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County to hold public hearing to update music‑festival code; insurance and state RCW alignment cited
Summary
Risk management staff requested a public hearing to modernize the county code governing music festivals, primarily to update insurance requirements and align county rules with state provisions; the hearing date will be confirmed and the prosecutor’s office has reviewed the draft changes.
Cowlitz County risk management asked commissioners Monday to schedule a public hearing to update the county’s music‑festival code, which staff said is out of date and needs revisions to insurance requirements and alignment with state law.
Finance Director Kathy Funk Baxter introduced the item on behalf of risk management and said the current county code dates back decades and needs to be modernized. “There’s also a state RCW that goes with it, and so we’re also amending it to make sure that we’re up to date with the state provisions as well,” she said.
Staff said the principal substantive change under consideration is the insurance requirement for permitted music festivals; the prosecuting attorney’s office has reviewed the draft amendments. Commissioners and staff noted a scheduling inconsistency in the draft notice: the agenda listed the hearing for June 10 but the item manager had June 3 on the working materials. Staff said they would correct the date and return an updated resolution placing the hearing on the correct day.
Discussion versus decisions: the board authorized staff to schedule a public hearing; no ordinance was adopted at Monday’s meeting. The hearing will be a public forum for proposed updates to the music‑festival permitting code and associated insurance provisions.
What’s next: risk management will finalize the resolution with the correct hearing date and publish the notice for the public hearing; staff said they will provide the board with the finalized language and the prosecuting attorney’s review as part of the hearing packet.
