Skagit County commissioners approve consent agenda, schedule hearings on budget amendments and community center improvements

The Skagit County Board of Commissioners approved the consent agenda on March 16, 2026, and set public hearings on proposed budget amendments and community-center improvements.

Commissioner Burns moved to approve “the consent agenda items 1 through 22, including all items requiring ratification, vouchers and warrants for Monday, 03/16/2026,” and Commissioner Browning seconded; the board voted in favor and the motion passed, the Chair announced.

Why it matters: the consent agenda bundled routine approvals and set the schedule for public input on several items that will affect county spending and facilities. Among the items flagged during discussion were a budget-amendment hearing, a facility improvements hearing, a traffic-data services agreement, clean-energy grant work and engineering for a sewer disinfection upgrade.

Key items explained Commissioner Burns told the board that Budget & Finance item 8 is a resolution calling a public hearing to consider amending the 2026 county budget; the hearing is scheduled for March 30 at 1:00 p.m. He emphasized the hearing is “just to consider the changes that would be made to the budget, not the overall budget itself.”

Burns also noted Facility Management item 9 calls for a public hearing on improvements to the Concrete Community Center on March 30 at 2:30 p.m.

On contracting, Burns described a personal service agreement with Urban SDK to provide a county-wide geospatial platform of speed, congestion and volume data for Skagit County roadways for $25,000, saying the dataset lets staff “pick up a whole lot of data at 1 time” and can reduce the need for time-consuming, specialized field studies.

County chair remarks and grants The Chair said the county has secured a state clean-energy grant of about $515,000 to help locate potential clean energy sites and that the county will work with Kimberly Horn and PDSA Consulting Group on the grant-funded work. The Chair also noted a proposed professional services agreement with Gray Osborne Incorporated for engineering a UV disinfection system for the county-run sewer system in Edison.

Recusal and miscellaneous approvals The Chair announced a recusal from miscellaneous item 1 because of service on the Community Action Board. That item is a personal service agreement with Community Action of Skagit County to administer a tenant-based rental assistance program for individuals with behavioral health disorders; compensation for the agreement shall not exceed $30,000, and the agreement term was listed as 01/01/2026–12/31/2026. The Chair also announced a resolution calling a public hearing on the Home Investment Partnership Program 2026 Annual Action Plan, scheduled for April 27 at 1:00 p.m. in the County Commissioner Hearing Room at 1800 Continental Place in Mount Vernon.

Commissioner Browning moved to approve miscellaneous items 1 and 2; Commissioner Burns seconded, and the board approved the items with one recorded recusal by the Chair.

What happens next: public hearings on the budget amendments and Concrete Community Center improvements are set for March 30; the HOME program Annual Action Plan hearing is scheduled for April 27. County staff will proceed with contract finalizations and grant work as approved on the consent agenda.

Quotes “I move to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 22, including all items requiring ratification, vouchers and warrants for Monday, 03/16/2026,” said Commissioner Burns.

“The grant's about $515,000,” the Chair said when describing the clean energy award.

“I will recuse because I'm on the Community Action Board,” the Chair said when announcing the recusal for the Community Action agreement.

Ending The board adjourned the public meeting and moved to a Human Resources work session at 1:30 p.m.