The Klamath County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 6 approved a series of personnel and funding actions, including a hire tied to a recent audit, a local emergency declaration for levee repairs, and an ARPA‑related amendment to a county contract.

The board unanimously approved restoring and filling a juvenile KCR program coordinator position after staff reported a recent Oregon auditing authority (OIA) review found the role is required for program certification. County documents cited an annual salary at step 1 of $104,998.09 and said KCR program positions are funded by OIA contract revenue, not the county general fund. The board voted in favor of the hire.

Commissioners also approved rehiring a former part‑time on‑call commercial electrical inspector to provide temporary coverage while an employee is out. A motion to rehire the inspector passed with aye votes.

On infrastructure, the board declared a local emergency to shore up and stabilize eroded exterior and interior levees and to reconstruct a failed pump station at Lake Emona after staff reported wave action and an unusable pump station that risks levee failure. Staff estimated repair work could include about 500 feet on an exterior levee and roughly 650 feet on interior levees; an initial repair estimate cited in discussion was about $415,000. The board voted to adopt the emergency declaration.

The board also signed Amendment 3 between Klamath County and KCADA, approving an increase of $367,378.05 to the COVID‑19 pandemic grant fund (ARPA-related) and transferring remaining project management to the county’s Public Works department; the motion carried.

Other approved motions included $15,000 from the economic development fund to support the Chamber of Commerce job fair, authorization of a signer for a pending solid‑waste property closing, approval of Little League lease terms for a new property, and a board letter to U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley supporting NEPA reform in the Speed Act. Several other administrative items (minutes approval, liaison assignments and personnel budget items) were discussed and moved forward by consensus or motion.

Next steps identified by the board include finalizing hires and contracting, circulating DryCrease contract numbers to commissioners for follow‑up negotiation, routing the administrative‑leave policy draft to bargaining units for feedback, and implementing ARPA amendment tasks under Public Works.