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Curry County commissioners vote to pursue annexation into Coos County Area Transit, appoint CCAT manager as grant writer
Summary
At a July 14 joint meeting, Curry County commissioners voted unanimously to pursue annexation into the Coos County Area Transportation District effective July 1, 2027, authorized submission of a regional planning grant, and named CCAT General Manager Melissa Metz as the county's Qualified Entity Grant Writer at $105/hour for 2027–2029.
Curry County's Board of Commissioners voted July 14 to pursue annexation into the Coos County Area Transportation District, approving a motion that sets the effective date for July 1, 2027. The commissioners also authorized submission of a Transportation Growth Management (TGM) grant to develop unified public transportation plans for the South Coast and designated Melissa Metz, General Manager of Coos County Area Transit (CCAT), as Curry County's Qualified Entity Grant Writer for Oregon Department of Transportation grants for the 2027–2029 biennium at a rate of $105 per hour.
The actions were taken during a joint meeting with CCAT representatives in Gold Beach. The motion to pursue annexation was made by Vice Chair Patrick Hollinger and seconded by Commissioner Lynn Coker; all motions related to consolidation and grant activity passed unanimously. The TGM grant and the grant-writer designation are intended to support creation of coordinated regional transit planning across the South Coast region.
Mary Rowe provided public comment regarding Coos County Area Transit services during the meeting; the minutes record only that she 'provided comments regarding Coos County Area Transit services' and do not include verbatim remarks. CCAT representatives in attendance included Dean Martin, Jane Stebbins, Harper Thompson and Melissa Metz; Kathryn Bernhardt represented Curry Public Transit, Inc.
The commission recorded the grant-writer appointment at an hourly rate and the biennial term explicitly: Metz was named the "Qualified Entity Grant Writer" for the county's public transportation grant applications to ODOT for 2027–2029 at $105 per hour. The annexation motion specifies July 1, 2027 as the effective date; the commissioners did not record additional implementation details or an administrative timeline in the meeting minutes.
Next steps identified in the meeting are procedural: Curry County will pursue the annexation process with CCAT and submit the joint planning grant application. The minutes do not specify deadlines for grant submission, community outreach steps, or subsequent administrative actions beyond the motions the board approved.
