Cowlitz County approves consent agenda including $7.26 million road contract and indoor facility planning agreement

The Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a consent agenda Tuesday that included interlocal agreements, construction contracts, and official correspondence.

During the consent agenda staff listed an interlocal agreement with the Cowlitz Conservation District to support the Voluntary Stewardship Program and an interlocal memorandum of understanding with Skamania County to provide emergency housing for inmates during evacuations. County staff also noted an interlocal agreement with the cities of Castle Rock, Kalama, Kelso, Longview and Woodland for joint procurement and contracting of animal shelter and animal control services.

The consent packet included a contract award for countywide pavement striping totaling $538,508 and a $7,256,372.86 contract with Jefferies Construction for South Cloverdale improvement and intersection work. Staff also noted a supplemental consultant agreement for the Delameter Road culvert replacement project, and a contract execution for the countywide pavement striping project. The board approved a resolution to release a public waterline easement on two parcels, and accepted correspondence including a June 9, 2025 letter from Kurt Fredenberg, regional director of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, about a nongaming land-acquisition application and a June 13 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission notice on a dam safety inspection follow-up for the SWIFT No. 2 project.

A commissioner asked whether the BIA notice related to land within the county. County staff said the letter reflected an application submitted by the tribe to purchase land as nongaming property and that the parcel description was included in the letter; staff said they did not have further detail about the parcel’s location. An additional commissioner observed that, in tribal practice, land acquisitions sometimes lead to extension of tribal regulations, and characterized that as a typical part of the federal process; that remark was made as speculation and attributed in the public record to a commissioner.

The consent agenda also included the appointment of Charlotte Stoll Smith to the Eel Valley Library District board for a five-year term expiring July 31, 2030, and vouchers totaling $3,254,069. The chair called the vote and commissioners responded “Aye,” approving the consent agenda as presented.