Commissioners hear variety of reports

Wahkiakum County's board of commissioners handled a variety of business during their meeting Tuesday, including:

--Sergeant Brad Moon, commander of the Washington State Patrol Detachment in Naselle, reported his patrolmen had been close to their target, or anticipated, number of contacts and arrests in 2011.

Officers investigated 163 driving while intoxicated cases in 2011, five less than expected. They stopped 5,979 motorists for speeding, 501 under target, and wrote 4,458 citations. They contacted 827 drivers for seat belt violations, 107 over target, and wrote 714 citations. They made 170 drug arrests, 50 over target. They investigated 12 collisions from DUI, eight under target; they investigated nine speed collisions, 11 under target. The detachment covers Wahkiakum and Pacific counties with seven troopers; another is expected to join the detachment this spring.

--The commissioners appointed Mike Linn to fill a vacancy on the board of commissioners for Diking District No. 5, the lower Skamokawa valleys. Tim Schmitt is already a commissioner on the board; a third position is vacant, and persons interested in the position are asked to contact the county commissioners' office.

--Commissioners authorized Public Works Director Pete Ringen to move forward with updating pemits to allow the US Army Corps of Engineers to dump dredge spoils on Puget Island at Pancake Point and Ostervold Road. Ringen and Commissioner Lisa Marsyla have been working with the Corps on the project. Permits are basically in place for Ostervold Road, Ringen said, but Pancake Point will require more effort because the most recent deposition reached the permitted limit.

Marsyla said she had visited Pancake Point residents last weekend and observed that erosion is occurring quickly in that area, and houses may be threatened again.

--Commissioner Dan Cothren reported that House Bill 2329, replacing encumbered state forest lands for the benefit of multiple participating counties, had passed through the House with a 97-0 vote and would be going to the state Senate for consideration yesterday (Wednesday) as The Eagle went to press.

The bill authorizes the state Board of Natural Resources to (1) establish a state forest land pool for small, timber-dependent southwest Washington counties; and (2), if deemed appropriate after a required analysis, use revenue designated for replacement of encumbered state forest land in one county to be pooled with other counties' land replacement funds to purchase forest land within any of the participating counties.