Josephine County commissioners approve annexations, forest reserve fund, airport board consolidation and multiple land-use plats

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a series of administrative orders and resolutions during its weekly business session on a March 2025 Friday morning.

The board approved four annexation orders into the Josephine County Community Library District (orders 2025-024, 2025-025, 2025-026 and 2025-027) after opening a public hearing and receiving no testimony. Each order passed on a roll call vote of 3 to 0.

Commissioners also approved Board Order 2025-023 to designate specified county-owned real property as county forest; Resolution 2025-008 establishing a Forest Reserve Fund to set guidance for how forestry revenues are held and managed; and a Josephine County Commissioners Forest Management Policy that the board said codifies how county forest lands will be managed and how the forestry director will interact with commissioners.

The board approved Board Order 2025-028 to reschedule weekly business sessions (WBS) through April (the board noted the order extends Fridays as the meeting day through the relevant dates in April), and Board Order 2025-030 to dissolve the separate Grants Pass and Illinois Valley airport advisory boards and create a single seven-member Josephine County Airports Advisory Board with specified seats for commercial and private tenants/users of both airports and two at-large positions.

Land-use approvals carried as well: the board approved the Kickin' Cattle Company plat map and the Buckmaster Subdivision plat map. The consent calendar, including draft minutes from prior meetings and convening as the governing body of the Josephine County Rural Fire Protection District for a March meeting, also passed unanimously.

All recorded roll-call votes in the session registered the three commissioners voting "yes," and the meeting record shows no recorded "no" votes or abstentions on the listed items. There was little substantive public testimony tied to the individual orders; the public hearing for the library-district annexations produced no speakers and the annexation motions were moved, seconded and carried.

The board discussed the Forest Reserve Fund and forest management package briefly; one commissioner noted forestry is one county department that generates revenue and that the reserve fund provides a way to preserve those receipts in tight economic times.

Votes at a glance - Order 2025-024 (annexation to Josephine County Community Library District): approved, roll call 3–0; no public testimony recorded. - Order 2025-025 (annexation): approved, roll call 3–0. - Order 2025-026 (annexation): approved, roll call 3–0. - Order 2025-027 (annexation): approved, roll call 3–0. - Board Order 2025-023 (designating county-owned real property as county forest): approved, roll call 3–0. - Resolution 2025-008 (establishing a Forest Reserve Fund): approved, roll call 3–0. - Josephine County Commissioners Forest Management Policy: approved, roll call 3–0. - Board Order 2025-028 (rescheduling Weekly Business Sessions through April dates): approved, roll call 3–0. - Board Order 2025-030 (dissolving Grants Pass and Illinois Valley airport advisory boards; establishing single Josephine County Airports Advisory Board): approved, roll call 3–0. - Kickin' Cattle Company plat map: approved, roll call 3–0. - Buckmaster Subdivision plat map: approved, roll call 3–0. - Consent calendar including minutes and Rural Fire Protection District meeting: approved, roll call 3–0.

The board provided administrative detail about the new airport advisory board’s composition and encouraged current advisory-board members to reapply under the consolidated seven-member structure. Commissioners described the move as a reset intended to align advisory-board terms with calendar expectations and to address perceived dysfunction in the prior boards.

The Forest Reserve Fund resolution and the Forest Management Policy both passed with brief remarks that emphasized forestry’s revenue-generating role for the county and the need for guidance on fund maintenance and forest oversight.

No items were tabled or failed during the session; all recorded motions carried with unanimous recorded support.

The board closed the session after announcements and adjourned at about 10:49 a.m.