Valley County to Reconvene Security Committee for Cascade Annex; Risk Manager to Coordinate

Valley County commissioners agreed Wednesday to reconvene a security committee to develop short- and long-term security plans for the new Cascade Annex, and asked county risk manager Brian Oakey to coordinate the effort.

County leaders said they want a planning group to assess whether the annex requires staffed security at the front entry, metal detectors or other measures, and to update evacuation and continuity plans before the building opens for regular business.

The conversation originated from commissioners and department heads who said public-facing work at the annex — assessor, planning and zoning, building department and other services — will bring people who are sometimes agitated or upset. Commissioners said they have already received questions from staff and the public about how the annex will be staffed and secured and that quick, ad hoc decisions after opening would be undesirable.

County staff identified several immediate topics for the committee: whether to staff an entry point, how to handle hours and staffing, whether to use third-party vendors, what short-term “backstop” measures are needed until long-term staffing is arranged, and integration of evacuation routes into the county’s continuity of operations plan. Commissioners also asked that elected officials and department leads who will occupy the annex participate in planning and carry decisions to their teams.

Commissioners emphasized that prior security work — including recommendations made during earlier security committee meetings when Pat Duncan was involved — covered evacuation routes and front-entry control measures; the new committee will update and extend that work for the annex. Several commissioners said they preferred the county’s risk manager lead the reconvened committee because the office can bring together the range of specialists needed: security, facilities, maintenance and elected officials.

Action and next steps: commissioners asked Oakey to convene the committee and send meeting invitations. County staff will differentiate short-term operational fixes (e.g., temporary staffing or vendor support) from longer-term projects (policy, physical modifications, permanent staffing). A timetable for the committee’s first meeting was not specified in the meeting minutes.

Why it matters: the annex will host multiple public-facing offices, and commissioners said they want clear plans for protecting employees and visitors, avoiding late emergency staffing decisions, and ensuring evacuation and continuity procedures are in place before operations scale up.