County to repair rot, wall damage at Grays River Center

Wahkiakum County's board of commissioners handled wide-ranging business at their Tuesday meeting.

Among the items of business, commissioners discussed issues with the board's Real Property Advisory Committee, and they heard a report of structural trouble at the Grays River Community Center.

Commissioners appointed the Real Property Advisory Committee earlier this year, and the committee has been meeting and discussing various issues.

Chair Art Hyland said the group has been meeting without a lot of input from the board of commissioners.

One issue that's raised concern, he said, is an apparent movement by government agencies and non-profit organizations to purchase rural land to turn it into environmental preserves. These projects can have adverse impacts he said, such as the habitat conservation areas in the county trust timber that restrict the amount of timber harvest and revenue to the county. In other places, he said, the preserved land takes farmland out of production, and even though much land has been set aside for salmon habitat restoration, fish runs haven't recovered.

The situation is complicated, Commissioner Dan Cothren said. Farmers haven't been able to make money through farming, but they've been able to sell the land and pay for their retirement.

Hyland said the advisory board would continue looking into issues.

"We're sort of a thermometer out there letting you know what people are thinking," he said.

Commissioners appointed Deep River resident Walter Deege to fill a vacancy on the advisory board.

Building and Planning Director Chuck Beyer reported that a contractor working on the Grays River Community Center had discovered extensive rot in at least one wall.

Beyer had visited the center Monday and seen the damage. The contractor will repair the damaged wall on a time and materials basis, Beyer said.

He added that other walls may have similar rot and termite damage, and he and the contractor would investigate.

"Figure out the cost of what it will take to fix it and let us know," said commissioner Cothren.

Members of the Human Services Advisory Council reported that Health and Human Services staff have made progress in talking with a land owner about a possible purchase of property for a housing project.

The group needs to obtain an appraisal on the land to continue negotiations, said Human Services Director Chris Holmes.

Once the county has the land secured, project coordinators will hold public meetings to gather input, Holmes said.

Commissioner Blair Brady pointed out that the county had recently obtained a six-acre farm on East Birnie Slough Road and he suggested that land be considered for a possible housing site.

Holmes said he would inspect the site.

In a quarterly report to the commissioners, Cowlitz Family Health Center Director Dian Cooper said her organization is satisfied with the operation of their clinic in Cathlamet. Clinic finances in October were bad, she said, but a glitch in billing cycles pushed some expected revenue into November.

"It was an anomaly," she said.

The clinic has a permanent physician and nurse practitioner, she said, and they are still able to accept new patients.

In the public comment period:

--Puget Island resident Dennis Gordon reminded commissioners of a letter he sent them in October asking them to conduct performance audits of Prosecuting Attorney Dan Bigelow and District Court Judge Bill Faubion, who are also members of the Cathlamet Fire Department, whose financial operations came under fire in a recent state audit. He also had suggested their salaries be reduced.

Commissioners replied that the men are elected officials and answer to voters. They added that they had tried to reduce all departments to 2010 spending levels.

--Elochoman Valley resident Frank Loomans complimented the response of emergency responders and law enforcement officers when a man collapsed from a heart attack at a recent funeral.

Emergency responders Joel Fitts and Kay Vik came out of the crowd and began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. Deputy Sheriff Gary Howell arrived with a portable defibrillator and used it to restart the victim's heart. An ambulance crew arrived and prepared the victim for transport to a hospital.

"What a well oiled machine," Loomans said. "They brought him back to life."