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Wasco County commissioners approve cemetery conveyance, subdivision plat, fee change and road vacation
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Summary
At meetings March 4 and March 18, 2026, the Wasco County Board of Commissioners approved transferring the Friend Historic Cemetery to a local nonprofit, signed Phase I of the RW Estates subdivision, voted to contribute $5,000 to a coalition challenging FEMA floodplain rules, adopted a new land corner fee ordinance (with a death-certificate exemption), and vacated obsolete roads in Columbia Crest Addition.
The Wasco County Board of Commissioners approved a package of land-use and administrative actions at meetings in early and mid‑March, continuing a series of local steps officials say will protect historic resources, enable housing development and position the county for state and federal regulatory changes.
The Board unanimously approved Resolution 26‑003 conveying title to the Friend Historic Cemetery to the Friend Community Club, an Oregon nonprofit, under the specific authority of ORS 97.445. County General Counsel Kristen Campbell told commissioners the conveyance is subject to perpetual deed covenants requiring the nonprofit to maintain the site as a historic cemetery, provide ongoing grounds care and guarantee public access; the deed includes a reversion provision allowing the county to step in if the nonprofit dissolves. "The conveyance is being executed under the dual authority of ORS 275.030 ... and ORS 97.445," Campbell said during the presentation.
The Board also authorized the Phase I final subdivision plat for RW Estates (City of The Dalles file SUB 85‑25), creating nine residential lots of about 9,000 square feet each and a remainder tract of roughly 2.78 acres. AKS Engineering representative Ben Beseda said required conditions and infrastructure improvements have been met and the developer, 4W Properties LLC, may proceed to record the plat. "The nine residential lots created in this phase average approximately 9,000 square feet each," Beseda said.
In a separate action, commissioners voted to contribute $5,000 to Oregonians for Floodplain Protection, a coalition engaged in litigation and advocacy over FEMA's revised Biological Opinion and its proposed floodplain rules. Community Development Director Kelly Howsley‑Glover said the coalition seeks to contest a federal approach she described as a new enforcement role for FEMA that could limit development in floodplains.
On fees and county surveying, the Board repealed and replaced Ordinance 94‑376 with Ordinance 26‑001 to update the Public Land Corner Preservation Fund after state law removed a prior $10 cap on recording fees. County Surveyor Brad Cross explained that the county needs additional revenue to remonument and maintain historic survey corners and proposed raising the fee to $28 per recording; County Clerk Chrissy Zaugg successfully requested an exemption for recorded death certificates. Cross told commissioners a single corner restoration can require significant staff time and equipment and that the higher fee would help sustain a program that previously relied on a capped charge.
Finally, Public Works Director Arthur Smith recommended and the Board approved Order 26‑014 vacating Granite Way, Cavern Way and a portion of Sandstone Way in the Columbia Crest Addition. Smith said those rights‑of‑way were platted in 1953 but never developed and that vacating them is a necessary procedural step to enable a future, modern replat.
Next steps for these items include recording the cemetery deed and the RW Estates plat and implementing the ordinance changes per their stated effective dates and administrative processes. The motions passed unanimously unless otherwise noted.