Wasco County approves Forest Service agreement modification, mutual NDA with Hood River and sublease with Bicoastal Media

The Wasco County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved three agreements requested by the sheriff’s office at its Sept. 3 meeting: a modification to the U.S. Forest Service cooperative law-enforcement agreement, a mutual nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with Hood River County regarding CAD/RMS implementation collaboration, and a sublease with Bicoastal Media for space on a county subleased tower site.

Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Scott Williams told the board the forest-service funding modification stems from a prior increase and carryover. “We have, I wanna say, 59,000 in the forced service leftover to spend,” he said, describing how the funds augment patrol presence in forest recreation areas to support search and rescue, fire response and general public-safety presence. Commissioners approved the modification by motion; the vote was recorded as unanimous.

Williams also explained the NDA with Hood River County. Hood River’s CAD/RMS project became stalled with its original vendor, and both counties are contracting with the same consultant, ADCOM. The NDA will let the counties confidentially exchange lessons learned and implementation details to streamline both projects. Commissioners approved the mutual nondisclosure agreement unanimously.

Finally, the board approved a Bicoastal Media sublease for an antenna on the county’s subleased tower site on Signal Hill (near The Dalles Dam overlook). Williams said the updated sublease “doesn't make us any money, but it does help pay our rent so we can continue up there.” He noted the county leases the tower parcel from the Fulton Family Trust and that the new sublease is essentially an update to an older agreement.

What the approvals mean: The Forest Service modification preserves and identifies carryover funds to support forest patrols and related public-safety work in recreation areas. The NDA is intended to reduce duplication and lessons-learned delays between neighboring counties implementing replacement public-safety technology, and the sublease keeps the county’s communications infrastructure on its current tower site funded.

Vote and next steps: Each item was moved, seconded and approved unanimously by the board during the meeting; staff will execute the agreements as authorized. The sheriff’s office said the Forest Service money will be used for overtime patrols and related field operations and that additional reporting will follow as the funds are spent.