Commissioners OK disposal of bridge boards

Wahkiakum County commissioners settled disposal of old boards from the Grays River Covered Bridge and acted on other items of business in a short meeting Monday.

The regular meeting was moved from Tuesday to Monday so that commissioners could attend a state conference.

Three groups requested some or all of the old siding boards being replaced on the Grays River Covered Bridge.

The Wahkiakum Historical Society had requested some of the old boards for a replication of a commercial fishing shed for the museum.

However, museum personnel found another source of old wood, said Commissioner Lisa Marsyla. They'll be able to obtain boards from the collapsed portion of the Warren Cannery in Cathlamet, she said.

That left the Grays River Grange and the Appelo Archive Center in Naselle seeking boards, and those groups combined their request.

The archive center would use the boards to decorate displays about the Covered Bridge, said center director Karen Bertroch.

Grange member Esther Gregg said the Grange would use boards for interior decorating. The Grange has long advocated for the bridge she said.

"On behalf of both organizations, I hope you come down for keeping the bridge boards on the west end of the county," Bertroch said.

Public Works Director Pete Ringen urged the commissioners to dispose of the boards before they are stolen.

He added that the uses proposed by the Grange and Archive Center are for profit and would have a public benefit, and he supported the proposal to send the boards to them.

The board approved a motion to allow the Grange to take the boards and send any surplus to the archive center.