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.
06.10.2025 BOH
Meeting Highlights:
• Maria Hines, Blue Sky Minds, reports on the Food Council meeting held on May 28, 2025, at the Omak Community Foundation building. They are continuing to work on the 5-food action objectives; Food sustainability, Indian hunger and access, over-all County access to food, and local economic food systems support. Current programs: volunteer gleaners, and farm to food bank. - partnering with Leavenworth gleaners. Data reported from a survey of 582 county residents. Working with different farmers in the county for gleaning. Next meeting set for July 22nd, 2025 in Nespelem.
• Bill Vallance, Emergency Management of Smoke, reports on what is being set up for smoke management ahead of the fire season. There will be daily checking of smoke monitors. And reports there are a lot of masks, fans, and filters available for the most vulnerable population. This is Smoke Ready week for our Region. He reports DNR is fully staffed to fire suppression this year.
• Lauri Jones, Health Director, is pleased with the new Wa State Secretary of Health, Dennis Worsham. He has, previously, advocated for funds for rural areas being different than urban needs. There is a 5%-10% cut from foundational funds. We are prioritizing but feels strongly that Ok Co Health's budget is solid. LJ reports that last year, there were 143 calls to 911 for overdoses and there have been 103 calls this year as of 5/31/2025. This has increased from last year. Looking for solutions. NarCan is just a bandaid. LJ is disturbed by Health & Human Services disbanding advisory group on immunizations. We do not have the flu vaccine, yet, this year.
• Mike Harr, Environmental Health – busy time of year with building, septic inspections. And water sampling. Lots of work, but running smoothly.
• Community Outreach worker, Lucretia Warnstaff reports on the community outreach on the radio. We are having a respiratory case uptick in the last couple of weeks. Update on the maternal child health program/special needs persons 18 – 20 years old, do not have free vaccinations available to them. Funding for school children looks fine.
• Director is concerned about emergency preparedness funding. There are no federal contracts signed yet, this is for needed for training.
• Meeting adjourned at 2:50