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.
03.17.2025 Mon AM BOCC
Meeting Highlights:
· Public comment – correction to BOCC statement from last week about ownership of the Methow Valley News.
· BOCC agrees to represent former employee in lawsuit
· Fairgrounds manager update – fee waivers, grooming of barrel racing area
· Planning Dept update – Planning Commission working on recommendations to FEMA proposed changes; training planned for how to run an effective meeting; channel migration grant may be impacted by the lack of an updated Critical Area Ordinance; discussion of several major Planned Developments that are in the works.
· Update on new morgue and Sheriff storage building. Work is moving along.
· Emergency Management update- snow pack is about 86% of normal; discussion about getting a thermal drone for SAR.
· Maintenance Update – looking into getting LED lighting; problems with geothermal system in jail; installation of new door at Treasurers office.
· HR update – discussion about Friendship Diversion (group that provides home monitoring) and other services they provide.
· Finance Committee meeting – discussion about county finances and transferring funds; review of State Audit recommendations from last year and how the county is complying; discussion about cyber security and plans for how to handle county operations following a disaster; discussion about using Starlink as a backup internet service if main service provider is unavailable (including running an election); discussion about changes to how the money collected and distributed during county fair is handled; discussion about administrative challenges due to outdated personnel manual (last updated in 1995)