These notes were taken by an Okanogan County Watch volunteer. Every attempt is made to be accurate. Notes are verbatim when possible, and otherwise summarized or paraphrased.
Note takers comments or clarifications are in italics. These notes are not the official county record of the meeting. For officially approved minutes, which are normally published at a later time, CLICK HERE.
The time stamps refer to the times on the AV Capture archive of the meeting on this date at the County livestream archive. To locate items in real time, the clock on the wall in the AV Capture screen can be helpful.
03.09.2026 Mon AM BOCC
Meeting Highlights:
The commissioners discuss their displeasure at the new state budget being written in Olympia for the upcoming biennium. Despite tax increases, the state is not increasing money to counties for indigent defense.
Pete Palmer, Director of Planning, and the commissioners discuss the recently submitted report on the pros and cons of the cannabis industry in Okanogan County. The commissioners feel that the increase in the minimum wage in the county should be attributed to the rise in the minimum wage instead of the cannabis industry. They also feel that problems created by the large power consumption by cannabis greenhouses was neglected in the report. The PUD says that its infrastructure may not be able to handle the growth and the county may experience brownouts.
Pete Palmer, along with Dan Higbee and Cass Robbins of the Building Department, discuss the problems associated with structures built years ago without building permits. Few of the buildings would be in compliance with current standards. Commissioner Hover recalls his father telling him about an unpermitted house that was built using garden hoses for plumbing and extension cords for the wiring.
Meeting adjourned at 11:38.