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.
06.02.2026 Tues AM BOCC
Meeting Highlights:
· The commissioners hold an executive session concerning potential liability. Immediately after the session, AH announces that the racetrack at the fairgrounds had been used on Sunday for horse racing without anyone making a reservation or paying the rental fee. He thinks the county should write a letter to the Colville tribes asking for an explanation. He added that he thinks the fairgrounds should be open from 7AM to 4PM Monday-Friday, and no one should be allowed to enter when it’s not open.
· Jacob Stone of Forterra makes a presentation about a proposed conservation easement on approximately 50 acres of farmland and pasture on the Okanogan River south of Oroville. After the presentation, the commissioners discuss the pros and cons of conservation easements in perpetuity.
· The commissioners and Kent Kovalenko, Solid Waste Manager, discuss the possibility of the county establishing a composting site if they could get enough grant money to pay the capital costs to begin compost production. Recent legislation will require counties to reduce the amount of organic material in the landfill, and clean air regulations discourage burning. Kovalenko thinks the county could sell all the compost it could produce, but probably there would still have to be a tipping fee to help pay the cost of composting.
· People who have attended today’s meeting remotely all say it’s very hard to understand what people in the commissioners’ meeting room are saying. Someone from Central Services will come by at 1:30 and see if anything can be done.
· Meeting adjourned at 12:04.