Lewis County commissioners approve notice for animal-control code update, radio backup contract, WSU Extension support and temporary adoption-fee cut

The Lewis County Board of County Commissioners on March 18 approved multiple resolutions and took several routine actions in votes that passed by 2-0.

Among the actions, commissioners approved a notice of hearing for Ordinance 13-61, which will update county code to reflect transferring animal control duties from Public Health to the sheriff's office; the hearing is set for "at or after 10 a.m. on April 1," according to staff. The board also approved warrants and payroll and accepted minutes from the March 11, 2025 business meeting.

In deliberation items, the board approved three resolutions (25-078 through 25-080) that the county clerk indicated as a single block vote. Those items included: - A memorandum of understanding with Washington State University Extension to provide partial support for the county director, garden program coordinator (who runs Master Gardener and compost programs) and an administrative assistant who also serves 4-H duties, as described by Gary Frederick of WSU Extension. - A contract with American Power Systems to provide battery-backup service for the county's new radio system; Jennifer Libby Jones, 9-1-1 director, described this as a contract for "1,061,000" and said the project is tied to a Department of Justice COPS grant with the remainder covered through capital funding. Jones said the COPS grant timeline runs through September 2025. - A temporary reduction in adoption fees for adult dogs at the county shelter, lowering the fee from $220 to $100 to encourage adoptions; Maja Hamlin of Public Health and Social Services described the reduction as running "March 18 to the 20 second" in the presentation, and said the shelter currently has 16–17 dogs available.

All items were moved, seconded and approved with two "Aye" votes and no recorded opposition. The meeting transcript records the procedural motions and the clerk's call for votes; no roll-call of individual commissioner names for each vote was included in the transcript.

The board also opened bids for the county newspaper of record for July 2025–June 2026 and received three proposals: Duval Publishing ($4.10 per column inch; sample $32.80), Lewis County News ($4.00 per column inch; sample $29.00) and The Chronicle ($3.80 per column inch; sample $30.40). Commissioners said a resolution selecting the paper of record will come back in April.

Key vote and motion details are summarized below. The board did not record further debate or amendments to these items during the meeting.