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County authorizes participation in grasshopper mitigation funding; committee to accept retroactive applications
Summary
Klamath County commissioners authorized participation in a state Department of Agriculture cost-sharing grant for grasshopper mitigation and gave the existing committee latitude to consider retroactive applications; the board approved authorization by voice vote.
County staff briefed commissioners that the Oregon Department of Agriculture has made a regional cost-share available to counties for grasshopper mitigation, with an estimated per-county share of about $90,000 to $108,000 depending on final allocations.
A county official said the funding can be spent on cost sharing, held for future events, or pooled across counties. The board discussed the rapid timeline for acceptance and distribution; staff said the funder required a signed authorization by Tuesday.
Commissioner DeGroot moved to "allow Commissioner DeGroot to sign to authorize us to participate in the grasshopper funding," and a commissioner seconded. The board then approved the motion by voice vote; a formal roll-call tally was not recorded in the transcript.
Commissioners and staff directed the county’s existing grasshopper committee to reconvene quickly, reopen applications and consider retroactive applications from last season where appropriate. Staff and attendees discussed prior payments and reimbursements from last season, including that the county had previously received an initial payment of $100,000 and later approximately $48,000 (about $40,800 referenced when matching to a 75% reimbursement rate). Officials urged caution on immediate spending and recommended collecting provider cost estimates before committing funds.
Quotes in context: "If it was to be divided equally amongst all of the counties... $90,000 it's up to 108 now depending on whether or not they find any over the course of the next 2, 3 days," a county official said. After the motion, the chair called for "All in favor signify with an I," and an attendee answered "Aye;" no roll-call vote tally was provided in the record.
Ending: The board authorized county participation by voice vote and directed staff and the committee to proceed with reopening applications and reviewing retroactive claims; staff will work with partners and providers to scope costs and timing.
