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Planning director outlines permitting tech move, wind project repowers and aggregate inquiries
Summary
Stephanie Case, contracted planning director, told the Gilliam County Planning Commission she is consolidating records, reviewing the comprehensive plan and development code, updating fees, and expects to migrate permitting to CitizenServe by July. She also reported multiple renewable-energy repower projects and early interest in aggregate pits.
Stephanie Case, who is serving under a contract to provide planning director services to Gilliam County and is the principal planner for the City of Boardman, gave commissioners an operational update and described several development trends affecting the county.
Case said the county entered an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Boardman for planning services. “Under Oregon statute, a planning director is required for counties. And, with that, the city hired me to fill that role,” she said. Case listed immediate department priorities as organizing records, reviewing the comprehensive plan and development code, updating the fee schedule, and moving from paper forms toward the city’s online permitting system, CitizenServe. On that transition she said, “With CitizenServe, we’re hoping that by July, we will be live with CitizenServe.”
Case described active and potential energy-project work across the county. She said she has seen “a lot of requests for some repowers for some of the big energy projects, specifically, Leaning Juniper 2a, is actively repowering,” and that Leaning Juniper 2b and another project (referred to as Pebble Springs) are at earlier stages. She told commissioners she currently has roughly “10 or 12” right-of-way permits on her desk connected to repower work and associated staging needs; she characterized that count as an estimate she needs to review further.
Case also said several landowners have contacted her about potential aggregate pits, a development pattern she expects to grow as transportation and data-site work expand in the region. She noted the Gilliam County bus barn and other smaller projects are moving through septic and building-permit approvals.
On coordination with other county departments, Case said right-of-way permitting is handled by the road master and Gilliam County Court; planning staff do not have jurisdiction over public right-of-way permits but should be kept informed when right-of-way work connects to on-site projects. “I have no jurisdictional authority as planning over the right of way because it’s publicly owned,” she said, adding that staff will work internally with public works and county court to clarify processes and sign-off requirements.
Case asked commissioners to help identify potential recruits for the one vacant planning commission seat; staff said they plan to re-advertise the opening in the coming month.
Commissioners and staff also discussed records and code housekeeping: Case reported that some records are retained at the courthouse in Condon and that she plans records audits and organizational work in the next fiscal year. She said she will coordinate a fee-schedule review with county court and work with the building department to complete the CitizenServe migration.
The update closed with an invitation for commissioners to contact staff with questions and a request that the commission review the comprehensive plan ahead of a planned April meeting focused on plan review.
