Jeff Pritchard, fire chief for the Scappoose Fire District, used the visitors' comment period at the Sept. 24 Columbia County Board of Commissioners meeting to raise concerns about a Sept. 17 county meeting that he said had not been properly noticed and where the board discussed approving a gate on a public way that the fire district does not approve under applicable fire standards.

Pritchard told commissioners the county lacked authority to approve the gate because the Oregon Fire Code and an adopted county ordinance delegate access standards to the county fire services. "The county lacks the authority to approve the gate as the Oregon Fire Code precedes any decision the board of commissioners tries to make," he said, adding that the countyordinance "specifically delegates access standards to the Columbia County Fire Services." He said the county's most recent deliberations on the matter proceeded without timely notice and without input from qualified fire professionals.

Pritchard outlined four concerns: (1) legal authority and delegation to the fire service; (2) meeting-notice and public-record sequence issues; (3) a lack of engagement and communication with the fire agency; and (4) conduct and integrity, including his objection to comments by Commissioners Garrett and McGruder alleging that a member of fire-district staff had expressed personal views about the Luma Vista project. "Public office does not confer the right to spread untruths or spread baseless claims without factual backing," Pritchard said.

He requested the sequence of events be placed on the public record and asked the county to invite fire marshals or a fire-service representative to future deliberations on fire-access standards. After his remarks, the chair asked Pritchard for contact information; Pritchard agreed to share his email and said he had previously attempted to engage with the board about these issues in July 2024 without sustained follow-up.

No formal county action on the gate or on Pritchard's requests was recorded at the Sept. 24 meeting; commissioners discussed the public-comment time limit and scheduling but did not vote on the gate matter during the session recorded on Sept. 24.