Board OK's net trap permit, acts on other business

Meeting a day early because of demands of other meetings, Wahkiakum County commissioners on Monday appoved a shoreline development permit for a fish trap and acted on other business.

Jon Blair Peterson has applied for the permit to build a temporary pound trap in the Columbia River just downstream of Nassa Point.

The project will be evaluated to determine if the gear could serve as a feasible method to collect and study adult salmon, which would be released.

Peterson said any fish caught in the trap would be released after the Washington Department of Fisheries has collected data on them.

The permit now goes to the Washington Department of Ecology for consideration.

In other business, Public Works Director Pete Ringen announced that the state County Road Administration Board, which funds county road construction projects, has agreed to provide $1 million to help the county pay for a new ferry.

The total cost of a new ferry, Ringen said, is estimated at $3.8 million. The county has already been awarded $2.8 million in federal ferry construction funds.

The estimate is aging, Ringen said, and it might be low because of higher steel prices. However, the county should be able to fund what isn't covered by the state and federal grants.

"They've expressed concern that the budget is low, but I've expressed to them that we're a small county and the budget is tight," Ringen said.

The commissioners approved a supplemental contract with the Elliott Bay Design Group, which is preparing plans so that the county can call for bids for the new ferry early in 2012.

Commissioners announced they were concluding their meetings with department heads over budget requests for the 2011 budget year.

Commissioner Blair Brady said the county is looking at a deficit of $650,000, $200,000 more than announced last week, because of a shortfall carrying over from this year.

Commissioners have asked department heads to reduce their spending to 2010 levels. If the 2011 level was lower, there will be no increase.

Brady indicated there will be more discussion over the level for the county assessor. Commissioners have reduced the staffing level in the past, but this year, both Assessor Bill Coons and the Washington Department of Revenue have said inadequate staffing is keeping the office from performing statutorily required functions.

Brady said the board needs to consider supporting increased staffing for the office, whose work is vital to the correct flow of county revenue.

"We know the need to load information exists in the assessor's office by 2014," he said.

"Putting personal opinions aside, this is the reality.

"Every department is wanting and needing extra help. But the assessor's office is the only one I am aware of that is unable to get their work done to meet the state's deadline.

"The benefit to the people of our county by getting to annual revaluation is real; not having fair, accurate taxation is not an option.

"I propose that we fund what's needed towards achieving the annual revaluation for the first six months of 2012. After that time, we will know if the state has extended the time line and whether we have to revisit this problem."

"Yeah, maybe some time down the line we could revisit that," said Commissioner Dan Cothren.

Commissioners will forward the revised departmental budget requests to the county auditor's office, which will prepare a proposed budget for release later this month.

Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow advised the board of a spending problem in his department.

The cost of maintaining the county law library will exceed the $8,000 which the commissioners budgeted for 2010 by $1,300 to $1,500, he said.

He added that he has already reduced subscriptions and he has renegotiated fees to license employee access to the online library services.

"We have let almost everything go," he said. "The research tools we have are licensed on a per person basis."

Cothren and Brady suggested Bigelow continue seeking other sources.

"If we do without your law library, we won't have any law enforcement, and you won't like that," he said.

Brady said he wanted to check with other small counties to see what they do for their law libraries, and Cothren said there was time to do that before the commission would have to authorize further spending.

"It's one of those bills that's up there with turning the lights on," Bigelow said.