Commissioners meet planning applicants

Wahkiakum County commissioners interviewed candidates for a vacancy on the county planning commission and acted on other business items Tuesday.

The planning commission has had two vacancies representing District 1, Puget Island and part of Cathlamet, for years. Recent advertisements, however, drew four candidates.

Three were Puget Island residents. Eugene Healy gave commissioners a resume describing his career in business. Loren Jennings, an engineer, and William (Bud) Condrey, a surveyor, described their work with planning and land use issues. The fourth, new Cathlamet resident Mary Brown, said she is interested in communicating with people and advocating for their needs.

Commissioners thanked the applicants and said they would make a decision at their meeting April 13.

In other business, the board approved a recommendation from Public Works Director Pete Ringen to apply for state road funding for projects on Elochoman Valley and Ingalls roads as part of state and federal economic stimulus programs.

Ringen said the projects were down the list on the county's road plan, but they could be put into motion fairly easily, if all funding were available.

Grays River resident Robert Torppa commented that a slow landslide is threatening his residence and Loop Road and asked if there were plans for something to stabilize the slide. The county did work along the road last year, he said, but the hill is pushing rock onto the road.

Ringen said no road department work is planned for the area. He lamented not having had a geotechnical survey done last year, when the county had federal disaster relief funds for the slide.