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High Valley residents ask Lewis County commissioners to help finish emergency river revetment
Summary
Neighbors who self-funded emergency work on the Katz (transcript also shows 'Kletz') River told Lewis County commissioners they need help finishing engineering, loan and permitting steps; Commissioner Scott Brummer offered to be a point person and will bring the head of the Department of Fish and Wildlife to a June 15 site visit.
PACWOOD, Wash. — Neighbors who paid to shore up an eroding stretch of the Katz (spelled “Kletz” in portions of the record) River urged the Lewis County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to help finish permitting, engineering and loan tasks left after an emergency revetment.
Donna Oakclair, who identified herself as from Pacwood, told commissioners she and other residents from High Valley 8 and 11 have been meeting with Fish and Wildlife staff and confirmed that “permissions from all 20 homeowners” were collected for the emergency work and can be provided if county staff cannot locate them. “We really don’t know what’s coming next,” Oakclair said, asking the board to remain “on your radar.”
Geneva Howlet, representing High Valley Community Resilience, said neighbors acted during an emergency and that their work directly protected houses. “Twenty homes are still standing tonight because of it and roughly 250 more downstream are safer,” Howlet said. She told commissioners the group still faces construction loan obligations and engineering reports that will cost “tens of thousands of dollars.”
Howlet said Commissioner Scott Brummer has offered to serve as a point person for the neighbors and that Brummer will bring the head of the Department of Fish and Wildlife to walk the revetment with residents on June 15. “For a group of neighbors who paid for this out of their own savings, that kind of support means a great deal,” she said, adding: “We did the right thing in an emergency. Please help us finish it.”
The speakers asked the county to help open administrative doors and to clarify permitting and next steps for completing restoration and stabilizing downstream areas. Oakclair said she would provide photocopies of homeowners’ permission forms if Fish and Wildlife staff could not locate them.
The public comments portion of the meeting concluded with the board moving on to consent items; the record does not show immediate county action or a formal staff commitment beyond the planned site visit.
What’s next: Howlet and Oakclair said engineering work and loan resolution remain outstanding; the June 15 site visit with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Commissioner Brummer was announced as a next procedural step.
