State of bridges among items discussed by county commissioners

In their regular meeting Tuesday, Wahkiakum county commissioners moved to cancel a previously scheduled June 17 forum to discuss what was to be the Columbia Pacific National Heritage Area after ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia (SBEC) announced Friday it would no longer seek Congressional designation for the project.

“They (SBEC) cited several reasons for withdrawing seeking a Congressional designation for a National Heritage Area,” said Commissioner Lisa Marsyla. “But they said the main problem was at the federal level.”

Public Works Director Pete Ringen gave commissioners an update on the state of the county’s bridges. “First off, we are somewhat blessed because we are a small county and can take advantage of the High Cost Bridge Inspection Program offered through the State Department of Transportation,” said Ringen.

He told commissioners the annual bridge report is a state requirement. Findings are reported to the commissioners' office prior to adoption of annual updates to the six-year transportation program that includes replacement, repairs and load restrictions for each bridge.

Ringen said that overall, Wahkiakum's 21 bridges are in good shape. The bridges are on a 24 month inspection cycle. “Of course the Covered Bridge falls below current standards,” said Ringen, “but that’s expected.” The only other bridge with a low rating that might need attention is the Wilson Creek Bridge on East Valley Road.

Ringen’s report recommended replacing a culvert near Milepost 6 with a small bridge that would be named Clear Creek Bridge. He said the existing culvert creates a partial fish barrier and will eventually rust out. A small bridge would rectify the problem. Also the US Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Department will not let the county replace culverts currently in place.

“I’m waiting to hear back from the Columbia Fish Recovery Board on our application to move forward with the technical application and designs that probably won’t happen until January,” said Ringen.

Ringen also reported the Building Department received a grant to replace the roof on the covered bridge. The funds also included replacing several timbers, “...and siding on the downstream side,” said Ringen, “which is in pretty poor shape.”

“It’ll still have the knotholes in it, won’t it?, asked Commissioner Marsyla. “We have to have the knotholes for the Grays River Covered Bridge dinner; that’s what makes it so beautiful.”

Lower Columbia Economic Development Executive Director David Goodroe presented the commissioners with a report stating that the town of Cathlamet applied for an infrastructure enhancement grant for $150,000 worth of new street lighting on Main Street. “The conduit for the lighting was put in 1999,” said Goodroe, “and one of the grant requirements is the project must be overseen by a certified engineer and Pete Ringen happens to be our guy in the county.”

Goodroe said the town of Cathlamet can’t do the project on its own because of the strict requirements. He added that the grant approval process is arduous. “I don’t have a high expectation we’ll get it, but our project is scalable so we could just do Main Street.”

Commissioner Chairman Brady told Goodroe to put together a cover sheet explaining his request. “Give Pete a copy and we’ll get it on the agenda and discuss it,” said Brady. All the commissioners said they were in favor of the project.

Next Commissioner Brady asked for public comment. Delvin Fredrickson from the Grays River Enhancement District asked for an update on the counties attempt to create an ordinance that would prevent the spreading of biosolids in Wahkiakum County. “The district attorney is drawing up an ordinance and I believe we have some folks coming out from Longview to give us a little more education on that,” said Commissioner Brady.

Goodroe then presented the LCEDC quarterly report. Goodroe said the most important aspect of his report was the continued development of a planned business park. “I got some news on Friday that the Port District No.1 Commissioners voted not to go ahead and try and get the grant money for the new business park,” said Goodroe.

Goodroe said the LCEDC was in the eleventh-and-a-half-hour and wouldn't be getting land from Hancock Timber. “What we need is to spot some land (for the development) and that’s the hold up to get the documentation to get the $1,200,000,” said Goodroe. He also said the project is critical to the future of the county and that the project has been supported by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. “The reasons the Administration cited for not moving forward were the economic climate and the fact that they were having difficulty buying the land,” said Goodroe.

Commissioners were about to move to end their session and move into a work session when Commissioner Dan Cothren said, “You didn’t mention the Big MAC (The Wahkiakum Mass Casualty Exercise).”

“I enjoyed the Big MAC,” said Commissioner Marsyla. “I thought it was very excellent and I was very intrigued by the amount of effort that goes into something like that."

Marsyla said she was there and got a tour of the crime scene. She was impressed by the realistic nature of the test. “The gentleman that got shot three times in the head looked so real,” said Marsyla.

Marsyla said she found the mass casualty exercise educational and believes going to the exercise and learning has made it easier for her to make funding decisions in the future.

Brady said he thought that the county would glean a lot of information from the exercise. “I’d also like to hear how our Public Information Officer (PIO) viewed the event,” said Brady, looking over at Clerk of the Board Marsha LaFarge.

“It was difficult,” said LaFarge. “I had no training." She went on to say that after the exercise she was able to go back and do a report on things she thought needed to be improved.

LaFarge told the commissioners she will be receiving training and she thinks there needs to be another designated PIO in the county. “I’m hoping that the sheriff is looking at that,” said LaFarge.

LaFarge said that it could be important for other branches of city and county government to think about developing a PIO designation within their organization. She also indicated that the Wahkiakum PUD was asked to participate but declined.

“Does the PUD not want to participate?” asked Marsyla.

“I don’t think they do,” said LaFarge.

“It would be nice if they were on board,” said Marsyla.

“It would be”, said LaFarge, “because (it could be) something like a flood or a road that washed out where the PUD would be involved.”

The commissioners said they wanted to express their thanks to all the volunteers who participated in the exercise.

Brady gave a commissioners report saying he thought the Mass Casualty Exercise was had been an excellent experience for the county. He said he also attended a watershed meeting in Grays River to review the rules and public comment. He said he is still arguing with the Department of Ecology to determine the amount of water to be set aside for future development. “We know Ecology’s data is flawed and we need to make time to address the problem and make sure we have valid data.” said Brady.

The commissioners then moved to close the meeting and move into a work session to deal with Seal Slough Road, with Columbia Land Trust and Ducks Unlimited.