since I've been there for 40 years have brought in

[54:41] fill. So anyways I just wanted to get on the record that on channel like make an

[54:46] avenue for watching it and thank you for coming and having a meeting in swim

[54:51] last week I thought it was well attended and well run appreciate it. Thank

[54:57] you so much for making time to comment this morning I saw our county

[55:01] administrator taking a lot of notes we will definitely follow up with

[55:05] project leads to make sure we understand what kind of a monitoring red no

[55:10] regiment we can put in place. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. Alright

[55:16] I'm gonna turn next to our virtual audience. Mr. Grad, I saw your hand go up

[55:21] first so please unmute yourself and introduce yourself for the record and

[55:26] the next three minutes is yours, sir.

[55:28] Good morning, we're on a ride from Swim

[55:31] and thank you to the ministry

[55:32] for giving me the opportunity to address me.

[55:35] I just came off as a tenetist

[55:37] at the Board of Natural Resources Meeting

[55:40] where I appealed to them to accept

[55:42] Fort Angeles' application for a transfer of trust loans,

[55:47] specifically those that boarded the Elwha River

[55:52] and in particular, the power plant

[55:55] that we've often discussed and one of the things that I noted was that the DNR assertion

[56:02] regarding the geologic and hydrologic studies which you all saw presentation regarding back

[56:11] in May, my contention is that there needs to be further study because I have not seen

[56:22] a report of record regarding those studies.

[56:26] And I ask you, the board, if you have access

[56:31] or receive any document relating to those studies.

[56:36] And the reason I think it's important is

[56:38] is that there are independent studies,

[56:42] perhaps they're not deemed worthy

[56:46] because they don't appear to be associated

[56:51] I will say however that a study that was submitted to you by Glenn Wade, he noted that he is

[57:03] a certified state licensed professional engineer and you know in most places if you achieve

[57:12] that that's considered being a qualified expert.

[57:15] the other criteria that's involved regarding three years of study on steep slopes.

[57:22] Well, I want to see the, you know, I want to see qualifications of DNR's hydrologist

[57:27] and see if, in fact, he's a qualified expert because I just don't, I don't know.

[57:32] So the problem is, is if we can't trust the studies and that there is contradiction

[57:38] from an independent report, there's some pretty close examination.

[57:42] And I know that it's easy to say that, well, DNR is the authority, and they've been doing

[57:49] this forever, and they know what they're doing.

[57:53] Let me note that the Federal Aviation Authority granted the inspection certifications be done

[58:06] by the aviation companies themselves.

[58:08] And we've seen problems with that over the years and, you know, that's like letting the

[58:13] fox in the henhouse.

[58:14] We need independent oversight in regards to this particular cut.

[58:20] I mean, I could say a hell of a lot about other cuts, but this one in particular is

[58:26] egregious because of the impacts it can have upon the city of Port Angeles.

[58:30] Now I would note that, you know, if you go to buy a car, you want to keep the tires,

[58:35] But you have access to something called a car fax.

[58:39] That's a report of record about the status of that particular vehicle.

[58:44] And if you can't get at least a document, a record of what they have done here,

[58:50] telling us that, in fact, our levels of concern aren't necessarily worth a second look.

[59:00] I really think we have a problem, and it's a matter of transparency and trust.

[59:09] So again, I ask you to consider everything related to our request to honor the City of

[59:16] Fort Angeles as requested to delay or cancel the power plant timber cut, because I don't

[59:24] think the information you've gotten is as reliable as you believe it is.

[59:28] Thank you.

[59:28] boardroom. Mister grad. Thank

[59:30] you. So anyone else in the

[59:33] boardroom who would like to

[59:34] make general comment this

[59:35] morning. If so, we would

[59:36] welcome that at this time.

[59:39] All right. Then turning back

[59:40] to our virtual audience. Mister

[59:42] Wheeler. You are next, sir.

[59:43] Please go ahead and unmute

[59:45] yourself. Introduce yourself

[59:46] for the record and the next

[59:48] 3 minutes is yours. Nice to

[59:49] see you this morning, sir.

[59:50] Hello, I'm Tim Wheeler, I, too, am from Swim, and I was one of four people in...

[1:00:00] Including Brian, we were just on the Zoom with the DNR, so we made a pitch to them. And we weren't

[1:00:10] alone. I mean, there were a lot of other people who were speaking out against the timber sales

[1:00:15] here and there, but especially on the Olympic Peninsula.

[1:00:21] I wanted to comment, Commissioner Osias, that I ran into you and your lovely wife at the

[1:00:35] North Olympic Land Trust Harvest Dinner on Saturday, and that was a real pleasure.

[1:00:47] we are very lucky to live in this county. This is such a beautiful place to live.

[1:00:54] And the view of the mountains, the view of the water, out over the straight of Wanda

[1:00:59] Puget, just outstanding. But with that comes a responsibility to look after this

[1:01:08] beauty and make sure that it is not harmed. And that's a reason that I feel so strongly

[1:01:18] about this cut, this timber sale and this cut that's planned in the Elwha River Watershed.

[1:01:29] And I don't need to repeat what I've said before about the salmon, the spawning

[1:01:36] beds, the, you know, the drinking water for the people of Port Anselis, and I wholeheartedly

[1:01:44] agree with what Brian said about this appeal by this application by the City of Port Anselis

[1:01:53] for a transfer of land. I don't think there should be any logging in the Elwha River

[1:02:01] water shed. It is magnificently beautiful and vital to the survival of salmon and providing

[1:02:11] drinking water. It is so beautiful there. And again, thank you for all you do and we're

[1:02:23] going to keep on pushing on this question. And it's not the end. I mean, there's going

[1:02:27] to be more. This is just the beginning. I'm up and armed about that ode to Joyce. My beloved

[1:02:36] wife was named Joyce and they want to cut down the timber in the ode to Joyce. Oh my God,

[1:02:43] that hurts. Anyway, thank you for all you do and let's stop logging the Elwha Watershed.

[1:02:52] Thank you.

[1:02:54] Thank you very much for your time this morning, sir.

[1:02:57] Ms. Menchew, please go ahead and unmute yourself,

[1:03:00] reintroduce yourself for the record,

[1:03:02] and the next three or so minutes is yours.

[1:03:08] Good morning.

[1:03:09] My name is Ellen Menchew, and I live in Clowland County,

[1:03:13] and I thank you for the opportunity to speak again this morning.

[1:03:18] First, I want to thank Commissioner French

[1:03:20] for meeting with us last week.

[1:03:22] We had, I think, a very productive meeting and we share very, very similar concerns about

[1:03:33] our community and money that is afforded to the junior taxing districts as a result of

[1:03:42] these timber sales.

[1:03:44] And particularly in regard to that, with money being the driving force, I want to

[1:03:51] just reiterate, we know that the school districts are the most important

[1:03:58] recipients of the monies from these sales here in our community and in light of

[1:04:05] that I want to just address the fact that I think that the remuneration

[1:04:09] process that exists from these timber sales is pitting junior taxing districts

[1:04:15] against one another. And it is just not an equitable path forward. And particularly here

[1:04:22] in Clowlam County, we all share the same concerns about the money that our schools need. And

[1:04:29] I don't have to tell anybody on this Zoom or in the meeting room there that we know

[1:04:36] that this results in our, I'm not going to be ashamed to say my fellow, the political

[1:04:46] party on the opposing side, the GOP folks here in our communities who vote

[1:04:53] consistently against bonds for replacement of public education facilities

[1:05:00] in our communities. And we need to address other ways to fund our schools.

[1:05:08] I'm looking forward to the fact I'm grateful that you're having a workshop

[1:05:13] shop next week and I'm looking forward to that. But I think we all share the same concerns

[1:05:19] and I would really like to ask you to support the City of Port Angeles' application process

[1:05:28] to have this land transferred. If there is any possibility at all that there is the

[1:05:37] possibility of harm to the water system in the city, that has to be the most

[1:05:45] important factor. And I did some research because I remember when the dams

[1:05:50] were removed, there was problems with the water treatment plant that was old,

[1:05:57] what was it called? It was the Ranny Tower or the Ranny Water System. And

[1:06:06] And this resulted in an $80 million fund to rebuild a water treatment plant.

[1:06:14] So I just urge you to please consider all the factors here and support the City of

[1:06:20] Port Angeles in their efforts.

[1:06:23] I would expect that you would want them to support you if the shoe was on the other

[1:06:28] foot because they would be the ones holding the bag if anything does happen and the

[1:06:34] the water system fails. They're responsible to answer to the residents here in the city.

[1:06:41] So thank you again for the opportunity to speak and I echo my friends that you'll be seeing us

[1:06:49] continually until we come to some resolve over this entire situation. But we appreciate all

[1:06:57] that you do for us. Thanks so much. Thank you very much. I don't see any other hands online.

[1:07:03] Mr. Rihando please feel free to join us at the podium sir.

[1:07:16] Good morning

[1:07:17] commissioners Kenneth Rihando, Port Angeles. So as a lifetime resident I was

[1:07:23] pleased to hear the new administrators comments about strategy long-term

[1:07:29] strategy yesterday in your very long work session. They included very many

[1:07:36] important topics going forward. I think what some of my fellow Democrats online here have

[1:07:46] spoken about are a strategic vision for long term going forward. What would we do? I did

[1:07:53] attend with Commissioner of French, the meeting in Port Angeles about tourism, and I did go

[1:08:00] to forks to listen to the differences. It was stark. What I heard in forks was much

[1:08:09] concern about general living, not so much tourism. They were worried about some of

[1:08:16] the people of resiliency in the face of more visitation.

[1:08:22] So I looked at some of

[1:08:25] the offerings yesterday and going forward.

[1:08:30] Again, I'm concerned about purchase of vehicles

[1:08:34] that create more emissions, in particular landscaping,

[1:08:39] groundskeeping type, high dollar equipment

[1:08:44] that might be using a different power source.

[1:08:48] I don't have all the details about the needs,

[1:08:52] but these are some of the things that I'm interested in going forward for as

[1:09:00] you know our representative from the Indigenous community earlier talked about

[1:09:04] sustainability over the long term. Thank you. Thank you very much. Turning back

[1:09:12] to our virtual audience Nina you are next please go ahead and unmute

[1:09:17] yourself introduce yourself for the record and the next few minutes is

[1:09:20] Nina

[1:09:30] Cermanto in Fort Angeles and thanks for the opportunity to comment this

[1:09:36] morning. I'm here to comment about the logging of mature forests in Clown

[1:09:43] County specifically power plant and the other planned timber sales in the next

[1:09:49] few years.

[1:09:51] I'm here to ask you to support the city's request to cancel the

[1:09:57] power plant timber sale and all other planned logging

[1:10:00] in the El La River watershed.

[1:10:04] This proposal by the city is the only thing I've seen

[1:10:11] that really is aligned with the climate crisis

[1:10:15] that we're facing and that is doing the right thing

[1:10:21] for future generations, we're all going to die.

[1:10:25] You're gonna die much sooner than me. I'm gonna die much sooner than people younger

[1:10:31] than me. And so that's a truth that we need to talk about more because what

[1:10:38] we're doing right now is going to be more important after we die than while

[1:10:45] we're alive. So I'm not here to destroy anyone's livelihood. I'm not out to get

[1:10:55] the forest products industry. I'm here to to help future generations coexist with

[1:11:03] this land and show you the truth and you're not gonna find it by listening

[1:11:11] to timber industry executives that call forest products climate-friendly. There's

[1:11:18] absolutely nothing friendly about forest products. The only things that they're

[1:11:25] friendly to are the people that they're making money for. This entire society is

[1:11:33] awash in speciesism and that's the misguided human-held belief that all

[1:11:41] other species are inferior to us. We are so interdependent on everything around us and

[1:11:49] it really shows with the El Wah watershed because those mature trees are helping us have

[1:11:59] a quality and quantity of drinking water. And so the proposal by the city, it isn't

[1:12:08] It's only a tiny fraction of the land is actually a mature forest.

[1:12:14] All of the land, we're really not going to see benefits from protection for many decades

[1:12:19] out, but by protecting the land now, it's really the right decision for the future

[1:12:28] based on the path that we're headed.

[1:12:30] So please stop the power plant timber sale and actually do something different, actually show us that you want change.

[1:12:41] You haven't asked the DNR to do anything differently regarding the power plant timber sale.

[1:12:48] They are treating this sale like they do every single other sale.

[1:12:53] Like it doesn't matter if you ask them hard questions, you're still not asking them to do anything differently.

[1:12:58] And again, this is the Owawa River.

[1:13:02] This is the most magnificent, beautiful rivers on the planet.

[1:13:07] And that's because so many people care about it,

[1:13:09] that so many people have a connection to it.

[1:13:12] That's what makes it the most important.

[1:13:15] I mean, I could go into the other ecological reasons.

[1:13:18] It has the most species of salmon

[1:13:19] than any other Olympic river.

[1:13:21] It's the largest watershed, you know,

[1:13:23] it's our drinking water.

[1:13:24] but a lot of the decisions that people make are kind of based on what's in their heart

[1:13:34] and so we're gonna find the truth within yourself by actually going out and experiencing these

[1:13:42] mature forests and experiencing the river, experiencing the consciousness of every single

[1:13:50] sip of water that you drink every time you turn your sink on every time you

[1:13:54] make some tea all that water coming from the El Wa watershed after having

[1:13:59] being filtered through this mature forest so please find the truth within

[1:14:03] yourself and please do something to protect Power Plant and supporting the

[1:14:12] city and protecting the river watershed. Thanks. Thank you very much sir.

[1:14:20] Anyone else who would like to make comment this morning if so please raise

[1:14:25] your hand come on camera or otherwise indicate your interest.

[1:14:33] Okay seeing none

[1:14:34] I want to thank everyone again very much for your participation and your

[1:14:39] interest and everything that this county government is doing. Looking ahead

[1:14:44] to the remainder of the week. Tomorrow at 8 a.m. is the weekly virtual Coffee

[1:14:49] with Colleen program. We will be at Blinksley's Bar and Grill in Forks

[1:14:55] tomorrow beginning at 11 30 for the first stop on our

[1:15:00] Budget outreach process and looking forward to meeting with folks from the

[1:15:04] Forks Chamber of Commerce and others who are interested. Again that is tomorrow we

[1:15:10] have that starting at 11 30. I think it's approximately until 1 o'clock.

[1:15:16] Thursday at 9 a.m. there will be a meeting of the county finance committee.

[1:15:22] That is an open public meeting so folks please feel free to join in if you're

[1:15:27] interested. And lastly, Friday morning at 9 a.m. is a meeting of the Housing Solutions

[1:15:33] Committee. We expect two or more commissioners are generally in attendance at that meeting.

[1:15:38] Friday at 4 p.m. we have KSQM. And I believe that Mark Lane will be joining me to provide

[1:15:46] a county budget update during that radio program. Commissioner French, anything else

[1:15:51] that you wanted to add? Administrator Mulkey, anything else?

[1:16:06] Thank you so much. Well, with no further business before us, we stand adjourned. Thank you.

Board of County Commissioners Meeting

Transcript