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.
09.30.2024 Mon AM/PM BOCC
Meeting Highlights:
Isabelle Spohn makes a comment about the need to define the boundaries between Subunits B and C in the Methow Review District (MRD).
Maurice Goodall, Emergency Management asks if there will be a public hearing before adopting the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The BOCC say they do not need to hold a hearing because the plan is advisory only. Commissioner Branch wants to make sure that the CWPP is widely available after it’s completed.
Tom Even, of the Okanogan County Veterans Service Office, gives the commissioners the quarterly update. PACT Act claims are increasing, which is good. The vets and commissioners also discuss transportation issues—getting people from Okanogan County to appointments at the VA in Wenatchee and Spokane.
Kayla Wells-Yoakum and Angelyn Sheppard from the WSU County Extension program ask the commissioners for advice about including funding in their budget for occasional short clinics. Participation in 4-H is increasing in the county and 4-H thinks that the short clinics could help membership increase even more.
Rena Shawver of the Community Action Council tell the commissioners that the Housing Coalition recommends putting $250,000 towards the purchase of 60 acres of land near Omak to be used to build 62 low-income housing units. After much perusal of the budget, the recommendation is approved.
Commissioners, Pete Palmer, Isabelle Spohn and Lorah Super of the Okanogan Conservation District discuss the possibility of two subunit advisory committees for the lower Methow Valley. These would be comparable to the current committee in Mazama. They think the subunits should extend all the way down the Methow River to just above Pateros. The Planning Department will hold facilitated meetings at the beginning of 2025, and Pete will include money for facilitators in next year’s budget.
Meeting adjourned for the day at 3:46.