Columbia County commissioners hear proposal to close Public Works office on Fridays

Columbia County Public Works Director Mike Russell asked the Board of Commissioners on Feb. 26 to consider closing the Public Works office on Fridays and moving all staff to a Monday–Thursday 10-hour schedule, saying the change would put all office staff on the same schedule and better align field crews with daylight hours.

The proposal matters because it would change in-person office access for residents who do business with Public Works. Russell told commissioners that the department typically maintains five-day phone coverage even when many staff work a 4x10 schedule, but that Fridays are quiet in the office and calls rarely require an immediate field response. "This suggests to us that the impacts to the level of service provided to the public by closing the office on Friday would be minimal," Russell said.

Commissioners pressed on public access and perception, noting the difficulty residents face when they travel to an office expecting counter service. Commissioner Garrett said the problem is "when you show up to the door... on a Friday of trying to take care of business," and warned that signage and outreach would be required to avoid frustrated residents. Commissioner Smith and others asked whether phone coverage could be routed to a county dispatch or to an on-call cell phone as a mitigation measure.

Assistant Public Works Director Grant Young and Road and Bridge Superintendent Tim Hancock highlighted operational benefits of a 4x10 schedule. Young said the longer days make it easier for engineering staff to reach remote sites in a single trip: "It's really easy to lose an entire morning, you know, just trying to get to Klatsk and I, which reduces the number of trips that we're able to make in a week to get out to some of those sites." Hancock introduced himself as the new road and bridge superintendent and invited commissioners to ride along to see field operations.

Public-safety routing and after-hours handling were discussed: Russell said non-emergency calls would be handled through Columbia 911 for after-hours issues and the department would treat Friday calls as after-hours callouts. Commissioners asked staff to consider a communications plan and possible phone-forwarding tools if the board were to approve the change.

The board did not take a final vote at the Feb. 26 meeting. Commissioners directed staff to continue studying options and to return with more details and outreach plans, including how phone coverage and public notice would be handled.

Background: Public Works currently runs a seasonal schedule with five 8-hour days from mid-October to mid-March and shifts to 4x10-hour days mid-March through much of the year. Russell said the department has historically kept five-day office coverage (7:30 a.m.–4 p.m.) even when many operating staff are on the 4x10 schedule.