Votes at a glance: commissioners OK grant increases, bridge design amendment and two housing grants

At a single meeting the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners approved several consent and action items with minimal debate. The board’s votes approved a grant amendment to increase hazardous‑materials training funds, authorized the Public Works director to serve as the certifying official for two Federal Highway Administration aquatic organism passage grants, approved a design‑phase contract increase for Prospect Creek Bridge rehabilitation, and finalized two multifamily rental housing grant agreements.

Key actions and immediate details:

- Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant amendment: The board approved Amendment No. 1 to the Oregon State Fire Marshal subrecipient grant agreement (2025‑HMEP‑013) to increase the county’s award from $20,000 to $32,142 to support HAZWOPER hazardous‑materials training (initial and refresher courses). Randy Thorpe, the county’s Director of Emergency Management, described the funds and said the county would use them to provide five‑day HAZWOPER training to local fire departments and other hazardous‑materials handlers.

- Federal Highway Administration aquatic organism passage grants: The commissioners authorized Public Works Director Chris Laity to serve as the certifying official needed for reporting and reimbursement on two FHWA grants. One grant funds replacement of the Myrtle Creek culvert (planned as a bridge); the second funds design and construction work for two culvert projects on Brickyard Road (one likely to become a bridge). Laity said the county has thousands of culverts and relies on outside funding beyond county gas‑tax road funds for such projects.

- Prospect Creek Bridge modification: The board approved Modification No. 1 to Professional Services Agreement No. 6543 with Dowell to add guardrail design work for the rehabilitation of Prospect Creek Bridge (Bridge No. 57C54 on Slab Creek Road). The modification raises the design‑phase fee to a total of $77,755.40 and is for design work only (not construction).

- Multifamily rental housing grants: The board approved two grant agreements from the county’s Housing Production Solutions/Multifamily Rental Housing Fund. Grant Agreement No. 2025‑MHF‑8 was approved for Seagulls Rest LLC to support the Bay City duplexes project (presented as eight duplexes/16 units by staff); Grant Agreement No. 2025‑MHF‑9 was approved for Anchor 282 LLC, a four‑unit workforce housing project in Rockaway Beach that includes a planned community‑use commercial kitchen. Parker Sammons, housing coordinator in the Department of Community Development, said Seagulls Rest units are largely occupied and Anchor 282 is earlier in development with a current completion date listed as 09/22/2025.

Board votes on each item were taken after brief presentations and passed on voice votes recorded as “aye.” These items were presented as standard contract/grant approvals; board discussion emphasized the need for external funding for infrastructure and the county’s use of targeted housing grants.

Ending: All motions in this roundup were approved by the board and will be implemented per the contract and grant agreements; specific follow‑up tasks (signatures, reimbursement requests, design work and construction procurement) were assigned to the responsible departments identified during the meeting.