County board discusses Johnson Park

Wahkiakum County commissioners took care of business Tuesday before recessing to executive session and then adjourning to continue their meeting Thursday morning.

Commission Chair Mike Backman sparked a discussion during the report of Public Works Director Chuck Beyer.

The county should pick the cost of heating of Johnson Park, Backman said.

"Volunteers have paid $6,900 to keep that place from deteriorating," he said. "It's our building. We need to make something happen. They're holding bake sales and selling food to heat Johnson Park, which is our facility, and we're putting the burden on a bunch of people.

"It's the whole county's benefit to use that facility. Sixty-nine hundred dollars is a lot of bake sales. It's killing this place. I want to bring it up. It's bigger than the budget."

The comments appeared to catch Commissioners Blair Brady and Dan Cothren by surprise.

Brady commented that the commission has supported the facility and its volunteers. He added that the topic would best be handled in the coming budgeting process.

"Last year we said that if they couldn't pay the heating bills, we'd step in and help," Brady said.

County officials and Johnson Park volunteers have been looking at the heating situation for a few years, Brady said. They are now looking for people or firms to sponsor or otherwise support heating.

"There are a lot of needs in the county we can't address," Brady added.

"We'll bring it back and figure something out," Backman said.

Earlier, Health and Human Services Department Director Sue Cameron and assistant Chris Holmes reported they are preparing their Living Well Program to be held November 4 at Johnson Park; and they asked commissioners to approve their $3,000 budget.

About $1,000 will come from vendor fees; $1,000 from a social service agency, and the rest from the county.

Cothren seconded Brady's motion to approve the budget, and it passed.

However, Backman had a suggestion.

"I don't like the number," he said. "In the future, we should work with Johnson Park. They cook all the time. We should use them, or look to other groups, not just throw money on it."

The staff said they had been talking to a local restaurant about catering the meal.

"We have had discussions with people down there," Holmes said.

At the end of their Tuesday session, the commission recessed into executive session to hear a report on union contract negotiations.

They adjourned the meeting, planning to reconvene at 9 a.m. today (Thursday) for a visit with officials from the Washington Association of Counties.

The board will join commissioners from Grays Harbor, Pacific and Cowlitz counties for a joint special meeting to appoint someone to a vacant state senate seat representing District 19, and probably a vacant District 19 position (see story elsewhere in this edition).