Votes at a glance: What Wasco County commissioners approved June 18

Wasco County’s Board of Commissioners recorded several formal actions on June 18 including emergency declarations, contract amendments, appointments and program resolutions. Below are the items the board voted on and their outcomes, followed by brief context for each.

Votes at a glance

- Order 20 8: Declare a local state of emergency regarding the Rowena Fire and additional fires in Wasco County — outcome: approved, unanimous. (See full article.)

- Amendment to the medical examiner services agreement between Wasco County and Hood River County — outcome: approved, unanimous. The amendment raises the contracted hourly rate (presenter reported an increase from $1.20 to $1.30) and increases administrative costs; the board approved the amendment to continue shared coverage across counties.

- Order 25‑035: Appointment of Mary Jo Comerford to Library Service District Board of Directors — outcome: approved (one abstention recorded).

- Orders 25‑036 and 25‑037: Reappointments of Corliss Marsh and Rita Rafke to the Library Service District Board of Directors — outcome: approved, unanimous.

- Memorandum of Understanding (amendment) between Wasco County and Oregon State University Extension — outcome: approved, unanimous. The amendment assigns contracting and judge coordination for the county fair’s 4‑H events to the OSU Extension coordinator.

- Resolution 25‑014: Amend Wasco County uniform fee schedule (planning division) to add accessory dwelling unit application under guest‑house fee ($529.18) — outcome: approved, unanimous.

- Resolution 25‑013: Approve Wasco County multi‑jurisdictional Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan — outcome: approved, unanimous. The board adopted a plan that ranks hazards (wildfire, extreme heat, drought among top risks), documents public outreach and establishes an action‑tracking framework for mitigation measures; the plan was submitted to Oregon Emergency Management and FEMA and approved by those agencies.

- Amendment No. 1 to ORMS subscription contract (Chavez Consulting Inc., ORMS‑172) — outcome: approved, unanimous. The county agreed to the state‑administered Oregon Records Management System subscription price adjustments.

- Statement of Work under Wasco County Information Services master agreement with Columbia Gorge Community College (expanded IT services) — outcome: approved, unanimous. The county will provide additional IT staffing support to the college, funded under the adopted budget.

- Order 25‑038: Cancel certain uncollectible personal‑property taxes (two small accounts) — outcome: approved, unanimous.

- Consent agenda (includes STIF participation, reappointments, IG agreement, contract extensions and minutes) — outcome: approved, unanimous.

Context and next steps

Several of the approved items are administrative (appointments, small tax cancellations, contracts) and proceed to implementation by county departments. The emergency declaration for the Rowena Fire has immediate operational impact: it authorizes county staff to request state and federal technical and financial assistance for hazardous‑materials assessment and cleanup. The natural hazards mitigation plan is a five‑year policy and planning document; its adoption allows Wasco County to remain eligible for mitigation funding and sets priority mitigation actions for wildfire, extreme heat, drought and other hazards.

Commissioners directed staff to return with follow‑up materials on some actions (for example, more detailed fund balances for the building‑codes fee schedule hearing) and to continue coordination with state partners where needed. Where state review is required (building fee schedule staging, ORMS staging), staff will complete the required submissions and coordinate implementation dates with the appropriate state offices.

Ending: The June 18 meeting combined emergency response decisions with routine county business; the board emphasized quick coordination on the emergency while continuing standard public‑process steps for regulatory and budgetary items.