Lewis County to update five-year housing and homelessness plan; public input to be sought

Lewis County commissioners on April 22 approved notices to begin work on three separate items: a state-required five-year update to the county’s housing and homelessness strategic plan; a call for bids for frontage work at the Lewis County Homeless Shelter site; and a notice of hearing on proposed amendments to the county’s code-enforcement chapter.

Eric Eisenberg, a county staff member, told the board that Resolution 25-114 is a notice of the county’s intention to revise its five-year strategic plan relating to housing and homelessness and that the update follows a state model. “There’ll be work to produce some materials to go online and on the website to get better notice to the public,” Eisenberg said, and staff expect the board to adopt the revised plan by December 2025.

Mindy Burke, community development staff, described Resolution 25-116 as a notice of hearing for Ordinance 1363, which would amend Chapter 1.2 of the Lewis County Code (the code-enforcement chapter). Burke said a draft of the proposed code amendments is already posted online and staff will publish a read-ahead summarizing the changes before a presentation at the May workshop and the May 23 hearing.

Commissioners moved and seconded approval of Resolutions 25-114 through 25-116. The board voted 3-0 in favor.

The items approved on Tuesday are procedural steps to start public processes: notice of the housing-plan update and public-engagement materials, a future bid solicitation for frontage work at the homeless shelter, and formal public-notice for the code-enforcement ordinance hearing. No final policy or contract was adopted on any of these three items during the meeting.

Written public comment from Kyle Wheeler was included in the record, according to staff; no one spoke from the online connection or the gallery during the public-comment portion immediately before the notices were approved.

The county did not specify additional details about the frontage bid scope in the meeting discussion beyond staff noting that plans and specifications were being finalized and that publication would follow city approvals.

Looking ahead, staff said they expect to publish materials and solicit public input for the housing plan and to present the ordinance draft at a workshop prior to the May 23 hearing.