HomeMy WebLinkAboutclosed_caption09:01:10 Alright!
09:01:13 Good morning, everyone. I will call this February sixth meeting of the Board of County Commissioners regular meeting to order.
09:01:20 It's good to see everyone. Today. We'll start, as we always do, with with public comments.
09:01:26 Anyone have anything. They want to make announcements before we we head to the public
09:01:31 Think of anything. Okay? Then we we have a few folks with us in the room today, and people online, too.
09:01:39 We'll start in the room. If there's anyone that would like to make public comment today, please indicate so and you can come up.
09:01:45 You don't have to good to see our new communications specialist in the room.
09:01:48 Would you like to make public comment today, sir? Okay, great.
09:01:53 Well, thanks for being here. Anyone in the virtual audience with us that would like to make comment today.
09:02:00 Please indicate by hitting. Raise hand, or if you're on a phone, you can hit Star 9 to raise your hand
09:02:07 Steve. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you.
09:02:09 With your mascot
09:02:14 Alright! Well, we will leave. Oh, public comment, oh, we have one.
09:02:21 All right. Let's bring over Mr. Tears.
09:02:25 Regardless. We'll leave public comment open till 9 30. As our our current recent past practice
09:02:35 Alright, Mr. Tish, what you get yourself unmuted.
09:02:38 You have 3Â min
09:02:39 Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Commissioners. I've got a couple of comments on 2 2 items on the consent agenda.
09:02:48 I, item number 4 is an ongoing concern in mind.
09:02:54 The county is still spending a ton of money for support on this adequated and in almost incapable system called Javs for a courtroom recordings.
09:03:04 If you've ever tried to watch those, it's just unwatchable.
09:03:08 The audio is terrible, and you know the cost here annual cost is just absurdly high County already has licenses for ev capture all.
09:03:17 It has zoom, licenses, you know. You've got control of the budget.
09:03:20 Maybe it's time to flex that muscle and convince the court that they really need to upgrade their system.
09:03:26 You know, year after year I'm really tired of seeing this expenditure.
09:03:31 Second point, concern. Item number one. This is regarding your hearing for courthouse security policy.
09:03:39 First of all, I wonder why this is being an uncodified non ordinance.
09:03:44 That just seems odd. Either it is, or it isn't the rule or law.
09:03:47 But whatever you know, the first thing about this proposal, and probably the worst is the idea that it automatically exempts certain people, including basically all employees
from scanning.
09:03:58 And inspection. And that's just plain old dangerous.
09:04:03 It's a fact that more than 26% of all workplace violence, including shootings and other results, is done by employees not by outsiders.
09:04:13 By automatically excluding those employees from scanning.
09:04:18 Sorry you're just opening yourself up to some serious problems.
09:04:22 If in fact, violence in the workplace is as big a problem as I believe it is.
09:04:27 The other major flaw. In this proposal, as it says, it's currently written in section 3.
09:04:33 It says, quote weapons are prohibited within the interior of the courthouse building.
09:04:37 Well, that's true. But let's see, we got sheriff's deputies guarding the entrance.
09:04:42 Are they gonna be unarmed? How about the people in the prosecutor's office?
09:04:47 It's pretty well known that they that most, if not all, of them, have weapons, are they gonna just ignore the the law that's not a good look for the justice system?
09:04:57 Or will they give up their guns this this whole proposal really needs some tweaking to be realistic, reasonable, and enforceable.
09:05:07 And so you know, before you even have a hearing on this thing.
09:05:10 Maybe it's time to have another workshop to consider the practical aspects of it.
09:05:15 That's it. Thank you.
09:05:25 But if yours is the only one right now, we can respond.
09:05:28 I'll call again. Anyone in the public with us virtually.
09:05:31 That would like to make a public comment. Today, we'd love to hear from you, and you can click the raise hand button or star 9 if you're on your phone.
09:05:39 Oh, we got one more. Bring them Dr. Jones over
09:05:59 Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to ask a quick question.
09:06:05 We'll there be public comment during the workshop this afternoon on forest board lands.
09:06:11 Thank you.
09:06:15 Thank you. Dr. Jones.
09:06:18 Anyone else that would like to make public comment today
09:06:27 For.
09:06:32 Alright!
09:06:41 Morning, is ball
09:06:44 As soon as you get yourself unmuted. You have 3Â min to let us know what you're thinking about.
09:06:51 Let me!
09:06:54 Yep, that you're you're up
09:06:56 Sorry there's a a lag and you kind of black out for a second there, so good morning, Jean Valjean.
09:07:04 I agree with Mr. Tears about this security issue. I think all courthouse staff should be screened in.
09:07:13 It's exactly for the reasons, he stated. It's because we have a term called going postal.
09:07:18 For exactly that reason that we have you know, colleagues within departments that are the very high like have a very high likelihood of the aggressors in in situations we have
security.
09:07:32 Why not use it? The other thing I wanted to ask a couple of things I was up at Pennsylvania yesterday, and I found what I believe to be at least 4 more leave trees that are
down for, and I say for more, because I was aware previously a 4 trees that have been
09:07:57 noticed I did not go I was running out of daylight out, so I did not go and confirm.
09:08:05 Those trees were still on site, but I found 4 new trees.
09:08:08 The fifth trafficking yesterday, I think, is one that's already been accounted for so I'm wondering if we have any update on the status of that situation, and I also wonder
if this afternoon when we have an update from Mallory our we also going to have an update from
09:08:25 Peter bales on his mapping project, and the forest for the future.
09:08:29 Update. Thank you.
09:08:32 Thank you. Miss Paul.
09:08:35 Anyone else that would like to make public comment today
09:08:39 Like, raise hand or star. 9.
09:08:47 Okay, seeing no one else, I will keep public comment open.
09:08:52 But we'll take a moment to respond to the 3 comments we've had so far.
09:08:55 Turn the first. My seatmates sure I can go
09:09:04 The notification about the courthouse security item is for a hearing, and I would appreciate if people would come to that hearing and make the comments they've made.
09:09:14 But we will make sure that they're brought up I'm sure we'll hear more about it during that hearing.
09:09:23 Is that a hearing, hearing? Notice? No, not jabs the courthouse.
09:09:28 Security, jabs, and this is my first hearing of issues with jab.
09:09:36 So I I look forward to what you guys have to say about jobs, and I think we should have public comment during the forestry workshop.
09:09:45 So we should add that Carolyn and
09:09:52 We're not planning on having an update from Peter Bales, but we do have a map that will be updated for that agenda item.
09:09:59 I'm not sure if it's up there yet, but I know Mallory and Catherine Copis, who are working with Kevin Hitchcock here in the courthouse to produce a map that includes a lot of
the information in the forest for the future.
09:10:10 Report, so yeah, great. Yeah. So generally, those are my comments.
09:10:21 Hmm, yeah. I've heard ongoing concerns over the years about jabs.
09:10:27 But I will say I'm I'm mostly ignorant to it.
09:10:30 In large part, because the court's independent operate fairly independently of us, except, of course, terms of budget and financial.
09:10:38 So, yeah, I guess I don't know if Mr.
09:10:42 Macaulay wants to to speak to Jabs.
09:10:44 It's it's not something I'm all that aware of, but I do hear complaints about the the functionality and the product that it creates for us.
09:10:52 Yeah, both. Courtrooms were upgraded a number of years ago a Judge land us before she left Tracy Bick.
09:10:59 They both undertook a modernization effort, and they were both happy with the results.
09:11:03 And Sophie Nordstrom, and the recently retired Judge Harper had superior record, upgraded, and for my understanding they were happy with the upgrade also.
09:11:15 That doesn't preclude another review of both systems to see if some improvements could be had.
09:11:20 I've never observed the proceedings in either of the courts, and I think you know, maybe I should do that just to to see if I share the concerns that others have
09:11:32 So the was it. The hardware that was upgraded, though in the courtrooms not necessarily the jab, soft, or the the the system we use? I don't know if it's entirely software,
or if there's a hardware component also but I think it was mostly equipment I don't know
09:11:48 Whether the certainly, the the system that runs it is upgraded on a regular basis as new versions come out, I'm really not equipped to go into incredible detail on this, because
the courts contracted directly with jabs for the upgrades.
09:12:07 So I can report out at a later meeting. I know that our new Superior Court judge has some concerns about the technology, and so I think for continuity's sake, we should proceed
with the consent Agenda item today and just be prepared that this might be coming up, in a more
09:12:25 Substantial format in the future. Right? And I have heard the same comment, Kate, yeah. And so I'll arrange to meet with Judge Judge Mac and see what his concerns are.
09:12:39 In terms of the courthouse security. I was a little surprised to see usually, when we usually we do a workshop before hearing comes to us with for new ordinance.
09:12:51 I am curious. I was just curious about the uncodified.
09:12:54 That simply means we should use the word draft it's an orbit, it's an it's an it's not codified.
09:13:02 But it is, it is an ordinance, and we're hoping once we have a hearing.
09:13:08 If the board approves of what's in it, then it will become codified.
09:13:13 So. Yes, this is a great time to be looking over the draft and and coming up with comments.
09:13:21 At the comments you mentioned. Mr. Tears were helpful, and I will also be digging in, and you know we do have hearings where we sometimes request changes be made before we come
back and adopt, so that might be the case.
09:13:40 Right the proposed language continues, the crack that has been in place here since January of 2,018.
09:13:45 And so you know, we'd be happy to change it, based on testimony and and other factors.
09:13:51 But it's not a a change from current practice.
09:13:56 Oh, interesting. Okay, great. And I am. Yeah. I defer to Commissioner Eisenhower on the presentation this afternoon.
09:14:09 And so that's all for me. Thank you. Great Sarah, did you have anything to add to this?
09:14:15 No. Okay. She's here to help with my computer. Okay?
09:14:17 Great, alright. Well, I'll respond real quickly, and then what it looks like.
09:14:23 We might have more, more, individuals that want to make public comment agree with everyone, pretty much so far happy to have public comment after our forestry workshop.
09:14:33 You know it's it's an issue with a lot of strong emotions.
09:14:37 And we want to lean into transparency and getting input from folks on that.
09:14:41 So absolutely happy with having public comment. There, you know, I've had some conversations with Dnr.
09:14:48 About leave trees, and what's the after action? And you know there is a Dnr.
09:14:54 Has a process where they're gonna go, and it'll be they'll see how many leave trees are left, and if there's a difference, that's when it's reconciled with the with the buyer
and the contractor.
09:15:05 Under that, so continue to pay attention to this. But I don't necessarily have a reason to bulk on DNA's process so far they've been responsive and will, I know, continue to
look when that the lo!
09:15:20 The logging is completed, just ask, I mean, on that note.
09:15:24 I'm curious whether they were blowdowns or cut downs, because oftentimes, after a harvest activity, trees are left vulnerable to wind we've got a lot of wind lately, so I wonder
if these additional ones were blown down high curious.
09:15:38 About that. Yeah, I don't know
09:15:42 And I guess we can given an opportunity to to Miss Paul when we're done with public comment to see if they I don't have routes on them, and if they were blowdowns regarding
jabs, I think it is a good time to look at it.
09:15:58 I agree with Commissioner Dean that we should necessarily pull it from consent agenda she's always we don't interrupt the flow, but I think with Judge Mac here it's a good opportunity
for evaluation of those systems, and as we know our virtual meeting technology has improved
09:16:16 a lot, some jobs when they. And so it's very likely there could be another.
09:16:21 Solution. But you know the courtroom needs are different than our other hybrid meeting needs, so I think I should point out that the jab system is less for the public than it
is for capturing evidential.
09:16:38 You know, testimony and the proceedings of the court right?
09:16:42 So I wonder, too, though with the you know, I think most, if not all, hearings are now on virtual platform, too, on zoom, so I I think it is a good time to be asking if we get
the right set up.
09:16:56 And redundancies are probably helpful, if not required.
09:17:02 So for sure, that's fine, and I think we've talked about uncodified already.
09:17:08 Means drafts, and I think you raise 2 great issues, excluding staff from from scanning is something.
09:17:16 I think that Staff usually wants until until something goes wrong. You know.
09:17:20 I mean, I think that was an issue we had with the previous security was often there were not clear guidelines as to who was just walking through, and who was who was going through
full screening, so I think those are good conversations to have as well as the weapons exceptions, and again.
09:17:36 That's a significant departure from our old security is that our Trans.
09:17:41 Security are deputized, security actually have weapons.
09:17:46 So we wanna make sure that our our ordinance doesn't eat its own tail.
09:17:52 So thank you for the comments and anyone else in the room that would like to make public comment today.
09:17:57 Come on up, Mr. Schumacher. Thank you so much. We have 3Â min. Okay?
09:18:02 Well, look! There were a lot. There was a fair amount of news that came out in the last couple of weeks since your last meeting.
09:18:09 One was that project. Veritas ran a honeypot sting operation and was able to grab this guy just Jordan Walker, who is the Pfizer's Director of Research and Development, is Chicago
Operations 4 down from the CEO.
09:18:23 And he made a lot of very disturbing revelations that I've been circulating through the Internet millions and millions of views not being picked up by mainstream media.
09:18:34 Except for one cable news report. Most recent reporting from this was Walker was claiming that the Covid vaccine.
09:18:45 You know it shouldn't be interfering with menstrual cycles we don't really know I hope we don't find out something with a seminar lingers in the body because it has to be affecting
something hormonal to impact menstrual cycles he's a neurologist.
09:18:56 And he was saying that, you know he was sort of disturbed about that.
09:19:00 That Pfizer is seeing evidence that it is causing the stuff and he doesn't know what it is, what the reason is.
09:19:07 But he's something were to happen downstream, and he came out at the scale.
09:19:11 The scandal would be enormous around the after.
09:19:17 After these revelations, Pfizer belatedly put out a press release that didn't deny that Walker was actually his, their employee, and actually admitted to some of the stuff that
he had said including that their pax Lovid experiments, that they're doing gain
09:19:31 Of function, research on viruses and stuff like that. They also dumped some additional information about the side effects of the vaccines.
09:19:41 The among other things, from the Fisher Zone research or or, yeah, they basically found that there is a one in 800 chance of serious cardiac events.
09:19:58 This this compares to Uk data that shows for adolescent 16 to 19 that the benefit of the vaccine is only perhaps preventing one hospitalization per 73,500 doses.
09:20:13 So we're basically talking about for these adolescent kids that there's a 100 times more chance of Assyria, basically their heart being ruined.
09:20:19 Then that they might have to go to the hospital, and it types worse than that for male adolescents where the risks are even worse.
09:20:27 And so I don't know. To me this is a major violation of Hippocratic oath issues another thing that came out was this last period.
09:20:37 Was that the lead, the Cochrane Review? They're actually like the gold standard for reviews of these things has been for years.
09:20:45 They came out with a new overall study of mask, effectiveness.
09:20:50 And they basically again found no effectiveness whatsoever for the mask at least no evidence for it.
09:20:57 And there's an interview with the lead author of it.
09:21:00 Quinn. Sally's name is Tom Jefferson, not not the namesake of our county.
09:21:03 He's a senior tutor at the University of Oxford, and so he.
09:21:07 He was quoted. But you can go ahead and send, though, that studies on, you know. We get things at Jeff
09:21:19 Alright! Anyone else in our zoom room or in real life here that would like to make a public comment.
09:21:26 Love, to hear from you.
09:21:31 Alright. Well, I will keep it open. Anyone with response, for Mister Schumacher
09:21:40 No response, let me know. We. We continue to to follow the science of the Cdc. Via.
09:21:46 Our health officer, and it's you know it is contradictory to the information you bring forward and I don't want to make light of a vaccine entry it is real.
09:21:59 It happens in this country it's all over the world, and but the the data that we rely on for policy making is is indicating that the vaccine is profoundly affected.
09:22:12 And so we continue to operate from from that information I was just gonna say that I'm once again personally grateful for the vaccine.
09:22:21 Somebody very close to me in my life was exposed to Covid, and maybe got Covid, but she's showing very mild symptoms.
09:22:30 So because she's fully back vaccinated. So, feeling grateful for the vaccine effectiveness.
09:22:37 No, I think he said it. Well, I'm you know.
09:22:40 For my part, I'm just not sure what your your in-game is, Mr. Schumacher.
09:22:44 I mean, we've I'm already vaccinated.
09:22:45 You're not gonna do make me unvaccinated.
09:22:47 Most people are already vaccinated. So you can't go backwards, so I'm not quite sure what the point is, except, you know, kind of legislate.
09:22:54 The past, in a way that's fairly recent, you know.
09:22:58 So love, and your next comment to to hear what you want us to do.
09:23:03 I mean, we've got. We definitely support the vaccines efficacy in prevailing serious disease.
09:23:10 That's the guidance we've had from our you know, trained epidemiologists, and were unlikely to to throw that out, for well, I mean, I just didn't even know what would be the
impact of throwing it out.
09:23:23 Now you still making the vaccines accessible. If you're already on the program, you're on the program.
09:23:27 So love, to love, to hear you in game. Okay? Any other anyone else with with public comment today, what?
09:23:37 We will keep it open for a few more minutes. If anyone is is moved to comment, and maybe we can quickly look at the consent agenda before a proclamation at 9 30
09:23:47 Sure, glad to see the fund 1 48, 1 49, and 1590 funds agreements here for various housing projects.
09:23:57 That's all in Carolyn. Yeah, yeah. Good job.
09:24:01 Carolyn. Thank you.
09:24:04 Yeah. A complicated nest of funding sources for those, too.
09:24:09 Thank you for sorting it all out. It's like it felt like a a big Massachusetts string that you had to untangle
09:24:17 Great, and just to to point out that the our support of the North Olympic Legislative Alliance is reflected on the consent agenda today and Number 5 and it's been really helpful
to have another lobbyists working on behalf of some of our legislative
09:24:36 Priorities, so let me talk about that this afternoon, but I think that is, is money well spent in a fast moving legislative session.
09:24:46 Yeah. And it should be mentioned that that helps relieve the financial pressure on our Edc team.
09:24:49 Jefferson team also very much appreciated. Just gonna call out the Gibbs like county park caretakers.
09:24:59 I'm always glad to see those contracts come through and grateful for the folks who step up to Kate.
09:25:05 Take care of our parks the way they do, because I know a lot of them go above and beyond the call of duty in there roles, as the primary people on the ground in our parks so
super grateful that one was stood out to me too.
09:25:17 You know I mean wasn't it? In there? Large, larger than 4 ward? Yeah.
09:25:22 And basically managed by by volunteer caretakers like that.
09:25:27 Get a place to stay so I love this program, and I know it's a way that we can expand our parks and Rec services to.
09:25:33 Probably the only way that we can. Great. Well, it's it's a it's a meaty consent, agenda.
09:25:40 So love, seeing all this work on here, accepts, of course, for the perpetual delays to the quilting Complete Streets project.
09:25:47 But I'm just reconciled to that, and we'll hear all about that we have a Pip meeting scheduled, and in the bucket. Alright, the board about that project.
09:25:57 Yeah, yeah. Committed money from piff to that. So let's see where it's going.
09:26:01 Okay. Well, I I'd welcome a motion if you guys are so inclined happy to move that we approve the consent agenda for February sixth, 2023.
09:26:11 Any further questions or comments, all in favor of proving the consent.
09:26:16 Agenda, as presented, indicate by saying, Aye, aye, that motion passes alright.
09:26:22 We're almost to 9 30 here, I'll give another call.
09:26:25 Anyone that would like to make public comment. We'd love to hear from you
09:26:31 Well, we'll keep it open for another minute, but we'll say again
09:26:37 Okay. But let's move on to the proclamation.
09:26:41 And this came forward from our our new auditor and and clerk. Right?
09:26:48 Yeah, Brenda, are you here to talk about this proclamation?
09:26:53 Do you have anything you'd like to say?
09:26:57 Well, I, oh, you! You have to come up to the the microphone so we can all hmm!
09:27:05 Alright. So I'm Brenda, honey, for the Jefferson County auditor.
09:27:10 Hey, just like the proclamation says we are committed to protecting the human rights and equality for all individuals, regardless of age, race, national origin, am I supposed
to read this, or you don't read the proclamation as part of our but we'd love to but you know as a as
09:27:33 Our office, we see and help lots of people in all different ways.
09:27:36 We go down to their vehicles, and if they can't make it up.
09:27:41 So, yeah, we will process stuff through the mail if they can't make it in.
09:27:47 So we try our best to help every citizen in their needs.
09:27:51 That's great. Yeah, thanks, Brendan. Love it. Thank you.
09:27:56 Brandon, alright any any other comments. This is, I'll say, you know I, general proclamation of Human Rights.
09:28:07 I think it's I agree with everything in it. I do.
09:28:10 We've been talking about a council as well that I just this is a separate thing than that.
09:28:15 So similar values that that are enshrined in both the proclamation and that that organizational impetus.
09:28:22 I wonder, since we have a few of our other elections here, if they want to help us read this and it's great.
09:28:27 We we've never done a proclamation with all of the elected that I'm aware of you guys come up and take take turns going through.
09:28:35 We usually each stands us, yeah, for sure. Stacey and Brenda.
09:28:39 Sheriff Noel, if you can come up you gotta share a microphone here.
09:28:42 But you got a
09:28:46 11. So maybe we'll start with, you know, Stacy, Brenda, Joe, and then, Kate Howid and myself, yeah, and then we'll go back to Stacy Brenda.
09:29:00 I gotta write it down. I'm gonna forget yeah, obviously, I 5 things. The most that I can pick in my brain.
09:29:10 It's almost as many arc as the work coils we had here. Hey? Good!
09:29:16 Thank you. Human rights Proclamation, whereas as elected officials of Jefferson can, we are committed to protecting the an alienable human rights, dignity, and equality of all
individuals, regardless of age, race, national origin, immigration, and citizenship, status, gender sexual
09:29:38 Orientation, gender identity, marital status, religion, creed or mental or physical disability, and
09:29:48 We have sworn and oath of office to support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Washington, to uphold and protect the constitutional rights of individuals
and
09:30:02 Whereas as people, this nation has striven mightily to live up to imperfect its expression of those values through a civil war and a Second World War, and through citizens,
movements such as the suffragette movement of the 1,008 hundreds and early 1,009 hundreds the civil rights, movements.
09:30:19 Of the mid 1,009 hundreds, the gay rights and Lgbtq movement of the 1,900 seventys to the present and many other movements for equality and tolerance which over time have resulted
in court cases and legislation in Washington DC and Washington State that
09:30:35 Enshrine and protect the values of human rights, dignity and equality, and whereas Jefferson County serves all residents, and we strive to make services accessible to all and
county agencies and law, enforcement do not withhold services based on ancestry race
09:30:52 Ethnicity, national origin, immigration, or citizens, citizenship, status, color, age, sex sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, physical or mental disability
or religion, and whereas the public relies on Jefferson county for protection of their civil and human rights and in turn
09:31:11 Jefferson County Relies on public trust as critical to maintaining safe communities.
09:31:16 We encourage residents to report instances of discrimination, harassment, violence, bullying, and expression of hate based on difference, and whereas history has tragically
taught us that intolerance and discrimination are still potent threats to adjust society and that would people stand by and allow
09:31:34 Such acts to occur without speaking up or taking action, it can enable hatred, discrimination, and intolerance to deepen and spread, and whereas recent events and political
uncertainty have shown the need for continued vigilance to ensure that human and civil rights and the rule of law and
09:31:52 Due process are upheld
09:31:56 Yeah, you could. Now, therefore, okay. Now, therefore, the elected officials of Jefferson County, who have signed below hereby proclaim, are unwavering commitment to unalienable
human rights and dignity of all individuals, and equality, under the law and constitution, and that we will continue to strive
09:32:15 To make Jefferson County a welcoming place that is safe and healthy for all, free of discrimination and hatred, and we invite all residents to join us in safeguarding these
values and promoting a climate of tolerance inclusion and civic engagement in our
09:32:29 community, right
09:32:33 Alright! I will move to approve the proclamation as red.
09:32:38 I'll second alright, all in favor. Indicate by saying, Hi!
09:32:41 Hi alright! That proclamation is approved, and this is definitely the first one that I have seen that has not just spots for the 3 commissioners, but also all the other elected
officials, and I think Brenda, you said it really well, you know if if if you're in Jefferson, county
09:32:57 we're here to serve you, and I think this is a great proclamation to to reinforce that we are here to solve.
09:33:03 Serve all. So thank you. Yeah. And thank you for bringing it forward.
09:33:08 It's nice to have our fellow elected if you guys want to hang around, there's a spot for you to sign.
09:33:14 You guys, you want to sign it real quick. Hmm! And thanks for being here
09:33:25 Alright. Oh, oh, yeah, you are a treasure
09:33:45 It's funny. Spell check wouldn't catch that right.
09:33:50 What's the moment? Share? Thank you.
09:33:58 Thank you. Great thanks. So much. Guys, thank you.
09:34:05 Sign this and get it to the humans
09:34:15 Alright! Well, little bit of information done. We have a few moments before our 9 45 update with Dr.
09:34:24 Barry. No will events we talked about already today
09:34:30 People got a lot of lot of briefing to go with.
09:34:35 No no meeting last week. Someone wanna start on their briefing.
09:34:42 2 2 weeks. Worth yeah. No? Fifth, fifth Monday.
09:34:46 Last week. Hmm, hmm.
09:34:52 Wow! To scroll that far. I can get started sure.
09:34:57 Go ahead. Let's see. Hmm! So all the way back to January 20 fourth, I guess.
09:35:06 Testified in a hearing for the point 0 9.
09:35:08 Our fifth rebate from the State, and I'll report more on that later.
09:35:15 But that has that was voted out of committee and is gonna be heard in the Senate tomorrow. Morning.
09:35:21 I'll be testifying there as well. Let's see, I had some good conversations with Chris Coy about our capital planning efforts, and sounds like we're gonna be bringing a workshop
to the board to to get a sense of how we want to advance that effort before
09:35:40 Digging any further in, went to Judge Max, swearing in great to have new Superior Court judge seated, and not sure is is Judge Harper still around?
09:35:54 No, you end up end of January. Is that right?
09:35:57 Some judge. Yeah, Judge Mac is here. Maybe we could invite him in for a I think. Actually, they have okay, great.
09:36:07 And I believe too, that they are. They often have trouser arrayments on Monday morning, so might that might not be a good time, but great to have a new member of the county
family, and always a good time to think about how we can work.
09:36:19 Better with our other departments. So glad he is in place.
09:36:26 Oops. See, we had a Budget committee meeting last Wednesday morning that we were all a part of, and did a review of last year, which was a the fiscally strong year we've been
able to advance a number of projects that we're interested in but also have some healthy reserves built
09:36:45 Up largely, thanks to strong sales, tax and a lot of money flown from the Feds.
09:36:52 So it is a joy to be doing this work in an on recessionary environment.
09:36:56 But of course we have to be cross as well. Let's see, had a Housing Fund Board meeting last Wednesday week ago last Wednesday, and gosh!
09:37:13 I'm gonna need a reminder of kind of start looking back on the Rfp process or the process that you're working on.
09:37:21 Yes, y process that we had in place, and how we might be able to change that process to make it more effective in the future, and councilmember Howard and I did work on a draft
that should be coming to you soon.
09:37:39 Greg is a chair. Great, our child care project continues to move forward with our partners. Y.M.C.A.
09:37:48 Jefferson health care and the school district. I was able to speak with the State Director of Usda Roll Development about the appropriation sounds like we should be contacted
soon.
09:37:57 So, mark you, and I'll have to figure out who should be the point of contact for that appropriation from the Usda and it's been a fairly complicated process for the one we got
for the sewer number of webinars to participate in to learn about the requirements for
09:38:17 5. So it's it's gonna be a bit of a lift for that 1.4 5 million.
09:38:24 Okay. Let's see, we had a joint meeting with the planning commission, and that that was that was great.
09:38:35 To start conversation with them about a number of topics. How, again, how to work better with them, planning ahead for the comprehensive plan, and then trying to delineate priorities
some of what your manandated by the State or or other processes, and some of which are mandated or requested
09:38:54 By us, and some by the the director's discretion.
09:38:58 So hopefully, we can all get on the same page about what's most important for the planning commission.
09:39:02 They do enormous amount of work on a volunteer basis for us, for the the people of Jefferson County, and really value all the work that they do.
09:39:13 Let's see another child care meetings, a lot of partners in that.
09:39:18 It's a bit of a heavy lift, but we're we're getting close on that had North Olympic Development Council Meeting, and we met the new Colleen miners left Senator Murray's office.
09:39:35 So I was able to meet her replacements, and he's happy to share that contact information if you haven't been contacted yet.
09:39:41 But an important contact for us. There. What's their name?
09:39:45 I will have to look it up. We just been talking about trying to set up a meeting think if there's anything else to report from? Nodc.
09:39:58 Nothing comes to mind there but continued good work, and the National lab has become a a stronger and stronger partner there, in part because the Federal funding may get getting
around energy, and so they are funding.
09:40:16 Nodc. To do some work on resilience, grid resilience, and the idea of microgrids having more micro good backup and fairly robust conversation on the whether any amount of I
won't say large scale.
09:40:38 But really, should we be focused on trying to generate renewable energy here?
09:40:45 That is grid tide. Will. Would that have much impact?
09:40:49 Or should we be focusing on kind of backup systems for the grid?
09:40:53 For when it's inevitably goes down, as we know it does.
09:40:59 So that is you could question that. There's there's not agreement on, but should probably be a part of a community conversation to decide on, kind of where efforts are being
invested and make sure that we're all investing in the same places to advance some of those efforts and it which is an
09:41:17 Interesting conversation, because I spend a lot of time in Olympia with our our counties folks in the eastern side of the mountains that want nothing to do with renewable energy
projects.
09:41:26 And so just this awareness of, where are we gonna create this renewable energy that we know we need?
09:41:41 We need more power by 2,050.
09:41:41 Like, we create a huge surplus right now. But but if if if we hit our our marks, we're gonna need a lot more electricity, electrical capacity, really quickly, you know. Yeah,
yeah, there's a fair amount of disagreement, yeah, about that.
09:42:00 In part because there is a market for clean energy, and so we'll always potentially have the competition of of Bpa or other selling energy out out of the State versus.
09:42:13 If we were to keep it all within Washington, or even within the Northwest, but there's no question that that the the mandate really is to start creating a lot more renewable.
09:42:24 And it's I mean, there's a blueprint of the Feds.
09:42:28 Have a plan for this, and so far there has been so much resistance that it's entirely on Player.
09:42:32 How that is going to be produced. Our coastal communities are fighting wind power offshore here strenuously.
09:42:41 So even the things that would appear to be lower impact are are not.
09:42:49 And so, and even our clean, the hydroelectric energy has its opponents and and proponents of removal of the Snake River Dams, and how to replace the energy that would be lost.
09:43:02 The hydroelectric power that would be lost from those I've been reading a lot about that.
09:43:06 So there's competing interests everywhere. You look. Yeah, yep.
09:43:12 And the you know, I do think it's an interesting point to the our.
09:43:16 Our colleagues in Eastern Washington are saying, Why, why aren't urban area is implicated in this more?
09:43:23 And I think that's a a valid point, too, that you know, if we need to share this, the burden of energy creation more widely and not do it in equitably.
09:43:33 And so you know, opportunity for a lot of rooftop and already built environments, why aren't we looking at more say, rooftop.
09:43:40 Solar. And so, as we think about capital planning for the county and I'm excited to think about how we can be incorporating it into our processes.
09:43:51 As well remember seventh even has solar panels, and that's 0 building 43 units net 0. That's great.
09:43:59 It's very importantability long term affordability is is huge also sorry.
09:44:03 Too much chatting I let my calendar close here.
09:44:06 How are we doing on time? Okay, great. Let's see.
09:44:15 Lastly, just say, spend some time with Kelly Parker at the Nest.
09:44:17 The new coffee shop which is doing some youth training, employment and providing a safe space for youth and and the whole community to hang out, but really appreciate the investment
she has made and new space, and how are the first couple of weeks going?
09:44:32 It was busy, it was happened when I was there, and you know I live a block away, so I get to see it looks like there's a lot of activity there, right?
09:44:40 And yeah, just really valuable to have those kinds of investments.
09:44:46 And and especially for youth. So really grateful or nonprofit partners are making that work happen. I've heard a lot of adults going there, too.
09:44:58 Great. How are you doing time? Well, you know it is 945. Yep. Why don't we bring Dr. Barry over
09:45:07 And welcome to listeners from Kptz for our twice monthly health update with Dr.
09:45:14 Barry. Good morning. Thanks for being with us today
09:45:17 Good morning, everyone. It's nice to see you
09:45:20 And Willie is not gonna be with us today. So you have the full time.
09:45:24 We don't have to pretend to leave him 10Â min or anything.
09:45:28 You can just
09:45:29 Sounds good. By and large. The the news on the viral front is good.
09:45:37 So COVID-19 rates nationwide are down, trending as our hospitalizations and debts.
09:45:43 Of course we do still see an incredibly high number of deaths nationwide far higher than we would see in any severe flu season.
09:45:51 So it's still a very serious virus. That's important to take seriously.
09:45:54 But things are moving in a positive direction at the nationwide level, and locally as well.
09:46:01 In Washington State case rates are relatively flat. Hospitalizations are down, trending and death rates are relatively flat as well.
09:46:08 In Jefferson County, our current case rate, we have 55 cases diagnosed in the last 2 weeks and 158 cases per 100,000.
09:46:18 As our case rate with a case as retainment rate of one in 13.
09:46:21 At this point with one person currently hospitalized for COVID-19 and no new deaths to report today.
09:46:28 So 12 of 34 deaths so far in this response, which does remain one of the lowest death rates in the country.
09:46:35 Looking at our wastewater surveillance.
09:46:37 We are seeing, we've seen it really market down trend in COVID-19 viral detection in waste water.
09:46:45 But as soon as uptick in the last couple of weeks, just by about 10, nothing, I'm super concerned about at this point, but it's just a trend that we are watching at this point
the dominant variant in our region, and in the State as a whole is Xb 1.5 the one
09:47:03 That really caused a lot of headache on East Coast, but we've yet to see a significant spike in severity or frank numbers of infections and hospitalizations in our region.
09:47:14 Or in the State as a whole, and that particularly Jefferson, appears to be better protected against that than some of our neighbors.
09:47:21 We've not seen a surge of cases here that we've seen in other parts of the State or the country, and we think the biggest driver of that is the percentage of our population
who is vaccinated with the biolet booster as we've talked about on this program in the past.
09:47:34 The Biovalent booster covers for and 5 and B.
09:47:38 A 5 is very, very similar in structure. To xvb.
09:47:42 One, which is the dominant variance circulating now.
09:47:44 So it continues to provide a very good, protection against Covid.
09:47:48 19. In fact, in my own household, we recently experienced a pretty significant covid.
09:47:52 19 exposure. We're all by appeal and boosted and didn't go on to develop COVID-19.
09:47:58 And so we're really hopeful that the bivalent is providing us a high level of protection on the influenza front.
09:48:06 Activity, is now low. We're seeing less than 1% positivity on samples that are sent, and less than 1% of emergency department visits.
09:48:15 At this point are for influenza like illness.
09:48:18 Alright, so we continues to downtrend with a percent positivity of 4.2.
09:48:22 So all in all, a lot of good news in our region, I'm really hopeful the most likely outcome is that we have managed to get through without the Xb surge that we saw in the rest
of the country because of how well vaccinated we are now it is always possible there's an
09:48:40 Outlook possibility that a surge is just late in arriving here, and we'll know more probably the next time I talk to you.
09:48:46 In about 2 weeks, but so far we just have not seen that search materialize.
09:48:51 And I'm really hopeful that because of how well vaccinated our community is that we may have really been able to to get past that that challenge that must have the rest of the
country face.
09:49:00 So I think we are moving into a better phase of the pandemic.
09:49:04 We do have a lot more tools that are disposal than we had this time last year.
09:49:09 We've got an excellent booster available for anyone over 6 months of age.
09:49:14 We have a hypothesis, masks that we can use in crowded settings. At this point.
09:49:19 We've talked a lot about masking on this program.
09:49:22 And then the guidance at this point is that we recommend that you wear a high quality mask.
09:49:27 If you're a high risk yourself or if someone in your household is high risk or if you're in a crowded setting.
09:49:33 So if you think buses, trains, planes, crowded indoor meetings, all of those times are particularly important for wearing a mask, because we're seeing things move in a much
better direction, I think it is reasonable in smaller group gatherings indoors to unmask if everybody is in a safe
09:49:53 Place that's an option that I think is reasonable to consider at this point.
09:49:56 Now that flu and Rsv are fading out, and the covid is moving into a better space.
09:50:00 But it's always important to look at your own risk, and the risk of the people around you, and then look at the risk of being environment that you're in.
09:50:09 If it's a really crowded space. Lots of people sharing some stagnant airspace.
09:50:14 That's a good time to mask up your high risk for someone in your household is. And remember the golden rule we've talked about on this program before.
09:50:19 If someone in your sphere is wearing an n 95, or can 95, or higher, they probably would like Youtube too.
09:50:27 And so it's a good time to to think about masking to support our neighbors, because we have many people in our community who remain at high risk in spite of these promising
this promising direction of our of our data at this point, and with that, I'm happy to take any questions.
09:50:43 Questions for Dr. Barry. Hi. One Dr. Barry, I.
09:50:50 The White House, announced that they're going to rescind the the Covid Emergency.
09:50:53 I believe in May, and we are also taking a look at ours.
09:50:58 Currently which we did keep in place. Do you have an opinion on on? When would be appropriate to do that?
09:51:06 Great question. I don't have a strong opinion on the Jefferson County.
09:51:10 Emergency order. I think the rescinding of the nationwide order is gonna come with some complexity, particularly the nationwide order, has made it possible to pay for treatments
to have free vaccines, to have free tele health services to make sure that the va people from veterans.
09:51:32 In our community can access telehealth services out here, and not have to travel to Seattle.
09:51:35 So there's a bunch of good things that came from that declaration of emergency.
09:51:39 I don't think that the declaration of emergency needs to be persistent, but I do think we need to come up with policy solutions to to make those kind of programs more permanently
accessible.
09:51:51 There's no reason that I can think of why a veteran should have to travel to Seattle to see their doctor.
09:51:57 They don't want to. So all right, there are some policy fixes that we at largely a nationwide level.
09:52:02 But sometimes at a, at a more state or local level, we could consider enacting without a state of emergency.
09:52:09 So we're prepared for when those states of emergency are lifted
09:52:12 Great. Thank you. Yeah, that's helpful. Nope, I think we're good.
09:52:19 I. I checked my flow chart again this morning and answered my question. So I I share some of the questions with the Kptz listeners, so I'll I'll defer to them, for for now
09:52:33 So the first question was asking about. Towards the end of the towards the end of the year we had what looked like a really significant rise in COVID-19 deaths in Columb County,
who is not actually a surgeon.
09:52:48 That's but what it was was a backlog of deaths that hadn't been reported to our department.
09:52:53 There were 2 primary reasons for that. One of those reasons was that we are very stringent in both of our counties, in checking our COVID-19 deaths you might have heard some
of the news reports suggesting that you know people were being logged as covid deaths and they didn't
09:53:09 even die of covid. So we've always been incredibly stringent about that.
09:53:12 We review every death certificate, every medical record. If there's any possibility that it's not covid we make sure that we know for sure it's covid before we count it in Clown
County.
09:53:23 One of the unfortunate realities that we're facing is that we have a very high rate of overdoses.
09:53:28 And so we've had quite a few people who have died at home, and who also tested positive for Covid.
09:53:34 And we didn't know which one it was, and so we need to wait until we got the toxicology back to make sure that we were really counting Covid deaths when they were Covid desk
and not misattributing something else.
09:53:46 Unfortunately, because of funding issues at the Medical Examiner level, state wine, there's been a big backlog of toxicology, and so we had several pending cases that we were
just waiting for the toxicology to come back, and then, when that finally, got finalized at the end of the year we had a big
09:54:03 search of those folks who turned out to be Covid, that it wasn't an overdose or anything else.
09:54:06 We checked, but it really was someone who died at home, positive for Covid.
09:54:11 And really died the most likely source that we could find was of Covid.
09:54:15 In some cases we actually requested autopsy if there wasn't any other reason.
09:54:20 All of those data came in, all in a big chunk.
09:54:23 And so it looked like a search. But it was actually spread over the last 6 months.
09:54:26 The other thing that affected that was, there was a ransomware attack on a neighboring health care section in kits app, and so they had a problem accessing their own medical
record system.
09:54:39 Which is how they report death to us. There were several Palm County residents who died in kits that we weren't notified about until they got their medical record system up
and running it's up and running now and they were able to send in those reports to us so those were all spread over the last
09:54:55 6 months of the year we did have a small uptick intest in December, but nothing like a surge of 25 deaths, which was what we reported.
09:55:02 The person who wrote in was asking if there's anything like that potentially pending for Jefferson.
09:55:09 Thankfully. There is not so. The Ransomware attack has been fixed.
09:55:14 We have access to the medical records and kits that we haven't found any other desks of Jefferson County residents related to that, and thankfully, while we do have a significant
issue with substance, use disorder and overdoses in our region it's really not on scale of what
09:55:30 We're dealing with in column, and we've not seen that same level of issue with COVID-19 related deaths.
09:55:36 The other thing that has helped us is thankfully, we having much lower rate of hospitalization and death in Jefferson County, and we have a better staffed Public Health Department,
and so we are still able to follow every hospitalization.
09:55:49 We know whenever anyone is hospitalized with Covid we follow them all the way through their hospitalization.
09:55:55 We know when they die. So we always are able to track them, even if you're at and Cl, we've got half the staff that we have in Jefferson so we haven't been able to track all
those hospitalizations, and we have more hospitalizations and so that's why we
09:56:09 Got affected more by the Emr change. So don't worry.
09:56:13 We don't have a secret stash COVID-19 desk for Jefferson.
09:56:18 It is really 34
09:56:18 That answer really didn't make me feel any better, though, Dr.
09:56:21 Barry, I don't know. Don't worry. It's just the Fentanyl and and the ransomware attacks. Okay.
09:56:22 Yeah. No, it's it's not not good things.
09:56:30 But it's not code, but no finals is a really serious issue throughout the region.
09:56:34 But we're it's hitting us really hard.
09:56:35 And clown right now couple other questions. This person said, I'm an at-risk individual.
09:56:45 I'm very careful, but I've gotten Covid in the past, and had unfortunately prolonged neurological covid symptoms which thinkfully have since abated. I'm really glad that you're
doing better long Covid is really serious disease and it can really dramatically affect your
09:56:59 Life, and really glad that things are moving in a better direction for you.
09:57:03 This person was noting that they are now on medications that are contradicted with Pax little bit so they're not able to take those 2 together.
09:57:12 Are there any folks who are currently now eligible for additional boosters?
09:57:16 Are. Is that kind of coming down the pike? And I would say at this point, unfortunately, no, by Valentine boosters it there.
09:57:23 You only get one. At this point, regardless of your underlying health status, the the primary reason for that is that they are actually still working really well, even for people
who have underlying health conditions.
09:57:36 The bivalents are still working. Really, really well, they're working incredibly well at preventing severe disease.
09:57:43 They're also actually working well at preventing symptomatic disease as well.
09:57:44 Not 100%, but they very much would reduce your risk of catching and giving Covid to others.
09:57:50 So that's all good things I do suspect that there is some point in the future where the Cdc.
09:57:55 Will approve a an additional booster for immunosuppressed populations that tends to happen.
09:58:01 We tend to have a a shorter window for folks who are immunosuppressed.
09:58:06 But we've not seen that come out yet. We will be following that.
09:58:09 We'll definitely put out a notice if it when that comes down.
09:58:12 Otherwise we anticipate the bivalence, are likely going to be the recommended booster annually, and they'll update the formulation to match whatever the current circulating
variant is much like we do with the flu.
09:58:25 But I'm very hopeful that we'll do a much better job of matching it in coming years, because we've put so many investments in place to sequence more quickly so we've got a much
better idea of what is circulating.
09:58:35 And I think we'll be better able to tailor our vaccines and the Mrna vaccines are really the big thing that made that possible.
09:58:42 You can scale those up much more quickly than previous vaccines.
09:58:45 So we are looking at probably annual boosters recommended for most people, but I would suspect that those who are immunos press may have an additional booster recommendation
coming in the coming months.
09:58:57 This person was asking a little bit about how to how to utilize the case.
09:59:04 Ascertainment rate. So they asked if this was based on last week's numbers, if the if the case rate was 1 24 for, or sorry, 240 per 100,000, and reporting a case as entertainment
rate of one in 10 does that mean that the case rate is actually closer to 2
09:59:21 1,000, for 100,000, and the answer is, yes, actually so currently, our case rate is 1 68 per 100,000, with a key Sas entertainment rate of one in 13.
09:59:33 That means currently, our actual estimated case rate factoring.
09:59:37 In how many? COVID-19 cases we don't find out about is a little bit over 2,000 cases per 100,000.
09:59:42 This person said, I don't remember ever being so high.
09:59:46 Is that true? It actually has been that high. It was recorded at about 2,000 cases per 100,000.
09:59:52 About this time last year in the original Omicron search at that point we weren't kind of emphasizing case as entertainment rate as much, but the lowest case as entertainment
rate we've ever gotten to in Jefferson county was about one in 2 so even then
10:00:08 You were talking a case rate of about 4,000. 400,000.
10:00:12 So we are seeing lowercase rates right now than we did this.
10:00:15 But we are also seeing just a change in severity of experience, disease, and our community.
10:00:24 It's not that the virus has become less severe, but it's because we have all these other things that are making it less severe for us.
10:00:29 For most people, it's that, you've got vaccines available that's really reducing the severity at a population level.
10:00:36 Many of us have had COVID-19 infections in the last couple years, and that is also reducing severity at the population level, and we have good medication.
10:00:45 So if you are eligible for Paxlov, it works really well.
10:00:49 All of those things in combination are, do, mean that we're in a very, a quite a bit better place than we were.
10:00:55 Even just this time last year. So we have to interpret the case rates differently now, because we're just dealing with a different time in the pandemic.
10:01:03 We've a lot more tools at our display to make things less severe at this point
10:01:10 This next person was asking about particular waste related to disposable masks, and whether or not reusing would be reasonable, this person reuse their mask and actually sprits
them with it looks like a a sanitizer to potentially make them safer or make them last longer that
10:01:29 actually has been studied during the critical shortages that we were seeing in the very beginning of the pandemic.
10:01:34 There was. There were some trials looking at, sanitizing and reusing, and 95.
10:01:38 So we actually did that in some of our counties in Columb County included.
10:01:43 So we would send actual medical gradient, get them cleaned, and then bring them back and use them again.
10:01:48 So it can be done generally in the general public. We don't recommend cleaning disposable masks.
10:01:54 In fact, some of the chemicals that you might use to clean them can actually make them work less well over time.
10:02:00 What's more important, as far as the longevity of your mask is, how well it fits your face, and when we've studied that, when it comes to the higher quality, well, fitting mass,
like N.
10:02:09 95, you can wear them for up to 5 days with a full 12Â h shift factored in there, because that's what we used to do in the Icu.
10:02:18 So you can wear them for 12 straight hours, 5 days in a row, and then after that point, it starts to really lose its fit and we don't recommend wearing it after that, because
you're not gonna get as good of a seal.
10:02:28 So you can reuse them, and you think of 5 days, times, 12Â h over 100Â h of that mask, and I do back reusing them.
10:02:38 You know I have a few k that are rotate through, because in most situations I'm not wearing it all day, but what I'm in clinic where I wear it all day, and we have enough masks
now, and it gets contaminated on the outside.
10:02:51 I do trade that out, and then get a new one the next day.
10:02:54 So it's a trick. It's a tricky situation.
10:02:56 We don't want to make a lot of excess waste, but you do want to make sure that your mask works, especially if you have high high risk conditions yourself or high risk folks
at home, so you can use them for a while.
10:03:06 But not for if it doesn't fit your Facebook, if you don't get a good suction, that means it's not fitting and you need to get a new one.
10:03:15 This next person was talking about the upcoming notification that vaccinations are going to be privatized when the when likely, around the time that we move out of the state
of emergency.
10:03:28 There were some very unfortunate announcements by the back vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer and Moderna, that they were planning on dramatically increasing the cost of their vaccines.
10:03:36 I am profoundly against that, especially for a vaccine that would prevent predominantly funded by the United States Government.
10:03:45 There's really not a lot of excuse for that kind of behavior, and I hope that our Federal Government intervenes a bit on that, that we shall see.
10:03:54 But the particular question here was, when things become, you know, more normal, more back to our traditional, privatized health care system.
10:04:03 Does that mean that we'll have a little more control over the frequency of vaccines?
10:04:07 We get, and generally no generally pharmacies and doctors still follow the Asip recommendations.
10:04:15 So the American College of Immunization practitioners.
10:04:18 They that recommend the frequency and timing of boosters, that frequency is not really determined, based on how we pay for things.
10:04:26 It's determined, based on your immune system, and how frequently you can stimulate the immune system, and at what?
10:04:34 What intervals to get the best response so that's why we've talked a bit on this program about how you can get a booster as soon as 2 months after your last one.
10:04:42 But if you can, I recommend stretching that to 4 because you're gonna get a stronger, immune response.
10:04:47 That's all just based on the complexity of how your immune system functions.
10:04:51 So I don't think we're gonna see that you can kinda get vaccines whenever you feel like your immune system is feeding, or every 3 months I think most practitioners are still
gonna follow the asip recommendations.
10:05:04 But I am closely following how the payment system is going to work, because, while there are many things challenging about this emergency, there are some good things that came
out of it like making sure that everyone had access to vaccines, whether they could pay or not making sure everyone had access to tell health and tax lipid
10:05:20 Prescriptions, whether they could pay or not, and unless we put in place policy at largely the Federal level, that's all.
10:05:28 Gonna go away, and we're gonna see a big split in inequities which we've already seen in this pandemic.
10:05:34 But we're likely to see it worse and significantly after those funding streams. Go away
10:05:40 This next person was asking a bit about case rates about a year ago we were talking about when it might make sense to discontinuate mask wearing and back.
10:05:48 Then we said, if we got less than 100 cases per 100,000, now we are, as we kind of mentioned, a little bit earlier in the program, in a really different face in the pandemic
and it's really harder to tie our behavior specifically to case rates part of that is because we have this
10:06:04 Very low-case. Ascertainment. We know we are catching all the cases that are out there, but part of that also is that most of those cases are not as severe as they used to be
back in the day.
10:06:14 2 years ago, 3 years ago, a single COVID-19 case, the vast majority of them were incredibly severe, and were ending up one the sorry back back in the beginning.
10:06:25 Many, many cases, a much higher percentage of covid.
10:06:28 19 cases were incredibly severe, so at population level it was incredibly important to reduce overall transmission so that we wouldn't shut down society overrun our hospitals,
lose our ability to function because even a even a virus that led to 10% hospitalization rates which it did at 1 point in this
10:06:47 Pandemic, when millions of us are getting at the same time meant that the health care system would shut down. We're not.
10:06:53 At that point right now, because we have all these other tools.
10:06:58 And so I don't think I would recommend time behavior exclusively.
10:07:02 A case right now. The same way we did. I would tailor it more based on your own risk, the risk of your household and the environment that you're in.
10:07:11 So, for instance, a bus, a train, a plane. Still a good place to wear, a high quality mask, a crowded in north setting, saying, You know, you went to an indoor dance party,
and there's hundreds of people very close together.
10:07:23 I'd wear a high quality mask in a space like that.
10:07:26 But if you're going into a store that's pretty well ventilated, that has a lot of space between you and other people, that's a space that if you're low, risk the people in your
household are low risk it might be reasonable to go ahead.
10:07:37 And go without a mask. So I think we can start to be a little bit more nuanced, and how we decide to wear masks I don't think it's an all or nothing thing, and as we move into
a secretary for part of this pandemic I think we can liberalize
10:07:52 that even more. The last question on on this set was that about which vaccine to get.
10:08:00 So this person has a 5 year old who's almost eligible for their Bible, and booster, and they wanted to know if they should get the Moderna, or and the answer is, if you're 5
or up, you can get either one.
10:08:12 They're all fine. If you're under 5 you have to get the one that you got before.
10:08:17 What it's the only group that has to stick with their primary series.
10:08:22 We are hopeful that come next fall when we move to likely annual boosters, there will be a much simpler recommendation, which is, you just gotta get a bivalent of some time.
10:08:32 And you won't be this kind of brand preference.
10:08:34 But right now, if you're under 5, you have to stick with your prior a version.
10:08:39 If you're 5 or over, you can get what everyone is available to you, and I'd recommend getting whichever one your local pharmacy or health care provider is carrying.
10:08:49 Then I did get one question. If we it looks like we have a little bit more time.
10:08:53 Which was about bird flu. There was a kind of scary looking article about about pandemic influenza related to to birds, and that kind of suggesting that it might be just realm
the corner, and this writer asks that I respond to that so in the background while we're doing all
10:09:13 The other Covid stuff we actually also have been tracking avian influenza.
10:09:18 This full time. So whenever a bird in our jurisdiction test positive for avian influenza, we get a notification at the Department of Public Health and we then contact every
person that came in contact with that bird, and then monitor them for their symptoms throughout the country, we have
10:09:39 Monitored thousands and thousands of individuals, for who have been in contact with Bernard, who had avian influenza thankfully.
10:09:46 Only one in the entire country has developed symptoms and tested positive for avian influenza themselves.
10:09:53 So thankfully this round of avian influenza does not appear to be transitioning into humans.
10:09:59 It's really it is decimating bird populations right now.
10:10:03 That's part of what is driving the cost of aches.
10:10:06 The people are noticing essentially bur flu is driving a lot of that because it's so deadly, especially to crowded flocks of birds.
10:10:14 You lose entire, you know entire flocks of chicken and entire box of ducks.
10:10:19 Very, very quickly, and so it's really, really affecting the Coltry industry right now.
10:10:25 And it's actually affecting wild bird populations as well.
10:10:28 In neighboring column county. We've seen quite a few bald eagles, positive for avian influenza and Canada geese.
10:10:35 We've had several die offs related to that.
10:10:38 If you have a backyard flock, I do. There are some recommendations for how to keep them safe.
10:10:46 The ones you'll generally see from Usda. Recommend kind of isolating them from all other birds that can be very hard if you have free range birds and depending on your setup
can really limit their access to other things that are important for their health one thing, that we have seen when we've
10:11:02 Been tracking these other avian influenza cases is that the biggest risk factor appears to be a water source.
10:11:08 So, if you have a pond on your property, a stream that, migrating birds come to, and they mix with your poultry that's a really high risk factor for getting transition into
your birds.
10:11:20 So be very thoughtful about your birds, and keeping them away from water sources on your property.
10:11:26 If you do that, you're likely to do well, as far as transition to humans, I think we always throughout history have seen spillover of viruses into the human population when
you get what's called an antigenic shift of that virus it can sometimes then develop the ability to
10:11:43 Infect humans. We've seen that with avian influenza was previously called swine flu back in 2,009, we and we saw that with COVID-19.
10:11:53 And so I think it does raise the issue of how critical it is to monitor viruses and other pathogens in animals.
10:12:01 The health of our natural world and the health of people is intimately connected.
10:12:05 They are not separate. And so we have to pay attention to that.
10:12:09 We also have to pay attention to how much our environment, how many incursions we're having into the natural world as we expand the places that we live further and further into
the woods.
10:12:21 Just like you see more cougars showing up in people's properties.
10:12:24 You see more crossover as we have more and more interaction with animals, we think that's likely.
10:12:28 What happened in China. There's populations who live very near bets, and they've been seeing Spillover of Coronaviruses into that population for quite some time.
10:12:38 Start off to say we need to pay attention to how we treat our national, natural world.
10:12:43 We need to pay attention to Spillover and we need to maintain and actually further invest in public health infrastructure to monitor these things.
10:12:51 There is a strong desire I am hearing, to kind of go back to everything the way it was before, including the Public Health Department, should go back to being shoestrings of
the way they used to be not hearing that from from this body, but it's a kind of a general thing that we hear and I think
10:13:07 it's important to pay attention to that, and that we need to be ready for the next pandemic, because there will be another one and we've learned so much from this pandemic.
10:13:16 Now we need to apply it, and that means in large part, we need to have a workforce that's ready to respond to it.
10:13:22 And red to sequence these kind of variants, so that we know that it's coming, and we can jump on it more quickly next time.
10:13:29 And with that I'm happy to take any other questions that might have come up.
10:13:32 Yes, I
10:13:35 So on the Bird flu, friend, have we had? Do you know how many cases of bird flu we've had in Jefferson County over the last? I don't know. Year or
10:13:44 No! Have you heard?
10:13:42 We've had no human cases, but I think to take a look at at how many reported birds we've gotten.
10:13:50 So it's one of the limitations that it's only the birds that are reported, and that is most commonly gonna be domesticated fell because people are following them very closely.
10:14:01 But we do get because we have a wildlife.
10:14:03 Wildlife Preservation Group. Here we do get reports from them sometimes when they take in a sick bird, and then we, we track those and track the people who interacted.
10:14:15 But at this point it's throughout the flyway. And so the Re.
10:14:20 If you see you know a sick sick bird out there, you definitely want to exercise caution.
10:14:28 We have had really nice well-wishers who brought sick birds into wildlife preserves with bare hands, without any masks on and they've been potentially exposed.
10:14:35 So, if you, if you choose to to help us like, Bird, make sure you're wearing gloves, make sure you're wearing a mask.
10:14:43 It makes a huge difference to reduce any risk of of spillover.
10:14:47 But I would say, it's really throughout our flyway. At this point we're really seeing a pretty extensive viral transmission in this area.
10:14:55 It's and I've been keeping my eyes open for it, because we have our own backyard flock, as does Commissioner Brotherton.
10:15:04 It's almost a whole group of chicken owners
10:15:01 I'm not sure, Mr. Dean does not anymore. Yeah, we've got about 2 dozen birds on our poultry on our property, but also we have a lot of wild birds, and so I've just been watching
very closely, and I haven't seen one it's like bird and I'm
10:15:17 Like cool cross your fingers, but you know I just haven't heard of any local kind of statistics, or even cases of it.
10:15:24 So just curious about that.
10:15:25 We we definitely continue to get a slow group of cases, mostly eagles.
10:15:30 We've been seeing a lot of ball deals testing positive because they eat carrion.
10:15:35 And so they go and find a desktop, and then they they pick up that way
10:15:40 So? My other question that came up is someone asked me this over the weekend is the garbage created from all these masks?
10:15:48 Yeah.
10:15:49 Right. And so I'm assuming. Masks are mostly made out of plastic.
10:15:54 Hmm, classic people. Yeah.
10:15:55 True. And yeah, and you know, I've been this and over the entire pandemic wearing my cloth mask and washing my clock mask, and only being a cloth mass mass person.
10:16:07 But just living in kind of terror of the amount of garbage we're creating.
10:16:14 Have you heard of any coordinated or organized conversations about disposing of masks recycling masks?
10:16:23 I just. I haven't heard anything
10:16:25 You know I haven't either, and I think it's a really good point to raise, because I'm sure we're not the only folks who've noticed that we've generated a lot of garbage related
to this.
10:16:36 I think it. It's a it's a really interesting topic, but I think deserves more exploration.
10:16:42 I'm not sure but a capability of recycling these based on the way that they're structured and also based on the fact that they're generally considered contaminated after you've
used them.
10:16:52 And so the the disposal of you know, in the medical system the disposal of them is is different than the kind of standard disposal, because it potentially could have pathogens
on it.
10:17:02 But I think it's something that does need to be considered.
10:17:05 How do we dispose of those safely and properly?
10:17:09 One key thing that we have seen is horizon mask related litter.
10:17:12 It makes sense. I keep them in my car. You close your car to fall out it's just a good thing to pay attention, to make sure that we are being mindful of our environment.
10:17:22 We're not dropping them around. Those loops make me nervous for something that an animal could get caught in.
10:17:27 Just being thoughtful about litter, trying not to, and then trying to make sure that if you see some pick it up and throw away
10:17:32 Cut, the loops, cut the loops like you cut that hot bottle.
10:17:37 Yeah. Hot bottle can
10:17:36 Hey, Nancy? I think it's good idea. It hasn't been a formal recommendation yet, but it seems like a reasonable move to make
10:17:43 You know, been working with Fiberglass.
10:17:47 That boat recycling for a number of years, and we can recycle Fiberglass boat, hole, particulate, and it's used as fuel and kilns for concrete creation.
10:18:09 There you go!
10:18:04 So plastic can be, I mean, has it? Hasn't has a second life in that way other than recycling.
10:18:12 So I wonder if we could create a similar stream for masks?
10:18:16 I don't know. I'm just trying to think outside the box, because I was asked to call the question at the library this weekend, and I started.
10:18:22 My brain woke up in the middle of the night about it last night like, how can we actually mobilize a mask?
10:18:28 I think it's a good idea. Look into it
10:18:28 Recycling effort, anyway. So awesome. They use plastic.
10:18:35 I don't know
10:18:35 But Fiberglass has more or in value.
10:18:38 Okay, yeah, that doesn't sound. Like a solution to me.
10:18:44 But okay, it is they use. A lot of people would be surprised
10:18:49 Yeah. Probably air quality questions, all kinds of things.
10:18:50 Oh, yeah. Not like, yeah. So there's some fodder for Steven for his next column, or somebody else.
10:19:00 I have another question about masks, Dr. Barry, so is the recommendation still primarily for surgical and K.
10:19:15 Sure.
10:19:11 N. 94, 95, and I asked, partly because I'm having to mask a lot now with an immunocompromised person, my household, and especially when I go to the gym.
10:19:24 Hey? Yes.
10:19:20 Where I'm masking. It is, you know, reminded how uncomfortable it is to be hot and sweaty and a mask are there?
10:19:28 Are there any alternatives that are considered more breathable
10:19:32 I mean the challenge, of course, is that the briefability is gets you into the the problem of not getting enough prevention of viral particles coming your way, J.
10:19:42 Generally, if I'm in a situation where I'm gonna be masking for a long time, and I don't think it's sitting incredibly high risk situation, you know, not an airplane or a bus,
I tend to use a surgical mask.
10:19:53 In most of those cases. So, for instance, you know I've been to your chambers.
10:19:58 They aren't usually super packed on a not super packed day.
10:20:02 I think it might be reasonable to use a surgical mask.
10:20:03 They're a little easier to wear. Some folks find them easier to exercise in.
10:20:07 If you're going to be exercising in one.
10:20:10 But cause the cannon class is just really hard to pull the air through there when you're exercising.
10:20:15 So you're really working on protection of yourself.
10:20:19 That's gonna be your best bet to reduce your risk.
10:20:23 And of course, looking at other modifications, so can we make sure that there's excellent ventilation in the place that you work at.
10:20:30 We make sure we go at times, and there aren't that many people.
10:20:32 So you can maybe get away with not masking any of those other changes can be options to reduce the need for masks when it's really not convenient.
10:20:44 Well, I one or 2 questions raised by by your your talk today, Dr.
10:20:51 Barry. One is that, and this is sort of unrelated to the why you're here.
10:20:55 But you said that doctors used to spend 12Â h in emergency rooms.
10:20:59 Is that blessedly changed to a shorter period
10:21:08 Wow!
10:21:03 Depends on the type of work that you do, but many ships in the hospital are still 12Â h, but some are closer to 8, but many many or 12.
10:21:15 So when when I was working in patient, there was just one of us, for night and one of us per day, and we each work 12.
10:21:20 It's really common among the hospitalists.
10:21:22 And then I guess a comment really is, as we go into the cessation, the end of the emergency on the Federal level, you, you know.
10:21:31 Let us know about advocacy, opportunities to preserve the slack in our medical system, because I think that I certainly am.
10:21:37 I think I speak for everyone here when I say that that that's that resilience and slack seems to be really critical as we move forward.
10:21:46 This is not the last infectious disease that we're going to deal with or other.
10:21:50 Other population, scale health risk that we want to you know.
10:21:55 I don't know. It's really this process is really changed my approach to things, and I really look at a use, a population, a population, lens.
10:22:03 What I'm thinking about health health issues. And I just hope that you'll let us know when there are opportunities to to trumpet what we've been doing.
10:22:12 And this kind of approach for other, for the medical system
10:22:15 Absolutely. I think one of the things that we have learned.
10:22:20 Unfortunately, sometimes to really painful experiences, and we'll ask few years is that our health is all connected and our medical system is fragile, more fragile than it needs
to be.
10:22:31 There are some ways we could build a lot more resilience into the system and we could build a system that doesn't rely, it doesn't rely so much on a patchwork for profit system.
10:22:43 We could also build a system in which places were adequately stacked, so that we don't have to make everybody work around the clock for 3 years.
10:22:51 When this happens again, because it really has, has has limited our resilience for the next couple of years, because we've lost so many people there's only so long that you
can be a hero.
10:23:01 Many, many people have burned out in the last few years, and it doesn't have to be that way.
10:23:05 We could build in more resilient system down the road
10:23:09 Thanks, and then finally, so xbb. 1.5 is the one that has the monster name. Right?
10:23:15 But I'm not gonna use it either. I'm not gonna support it but I do think we need to come up with a new naming convention, cause I'm not gonna remember Xpb, 1.5.
10:23:24 But the other is burned into my brain, so I don't know.
10:23:26 Maybe we can go to like Hurricane name, you know, like Alpha, or something
10:23:25 I think, yeah, we could start with like letters in the alphabet I think that's a great idea.
10:23:34 So there is
10:23:33 I don't. My real question, though, is, how do you think it came here?
10:23:37 Because this was kind of a surprise. I think the last report it was not the dominant strain.
10:23:42 If I recall correctly. And so I'm just curious if you can.
10:23:45 If you have a narrative arc that you can put on that to how?
10:23:49 How these very similar, you know, omkron variants, you know, out-competed each other
10:23:53 Sure. So, yeah, sb, one is primarily the primary benefit that has transmission in advantage.
10:24:01 It has is that it is more contagious than everything that's come before it.
10:24:06 It does have a greater ability to get around prior infection.
10:24:11 In particular, it is thankfully. It's not that great about getting around the bivalent, but it is great that getting around old vaccines.
10:24:18 And so, while we are much better vaccinated than the rest of the state in the country, we're still only about 50% vaccinated.
10:24:25 Half of us still have not gotten there by Valentine, or at least about 50% up to date in our vaccines.
10:24:30 And so many of us that are not adequately protected against xb.
10:24:36 And it is very, very contagious, and so that transmission advantage has caused it to grow.
10:24:40 That said, that rope has been much, much slower here than everywhere else.
10:24:45 So on the east coast. It took 3 weeks overtake everything the same way.
10:24:48 Old school on the Cron did, but here it went really slowly, just slowly, creeped up, and it's still we have actually a much broader array of sub variants here than we have in
other areas, because of that slow rise and we think the biggest driver of that slower rise and the
10:25:06 persistent of other variants is that we're so low vaccinated.
10:25:10 And so when B finds someone we've seen this happen in a lot of households that we've been tracking, one person gets it.
10:25:16 But actually the whole household doesn't get it anymore.
10:25:18 And then no one else does, because people are getting symptoms earlier, and then and then not transmitting until later.
10:25:26 And people are masking. People are. Well, that's in and just not getting it at all. And so it's stopping.
10:25:31 And it's tracks here in a way that it didn't in other areas.
10:25:33 But it's still more contagious, so we'll still find people, but it can transmit through.
10:25:39 But we're just not seeing the kind of really concerning surge that we saw on the east coast
10:25:45 No worries.
10:25:44 That makes good sense. Thank you. Any last questions for Dr. Barry
10:25:51 Okay.
10:25:49 Alright! I got one more for you, you know. I just to fill in for for Willie here, and that's yeah.
10:25:57 You talk about a lot of the the functions of masking, and when I was, you know, a young man teaching English and in Asia the big use of masks where, if you were a little bit
sick or something had a cold, and you were gonna continue in your life, you wore it as source control to prevent the spread
10:26:14 Other people, and I'm wondering if you're seeing that application of it.
10:26:18 If that's something that we should also be pushing as part of the you know.
10:26:20 Yeah.
10:26:22 Pooh! Poo, platter! And what you think about that idea
10:26:24 No, that's one other really good way. So thank you for asking that question.
10:26:29 It's yeah, and much of many other parts of the world.
10:26:32 If you feel a little bit sick, maybe you're a little bit sick if you're really sick.
10:26:34 You stay home. But if you're feeling a little bit sick, well, sniffly mild cough, you wear a mask.
10:26:40 Make sure you don't give it to other people. And that's a really great use of masks, if you you know, we all have had that moment where you're not flu sick.
10:26:47 But maybe you're a little sick, or maybe you're just tired.
10:26:49 Who knows? That's a good time to go ahead and put on your mask, because you can still go out and be in your life.
10:26:54 But you're much less dangerous to the people around you.
10:26:57 That's actually how we've been using them in medicine for the longest time.
10:27:00 But it was because we used to send doctors and nurses to work with high fevers.
10:27:04 We just didn't give them days off, and we just slap a mask on and tell them it was fine.
10:27:07 We don't do that anymore. But we we are.
10:27:12 It is something important that we can do for that early infection or the tail end of an infection, where sometimes you're still coughing, you feel a little gross, but it's been
a week, and you think you're not contagious, anymore.
10:27:21 But you might be a little. That's a good time to wear a mask, and so that's definitely how I practice in my family.
10:27:26 I have a toddler. She's not as great of a mask where she used to be.
10:27:30 Now that the whole rest of the world isn't wearing masks.
10:27:32 But if she's sick we enforce it. She's a little bit sniffly put it on, but when we go to the grocery store, and that makes a huge difference, I can feel more confident that
I can take her to the grocery store, and she's not gonna get other people sick while she's
10:27:47 There so times to wear a mask in summary. If you feel a little off, you think you might be a little bit sick if you think you might have been exposed to Covid. That's another
good time.
10:27:57 And then, if you're in a very crowded setting, okay, beer, high risk, or someone in your household is, those are the times to to wear a mask at this point.
10:28:05 But if you're well, you don't feel sick at all.
10:28:08 You don't have high risk family members, and you want to take a brief step into a store without a mask.
10:28:12 I think that's a reasonable thing to do at this point. If that's something you're interested in doing
10:28:16 But just to. And this because I heard this anecdote from someone that they were, you know, in a class with someone.
10:28:23 And someone was wearing a mask, and they're like, Oh, are you feeling little under the weather?
10:28:28 Oh, I have, Covid, but don't worry. I'm wearing the mask that if you test positive, stay home.
10:28:28 Yes, yes, if you're very ill, or if you're positive, please stay home with Covid at least 5 days, and ideally, you should be able, feeling quite a bit better before you come
out to the world.
10:28:43 It's not a panic. Cf, wearing a mask.
10:28:46 Please don't come out to the world feeling very, very dark. If you could still get someone sick, you're just less likely to, with a mask on
10:28:52 Great. Well, thank you very much, Dr. Barry, and I think that your next scheduled time with us is a holiday, so you'll be here on Tuesday, the twenty-first instead of Monday.
10:29:01 And well, I'm happy to
10:29:02 Alright great! So send the questions in thanks to the the listeners from K.
10:29:07 Ptz, and to you, Dr. Barry, for for continuing to come out and have these talks with us really appreciate it.
10:29:12 Thanks, bye.
10:29:17 Alright!
10:29:20 See back to my agenda
10:29:26 And we do have a workshop plant at 1030, Stevens. Good to have you with us.
10:29:31 Steve. You can take a seat with me at the table. You want to make sure that you talk into the microphone here and keep your mask on.
10:29:39 You need to
10:29:43 Alright, yeah. Yeah. Someone that Caroline movie just now.
10:29:54 Earlier this morning.
10:29:58 We'll see ready to go. No, Shelby, no, Shelby, Jeff Solomon should be there
10:30:06 Hi, Jeff!
10:30:08 Good morning, Commissioners!
10:30:10 Welcome. I'm gonna crack a window iron Co 2 is over 1,300 right now.
10:30:30 And everything
10:30:45 Unless you want to put mine
10:30:50 Okay, yeah, you have the floor.
10:30:59 Steve. Oh, thank you very much. Commissioners and chair really appreciate the opportunity.
10:31:04 Jeff. Bowman, with President of the Peninsula Trails coalition is gonna do a little intro.
10:31:09 Great
10:31:10 Good morning. Commissioners. Yeah, thanks very much, Steve. It's always a pleasure to come.
10:31:16 Speak with you all on trail matters whether the Olympic Discovery Trail or other trails, as you'll see this morning, we're we're also working seriously on Commissioner Dean.
10:31:28 Thoughts to you and your household, and Mr. Macaulay.
10:31:33 I certainly look forward to working with you as we pursue these things in the months and years to come.
10:31:39 We do have a number of different projects going on at one level or another throughout the county.
10:31:48 We're very pleased to see the great progress getting trail added down to Anderson Lake, State Park.
10:31:58 You guys are well along the way in that we are sort of packaging all of that trail.
10:32:06 Energy and trail planning. Into this raised grant effort that Steve will be telling you about in detail.
10:32:15 I just want to emphasize that 3 nonprofits between the 3 counties saw an opportunity and have committed substantial financial resources.
10:32:29 We've each kicked in up to $50,000 to hire the consultant doing the work.
10:32:36 Mig. Very experienced in the area, and to have Steve Durant lead our work on this project.
10:32:46 We're approaching pretty much, all of the jurisdictions between Bay Bridge and the Push Tribal County Local to engage in this.
10:32:58 We're excited about its prospects, and we feel very fortunate that Steve Durant was interested in available.
10:33:06 Steve has, as I think you know, great experience throughout the area.
10:33:10 He led the alternative study that looked at the whole Odte amount project that is now being implemented down to Anderson Lake, State Park, and Steve in front of everybody.
10:33:25 We're very grateful to have your help on all of this, and I'm gonna hand it over to you
10:33:30 Thanks, boss. So thank you very much for having me and and and having us, as Jeff mentioned the pewter sounded.
10:33:41 Pacific is a collaborative of 3 nonprofits.
10:33:44 The Peninsula trails, coalition, to whom we owe an awful lot of credit for the Olympic Discovery Trail.
10:33:51 The North Kitchen Trails Association and the Bainbridge Island parks and Trails Foundation.
10:33:57 There advocates for the sound to Olympics trail, which goes from the Bainbridge Ferry and Windslow across Bainbridge Island and to into North Kits app to the Hood Canal Bridge
and part of what we'll be talking about here is how
10:34:20 we get from the Hood Canal Bridge to the Olympic Discovery Trail.
10:34:26 Go ahead. The the mission for this group is to put together a Grant application for raise funding.
10:34:36 It's Federal dot funding that we were expecting to be due at the middle of April, and they announced early because they had their own internal deadline for obligating money.
10:34:45 It's due at the end of February.
10:34:45 So we're hustling. We were hustling for April.
10:34:48 We're really hustling to end of February like I said, it's to connect this 200 miles of main line trail a 100 miles of which are gaps.
10:34:59 So we have gaps of various sizes between Bainbridge and La Push, including connections to poor towns and and to Kingston.
10:35:09 They're also community connections that we want to make, so that people can get to the trail from various places.
10:35:16 And it's also part of the great American rail trail which is a 30 seventh 100 mile long trail.
10:35:22 It goes from Washington, DC. To Washington State, and the part of it here in Oops.
10:35:32 Let's see Washington State. There are some pretty important gaps including a big one that we just mentioned, connecting the Hood Canal bridge.
10:35:39 Well, actually, all the way from Winslow to to the Olympic Discovery Trail
10:35:47 There's precedent here, not just the Olympic Discovery trail, but the regional transportation authority did a recent Peninsula regional non-motorized connectivity study just
a couple of years ago.
10:36:02 So you can see that they're acknowledging the sound.
10:36:05 Olympics. The Olympic Discovery Trail, and a number of other trails as desirable developments in this area.
10:36:14 And of course you've made fabulous progress here with the Larry Scott trail and with the trail that is underway.
10:36:25 Right now that I helped work on. That goes from 4 Corners to Anderson Lake, State Park.
10:36:30 There's a short segment on the far side of Discovery Bay.
10:36:35 There's Gardner Road. These are projects that are complete.
10:36:40 The connection from 4 Corners to Anderson Lake, State Park, and within Anderson Lake, State Park, are projects that are underway.
10:36:48 So really, what we're looking at is 5 main projects, and perhaps more, that you can help us with.
10:36:53 There's old Highway 9. That's a possibility to connect.
10:36:59 So we can get off of the highway over there. 101 place where there's there are wide shoulders, but it's not a happy place to ride a bike.
10:37:08 We're on the end of Discovery Bay that connects that a short section that was built there up.
10:37:15 From Fairmont Road up to Eaglemont Road, and then Eagle Mount Road to Anderson Lake, State Park.
10:37:22 Those are 4 very important segments of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
10:37:26 Some of which has been planned in the project that Jeff mentioned that I helped work on a couple of years ago.
10:37:34 Another project is I mentioned a little bit earlier, and that's the connection of the hoc Canal bridge to the Olympic Discovery Trail.
10:37:44 And where should that connect? And how should we get from one place to the next?
10:37:49 That's what we call an alignment. Alternatives.
10:37:53 Study should be undertaken to make that connection. So that's the fifth of the main projects for Jefferson County.
10:38:01 There could also be safety improvements that are made, maybe even transit improvements that could be made and could be the the planning of them, and permitting could be performed
using the raise grant.
10:38:17 It's for transportation projects that have local or regional impact for safety, to improve safety and equity.
10:38:27 This is, there's a lot of info on this slide.
10:38:30 But the important things are here that there's 1.1 5 billion dollars available for rural projects in this current round.
10:38:40 They just added $800,000 a few days ago to to the pots.
10:38:47 So it went up pretty dramatically. They raised this, the maximum size of the grants from 25 to 45 million, and they took out the minimum for rural areas.
10:38:58 The money needs to be spent by 22.
10:39:01 So there's quite a nice horizon available there this is one thing that's really important for rural areas.
10:39:09 No matches required. We are applying for a planning grant, not acquisition, not construction.
10:39:18 Money, therefore it's much simpler, and no match is required and there's plenty of planning to be done for these for these gaps and like, I said, it's due February 20, eighth,
hmm.
10:39:34 So planning projects are pretty broad. It's really anything pre-construction could include environmental studies permitting survey work.
10:39:44 Even bridge type, size and location plans. And, importantly, here, collaborating with the city on replacement of the water line and the possibility of using that access road,
that construction and maintenance access as a trail through that area, something that people don't really think of is transit
10:40:09 Planning transit route planning and even design activities for transit stops
10:40:18 We're eligible, I mean, you're eligible that's a quick question. Sure part of the planning.
10:40:23 Can you plan where the funding for? Okay? Okay, yeah.
10:40:29 It is, and I'm sorry I haven't got it memorized.
10:40:33 It's, it's it's a follow on to Tiger Grants.
10:40:40 And then it was build grants bi B U. Ild, and now it's raise.
10:40:47 That's one
10:40:46 It's rebuilding American infrastructure with sustainability and equity.
10:40:54 It's actually not a bad title, but sorry.
10:40:58 Thank you, Jeff. Jeff, for the win. Yeah, related
10:41:07 We are attracting Co. Applicants. Amongst this list of who is eligible, which is basically public agencies and tribal governments and port authorities, and of that long list
of maybe there are 12 or 15 that we're approaching.
10:41:29 We may have 8 to 10, that will be Co. Applicants.
10:41:32 One of them needs to step up to be the lead applicant.
10:41:35 We have a couple of volunteer or agencies that have volunteered to to play a big role, not just for managing their own work, but to help manage the overall.
10:41:51 But they're not ready to be the lead applicant.
10:41:54 So we're looking for that. This is maybe one of the tripping points.
10:41:59 This is a grant that will reimburse expenses.
10:42:02 So there's cash flow to consider
10:42:10 So this is pretty straightforward facts about it.
10:42:16 That you have to have authority. Your your organization has to provide authority to go after Federal assistance and and actually to complete the projects which is pretty simple
in terms of planning projects.
10:42:33 Lead applicants and Co. Applicants, co-applicants.
10:42:38 All need to be eligible agencies project will that they'll part of what they will have to do is define a project we have a consultant on board, Dave Rogers from Mig.
10:42:51 Engineers, very capable, transportation engineers may be listening in and they're assembling the projects from each of the jurisdictions characterizing them.
10:43:03 Maping them. And we're using that to pull together into the proposal so that we can put the overall dollar value on it as well as help.
10:43:15 Each of the agencies kind of organize their commitment.
10:43:19 What their commitment will be. Let's see here, project delivery is going to be important.
10:43:26 This is really important. I think that the money can cover staff costs once the project is underway, so if somebody from public works gets dedicated to performing these projects,
their staff time or consultants, for that matter, can be paid for out of this grant as a reimbursement, thing you gotta pay
10:43:48 Them, apply to to be reimbursed for it.
10:43:53 But it's basically 8 year staffing that you could fund for through the through the grant
10:44:04 So we really need your. We are asking for your interest in participating as a Co.
10:44:13 Applicant and assigning. We're working with the public works. And I think we're in the middle of the process for how to secure your letter of interest, and we have a great
10:44:29 Template that makes it really simple to get started
10:44:34 And that's it. Unless you have questions. Well, I would just say as the Commissioner has been sitting in on all the Olympic Discovery trail and Peninsula trails, Coalition meetings,
and Jackson County Cohort meetings and talking with Monty about this you know
10:44:49 I've been really clear that we public works does not have the capacity to, you know, support in other than small ways, and I think just want that on the table at the front of
this, because with the big projects we have going on right now primarily, the headlock. Sewer.
10:45:10 I mean all of our staff at public works are super constrained right now, and th that doesn't negate our enthusiasm about the project, and I said, I'm willing personally to write
letters, and you know staff some work for the county, but you know that's been my message
10:45:30 To the team so far. So I just wanted to share that with you, too.
10:45:35 So you know, I see that none of them are with us today.
10:45:37 Do we know how they feel about the this proposal in front of us today?
10:45:44 What I just said, willing to provide minor staff, you know, input into the process.
10:45:51 And, you know, support as a co-applicant with a letter, and but not not having, like Eric, who's my 50% allocated to this project, it's it's just not an option.
10:46:07 They're all over the underwater. Okay? But the scope presented here is is they're willing to agree to that.
10:46:13 Well, like that was that feels like the words I saw on the screen feel like what we talked about.
10:46:19 Yeah, sure, what we're asking of public works. I guess that's that's my big question, too.
10:46:25 Is, I guess what I mean. What? What do you need from staff that are obviously constrained?
10:46:29 Right, especially in the lead. Up to this February 20, eighth grant.
10:46:33 Right for staff, right now through for the Grant Submittal.
10:46:38 We're asking for maybe 3 phone calls. We've got a map. If you're happy with these 5 prices, we've got a map.
10:46:50 We've got a way of characterizing it. A couple of phone calls to confirm how you would like to schedule those projects, and what the what, the, how how deep you want to get
into each of those segments, and if there are any additional projects that you'd like to add in some
10:47:07 Of which male probably are already on your transportation.
10:47:12 Improvement plan. If there are safety improvements and crossings and trail connections, and that sort of thing are already in your plan.
10:47:20 It's just a matter of letting us know. Yes, that's in.
10:47:22 Here's where you can get the information. So the 3 nonprofits are paying for the composition of the proposal of the Grant application, and we'll need some time to interview
staff.
10:47:41 We're not asking for a lot of writing or mapping, or just any design or planning at this stage
10:47:52 That's very helpful. How much do you think you guys are asking for I mean, it's like the sky is the limit kind of right.
10:48:02 I I've been using 10 million, I think.
10:48:06 You know, if if we had more time to dig down on the weeds, maybe we have 25 million, we may end up with 6.
10:48:17 I'm not sure but I I've been saying 10 million
10:48:23 Add, are there good for you? You have prospects for your lead applicant.
10:48:27 We have, I'll be speaking to a couple tomorrow, and I, you know, I think yeah, cause the time times burning right now.
10:48:39 Yeah, it is. It is
10:48:12 Yeah, I I guess I'd like to speak to that a a a bit.
10:48:45 Obviously, we can't submit the application without achieving a lead in some way.
10:48:53 There is certainly the scenario where multiple jurisdictions, maybe from a feasibility standpoint it would be no more than 2 would share in the lead functioning over the course
of an awarded project the overall workload seems like it might sort of separate itself.
10:49:18 Into a fiscal management component on one side, and then a project management working with all of the individual jurisdictions working on each of their individual projects so
that's at least a an option that we're exploring with the city of bangers in the city of port
10:49:36 Angeles, the other possible candidate at this time is the Citizens Advisory Committee in Clallam County, has formally recommended to Cloud and County that they step forward
and take the lead role.
10:49:53 If no other option presents itself, it will be a disappointment if we are able to find a lead applicant.
10:50:02 After all, of this investment in time and money to put together in a particularly promising framework a proposal that more or less seeks to do everything that all the jurisdiction
sort of have in mind of doing.
10:50:15 Anyway, we haven't really come up with these particular projects on our own.
10:50:19 They're drawing on the capital improvement, planning the trail planning and all the related work that has gone on.
10:50:28 But that is the fact of the matter. There is the unfortunate possibility that we will get an application pretty well ready to submit, and it won't be able to go.
10:50:44 But we've been persuaded since early on to pursue this first and foremost, because we think we have a tremendously competitive scenario.
10:50:55 This is being presented under the theme of completing the western end of the great American railroad, which has huge cache, if nothing else.
10:51:06 We're bringing together 10 to a dozen jurisdictions.
10:51:11 We're in the midst of securing, and probably somewhere in the order of 40 or 50 letters of support from the tourism committee, from Chambers of Commerce, from Health Agencies
and the like.
10:51:24 And and we know that the information we're pulling together, even if our application were submitted in, was unsuccessful.
10:51:31 Is pulling together information that all the jurisdictions would want to have anyway, and that can be sort of picked up and used in other directions.
10:51:41 If this direction isn't successful, we also know there's a track record of unsuccessful raised grant applications upon review and comment which is a part of the process being
tweaked and resubmitted in as an ensuing year, and succeeding so there are lots of reasons to proceed with
10:52:03 This 100% money support for staff time emphasis on rural and disadvantaged areas.
10:52:12 I mean we we fit all of those criteria to a T.
10:52:16 But we won't get out the door if we don't line up the lead, we're doing everything we can alongside all of the other pieces of the project.
10:52:24 But unless we have a lead that feels comfortable, taking it on, knowing that when everything is in place they will have the ability to fund the resources they need to manage
the grant.
10:52:37 We, we won't be able to submit, and we're doing our best
10:52:44 That's great. I mean, it sounds really exciting. Just to be able to, you know.
10:52:49 I mean that Anderson Lake down to Discovery Bay, planning is going to be a huge lift.
10:52:54 So you know it. I appreciate how this grant is has a lot of nexus with the planning efforts already underway, and I'm sure that it's the same, and the other jurisdictions as
well, so I think it's it's pretty strong.
10:53:06 I guess I'm I'm a little hesitant to go forward without having at least a conversation with public works, but I mean, are you feeling pretty confident I've had a couple of conversations.
10:53:15 And they think all Monty is okay with, you know, couple of phone conversations setting high priorities.
10:53:22 And a letter of support and I'm happy to take the lead on putting that together with these guys.
10:53:27 So, and getting Monte's approval of that letter, just to make sure that we're committing to something.
10:53:37 He's agreeable to no, we've had.
10:53:40 He and I have had a couple of conversations, which is why I started off this with my my comments.
10:53:47 Yeah, cause.
10:53:47 One other really helpful circumstance with this is that it is simply for planning and design.
10:53:59 The the project. Application is limited in its size, so it's not as though you can really say all that much.
10:54:06 And if there are 35 different planning and design projects along the length of this in in this planning area, we we aren't getting deeply in the weeds, in characterizing each
of those many projects.
10:54:22 And in fact, maybe lumping them in some way so it just reinforces what Steve, what is saying early on that?
10:54:30 What we're asking. Of jurisdictions to compose and complete the application is pretty minimal.
10:54:39 But we do need to work out the the lead applicant situation, and then the seeoretically, if it gets in, if it's awarded, then the money comes through the lead applicant.
10:54:54 It is distributed to each of the participants co-applicants, which is the necessary status to have projects in the package and to receive funding, to pursue those projects in
the 8 year time period the money would come through the lead be distributed well after the reimbursement cycle the
10:55:15 work gets done, the billing goes in that. So that's the the general structure that's anticipated.
10:55:23 So, and and each of those Co. Leads would be able to pay for the funding for their staff to lead their projects and to manage their fiscal part of their projects.
10:55:35 Hey! It ain't ever gonna get any better than this for a funding scenario.
10:55:39 I can't imagine
10:55:42 Yeah, it's it's there's so much opportunity right now with Federal funding available.
10:55:47 And yet with the the perfect storm of staffing shortages, makes it so hard for local governments everywhere struggling to want to do projects and feel a good opportunity for
funding.
10:55:59 But just don't have the capacity to to do it.
10:56:04 So I appreciate that you are providing extra capacity to make you know it possible to advance this project, and I like, Greg said.
10:56:15 We're all supportive. It's we just want to be sure that we're okay.
10:56:20 So what and with the timing work, if with Commissioner Eisenhower worked with public works, refines his letter, and and come back next week with a with the official recommendation.
10:56:31 And yeah, does that work for you guys? Is it does?
10:56:35 If we could have a signed letter in hand, by. Let's say the eighteenth would be fabulous.
10:56:43 Okay. And I would, it need to specify the the lead applicants or can refer to the project as a whole?
10:56:53 Okay, they would have to commit us to being a co-OP with them.
10:56:54 Yes. Right? Yeah, yeah. Okay, I do. I'm looking at the eligibility.
10:57:01 I mean, there are a number of eligible applicants, and I won't call them out at risk of suggesting anyone.
10:57:08 But it it is, it's nice to see those abroad.
10:57:11 Spectrum of potential applicants, lead application.
10:57:21 Right.
10:57:14 I I would say that we went into this thinking that the preferred applicant was washed on, and we did a lot of background work to try and line that up.
10:57:35 Okay.
10:57:29 But it's the same reaction from a robust state agency as it is from local jurisdictions.
10:57:37 Okay.
10:57:40 So there you have it.
10:57:41 Thank you for taking the bull by its horns. Yeah.
10:57:47 Okay. Great. Well, it's really exciting. I think we're we're all in favor, and Heidi will take it to the next level.
10:57:55 And we'll hopefully get you a a co-applicant, you know.
10:57:58 Assertion and letter by by next week. Certainly the eighteenth is a deadline that we can hit.
10:58:03 Thank you, commissioners. Thanks very much.
10:58:03 Great. Thank you very much. Fine. Thank you. Jeff.
10:58:08 Have a great day. Okay? So no action taken today on that.
10:58:13 But we have a course in front of us, and see. It's 110'clock now.
10:58:17 We've only begun briefings, having nothing else. I know there's stuff coming up at the at the lunch hour, including a Wassac meeting. I might actually attend
10:58:31 Well, are you going, Kate? I would like to join.
10:58:38 I have a phone call doctor, and I'm just not sure what time I'd be fighting.
10:58:43 Yeah, okay, I'll be late. I have to go run an Erin, but I plan to to go and hear about it, too.
10:58:49 It's about the opioid settlements right? Yeah, I have homework.
10:58:53 I have no more to do. Okay, great, great. But we'll try to get out of here by 1145, just to to make time for that busy lunch hour.
10:59:02 So, Kate, did you? Will you have way through your briefing times, where I left off
10:59:13 Hmm.
10:59:19 See seems like so long ago. I think it was.
10:59:29 It was filling week before last. And number of legislative things which I'll hold off and talking about until we get to that point in our agenda this afternoon.
10:59:41 Last week, updated my signature verification training, which would have been 5 years since I had done that.
10:59:48 So, yes, important to update that for certifying a elections it's fine, but it's it.
10:59:57 I I always learn. I mean, I think it's really practice back to practice practice, and some was good to devote some time to that again, Wednesday and Thursday.
11:00:05 I was in Olympia with legislative steering committee again.
11:00:09 Be talking about that later this afternoon and last Friday spent some time I mentioned with Commit Councilmember Howard on the Housing Fund Board Survey, had some good time
with Wendy.
11:00:22 Davis, our new communications manager, specialist, specialist, very excited.
11:00:29 I do hope that we will. I'm not sure if this got to you, Mark.
11:00:33 My hope is that we will be having a workshop in the Bocc.
11:00:38 To start talking about coming up with a plan for Comms communications as well. Yeah.
11:00:44 And I think there's just this is interesting. I don't know if you guys got from Department of Help last week I was getting frantic, like, multiple phone calls from Department
of Health Text emails about the I drop for me, too.
11:01:01 I thought it was a scam. And I yeah, it was so poorly written.
11:01:07 And like I just you know, it's like, Have we learned nothing about the importance of communicating with the public, especially something scary like I drops with, you know, toxic
fatal bacteria in them.
11:01:19 So really, excited to start digging in more to communications, and it was funny when I mentioned that.
11:01:24 Yeah. The eye drop situation to Jamie Baden at the Association of Public Health Officials.
11:01:31 She she just shook her head and said, Yeah, that Department of Health, hired like 300 people to do communication.
11:01:38 Okay. Cool.
11:01:43 300. Yes, maybe that was the height of Covid, and I don't know that they're still all there.
11:01:48 But it. It's like, Okay, we've got a yeah, I think, I think they need to get some feedback to that.
11:01:57 Obviously strenuous effort to get word out was almost illegible.
11:02:03 And it's like, it meant nothing. Yeah. So just note to self, like, let's start off our new communications efforts on the right foot.
11:02:13 So that was my last 2 weeks
11:02:18 Thank you. Kay, and more to come in the legislative portion.
11:02:28 I did. I. I also attended the Brandon Max swearing in ceremony, which was, I just love those so uplifting and positive, and so many people from the community show up in support.
11:02:41 I just thought that was wonderful and excited to have that new energy in the courthouse, and grateful for all of Judge Harper's decades of service.
11:02:50 I mean steady, Eddie. There, a lot of preparation for all the conversations I've been having around Trustland Transfer and forestry, and I mean, I felt like Tuesday was all
that.
11:03:07 And then we had to. All had the Budget Committee meeting.
11:03:12 I attended
11:03:17 I'm a meeting with the Land Trust about the Trust land transfer lease parcels that are going to be transferred to the county.
11:03:25 There. There were 3 that were moving forward, 2 in Quimper, wildlife Corridor, a 40 acre, and an eighty-acre, and then also a partial down by Thorndyke, and after the appraisals
were reviewed the land trust has decided to move forward with the 2 quemper
11:03:41 parcels, but not the Thorndyke parcel.
11:03:43 So we will see the the the interest in the county have decided those 2 Quimper quarter parcels will get purchased and sale agreements for those in the probably in the next week.
11:03:55 So that's that's all. In the works. The the appraisal for Thorndyke came in over 2.2 and a half 1 million dollars and there were a 1 million questions about the valuation and
and all those questions got answered and a big meeting.
11:04:12 We had with Dnr. And the Land Trust just doesn't have the capacity to pull that one off.
11:04:17 As they were going to be doing the fundraising.
11:04:19 Yeah. And they've already done the fundraising for the Quemper parcels.
11:04:23 Okay, yeah. So the last I know about the Thorndyke crystal is Sarah.
11:04:29 Space was going back to Dnr, with some additional appraisal.
11:04:32 Information for an adjacent parcel that the land trusted, purchased, and was gonna see if there was any given that appraisal.
11:04:39 But I feel like we've definitely had that conversation over and over and over again.
11:04:45 Let's see, on Wednesday, the twenty-fifth.
11:04:48 I also had a meeting with Laurie Fleming and Jim Novelli and Dr.
11:04:53 Carl Baum, who's our emergency service?
11:04:57 Kind of first response, coordinator. And it seems that there may be some concerns about some of the things that the behavioral health consortium is funding and the things that
the Behavioral Health Advisory Committee is funding and how those 2 efforts are Coordinated and interest in having
11:05:18 A broader conversation with more stakeholders about how we move forward as a community, and funding our behavioral health programs.
11:05:27 So stay tuned on that front at 1 point they wanted Craig to facilitate a conversation at 1 point they wanted me to, and then we decided maybe Mr.
11:05:38 Dean should, and then Apple has started to have conversations, and I need to reach out to her.
11:05:47 This week, and see what she's at with those conversations.
11:05:51 But grateful for her staff leadership as well.
11:05:56 Then we all had the joint meeting with the planning commission, and it was interesting to hear Commissioner Smith's presentation about the type 4 Dnr.
11:06:08 Sepa review, and that had already been something that Josh and I have been communicating about Josh and Dcd.
11:06:17 And he just said nothing new right now. Here in Dcd.
11:06:21 So. But that is something that Dcd. Is interested in tackling and and talking with press past Dnr.
11:06:32 Staff they really. And and he testified at the that planning commission meeting.
11:06:38 He really felt that Ross, that it would be a good function of the county to facilitate those super reviews, because we have a lot more access in contact with the landowners
and the land owners, would probably feel better represented.
11:06:55 So stay tuned on that front, too, on Thursday I was in Olympia for a very long, very long day, 1716, 17Â h, and including driving there and back.
11:07:09 But I met with our all of our delegation, and also Senator office to talk about trust line transfer, and both the statutory changes that are in a couple of bills that are introduced
in the Legislature right now, and the 25 million dollar capital budget
11:07:28 request, and then testified. Add a hearing in the afternoon, and then drove home.
11:07:39 After that one, and then I was out last Friday came back, didn't spend much time with you guys on Monday, because we weren't here, but I came in and did a bunch of staff work.
11:07:56 And let's see. Met with on Tuesday the 30 first met with Al.
11:08:02 Karen's about legislative proposals regarding solid waste and interestingly, I'm very kind of excited about the bottle Bill, because every time I take my recycling to the recycling
station and habak I have I that's my place of
11:08:20 Depression just because of how bad the situation is there with people putting their bags of garbage in the recycling.
11:08:27 Bends there so, but I feel like the bottle Bill could provide the incentive that's needed to get people to do their or do the recycling properly.
11:08:37 Take the lids off, etc. So that's and those are exciting bills.
11:08:43 There's there's 2 bills moving one of the house and one in the Senate.
11:08:45 And I haven't looked this week. I don't know if you have on those.
11:08:51 Let's see. Yeah, I I it's funny, even like whatever we heard Thursday in Olympia is probably old news by now.
11:08:59 So we can look up some queues. The bills, and update ourselves this afternoon.
11:09:05 And then on Wednesday I see
11:09:15 Had a meeting with the Community Foundation. Midday had a meeting on some other forestry issues that are moving.
11:09:23 The legislature right now around the national client.
11:09:27 Natural climate, solutions account, and a potential capital budget request.
11:09:31 There at, tended a planning meeting for the next straight ern, steering, or the next full straight straight a year, and meeting.
11:09:40 So steering committee meeting had the Jefferson transit Authority Finance Committee meeting, and then I met with Mallory and Ross to talk about their presentation today.
11:09:54 Then on Thursday, the second again. Another long day in Olympia.
11:09:59 Actually, that was the really long one. That was the 16Â h day I went down, and I attended.
11:10:07 There was a executive session on the bottle.
11:10:09 Bill and I just went to kind of be a fly on the wall, just because I'm really curious about it.
11:10:13 I mean it's bottle bills been in place in Oregon for so long, and it seems like there's a lot of energy behind these 2 pieces of legislation.
11:10:21 So, and the executive session. It was really just a lot of questions and amendments to the Bottle Bill, so I didn't really feel like I was up to speed on it enough to follow
much, but there was a lot of energy in the room then had a meeting with representative
11:10:42 Thringer and Palestine, from Conservation northwest, and Cliff Traceman from Washington Conservation action to talk about the natural climate, solutions account, and you know
some proposals that are coming from the conservation community about what to use that funding for and how much to fund in
11:10:59 This upcoming budget, who decide how that those are spense that's a good question.
11:11:08 That was one of our questions that day, and it's not super clear there's a lot of proposals coming in about how to spend the money money and how much money is needed.
11:11:18 It is. There is a function, but then the capital budget process for that.
11:11:22 But it's not part of the bonding as part of the capital budget.
11:11:27 Hmm! So Steve will be involved. But still it's a such a new new part of funding and a new kind of conflict in terms of how to fund
11:11:46 Like, you know, fish barrier removal for small forest landowners, and like a few specific carve outs right?
11:11:53 But I don't see on the bill the kind of who makes those decision right.
11:11:57 Yup, and while I was in Olympia I called back in for a conference call with environmental public health, and our code compliance officer to talk about Glendale Farm and the
cleanup effort there, and just want to do a shout out to the sexton kids they have been
11:12:19 Bending over backwards to get Glendale Farm cleaned up.
11:12:21 And it's really inspiring how much work they've done, and was just a conference conversation and to coordinate how to support them more in their effort.
11:12:32 Because, yeah, there's just a lot of stuff to take off that piece of land, and then I attended the Washington Mile up and recreation Coalition Lobby Day reception at the Governor's
Mansion.
11:12:46 The Governor wasn't there because he was upstairs with Covid, but good good to spend some time with Commissioner friends and a bunch of former colleagues of mine, and just a
really positive event for such a positive program.
11:13:02 That's funded. Hundreds of parks around our State for the last 30 years.
11:13:07 I believe so really. Good event. Then I drove home, and that was the 17Â h day, Friday, Mark and I.
11:13:19 Friday morning Mark and I went to the Jefferson County Chamber.
11:13:21 Of commerce and did a state of the county update for was there how many people were in the room?
11:13:27 Mark 35 people. Yeah. And I think we did a good job of tag teaming that and got a lot of great feedback about that
11:13:39 Coordinated, so coordinated in the afternoon with Paul Jewel, and Duane Emmon's from the Department of Natural Resources about a presentation we're making this Thursday to the
House Capital Budget Committee on the Trust Land Transfer Statutory Changes Trust Line Transfer and Encumbered
11:13:59 lands, statutory changes and capital budget requests and operating budget in terms of encumbered land.
11:14:06 So it's become. I'm I'm looking forward to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this trust and transfer stuff.
11:14:11 But I'm since I've been working on trust and transferred for 25 years I've been at the end of that tunnel yet.
11:14:19 So, and then the afternoon met with. Maria drew from habitat for humanity, it's Jefferson County just to catch up with her and have a coordination meeting with her.
11:14:29 She was thankful for our kudos to habitat last week in our meeting, and they are they will be submitting an arpa last call request to us, and I've seen that those inst started
to come in at a higher rate.
11:14:45 So, we're gonna have some tough choices to make sure. Maybe top process this afternoon. That's one thing I'd like to just get a little ahead of it.
11:14:57 So we're not making it and then I got to meet with Wendy Davis to talk about her onboarding and her role with the county, and so excited to have her on the team to have you
on the team. Wendy.
11:15:07 She's in the room with us for those of you who can't see.
11:15:10 So that was that was most of last week let's see, is there anything I feel like as I?
11:15:20 I can still get to say I'm the newest Commissioner still I'm not new anymore, but I still have.
11:15:26 First first time you know things, and I just go. Wow! That's 17Â h day.
11:15:30 I'm like, how many of those do we have, you guys?
11:15:33 Hey, Bobby, Kate probably has more than the rest of us try to keep it to 12 yeah, right? Well, and it's a good time to spend the night in Olympia, right?
11:15:43 I don't. I don't know I just like to sit at home.
11:15:46 Yeah. Yes. Great. Well, thank you very much. Sounds like a busy couple of weeks.
11:15:53 I will go next. Let's see. Looking back to Tuesday, the 20 fourth.
11:16:00 That was a long day for me, not quite 17Â h, but I I started off at 6 30 with with Mark taking donuts and appreciation out to the road crew in Port Hadlock, and great to hang
out with them.
11:16:13 I think I'm on the next big snow event. I'm gonna do a ride along down in South County and no plow.
11:16:20 So got that set up. I love buying donuts for people, and I'm like who eats stocks and our in our county family.
11:16:24 Now I know where to take them. They didn't actually eat.
11:16:36 Many of them okay? And then had my first quarterly finance meeting with Treasurer Pra.
11:16:46 And and J Judy and Brenda and Mark, which was great to see, you know it's good time for holding onto those long term Cds and things.
11:16:58 It's amazing how well the savings of the county have been doing.
11:17:03 Then I attended a workshop virtually, that that commerce put on about House Bill 1277, which I think we last year, and it talks about it's kind of it can be split between permits
port of housing or eviction prevention and this was largely kind of trying
11:17:22 To Assess counties and other agencies, assessment of how much of the this is my interpretation, how much of the focus should be on permanent support of housing virtues versus
you know.
11:17:35 Eviction, prevention and talking to only cap a little bit after these funds are gonna become start becoming available in July of this year.
11:17:44 So it's coming upon us. But only Cap has been in talks with them as they go through it, and I think they're really looking at it to shore up the disappearing, errap funds that
we've had a huge millions of dollars going into eviction prevention during the
11:17:58 Pandemic. So it more conversation about how we assess those and what are our independent?
11:18:05 I don't know how much independence we're gonna have.
11:18:07 I think we probably my guess is likely we'll have an opt out opportunity which would put it in in the only cap or another agency that apply directly to commerce.
11:18:16 But not that'll come in front of us I'll get more information.
11:18:20 I was also a judge, Max swearing in you really did it right.
11:18:24 I was very, very coordinated, you know it was. It was nicely done, speaks well for his future.
11:18:31 Tenure. There, and I had another meeting with Commerce and Bayside, and and only cap just to kind of be a county representative, as they work through some issues on some funds,
subgrants, funds.
11:18:45 That all Cap was was moving on to Baseside, and just kind of working out those details.
11:18:49 It was really a productive meeting, I think, went to the intellectual and developmental Disability Advisory Board Meeting.
11:18:57 There was a presenter from a statewide advocacy group that was speaking against some legislation.
11:19:06 Oh, I and I don't have it down, but I can.
11:19:08 I can. They were strongly against that. There injure was strongly for which is building institutions, and I put my foot in my mouth a couple of times.
11:19:19 Try and understand the difference between supportive housing and institutions, and it's a fine line.
11:19:24 But it's really, do I get to choose who comes into my room?
11:19:27 I think, ultimately making sure that while creating housing opportunities and supportive services for folks that we don't take away their their agency, but learn learning more
about that.
11:19:40 But it really. And there's been a movement away from institutionalization.
11:19:43 And I just I want to understand that that kind of that to me.
11:19:46 A gray area between. Where does institutionalization end and support of housing?
11:19:51 Again, you know, like I was, you know. What's the one here not Olympic.
11:19:58 City house. We have
11:20:04 No, no, I never Olympic neighbors.
11:20:12 And and yeah, the house. Hamilton House
11:20:19 That model is is supportive housing, and I don't know.
11:20:22 Is there a way that that we can create larger support of housing and not make it into an institution that you know, abrogates people's rights and and freedom to exercise their
their own agency?
11:20:35 So learn learning, experience for me. And then I went to so when you say a larger house, do you mean like a more occupants well, yeah, that's Hamilton houses very much about
the residents, freedom. And you know, and I'm just thinking institutions?
11:20:54 Are larger and as as the as the State perhaps walks out a path of making larger housing.
11:20:59 Could you make it like a boarding house? Hamilton House that creates that same accessibility and and independent agency, while still efficiently housing people? Right?
11:21:14 Yeah, maybe the scale is right. There's a sweet spot.
11:21:20 There is. Yeah, totally, especially in rural areas, infrastructure.
11:21:24 But you know density. I went over to conflate issues cause I I've been involved in conversations in Olympia around good jail modernization and stranger is proposing a an alternative
to the the study that counties want to do around jail modernization he wants
11:21:43 To instead be building low security, housing options and kind of piloting a new model.
11:21:53 But so so it's interesting with that same issue is coming up.
11:21:56 But from the Dd. I think they followed the same project as coming yeah, so interesting. It's, you know, just so many different populations with different needs.
11:22:06 And totally you want to be saying, for all of those population. Right?
11:22:10 That was my first question. You know. I mean, we wanna make units right.
11:22:13 But so then people, individual agency means a lot, and you don't want to take that away. Yeah.
11:22:21 Went to Mountain View to hang a little bit with some kids making art, making hard for the Seventh Haven project.
11:22:30 Jeff. Coons. I'm sorry, Gene Bradbury Jennifer Coons. Sorry.
11:22:33 Jennifer Coons, one of the 2 artists, was there, and we'll be back.
11:22:37 She's was doing. She had an a residency at centrum with some other ceramic mosaic artists, and so they they got the kids stuff done.
11:22:49 Basically interesting to see how, how they did it, and then went down to the quilting community center to meet with a fairly large group just really interested in helping to
direct the the direction of the community center.
11:23:08 We talked about this before. I think that there, they've got some specific ideas, and on the behalf of the posting community I think I am also making an arpa ask.
11:23:20 So I know. So we're throwing all the everything in there but I'm I'm working on something for that closing community center that that is, has been a long gestating desire slash
need.
11:23:33 So more on, that later. We're all the Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday.
11:23:41 I continued the the 360 evaluation of Orca with the finance director and the the chair of Orca, and then I met with Sheriff Noel.
11:23:54 Talk about a couple of different things, and then we had the Housing Fund Board.
11:23:58 We're still looking for 2 more members for the Housing Fund Board.
11:24:01 So encourage people to to apply for that that volunteer board, and then also with you guys at the joint special meeting with the planning Commission, I, my takeaway old, was
that we need to do a better job setting up the planning Commission to succeed at the efforts of Jefferson County planning and
11:24:21 Sometimes we end up great ideas coming in cross purposes and from 2 sides.
11:24:26 So I think we we can do a better job coordinating the work to make sure they have work to do in a timely way.
11:24:31 They have time, they have enough time to to really process, and some of the pretty significant projects we put a across their desk without feeling like they're just rubber stamping,
planning.
11:24:43 I was wondering if there would be any role for them in helping with the short term rental issue.
11:24:48 It would have to go through them right also, in terms of doing some of the groundwork.
11:24:55 Yeah, that wasn't on the list of parities.
11:24:59 I mean, there was a priorities kind of I I would say both Kevin or Max housing centered talks, touched on short term rentals at least overly.
11:25:11 So I think that okay, this work on this with this and direction in terms of what we're looking for.
11:25:22 And yeah, trying to figure out what a work job description would be for what we need
11:25:29 That's something that you know to move the ball on totally.
11:25:40 There are some eightyu bills in legislature this year, one of which is fairly likely to pass, and it includes.
11:25:50 There's a lot of discussion around whether the State will preempt counties or cities ability to regulate, whether sure whether ads can be used for short term rentals at all,
and whether there's an owner occupancy requirement for ado, and I don't know if that's just for
11:26:06 New atus it is gonna be yeah, it's gonna be complex.
11:26:12 So, it's it's interesting timing as we're starting to formulate.
11:26:20 Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, we are. We are one of the only counties that have that allows abus as widely as we do.
11:26:27 And that's because we implemented it before. There are a number of legal challenges to that.
11:26:33 And so yeah, most counties are trying to figure out if and how they want to allow and regulate 80 use.
11:26:39 We're we're one of the only companies that has them so widespread or it would be much harder to implement that after the fact.
11:26:46 So just stay tuned. It's a it's gonna be a messy one.
11:26:49 And even in the association of counties there's disagreement about whether they want the preemption or not.
11:26:54 Some wants one, you know the owner. Accuracy one, but not the short rental some want the other way around.
11:27:01 Someone, both someone. Neither think about how we contribute to that conversation.
11:27:07 It's a fairly fundamental one. I usually let legislation happen as much as I can, but, Jeeze, that's I might want to poison that.
11:27:15 Yeah, yeah, no, I was, really. It's why I brought it up, because it was very surprising to me.
11:27:20 And it's because a lot of real communities are pushing back.
11:27:23 They don't want to allow ads at all, and so the State is is wanting to like help.
11:27:29 That process along by taking some of the political key and they don't want to allow Abus, because because they're short term rentals, because it's cause it changes development
patterns.
11:27:43 So I'd say it's in terms of the rural communities that are that don't want them or don't want to allow them.
11:27:50 I think it's a kind of a perceived and just brings it undesirable populations.
11:27:57 And you know it. It there are 2 sides of the argument, so on the left.
11:28:02 Keeper wise doesn't want it because it basically doubles the amount of density.
11:28:05 And overall area, and on the right, they're saying, you know that.
11:28:10 Well, I I can't pretend to speak for it, but it is widespread that we're a lot of road communities do not want.
11:28:18 And I think we see it as an affordable housing movement, protecting property values.
11:28:26 Okay, yeah, it's it's really interesting. And to start paying attention to the legislature, grant, I guess. So I mean, I yeah, I'll have that bill number and some analysis for
you later this afternoon, great dragons
11:28:45 Like on Thursday, as well as going to the Jeff Com meeting, where we're going through some challenging personnel issues.
11:28:52 But you know, navigating our way through it, and we are looking for a new executive director.
11:28:57 So we finalized. This was a special meeting. We finalized our job posting for that for New LED, and then I attended because you were so busy on your 17Â h day.
11:29:09 I got another swing at the swack, which was lovely, talked a little bit about the bottle bill.
11:29:16 And yeah, great to be with that group? Do they generally support it?
11:29:21 Yeah, you know, I mean a lot of it other than the bottle deposit a lot of the we we talked about, at least as it was written when we were in the meeting, right?
11:29:32 A lot of the conditions would not apply to Jefferson County, so there's a date in, I think.
11:29:40 July of 22, that dictates whether or not you need to have compost and pick up curbside service.
11:29:47 You know whether we force our hall to pick up compost, and because we didn't have it in July of 22, we don't need to do it now.
11:29:54 Does port talents, and have to comply with this, probably because they did have compost service.
11:29:59 Curbside in 20 to July 22, or with the compos. If they've garbage they have to provide recycling.
11:30:14 Isn't that the are you that's already okay, yeah, specifically, organics under some of the definitions are still being argued about.
11:30:18 So it's municipalities over $50,000.
11:30:21 I, have to do a bunch of these different things. That would be kind of owner risk financially for us to do.
11:30:28 And then cities at 10,000 and below. And I think that was the question whether or not they would be included
11:30:36 Is that right ring for you? I know there were like 17 amendments so it's just what I heard in that hearing.
11:30:49 There was like, don't come, get me! At the end of March, let's let it rattle out a little bit. Yeah, I don't want to make the sauce interesting.
11:31:00 And then a third evening, meeting in a in a row with the quill.
11:31:04 Seeing he asks, you know the trail that's going on they're kind of, in a last design phase.
11:31:09 They've got all the pieces cut for all the kiosks.
11:31:10 Now and are kind of finalizing design. So I had a community chret for lack of a better word, you know.
11:31:17 Put the green dot or the red dots on different designs, and everything, so that was moving along.
11:31:22 Well, and that was 3 very busy days. Felt like a week, though, so I went skiing on Friday
11:31:28 And then the next week the 26 was also the beginning of the point.
11:31:33 In time counts. We did not get an extension. We asked for a couple another week to to do it.
11:31:37 I did all of my point in time, count. The following week, starting on Monday, when we did.
11:31:43 We're not in session. I spent the morning and part of the afternoon with Steven Eccles, our our navigator, and we went to a bunch of folks that had been identified.
11:31:54 Who, you know. Huh? And this was a really really challenging form.
11:31:58 I have to admit very frustrating to drive by Rv.
11:32:02 Pretty much sure it's not connected to septic, pretty much sure it's not so it drove by 5 places that would absolutely qualify.
11:32:08 And then to go to the one place it didn't qualify.
11:32:11 And you know we fill out a couple forms, but just the undercount that we are doing is so significant that you just wonder what is that?
11:32:21 I mean, hey? It was incredibly frustrating. Why did you not count those 5?
11:32:27 Well, people. I'll I'll move forward in time a little bit to kind of try to answer that there's a lot of stigma still associated with this, but they they read fashion at the
housing survey instead of you know the point and time homeless count but I was at the I
11:32:46 Was a little under the weather on Tuesday, so didn't go to the Brennan Food Bank, but it did go to the Quilsee Food Bank on Wednesday.
11:32:52 Hung out there and then, you know, that there was someone a professional was working at our house, and I was talking about it when I came home, and they were showing me this
cool cabin.
11:33:04 They were building. I'm like, Oh, where are you staying now?
11:33:06 And all in an Rv. And my parents property. Oh, you qualify for the housing survey, refused to do it did not no interest at all felt like it.
11:33:16 It, it. It shamed him that I even asked. I had to back paddle, you know, and my my wife was a little more adroit and kind of led me away from it.
11:33:24 But the it's not an easy cold call when you don't know, and they've no requirement to tell you the truth are you hooked up?
11:33:34 Deceptive. Oh, yeah. And we had one of those W.
11:33:37 Obviously it wasn't. Some people don't care. Some people really value the services.
11:33:41 I had another experience when I was at the Food Food bank that, I think, is just a great service.
11:33:46 They get great amount of food. Huge amount of people there. I don't associate any stigma with it, but there was one a friend of mine that showed up, and they were kind of sheepishly
coming in, as I was there at the door, and then I you know, identify themselves and I was like oh.
11:34:02 It's the likely blank and and, you know, got a call later, too.
11:34:05 They just was so, embarrassed that he was at a point in his life that he had to take access to these resources.
11:34:12 And I, I just fundamentally didn't understand it.
11:34:15 But at the same time I I'm not there, you know.
11:34:19 I I don't know. I I felt compromised as I was going through these 3 days of pointing.
11:34:26 Time counts because there is a lot of student. But attached to it so that's why I didn't pull.
11:34:31 Call, and also because we would have never stopped, you know, because I then I mean I hit other people.
11:34:35 I have people that I've hit on the regular. Oh, yeah, you know, I know you're and I kind of write you down, and they don't care because they don't.
11:34:43 There's not a stigma to them but a lot of the stigma is is still strong.
11:34:47 I think that's a lot of what 4 times the size, what you guys counted.
11:34:54 Or, yeah, what's our? What's the term, whether we use or or present positivity?
11:35:00 No, our entertainment rate. Yeah, I would say. Our entertainment rate is probably one and 4, 2, 1, 4 and one and 8, and whose definition of How is it?
11:35:18 Family of 5, that is, in a shared house that has a feeling water system.
11:35:23 So I think technically, they are not considered unhoused because they are in a house, even if the house doesn't have infrastructure, it is.
11:35:33 For their couch, surfing. They're not paying rent. They're just borrowing this house with 5 people, and it's and it doesn't have the basic function.
11:35:41 So! I'll I'll answer with that they are homeless.
11:35:42 When I get back later.
11:35:45 But thank you for doing that, Greg. The the higher our account is, the more services we're eligible for.
11:35:59 Make the case for needing additional funding, it brings money into food banks and say evictions, services, and all these different things.
11:36:06 So yeah, it directly ends up in in dollars for folks that could use it.
11:36:11 So that was Monday, the thirtieth, and had a Northward canal chamber meeting that evening to redoing our bylaws and all that to do.
11:36:22 One Orca evaluation. On Tuesday, when I was little under the weather, so it didn't go to print.
11:36:26 It did go to the Quilseine Food Bank on Wednesday, and then Wednesday evening went to the a very strange meeting at the American Legion with the Board.
11:36:37 So I I think you probably have heard the Executive Board of the Legion with cherish and Robin from only cap as well as Steve and Karen from coast to talk about their or pleading
with them not to increase the rent from the $1,000 a month it is
11:36:58 Now to 1,750, which is what the proposed rent increase is for this year.
11:37:02 After an enormous increase recall. Yeah, last year it went from $60 per month to $1,000.
11:37:09 Yeah, so in 2 years, we're going from 60 to 1,750.
11:37:14 This was not a dialogue, you know, like my big question is, why are you increasing the rent?
11:37:20 But they just wanted to hear from us why they shouldn't increase the rent.
11:37:24 So we tried to play nice and and explain the
11:37:28 You know it looks like the the end of a partnership is is coming.
11:37:34 But let's do it as gracefully as possible, and the cheaper it is, the faster we can do it.
11:37:37 And they're like, we don't want the the American lead, the shelter to leave like, okay, it seems like a soft eviction to me.
11:37:46 So tell me. But they it was not a dialogue, so you know we all did our best to behave ourselves.
11:37:53 I know that's me. And so that was Wednesday.
11:38:05 Oh, sorry I had 2. Jeff. Com meetings. Had the second Jeffcon meeting?
11:38:09 The special meeting was actually on, on the second to to follow up on that.
11:38:13 I already really told you about that meeting met with some some constituents, and then awesome, met with Mallory and some of her advisory Council, and preparation for the this
afternoons meeting.
11:38:26 Then have the briefly went to the Port-level Village Council meeting, where I handed the ball off to David Wayne Johnson.
11:38:34 They had questions about the, the, the planning, and and everything for Olympic carriage 2, which is really getting going now.
11:38:41 Now some planning questions, so he made a presentation, and I vacated to go to the Jefferson County parks, and Re Advisory Board meeting you've got a new applicant to to fill
in the District 2 roles that's good and I had actually ride my
11:38:58 Bike around gives Lake Park before I had stumbled upon him, where the chainsaw, clearing paths and everything.
11:39:04 So, you know, definitely perfect, perfect person. So we'll we'll that'll come in front of us in a week or so.
11:39:11 And then on Friday had a little meeting with Dcd.
11:39:17 And environmental public health. About my, the letter I'll be writing for the artifacts and then met with Wendy Davis, very productive.
11:39:27 Met with some more lots of different folks working on their own Arpa letters, and and that was some some folks about I'm just giving them advice on on how to apply.
11:39:39 Had a lunch meeting with Brent Butler and and Josh Peters.
11:39:43 It was really good. I missed a call with Phil Johnson from Spencer Wood products that'll reach out again.
11:39:52 They wanna they're getting Allen Mill going you know.
11:39:56 We wrote that level of support for the Biochar Kilm Grant application, and in not quite connecting on Friday, or he's hoping to read, meet with Ec.
11:40:05 Director and me so I'll I'll take some time.
11:40:09 Find some time that Cindy is able to meet with us virtually, and that was my week or 2.
11:40:18 So yeah. Felt very busy. Mark you, wanna you wanna go over your last couple of weeks. Yeah.
11:40:25 So I'll do this quickly, bunch of what I'm gonna say is duplicative.
11:40:30 So on the Twenty-third Board meeting notable, there was the Quarterly Elected and department directors meeting at noon.
11:40:37 We are changing the scheme there where the county coordination meeting, or those will then become meetings of the elected and department directors
11:40:53 Next. On Tuesday, the Quarterly Finance Committee meeting.
11:40:59 I was happy to see that our treasurer, Stacy, is using Simpro to print reports previously she would have to dump data out of the as 400 and put it into spreadsheets and setup.
11:41:14 That's a nice productivity enhancing to for our treasure.
11:41:16 And you're right, Greg. Our our interest yield is increased.
11:41:21 Commensurate with what the the fed has been doing so that's a nice revenue source, and then at 100'clock the number of us, Liz Anderson and I met with a civic plus to go over
some Internet website.
11:41:42 Metrics and Wendy, you'll begin to participate in those to evaluate the effectiveness of the county website and to make improvements.
11:41:51 Is she mature's in her role here with the county, and then 1 30 new Superior Court.
11:41:58 Judge Judge Mack sworn in. That was a very nice ceremony.
11:42:01 It was also a nice tribute to Judge Harper on his way out.
11:42:07 Then 18, meeting notable there, John Marl, City managers gone last week of January.
11:42:15 All of February, and I think most of the first week in March.
11:42:20 So good, downtime for him yeah, I'll be spreading.
11:42:26 I'll be spread mine out if you don't mind.
11:42:28 Okay. Busy day on Wednesday, the 20 fifth Budget Committee meeting in the morning, and your characterization.
11:42:35 Commissioner Dean was spot on. I think we used the 125,000 of fund balance which to me is remarkable when you say a balanced budget.
11:42:43 I don't think you can get much closer than that, and we know how balanced we we are at the first meeting.
11:42:49 That was a new thing, too. Vote for with the new. With the units right?
11:42:54 We can actually, yeah, we have a capability cause.
11:42:58 It counts the thirteenth month, and right?
11:43:00 So it's yeah. Munis has got all kinds of improvements.
11:43:03 A little more work here and there, but productivity wise.
11:43:07 I think it was a good move, and then I sat in on a Trust land transfer meeting that that Heidi.
11:43:12 I think, had arranged very informative about the leases right?
11:43:18 That was the least meeting with the Land Trust. Yeah, yeah. And then a meeting with Brent Butler in the afternoon.
11:43:28 Then a meeting, a number of, I think we have a half a dozen public records, requests that all that revolve around the the same issue taking quite a bit of staff time to answer
quick check in with our Hr.
11:43:46 Director Sarah Melonson, and then planning commission in the evening, along with you 3 board members, then on 26, jump on board, meeting in the morning, and you know Greg's
right number of personnel issues that I think are getting sorted out there and then Friday nothing
11:44:07 Formal on the schedule, but I I did take an opportunity to get a number of staff actions done in preparation for for today.
11:44:17 Following week, no meeting on Monday.
11:44:22 We did have a meeting to talk about the Ufc.
11:44:26 Contract negotiations coming up, then, on the thirty-first.
11:44:32 Nothing on the schedule. Wednesday. The first has loved this, nothing on the schedule I did spend a fair amount of time consummating the contract for the derek vessel.
11:44:42 Removal. It had some complications in it that we had not yet encountered, namely, maritime vessel, insurance, pollution, insurance, and some some other some other issues.
11:44:56 Then on the second.
11:44:59 I stood in for Commissioner Dean at the Edc. Team.
11:45:04 Jefferson Board. Meeting pretty meeting meeting it went the full 2Â h, and I think you have all the materials, Kate, if you want to read up on those, and then I afternoon check
in with Chris Coy, and then on Friday the third met with the the State.
11:45:24 Auditor. In the morning. We we will have a finding.
11:45:28 The State Auditor is rewriting the text of that finding.
11:45:31 But it's a finding that similar to years past, the magnitude of it is somewhat reduced.
11:45:40 But anyway, when that is, when that report is published, that will probably need to have a session with the Board on that jeeze, I got a bunch of popups here, and then, of course,
the the chamber Update that Commissioner eisenhower and I partnered
11:46:00 On. That was a to me a a whole lot of fun.
11:46:03 I I rarely get the chance to tell the county story, and I think it's a good story, and I think we told it well, and then check in with Apple Martin in the afternoon, and and
that pretty much wraps up my 2 week right?
11:46:21 Thank you very much. Yeah. You gotta go. We'll just unless there's anything else we need to take care of takes a little bit of extra time here at the lunch break and we are
in in recess until 1 30.
13:30:54 Hey!
13:31:01 Alright. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I will call this meeting of the Board of County Commissioners back in to session.
13:31:10 We've got some guests for the afternoon session.
13:31:12 It's good to see you guys, and if there's we still have other issues after.
13:31:17 But we've got 2 items at the beginning, so we'll start with our Jefferson County Forestry management, and chickity forestry.
13:31:26 Would you like to take a seat next to Mark? There, Mallory.
13:31:29 Thanks for having me. Oh, yeah, thanks for all the work you've been contributing to this.
13:31:38 Yes, they do have my presentation. I was also going to just be open getting the map.
13:31:46 Yeah. Oh, my! Follow the makeup. I mean that literally.
13:32:00 Use it as a guy, get very familiar with them, I will. Is this, is that all right?
13:32:02 That's great. Get my laptop set up here.
13:32:06 Yeah, we are. You sharing off your your computer? Oh, no, I don't.
13:32:11 Well, I can't as you like. You just need to get into the meeting I sent it.
13:32:17 It would probably be handy if I could do it on mine for the mapping.
13:32:21 Just to scroll you'll just need to get into the meeting real quick.
13:32:24 I don't think I have the Wi-fi.
13:32:26 Nice. Just it's just the county public. There's no password
13:32:33 It's public service that's good. That's great.
13:32:36 I forgot about a folder of information maybe I'll grab it.
13:32:40 Well, yeah, one moment as we get going, I'm sure the publican.
13:32:44 Okay. With this for a moment, as we get our ducks in the row.
13:32:48 County public. Yep, thank you. Okay.
13:32:56 Yeah, do you have the link to the Zoom Meeting it's on the agenda.
13:33:00 Okay. So you want to get into the Zoom Meeting, because that's how you can share your that.
13:33:04 Your screen, but you want to leave the audio of the meeting.
13:33:07 Okay, because you're using the micro. That would be fine.
13:33:16 It's good to see Sophie
13:33:19 While we're waiting. Can I ask you a question if I have bags and bags of deadly night shade that I ripped off my own property?
13:33:27 Can I burn those what about biochemistry, or should I throw them in the dump look it up, and I will get back to you.
13:33:32 I don't know about nice some a lot of seeds are very resistant to fire right after a certain temperature.
13:33:39 Yeah, it. Just yeah, thanks.
13:33:45 I think bioterrorism. Oh, yeah, yeah, so the idea would be.
13:33:50 It would be much harder than just a fire. Are we on?
13:33:53 Are we zooming at zoom? Okay? So I will just tee this up.
13:34:00 This presentation, Mallory is going to report on the work she's been doing for the last 6 months.
13:34:05 I think, and I would just start by saying that on the policy front there's a lot of things in play right now.
13:34:15 You'll remember the carbon project which we were writing letters to Dnr.
13:34:20 About for pretty actively there for a while, and it kinda went dormant for a bit, but now there's a new piece of legislation.
13:34:25 I think the Department is trying to work on getting the authorization to participate in the compliance market, which would be a little much higher rate per 1 million metric
tons of carbon, so it could be a really good thing.
13:34:42 But they're just getting that introduced in the Legislature now.
13:34:45 So the carbon project is kind of in a different place than it was when we last talked about this.
13:34:54 It's it's on hold, but I I don't think it's on. Hold.
13:34:58 It's just transitioning. I don't know.
13:35:00 That's that's not. That seems accurate to me, and parallel to that, Mallory and I have been meeting with the Department of Natural Resources Region Staff fairly regularly for
the last 4 months.
13:35:14 Yep, and having conversations with them about reconveyance, and changing their management practices on certain parcels, and Mallory will report on that as part of her report.
13:35:27 So there's been a lot going on. It's a little I feel like there's a lot still in motion.
13:35:33 So this is not the end of this. But this is a point at which we feel like we want to get everyone's input and figure out what the next steps are.
13:35:43 Hmm, like the end of the first app, where, like it coming into the building building action, we decided the path that we get on.
13:35:52 Second bag of popcorn is coming out. Bag of popcorn.
13:35:54 Okay. I think that was very well articulated. And yeah, I thought that at this point there would be more conclusive.
13:36:02 And it is just an ongoing conversation, but it is.
13:36:07 There is a report now that will be available to the public, and this map.
13:36:11 I'm sorry, my Zoom decided to update right now.
13:36:14 So we're gonna just talk for another minute. This comes up.
13:36:19 But I thought today.
13:36:23 I have a presentation, but I I have the map here, and some of the numbers.
13:36:30 I have the whole report. So I thought it would be useful way to spend the time to just discuss that.
13:36:35 And if you guys have questions because I think this is a decision point for you.
13:36:41 All this was the point of this report was to give you information to help you make more informed decisions on where the forestry program goes, what to do with the Nrlands and
how you wanna proceed with county lands.
13:36:56 Well, well, I can't. I can't do a whole lot.
13:36:59 Let's see, I'm sorry I could open the map.
13:37:05 Okay. I'm almost slow for me.
13:37:10 But if there are there any questions that you all have, that you wanna go over just to preface or comments got, I mean, your report is attached to the agenda today, so that
is available to the public as we speak, and that's very helpful.
13:37:28 As was our conversation, I guess I would hold my questions until we you kinda get into it a little bit.
13:37:34 Yeah, so, but we can. We can wait, or you know, Kate can share the map to. I think I'm there
13:37:46 Come on!
13:37:51 So I've so as a background and primer, I've worked for the county.
13:37:59 I've been contracting since. I think 2,019 should double check that.
13:38:05 There we go!
13:38:09 I'm in
13:38:13 And we started this to start looking at what the state of Jefferson County lands were, how the county can best manage them, and what the opportunities, risks, where and how
we could best address them, and and think of how to do this more pragmatically, and more with an eye 2
13:38:37 Prevention, risk provider risk reduction rather than a reactive kind of model.
13:38:43 As more forest health issues come down the road, and so I did a feasibility study back in 2,019 to look at the state of the lands that led to finding a few opportunities.
13:38:56 There were 3 properties in particular, Jiminum County Park Trail, Head park and Bow site, part of Gibbs Lake, Park County Park, that we're.
13:39:07 All that all represented 3 different problems. And so we did selective settings on each of those in 2021.
13:39:16 I'm sorry with the pandemic. Yes, it's done.
13:39:21 There are a lot of lessons learned and those were 3 really large parcels.
13:39:25 As far as well, not really large, but larger parcels, as far as the county lands go, and they were successful.
13:39:34 We learned a lot of things from them. And so this was the next phase of kind of looking at.
13:39:39 Where do we go? With the rest of the county lands?
13:39:44 What's what's next? And what is the trajectory like?
13:39:46 5 year 10 year, kind of timeline. And what are the options?
13:39:52 So let's see, need to be. Can we promote Mallory
13:39:59 You need to be a panelist to share. So one more, one more step almost there. Thank you.
13:40:05 Okay.
13:40:10 Should I start video, too? Does it matter? Doesn't matter?
13:40:13 No, you don't. Okay. Great. So
13:40:20 Let's see presentation
13:40:27 One of the main things to consider. So what a big point of this report was to look at.
13:40:33 Not just Jefferson County owned lands, but the overall landscape of Jefferson County.
13:40:38 So we were thinking about the context of public state lands, Federal lands, private, small forest landowners, and the county with the county as the main focus.
13:40:46 Of course. But just how do all of these pieces interact?
13:40:50 And I think it's worth note. I don't want to spend too much time on this, but I don't know if we've talked about this a lot in the past, but it is worth noting that Jefferson
County and the North Olympic Peninsula in General is pretty
13:41:02 fragmented. There's a lot of small forest landowners.
13:41:06 We have a lot of 5, 10 acre parcels which makes forest management really difficult.
13:41:12 Wsu extension forestry used to be in the area, I think, about 10 years ago, but I don't have all the story of why they left, but this was a public service that I would really
recommend bringing back to the counties as a service to small Forest landowners because we don't
13:41:32 Have a lot of consulting forces. We don't have a lot of resources.
13:41:37 Dnr. Did just hire a stewardship forest, or, I think, 2 stewardship foresters for the North Olympic kind, free or low cost services for small forest landowners as well.
13:41:49 So that's something good for you all to know. And to try and promote more of, to try and help address, because small force landowners, because they do create.
13:41:58 They are a little part of the land base here, foresters, that is the Dnr.
13:42:04 Foresters are dedicated just to helping those other small small forest landowners steward their own properties.
13:42:11 Exactly. Yeah. And as a small forest or consultants that's typically my breadwin but but I will just say that there's not a lot of consulting foresters in the area, there's
definitely a much higher need.
13:42:22 And so, having more public support and more public resources, would be amazing and it's gonna help the landscape a lot more.
13:42:30 And just raise the education. There's just not many tools and awareness out there for small landowners on how to manage their land.
13:42:36 So there's Dnr small forest landowner, stewardship foresters.
13:42:41 I can't remember lead back terminology, and then the Wsu has an extension forister, and they do an 8 week coach for a stewardship program which is pretty amazing.
13:42:52 You can do and I'll land on her. We'll meet her own forest management plan, and then there's other costs.
13:42:58 Your programs like Nrcs, so that help provide free forest management plans and other mitigation kind of practices on forest land that unfortunately, the county isn't as a public
entity, isn't
13:43:13 Eligible for so can I. Just one more just to put a fine point on it.
13:43:19 I think one of the things you're kind of dancing around.
13:43:21 Maybe as many of the lands at the county owns that have timber on are very small, not very practical, yeah, are you?
13:43:32 Gonna yeah, yeah, I just wanted to tackle a little.
13:43:33 Alright. So the county yes, also has that same problem of let's see, can I do the screen share
13:43:53 I suck at Zoom. I'm sorry people. Hmm!
13:43:59 Let me be got a view. There will be a slide show.
13:44:02 Yeah, yeah.
13:44:06 Yeah.
13:44:10 I think it's
13:44:14 Why?
13:44:17 Thank you. All.
13:44:33 Sorry. Oh, oh, I'm gonna jump around for a second
13:44:42 So we have what Commissioner Brothers, and was just talking about is, we have 1,800 acres of landowned by Jefferson County, spread across 300 parcels of land, mostly under 10
acres each.
13:44:55 So when I did the and it's covering about 80% of Jefferson County's land base forest does so.
13:45:03 Forrest is the dominant feature of the landscape.
13:45:07 And so thinking about how we can manage more holistically across all of these different land ownerships is really big, and especially and it's the biggest challenge I think,
for the county is all of these small parcels.
13:45:18 The harvest and forest management. I did. The smallest one was 40 acres, and there's a lot of these 10 acres, and it's proven as a consulting forest, or really difficult to
manage.
13:45:31 Mike Cronin told me when I entered, this feels the hardest part of the job would be 10 acre and 5 acre parcels, and it is absolutely true, and I have been working on it for
5 years trying to figure out solutions for that and haven't flesh that out yet
13:45:51 So I think the that is a a big question before you all, and and we'll talk more about that.
13:45:59 But what I do think there are a ton of strengths in in Jefferson County on the county level.
13:46:07 We're right at that sweet spot where there's so much overlap and energy dependency between departments.
13:46:17 And it was really nice to go through these harvest and work with the different departments, find a way that we could support each other and do these customized harvest.
13:46:25 That full fills more benefits to each department in a way that is much more difficult for Dnr.
13:46:34 They're just higher operation. They're higher.
13:46:35 Efficiency. But we are we, as a county, can be, higher touch, and have more of these local partnerships.
13:46:44 This is the type of harvest that I did just for this is Summary View, because I don't know who's tuning in.
13:46:53 And just wanna make it clear what we're doing so we're not talking about clear cutting in any of these properties.
13:47:00 This is selective forest management, where it's ecological forest management.
13:47:04 There's a lot of terms being thrown around. But, generally speaking, we want it to be regenerative.
13:47:08 We want these forests to be healthier, longer-term, and that mean.
13:47:14 But we also want to be supporting the timber industry we love.
13:47:17 I love local wood. I love the idea of creating more jobs and seeing more products created in Jefferson County.
13:47:25 And so this is one of the ways that we can promote more forest health doing these removal of about 30% of the volume of a forest and a mosaic kind of patterns to mimic natural
disturbance and provide multiple benefits
13:47:43 These are some other types of forest management that have happened, or that happened.
13:47:48 So this is the top is more of the industrial level, where trees are grown more as crops and it's a lot more efficient you can get a lot more timber out of it.
13:47:56 But so I'm not disparaging. This is just not what we're aiming for on the county level.
13:48:03 I think so. Group selection and single tree selection are more diversified ways there's a ton of terms for the different types of forest management.
13:48:13 But we're we're looking at these smaller selective harvest picture of post harvest from Gibbs Lake, or both site, which was a Dnr.
13:48:26 Transfer and this was about. I think this was less than a year after the harvest, so it was really nice to see.
13:48:32 The ground had grained up all of the firms just spring right back to life.
13:48:38 Trial has looking good, too. It is Charlotte Parks, looking great.
13:48:42 Yeah, I am incredibly pleased. After a year of trailhead, to see how, because those trees were so stressed.
13:48:50 That was the by far the most stress, like difficult property, to manage, as we all know well, and the tree crowns look great.
13:48:58 I was expecting more blowdown. I think we all were expecting more blow down in there, but the trees are like looking super healthy in there.
13:49:07 Yeah, I'm very happy with it. And there's been a lot of work done in there.
13:49:11 So all of the properties have responded really well.
13:49:15 I did some workshops for Wsu with with volunteers, where we went in and did monitoring plots in Chimica Park, and it was really cool to have these volunteers come back and identify
that Western Red Cedar and that's where were we sprouting
13:49:32 In the under story over all of the plots, so that's an indicator that there was enough sun coming in, and that the forest is doing what we hoped it would be doing.
13:49:41 So good, and only a couple of years, we're we're seeing the effects that we wanted to, which is great.
13:49:48 So for this contract, and and for this report that where you're talking about today, I was looking at the Jefferson County Forest lands and then also for context.
13:50:01 I know you all know this, looking at the how, how do we interact more with the Nr, because, as the public, I'm sure as well aware, there were some harvest that were contested
last year, Beaver Valley and Pennywise, and I think it was an excellent
13:50:23 Choice, on behalf of the county commissioners, to to take a deeper dive into thinking, how can we better be better allies with the Nr.
13:50:32 And prevents these kind of issues coming up in the future.
13:50:34 So a lot of the research was just to figure out like what is happening on the land with Dnr.
13:50:38 And how can we move forward? And a more proactive, collaborative way
13:50:49 I guess I've gone over these before so I want us to just have some slides.
13:50:53 But I wanna I wanna go over the map and just go over some of the conversations.
13:51:02 This is. This is a kind of next level. Looking at more ways to vary harvest, you can see by the different colors in there the different levels of intensity of harvest, and then
you can see in the images on the left the the the forest is much more diversified and if you look at
13:51:19 Aerials of Jefferson County, and a lot of Western Washington, you see a very patchy landscape that is clearly defined by, like the parcel boundaries, and so this is another
way that to further diversify harvest and that we can do more for us management if we
13:51:36 Have more lamb to work with. So this is so one of the things that we were doing from the report was looking at.
13:51:48 If we if we took back some of the Dnr.
13:51:52 Lands. What those projections would look like, what would that mean on behalf of the county?
13:51:56 So a lot of the conversation with the Nr. That Heidi and I were having was to look at.
13:52:04 And advisors informed a lot of this. Dnr.
13:52:08 Informed a lot of this. There were a lot of moving parts, but Dnr.
13:52:12 Lands are across Eastern Jefferson County. We looked at West African County.
13:52:17 There's not just I think it's makes the most sense for DNA to just keep managing those.
13:52:21 But I think there is an opportunity here in East Jefferson County to make things more efficient and provide opportunities for the county and Dnr.
13:52:33 If we start as a county start, taking land back from Dnr.
13:52:38 North of 104, if we so what we have discussed is having 3 focus areas in in East Jefferson, which would be South County brother Tan Commissioner Brotherton's district would
be focused on timber.
13:52:55 So leave all of that for Dnr. And that is timber production.
13:52:59 We need that money for the county for various reasons, and it's a great resource.
13:53:03 And then up here, north of Highway 104, the we're more in the rain.
13:53:10 Shadow trees grow lower, and it's further from the mills.
13:53:14 There's a lot more people. So there it makes operations for DNA more difficult.
13:53:20 So Donr is from my understanding, not opposed to getting rid of some of those properties, and it makes more sense for us, as the county to be managing those because they are
more kind of community forest oriented, so what I did was looking at some of these parcels, that I think would be ideal for
13:53:38 reconvance, and I'm sorry this is jumping like on a little bit in the conversation.
13:53:43 But looking at what kind of reduction and harvesting we could do, doing that lighter, thinner, selective kind of harvesting that promotes more forest health and diversity to
do for us.
13:53:55 Management, do all of the partnerships that we've demonstrated already in harvest, and and the forestry program up here on Instagram property, and what we could be doing.
13:54:08 And you can see from the numbers, from the harvest that we did initially to what's possible.
13:54:17 If we got more acres. It's fairly significant.
13:54:21 The the difference that we could be making, and these are estimates.
13:54:24 There's a lot of different variables in there, and you don't know what timber is going to be doing.
13:54:30 But as somewhat conservative, and had these reviewed by other foresters before ing them.
13:54:37 Of course, so it gives you some indication. Is there anything you want to discuss on here he's locked on back on well, I think, Mallory, when you said, you know, splitting it
up between North 104 and South of 104 I mean there's a lot more within the South of
13:54:52 104. There's the Dava Bay naturalary preserves, which has an expansion that's supposed to have a public hearing soon I think.
13:55:01 On the 20 eighth of February. So we're not talking about, you know, throwing away everything you know.
13:55:07 No, and I'm sorry. Thank you for clarifying that I.
13:55:12 The third area was definitely conservation. And so there is like the Daveob area.
13:55:14 There's devils Lake, and then there's like Chimicken ridge.
13:55:18 So there are these different conservation focus, pockets that we're just like this is concurrent.
13:55:21 We want to leave this this way. And Dave, Bob is a major one of those, so I'm not not proposing anything in that area before anyone.
13:55:32 Well without saying that people hearing might have been like, what? Yeah?
13:55:37 Right? No, totally. Totally. And what? What is in what we didn't go over yet?
13:55:42 Is the the top properties. In my report I have a list of the top properties that I think make the most sense based on all of our conversations, to reconvey and top ones would
be in my mind.
13:55:54 Cape George, which is, I I think, it's called the Cape George or Quimper.
13:55:59 It's 243 acres in the Cape Storage area of port towns, and has the Quimper lost wilderness in there.
13:56:07 It is a school property, so it would have to be trust, land, transfer, or real estate transaction feel like, I think is an excellent one.
13:56:19 And Anderson Lake, because Anderson Link and Teal Lake are both.
13:56:28 They're both forest board, so they could both be reconveyed, and for the public that they so there, I didn't know how to jump into all this.
13:56:39 I'm sorry for trying to talk to all of you who know some of this, and trying to also give some context for the public.
13:56:44 So please call me out on better clarification. But there are different types of Dnr lands.
13:56:50 And so we have these couple of tools to a a few tools to reconvene or take land back, and the easiest is a forest board.
13:57:01 Lands. There's a mechanism within the State where we can reconvey these lands at a pretty low cost, just the Co.
13:57:08 The administrative costs, and then they have to come back to the county as parks.
13:57:12 And this is what Kitsu has used. Some of the other option is to do.
13:57:17 Trust Land Transfer, which is, if it's a school trust property like Cape George's.
13:57:27 A lot of the properties are school trust, and so in in that scenario, Dnr.
13:57:33 Generally needs an alternative land to trade for, or we have to pay more money for it as a real estate.
13:57:39 Real estate transaction as I understand it, so if I can add something on trust, for there trust line transfers traditionally have taken many years to come come about.
13:57:52 So, if you pose a parcel for trust, land, transfer some parcels have been sitting on the list for 25 years like that are on the pilot list right now.
13:58:00 Yeah, but the current plan or model with the trust land transfer program is to open it to other trust.
13:58:07 Not just the common school Construction Trust, which would not make it in the coming years.
13:58:13 Such from the next by any such, that the that the integrand exchange would would not be required.
13:58:20 As part of this. Okay, so that's part of the work that the proviso work group did over the last year and a half.
13:58:26 Okay, was to make some recommendations because there are land sitting, and other trusts that could be transferred out and replace with more productive timberlands.
13:58:38 Yeah. Making the trust healthier over time. And that's kind of the whole purpose of trust land transfers.
13:58:43 Remove hard to manage assets from the the trust base, and some of these areas are are that absolutely.
13:58:52 I think the Cape George one. There's there's a pretty unanimous agreement that that one is difficult to manage, and I think I think it's one of the ones that would be such an
ideal property for the counties to manage and for more context.
13:59:07 I think so there's because I have this on the harvest on there, and I'm sure there will be questions.
13:59:12 We're not talking about harvesting any of the legacy for us, or that older forest and we're not talking about harvesting any of that on on any of these properties.
13:59:20 But there's a lot of property in the Cape George 243 acres that is like 30 years, or under that is going to be having more force. Health issues.
13:59:28 Fire, danger, and so it's an opportunity for us to do to demonstrate smaller scale, higher, partnerships, forest management.
13:59:39 Here, and also preserve this pretty cool opportunity. And yeah, I think if if the county, if you all would like to go down this road, I think it makes sense to reconvey something
like Tla or Anderson Lake, that already have timber on there where we can get some revenue immediately basically and
14:00:01 doing and doing, the selective harvest that can help funds.
14:00:05 Cape George, and whatever way that is transferred back, and some of these other properties.
14:00:10 But it helps. That helps the get money in the coffers sooner.
14:00:16 The other talking about Anderson Lake with Monty it is adjacent to Anderson Lake, State Park, just across Anderson Lake Road, and is where the Olympic Discovery Trail is planned
to go.
14:00:26 South of Anderson Lake, State Park. So there are these secondary kind of benefits to considering some of these parcels, and we've been looking at that as we go as well.
14:00:36 Yeah, yeah, and that is something. So we in the report, there's 3 different parcels that I did more of an analysis on on the Dnr properties, on.
14:00:47 Why I think they would make the most sense to reconvey, and some of the strategies and or some of the advantages and continuity was something that Katherine Copis and I looked
at a lot of and Anderson like was absolutely that it with Anderson Lake State Park.
14:01:04 North of it and the trail corridor potential.
14:01:06 It's a it's a good parcel it makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways, I think, for the county.
14:01:13 Last one question about, just to make sure I understand the Cape George at the top.
14:01:16 That's county owned land already. The pre-commercial got it.
14:01:22 Thinning. Yeah, is that trailhead? Or is that the gravel pit, or which property is that sorry?
14:01:28 And yeah, they. I shouldn't have put this up so soon.
14:01:32 So this is a summary of the report. So in the under the county forest management recommendation, the 2 projects that I think are highest need coming up in the next 5 years would
be pre commercially thinning both Site and Cape George one of those Dnr.
14:01:50 Own lands and the Cape Cape George one, isn't.
14:01:54 It's that is very confusing that I put them both that way. I'm sorry.
14:01:59 That was in the way that it was in my mind. It's Cape George is the one that's the 4 acres 46 acres just to the south of the solid waste facility yeah, so that one was hirested
about 20 years ago.
14:02:15 So the trees are just really young, and the same in both site.
14:02:18 So they're both about 25 years old.
14:02:20 So to avoid a trailhead type of situation, I would strongly recommend doing a free commercial thinning in the next 5 years there and that pre commercial thinning is the kind
of thing that we do in the first 30 ish years of of a stand, especially when they're they've been managed
14:02:38 commercially, and are overplanted because they're over planted with the intention that this prescription will be implemented so as county managers.
14:02:47 This is what should happen to to avoid risk. But it's a pre commercial thinning, is it's called pre commercial, because it's in that loss.
14:02:57 We don't make any money off of it, so those are the 2 investments and you can see the 23,000 16,000 that you already have.
14:03:05 If you don't take back any DNA land. Otherwise in terms of just managing county lands.
14:03:10 If you didn't take back any Dnr land, you've got those 2 costs that I I think are worth investing in, and then there's not a lot of timber.
14:03:21 There's a lot of these 10 acre parcels.
14:03:22 There is timber that can offset it, that we can do.
14:03:25 The selective, harvesting to do for us health and improvement, and and there are some parcels that I've listed in tables, and an enforcement plan in the in the report.
14:03:35 But to do more restoration, to do just more projects on the ground, and to take back some of these larger public parcels, and do lighter touch forestry.
14:03:48 You have a pretty cool opportunity with taking back some of these bigger DNA parcels.
14:03:54 As my recommendation, so yeah, cute, does that make sense now?
14:04:02 So, Cape George, and then both site is so we did the upper stand.
14:04:08 That was about 130 acres, and that one was, I think, 35 years old, and then the lower.
14:04:14 Both site is about 30 acres, and it's 20 years old.
14:04:18 Both of these are about 20 years old, so
14:04:22 I mean, do these small 10 acres, and below parcels need management?
14:04:28 Not necessarily I mean, there's not not a lot of them that that I saw that are super high risk, because it's mostly it's mostly the bigger parcels that had that we're like trailhead
or the solid waste Cape George.
14:04:45 Where they were harvested. They are young, forests that has been managed commercially.
14:04:51 And so, yeah, so we need to help get it to a place where it can be a bit more self sustaining a lot of the 10 acre parcels or a bit older generally, and they're just there aren't
huge risks that I see there may be some noxious weeds in there
14:05:08 Yeah, okay, but Scotch room is not shave tolerant.
14:05:16 So as it is for us maturity to. I mean, it's it's worth mitigating those weeds now.
14:05:22 But I I would also say, Please correct me if I'm wrong here, that as the forest mature is, it's also going to solve some of that problem, so some of them yeah.
14:05:37 And there's also, I think there's a lot of blackberry over there, too, probably so I think it might be important to look at the last page of the report, and the list of all
the lands that we reviewed, and then also the map Kevin and you and Catherine have
14:05:54 been working on. Let's do that. The larger context. I think this is page here.
14:06:01 So what Heidi is mentioning is part of what was requested in this report was kind of an update to the forest for the future.
14:06:14 Showing up to what had happened in the last 12 years.
14:06:18 And what's changed? Yes.
14:06:23 So for us, for the future report was done in 2,011 from a team of folks, including oh, I know it's Peter Bales and Mike Corona.
14:06:36 And then there was another woman listed on there that I don't remember the name that we probably need to zoom in working honest I'm on screen.
14:06:44 Oh, touch screen does work today. So one of the really useful things that came out of the force for the future report was just recommendations on on how to manage each of the
Dnr Lands, and what might be appropriate based on this public lands working group but that was back in 2,000 and
14:07:03 11 so it's been 11 years, and there have been some changes.
14:07:05 And so we went through and updated the list. A couple of the considerations that we were taking into account where the the older force, the Pre 1,900 twentys for us, because
that was a big concern from the the harvest this past summer so looking at those looking at
14:07:26 The overall strategy. So we have in the region we have north of 104.
14:07:31 We have the day, Bob, and then we have Wfl. Which stands for working forest lands.
14:07:37 So then I should. The type which is common school which we discussed so common school.
14:07:43 You need to use more creative mechanisms to transfer that back if you want to.
14:07:48 And for us board is, we can do reconvance
14:07:56 I don't know if you want to talk about any of these properties.
14:08:00 This is this is an appendix that will be in the report or that is in the report.
14:08:04 So question just given. The timeframe.
14:08:09 You just talked about Heidi, the decades it can take for trust land transfer to take place.
14:08:15 Obviously, we have a lot identified here that would be appropriate for trust line transfer.
14:08:20 And I have those been prioritized somewhere where it would be like we would be requesting transfer in a prioritized order.
14:08:30 And is it we have to like? Choose a couple that we'd be focused on?
14:08:34 Yeah, we would need to do that process. And so one of them that we are even talking about trying to add to the current reconvenience, or that integrate interfest exchange that
will have to happen with the Dave Bay expansion was the Cape George Parcel trying to get
14:08:56 That fast tracked or integrand to common school, so that it could be Trustland transferred in short order.
14:09:07 But
14:09:12 I don't know how we would do it that best, and DNA I did mention putting in potentially like adding onto the request for this February, that that that's what they were talking
about, though.
14:09:26 Yeah, no. Right? Yeah. Yeah, so, I guess there's a possibility.
14:09:31 If you wanted to act super quickly on some of these, you could, and that's something that we can discuss more and I think we that was a question for Mark.
14:09:45 Not you mark state mark, I think his name is Mark.
14:09:48 I'm terrible on the name Brian Andrew, right, but above and they were referring to someone else to talk to you about the Dwayne or Todd.
14:09:58 Maybe Dwayne
14:10:00 There's a new. So so another update on this front is that Angus Brody is is retiring, and Todd Wilker, who's been the Southwest Sound manager for Dnr is stepping into that role
and Dwayne Emman's estate in the
14:10:15 deputy role. So little bit of a change. So there's a lot.
14:10:21 Welcome. So this is one of the resources in there that well, hopefully be useful.
14:10:34 Another, appendix is, you can? We'll? I'll just show you real quickly.
14:10:40 This is the 3 scenarios. So they Cape George Common School.
14:10:46 I went through and listed the different stands in there.
14:10:50 Their ages, management, considerations, benefits to transition. Some of the suggested management.
14:10:56 Timeline, and then we included adjacent Cnn.
14:11:02 Each of these, because I think continuity between the lands.
14:11:06 If we're looking at the larger landscape is a really key.
14:11:09 Things to keep noting and
14:11:12 Prioritizing on these properties. Tia Lake. East.
14:11:18 There's still, like Eastern tail, like West. They're both forest board lands, and so they could both be re reconveyed.
14:11:27 And they're both just over 500 acres, I think, and the ones are both.
14:11:32 They're really ideal because they're 30 to 50 years old.
14:11:36 So they're merchantables timber. There's a lot of public trails in there already from the Cape George Community.
14:11:43 They have a lot of internships that they have already sorry.
14:11:50 Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I think there's a really cool potential to just demonstrate these different types of forest management practices where we can focus on carbon where we
can focus on wildlife where we can focus on low lower rotation or longer rotations of timber so
14:12:16 80 years old, and then also they use selective harvest that can just provide some steady revenue in a way that is, you know, a lot lower impact than the bigger commercial harvest
from Dnr.
14:12:31 So the goal of all of this is really to try and do a middle path we're trying to go for a win win because the nature of Jefferson County is forest land and timber is part of
the history and the culture here and I think there are ways that you all can promote timber as
14:12:48 An economy here that is still in line with recreation, conservation.
14:12:54 The carbon sequestration, and all of that, and I think some these 3 properties are are good properties to demonstrate that on.
14:13:04 But it is a a big lift right now. So can I dig in just to like the Teal Lake east as an example.
14:13:12 Yep. So if we didn't do anything, and Dnr.
14:13:18 Harvest it, it would generate more money twice as much money I don't know about twice as much.
14:13:26 That was, that is something. So on the map. It shows what Dnr.
14:13:30 Has at for plan harvest, and there is overlap, and what I've suggested for the county, for you know similar reasons.
14:13:36 They? We both know there, there's a good timing for some of these.
14:13:41 What Dnr does is Dnr is way more efficient.
14:13:45 They're more of a commercial industrial model, and I think the their operational costs are 25 of the overall revenue.
14:13:54 So if you're making $1,000 a $1,000 per hour board feet, you're gonna get 750 back as the county, and my management is more like 40 to 50% that you're going to be getting back.
14:14:13 So there's there are trade offs, and it's definitely a lower value.
14:14:17 But there are the ecosystem trade offs there.
14:14:20 Cultural and recreational trade-offs. There's, you know, you don't have to.
14:14:24 One of the advantages is we don't have to go back in and do.
14:14:29 We control. I mean, there are some we will monitor, but there's no spraying.
14:14:36 There's no, there's no necessary like massive tree planting in there.
14:14:39 So it's so. There's operational costs that are lower right?
14:14:44 And I guess I just I still don't quite understand what it looks like over a 100 years, you know, I mean, and I I would assume, with the selective harvest that more harvesting
could be done 30 years down the line as well, right yeah, yeah, and this is you could do more than I
14:15:03 Put in here. You could go more than every 15 years.
14:15:08 You could do 50 acres or 30 acres. It is 500 acres, and a lot of it is the same age.
14:15:14 So we could. Do. You know, 30 or a 100 acres every year or 2, I mean, not over and over, but just to start building a little bit of a base.
14:15:25 And so to diversify those for us over time.
14:15:29 I have tried several times to get models that really try and demonstrate this over time over a 100 years, and there's a lot there hasn't been anything that I have seen and tried
to model that I feel like is valid enough to to bring in the theory is that this is more you can do more
14:15:51 sustain that trees at this 80 year rotation. You're sequestering more carbon.
14:15:57 You're able to produce more, timber, and you're able to retain a lot more timber there's an article Linkedin, or there is, and the report called, Have your cake and eat it,
too.
14:16:07 I just reading it do you want me to share screen for the map on this?
14:16:12 It is interesting, and it and the second part of my question why I bring that is, you have to stop sharing.
14:16:21 Oh, yeah. What do you see? Where do you see this revenue going?
14:16:24 I mean right now. You know the county, can I road fund or your taxing districts?
14:16:37 Now we're talking $600,000, but it in this chart.
14:16:41 It looks like it's supplanting other forest room revenue to make that program work.
14:16:48 But that that doesn't, I mean, is there? I guess.
14:16:52 How does kitsapp County do with reconveyed forest board land?
14:16:54 And the junior taxing districts. Do they still get some, or does it all go into the general fund?
14:17:00 I guess that I'm curious about that side of the of the Exchange, too. Yeah.
14:17:04 And I think that's an excellent question on something that you all we'll have to.
14:17:10 You can, I think you can kind of design how you want that because I think the money that's common has just gone into the general fund. Right?
14:17:17 Mark, so far. So far. Yeah, so what about catastrophic kind of do it? I think it goes into parks. Okay, because they're they're house within the parks department.
14:17:27 And then I'm not sure how it's divvied out.
14:17:28 I know there's they have a large holding just for operations, so a lot of it has just been held for forestry.
14:17:37 I don't know how much of it is diverted out for parks and rack, and for other operations, and that's something that I can get.
14:17:44 Better answers on, but it is. I think it is a question worth asking, and the technical advisors that I have in the county there's been recommendations for moving some of that
money.
14:18:01 To parks, and some of it to fire, because both of those departments have invested, and helping with this forestry program and the harvest have been on parklands and then fire
is responsible.
14:18:15 If anything happens and has been
14:18:36 You know, if if we expanded the forestry program they could have, we could have a a crew that would be doing, you know.
14:18:42 Maybe part time. Not just wait, zoom, part time, like pre commercial thinning, so it could be done in house.
14:18:51 And then helping to break down some of the brush, doing some of the fire risk mitigation.
14:18:57 And then also he had ideas that he wanted to accrue for for doing more regular fire risk work.
14:19:03 So you know a a county crew that could be lands, management and risk management would be pretty cool.
14:19:10 So I just brought up the map for the area we were just talking about, just because a lot of work has been done on these maps to overlay the carbon project which is the hot pink
polygon there with the structurally complex older forests the red polygons there with plan Timber
14:19:28 Harvest, which are kind of the beige outlined across hatched areas or Danner has a plan.
14:19:34 Timber harvest, and then the property of interest is the dotted teal Teal Lake east until, like west there and then turnination points right by the bridge. Okay.
14:19:49 Yeah, so actually, in talking to Dnr, they were also interested, as I understand, and getting reconciling back telepoints and termination points, would say, I don't think we
mentioned Powerpoint was already harvested.
14:20:05 Wasn't it? Nope? Everything around it was but telepointed the really beautiful forest actually, by 80 acre right here, right?
14:20:14 So a lot of work's been done on the mapping and trying to understand all the things in play.
14:20:24 And I guess I guess our our job Commissioners is W.
14:20:28 What are our questions for the next step, and what kind of policy, guidance do we want to give Mallard and her team, or what else we want to look at, or what else we want to
know relative to this?
14:20:43 For a straight issue
14:20:47 It feel it still feels, you know, when I wake up in the middle of the night I still go back to the like.
14:20:52 The first letter we sent to Dnr. When it was the question of if we wanted to reconvey all the older forests, how much would that really be?
14:21:02 You know, and it wasn't that many acres was like 1,480.
14:21:07 Is there nice
14:21:09 And I don't know if we can convey those is even necessary.
14:21:14 I think it seems like there's a possibility with Dnr.
14:21:18 To just say, we on on the lands that our Forest Board County lands don't harvest these that that's just the rule.
14:21:30 And there it's not. It's not a huge number of acreage.
14:21:34 I don't have that number off the top of my head, but it's it's not a significant portion.
14:21:37 So if there's just a rule going forward of if there's anything pre 1920, please don't harvest this.
14:21:43 That's not going to read the volume of timber in the county.
14:21:47 By significantly. No, no, and it just protects a small portion of like.
14:21:53 Those are kind of rare for us. Katherine and I went and looked at them, and there's some from the from the map, I mean Dnr. Already has the maps.
14:22:02 The ages of the stands so, but then center for responsible for history also came up with those polygons which are over on here.
14:22:11 The, Yup structurally complex, older forests around day.
14:22:17 Bob, yeah. And a lot of those are now protected. Devil's Lake is on the list.
14:22:23 Now you can see the Fever Valley one up north, and would would you have wanted a different outcome with the Beaver Valley?
14:22:32 I mean, they protected unit one, right? That was the the structurally wear an older forest.
14:22:39 Right, so did they make the right call on that one or do you protected more? I think so.
14:22:45 No, I from looking at the forest they protected the right area. Yeah.
14:22:48 And that was, that was the request. So I think just asking to continue to protect those older areas is as a pretty valid, valuable point to be making.
14:22:59 I mean, it's not like we're trying to take away a ton of timber from them.
14:23:02 It's just these are older, significant for us. And the reality is like, Yeah, the Olympic National Park and Forest has a lot of that.
14:23:09 But we don't have a lot in Lowlands so, and it's and they're kind of scattered.
14:23:15 There's because we're because of the range shadow, and how dramatically things change.
14:23:19 It would be cool to have a stratify example of, you know, structurally older for us from Cape George, Beaver Valley, and you know, down to these Dave Bob ones.
14:23:29 So another thing that happened when I was in Olympia last week was that I think I mentioned this morning that I got the experience or the opportunity to spend time with Commissioner
Friends, and she let me know that she's gonna be sending a letter to us saying that Dnr is very interested in working with
14:23:49 Us to do creative forest management. And you know, once our wants, our input.
14:23:55 Great. So these kinds of ideas, are ones that we should think about and talk about.
14:24:02 I guess one of the things that I think came up in our conversation last week a a longer lens with the the conversations that we have with Dnr.
14:24:14 Already, because I mean they're making landscape level planning to see, you know, based on, you know, the sustainable yield.
14:24:22 And all these things that that impact their decisions in a lot of ways that we don't see necessarily don't end the end of Jefferson County, but go across the whole landscape.
14:24:32 And so, seeing the 5 Year Plan instead of just the year or a year, 2 Year Plan seems like how we can.
14:24:41 I guess, an appropriate first step to me to to see what their 5 year timber harvest plan is.
14:24:52 Yeah. Just ask for a little bit more of a of a long ends in their planning scheme.
14:24:57 And do we know how many years worth of timber, harvest we have on this map?
14:25:02 I think this is just for like one says, 2027, yeah, I think it's their 5 year, or whatever they have.
14:25:10 The the block, the planning block. So it's just for the current planning block that we have in there.
14:25:16 And I can't remember when it when that overturns.
14:25:22 But it's it's just for this one, and they do have their projections of their revenue.
14:25:27 So it wasn't something that I was able to get in time for this report to compare some of these, but we can certainly look at the the, the timber sales for Cape Georgian for
20, late for the properties that I propose because there will be a difference
14:25:42 Dan ours very efficient in what they do, and the produce timber, and they do it well, and that's, I think, not the only goal of of the county program.
14:25:58 So allowing lower return on the timber, and exchange for other benefits as A is what you need to consider
14:26:13 And I I have not had a chance to dig into this with Mallory, like, I think you guys have so no, it's all right.
14:26:22 I we we tried busy week last week. Yeah, but I I really appreciate like, it feels like we're starting to to narrow.
14:26:30 And on some some obvious choices for different pathways, and I guess to your to your questions, Heidi, I feel like we're headed in the direction I was hoping we were going,
I'm curious about the I have a carbon.
14:26:46 Program continues to evolve at the State just in terms of the tools and the toolbox you know.
14:26:52 I'd like to think that we're gonna pick and choose based on parcels.
14:26:59 And I I I don't wanna take any options off the table like the
14:27:09 What's the word? If we were to take them back yeah. So it sounds like there's some pros and cons and doing that and that, and yep, a few possibilities.
14:27:20 I, I do you think that the talking with well, what plans has to say?
14:27:29 And you know, kind of the willingness. Yeah, from the top sounds like that's promising.
14:27:36 So I don't know. I I'm less involved in this than the 2 of you.
14:27:40 I think are and but I I feel really good about the direction we had at.
14:27:45 I'm happy for this to keep going on this track and appreciate the the briefing.
14:27:50 Yeah, thank you. Are you looking any for anything from us today?
14:27:55 Mallory because this is kind of the end of the report.
14:27:58 So this is, I mean, what's what's up next for you?
14:28:02 There's some forest management to do for the county.
14:28:05 I I think that. And that was something that that is in the report that I have a 5 year timeline just on county land.
14:28:12 So there is some some balancing that we could do if you do not want to go down the road of reconveying some of these lands and having some cash, and I I hesitate with how much
the there's an emphasis on all of the financials because this is obviously a much
14:28:31 Bigger picture as an ecological forest, or like there are a lot of things they care about.
14:28:36 But I also understand I mean, I'm a business owner, and want this to be a finitely sustainable project, too.
14:28:43 So, yeah, I think, knowing if you all made a decision on how much more you want to invest in looking at the DNA lands that would be helpful for me to just.
14:28:58 I don't want to waste time necessarily, on continuing to pursue this and answering questions of like, what is the actual difference in the harvest revenue?
14:29:04 What are those members, and just finding out more of what the next steps, like?
14:29:09 Quicker timeline, and all of that would be well.
14:29:14 I'm really interested in the strategy that you've outlined kind of taking those areas that are intenser populations that don't go trees as well.
14:29:20 North of 104 and he's Jefferson County, basically.
14:29:24 Yeah. Still in my district, not not just protecting all my
14:29:39 Properties that we've been interested in, that we've had a lot of interest from folks if you want to take a moment to save 2, we committed to a public comment period of the
so we will open it up to the public, and one other quick thing, I will say because I
14:29:54 Was getting corrected as the trees we do on this. In this area they grow slower.
14:29:59 They're not necessarily poor. They just grow really slow. And they're actually like they're actually more valuable because they have tighter rings.
14:30:07 And that's something that's more desirable because it's kind of mimicking what old growth would look like.
14:30:11 So for the wood industry, for like wouldn't vote, and woodworking, it's actually highly desirable.
14:30:18 So it's just longer. It takes a long time. They're not worse trees up here but they're also much closer to Population centers.
14:30:29 They're closer to areas that people commonly recreate and and there's lots of it's gonna take a lot longer.
14:30:35 A lot of them have passive recreation trails in them.
14:30:39 Extensive community stewarded passive recreation trails.
14:30:42 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of reasons that it makes sense that.
14:30:48 Dnr. Was an agreement for for this, for this strategy.
14:30:54 So I think it's I think it makes sense a lot of ways, but I am.
14:30:58 Am I hearing you correctly that you need a little bit more direction from us for the next phase of research?
14:31:03 There's management of some existing county lands. But to take this next step of pursuing reconvance, or I think so.
14:31:12 Yeah, I, mean, we've, yeah, I think that that would be helpful.
14:31:17 And I would just underscore that we've only talked about reconveying a handful of parcels that are strategically located.
14:31:23 Yeah, and that's all we've been talking about so far.
14:31:26 Yeah, yeah, it wasn't like, reconvey everything or you know, and the other the other basket of reconciles all of the older for us.
14:31:35 If we want to do that, or just make a management request and recommendation as part of our collaboration with Dnr, yeah, I think that is another conversation for Dnr.
14:31:47 I think it would be helpful for you all, and and I know you have limited time to discuss all this.
14:31:51 But to make a recommendation this year on, if you wanted to.
14:31:56 Just set aside those older for us, or if there were any other things that you were requesting from DNA.
14:32:02 But it sounds like Commissioner friends is for that. So I'm happy. Day.
14:32:05 Continue working with you on that I mean, it's so tied into their sustainable yield I I just don't have to know how they well, they're redoing their sustainable harvest calculation
right?
14:32:15 Now, yeah. And so now's the time to put our priorities, you know.
14:32:19 Right now and get them out there, and that certain point is 1910.
14:32:29 Is that what you're saying prior to 1,910 yeah, I think it's 1,900 twentys.
14:32:36 Yeah, older. And then having having rotation age, I think.
14:32:41 Dnr. Is supposed to be on 60 or rotations, but some of the forest health issues.
14:32:46 I think those rotation ages are going down I mean, they're getting to a Median rotation age, right?
14:32:52 And they're doing that by getting some of the older forests as well as some of the younger forests.
14:32:58 And there will be a limit to the older 4. So they're the ensuing problem.
14:33:02 I think I mean, is there a message to deliver that we are in favor of longer rotation ages?
14:33:08 But we want you to, you know. I don't know.
14:33:11 Use the median instead of the mean rotation age, and actually just aids them longer before you cut them.
14:33:19 Instead of cutting older ones and younger ones to hit that, I would think so.
14:33:24 Yeah, I mean, I think that's a yeah. I think that's a good recommendation.
14:33:29 But it's really I mean, I'm here to be your advisor and help answer questions.
14:33:34 But yeah, I I think that's very reasonable. Yeah.
14:33:42 But I think that that is a a good way to go.
14:33:45 Well, it seems like there are a lot of things that play here, too.
14:33:48 There's the bills on custom transfer. So it in some ways it feels like, maybe let it rest for a couple of months while we're waiting to hear back from Dnr.
14:34:01 Maybe do that kind of
14:34:05 But then see how the legislative session shakes out, and then we'll have some more information.
14:34:11 To move forward, yeah, I think it would also be beneficial.
14:34:16 I I hired out for talking about a lot of the carbon, because it's not carbon is a big messy subject, and the way that I manage for us is inherently storing more carbon, and
that's always been kind of my philosophy because carbon economics are messy and
14:34:31 There's just there's a lot of different moving parts.
14:34:32 But I think, having Paulus Wouldine come up and talk at a workshop to you guys, and just the 3 of you being able to talk to her and pick her brain because she is out of county,
she is a specialist in this, and she has worked really closely with the state would be beneficial
14:34:48 To just give you more than one working with on the national national planet. Solutions account stuff.
14:34:53 Okay. So. And she said that there is some budget in her work to to come and support Jefferson County more.
14:35:02 So, yeah.
14:35:04 Yeah, lovely. Well, I do want to be respectful of Sophie's time.
14:35:16 We've got a another agenda item. Yeah. So any to entice you to look at them at mappling that you guys received.
14:35:30 Yeah, I'm and thank you for all the work and Kevin, I know you're on.
14:35:32 Yep, you're there, Kevin. Thank you for all your work on the map.
14:35:36 Thank you so much, Kevin. You are magic. Yeah. Maps are magic, and it's lovely to get this additional facet added.
14:35:46 So what we still have Mallory up here and ready to respond.
14:35:51 Would anyone in the public like to make a comment today you can have up to 3Â min.
14:35:55 You can hit the raise hand button if you' something like you'd like to contribute to the conversation.
14:36:00 Point to be to make. You can also, if there's anyone in the in the room, you can raise your physical hands
14:36:08 I know there are people on that. I well, I see people that I would expect to have.
14:36:13 Oh, there we go! We bring the center for responsible forestry over, and then we'll bring Dr.
14:36:18 Jones.
14:36:21 Yep. Yep.
14:36:24 I'll reiterate
14:36:25 Hey? There, sorry. Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to make comment.
14:36:31 My name is Broth probe. I work with the center for responsible for history.
14:36:35 Learn so much, really loved. Hearing about this presentation, and really excited for Jefferson County.
14:36:41 I I just had a question. I guess I don't know if that's appropriate during this time, but I just wondering with reconvance because it is being my understanding is with reconvance.
14:36:54 It has to be sort of qu classified as a park.
14:36:58 And then so how does active for this management line up with that park status?
14:37:04 Sounds like maybe kits that county does is doing something similar with that.
14:37:09 So any, any, any thoughts you have on how how to thread that that needle with with that element of reconvance, would be helpful. Thanks
14:37:17 Thank you. Bro, and we'll take all the public comments, and then we'll respond to them.
14:37:21 So we'll get Mallory to give you a comprehensive answer to.
14:37:24 That is something that we can't answer. I want to bring Dr.
14:37:27 Jones over. Hello, Patricia! You have 3Â min
14:37:32 Missionaries. Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to share our first views.
14:37:38 First look at this plan and report for Jefferson County Forests, Dr.
14:37:44 Patricia Jones for the Olympic Forest Coalition call. Scene Washington.
14:37:47 Really? Well, to express our great appreciation for the dedicated and committed effort and funding to try and find a way forward for our key.
14:37:56 Older legacy force in Jefferson County and all State managed forests.
14:38:02 This plan is critically important for many reasons, in my view.
14:38:06 First, Jefferson County agreed with Dnr. That once a plan of managing the forest was finalized, the county would work with. Dnr.
14:38:13 To co-manage our forests. Secondly, to apply and compete for any State, federal, or private funds to conserve our force and manage them ecologically.
14:38:24 We need this plan. Third, our process in Jefferson County has spurred efforts in other counties, and we want to contribute to a net positive gain and conserving forests across
the State and not lower the bar.
14:38:38 Fourth and most important, because it's our plan. What we will expect and hope for in our forest and landscape.
14:38:45 Thanks to Mallory and Chickadee forestry for their wonderful work.
14:38:49 To make this plan even possible at this first stage, thanks to Peter Bale's Northwest Watershed Institute and volunteers for effort to produce an analysis of remaining Q.
14:38:58 Force in Jefferson County as well. Alcohol would request the Bocc.
14:39:04 Consider adding the following considerations into the plan going forward, Jefferson County first request Dnr.
14:39:13 To stop planning, laying out and putting up for sale all older legacy legacy for us, not currently under a sales contract doesn't matter if they're in a plan and include those
parcels in a counter proposal for our county to dnr for the carbon project and to
14:39:30 Be considered for other tools as they become available. Tt, the climate natural climate, action funds, Federal funds, or reconvenance in the future.
14:39:40 Second Jefferson county develop guidelines for management and treatment on all State Board lands to include echological treatments on State lands of any kind, scaling and trending
to longer rotations, replanting with multi-speakings, including shrub layer and not plantation stands.
14:40:00 of Douglas, for only expand oversight during harvest, and reporting to the public deal with the invasive and noxious.
14:40:08 Weed treatments with plans such as Scotch broom or Robert Iv.
14:40:14 To name a few consultant protect tribal and cultural lands of preparation.
14:40:19 To make this a living plan, require that our contract Forester, to provide an annual status report and recommendations for updating elements as funds become available.
14:40:28 All plans are in part aspirational, as are all of these elements, we're discussing.
14:40:33 Thank you for taking this important step toward making them a reality in our county.
14:40:40 Thank you. Dr. Jones, perfectly. Times anyone else that would like to make public comment today.
14:40:46 No good. Alright, Jessica, you have 3Â min
14:40:53 Thank you. And I really appreciate your work on this, because you know how important it is for us.
14:41:00 I'll put my video on. I didn't know I had that option.
14:41:03 Okay.
14:41:03 Okay. I'm in the kitchen. I just wanted to say I I was doing some a little research, and in other.
14:41:12 Ca, how other counties are doing their Co. You know, managing their conservation projects, and Clark County has put a lot of their conservation stuff through their parks department,
and I I don't know much about it.
14:41:23 I just kind of skim through it, but that might be something you know we're looking at.
14:41:26 You're looking mentioning kits, app, and things like that.
14:41:28 But Clark County might be another place to resource, just to see how that's going for them, and and also just the map looks it's great to see every all those overlays, and to
see, you know.
14:41:42 But I notice all those little slash marks are the Dnr.
14:41:45 Planned timber, harvest, and and some of those are on the the red areas which are the high conservation.
14:41:51 The structurally complex older forest areas and it's also like there's a lot on the pink areas which were the carbon project.
14:42:00 And I I guess I just wanna I know you're thinking about all this stuff.
14:42:03 I'm I'm just putting it out there again that the carbon project had quite a few acres in Jefferson County as potential carbon projects.
14:42:14 But there it was only really potential, and looking at all the number of the number of acres across the Western Washington.
14:42:23 They have quite a few that were all in various counties that are potential, but really they're only just through the whole Western Washington, only conserving 10,000 acres.
14:42:32 And so looking at as pink areas, it's like, Wow, that might be now that they're recognizing these is potentially cons conservation, you know, worthy, that's great.
14:42:45 But I think we have to be really proactive, and continuing that conservation of those force, otherwise it'll they'll just go away.
14:42:54 And the other thing I worked on a lot of ecosystem service values, and those are starting to really take shape and and in terms of looking at what those values are monetarily
not just recreation, but other ones, I think we can get some information to you I know, John Talbirth
14:43:13 And and then also on the female report. You know, Fema has updated their ecosystem services values for forest lands and we might be able to use some of those, or or you know,
morph, those numbers to fit our our ecosystem but anyway, I just wanted to put that out there.
14:43:32 But I really appreciate your work, and thank you so much.
14:43:34 I appreciate that. Thanks
14:43:37 Thank you very much, Jessica, and as a reminder we'll listen to all the public comments and then respond on mass.
14:43:45 So I believe Gene Ball had her hand raised
14:43:49 Hello! Can you hear me?
14:43:49 New. We can hear you. Go ahead, Jean
14:43:53 Yeah, you never know. Down here. I'm gonna skip repeating things, whatever you know, what Dr.
14:43:59 Jones said I couldn't agree more, and she says it far more eloquently than I can.
14:44:06 So ditto on, that I, in addition, would like to thank Mallory and Katherine for all the work they have contributed to this project.
14:44:15 In this overview and the presentations that have been provided.
14:44:20 I'd like to thank Brill, Mary, Jean, and Stephen Crop from center for responsible forestry for their participation ongoing participation and for Stephen for having brought awareness
to these issues.
14:44:36 Thank you, to all the volunteers who have spent countless hours working on these issues and illuminating the the concerns.
14:44:49 Maybe I'll back up just a second. Thank you, to Dr.
14:44:53 Jones, and I completely agree that, requesting I would go so far as to say, demanding a a mosaic of native species be replanted on harvests as opposed to model cropping, I think,
is of critical importance.
14:45:14 Thank you to peer bales from the northwest Watershed Institute of his participation, and I'm very much looking forward to a presentation of his Updated maps and proposals.
14:45:30 I would like to thank you, the Commissioners, for being trailblazers for being willing to have these difficult conversations for being willing to dive deep into these questions
and really analyze where we stand, where we should be headed.
14:45:50 How we can make improvements. You have my trust in confidence, even if we sometimes do not agree on all things.
14:46:01 So thank you very much for that. Looking forward to continuing the conversation
14:46:10 Thank you very much, Miss Paul. Anyone else that would like to make public comment today
14:46:21 Okay. Well, I will see no more. Hands up. I will close public comments on on this item, and I don't know, Mallory.
14:46:31 Can you respond to that? That first question specifically about reconance and park properties?
14:46:36 Yep, that's an excellent question. Thank you for that.
14:46:39 And Hi, kids have county. They have used. They've used selective finning just as forest health improvements.
14:46:48 It is commercial it is profitable, but they're doing it in a way that is enhancing.
14:46:53 Wildlife Values it's very well backed. You can look at Franklin and Johnson's Ecological Forest management and Ecological silver culture books and and that's what I also use
for a lot of the recommendations for how are we inheriting these forests that
14:47:11 Have been industrially managed, and putting park and recreational conservation goals on them, and and that does include some selective harvesting.
14:47:19 It is something that is in line, but it is something that has to be justified, and, you know, to the improvement and diversification and healthier, more ecologically diverse
forests.
14:47:33 Yeah. Answer.
14:47:37 Good answer. Thank you very much. Other other responses to public comment.
14:47:43 Just wanna underscore how much I appreciate Mallory's work.
14:47:46 She's been digging into this and keeping all of her advisors in the loop and working with Catherine and Peter and everyone else in this process.
14:47:55 And I really appreciate you. Stepping up to the plate.
14:47:59 I really appreciate you all I mean, this is kind of a dream job to be able to do this.
14:48:03 So thank you all for taking the risk and being proactive and thinking sorry about these big questions and massive.
14:48:11 Thank you to all of my advisors and supporters that have helped put this.
14:48:15 Yeah.
14:48:20 No, just thanks to Jessica for pointing out, the ecosystem services valuation that fema's done.
14:48:28 That's something I was not familiar with so I'll be digging into that.
14:48:31 Yeah, me, too. Learn something new every week in this job. Because my one response is kind of to Dr.
14:48:39 Jones, and and and others too, I think we've signaled, and an intent to work with Dnr.
14:48:47 But I just I really do bulk a little bit at micro managing, being one of 39 micro managers to Dnr's landscape management, and and want to find a path that is constructed for
them, too.
14:49:04 If I just I can't imagine them. Yeah. Well, I like him locked.
14:49:08 So plant him lock, you know. It's just I wanna make sure that we leave the foresters to do the forestry work, and and and that we are the policy leaders for Jefferson County,
and that we find a new lane.
14:49:23 But still an appropriate lane. As we move down this pound go, and climate change is changing.
14:49:28 The species that are replanted for so and Dnr.
14:49:32 Foresters no want to plan where to plan them, but I think that points about under story species and more diversity are well taken, and
14:49:42 Something that we can do in our in our forestry, where we that's the one thing that's nice about us doing some of these operations is we have more control over what's done on
the ground and Mallory's got more of an eye to the the forest.
14:49:57 And the health of the forest. And that's yeah, absolutely.
14:50:01 And if people want to go and see examples, I think kits up Newberry Hill, heritage Park is about 8 years old, and they did a lot more planting and of different species, there's
a lot more under story revenge in there.
14:50:13 But that was commercially managed land. And so you can see.
14:50:16 How diverse! V. Item, healthy, that is, down the road but you're your intention with most of the Jefferson County lands is natural regeneration, which has been working so far.
14:50:26 Yes, I think natural regeneration, especially in climate change.
14:50:29 If you're getting local genetics, if they can survive all of the different things to, I mean seeds are these are the hardest to regenerate plopping trees in the ground, have
a much higher survival. Rate.
14:50:40 So if we can get seeds to regenerate.
14:50:43 And in these areas they have the best chance, I think, for the future.
14:50:46 But I'm all, for you know more planting on top of it.
14:50:50 But yeah, regenerate natural regeneration is top priority in my mind.
14:50:55 Best strategy! Alright! A lovely way to end. Thank you.
14:51:00 Okay, thank you so much for all your work, and we'll be in touch.
14:51:01 Mallory, good, great, transition into talking about weeds, if only we could harvest Scotch Brook for some.
14:51:10 We planned this at agenda. Well, good job chair. Oh, yes.
14:51:17 Well, I can't take any credit for it, but
14:51:20 Lovely, and you can. You should have have a seat up here, Sophie, please
14:51:29 Nope, hmm alright! Is Bridget joining us as well?
14:51:34 Do you know I don't know. She might be online.
14:51:42 Wow! I have any questions. No, I just wanna make sure that everyone that is expecting to be here is is given the keys to the door
14:51:52 Scroll down on your list. It's Dean
14:52:02 Are you gonna tee this up? Mark? Yeah. So I think this is Sophie's first audience with the board, am I right about that?
14:52:16 And
14:52:19 What's his name? Yoast Bejin? I don't even know how to pronounce his name, but he left for Florida some months she's I don't even know how long ago.
14:52:28 But anyway, we're we're grateful to have Sophia's our new noxious weed coordinator, and if I can figure out how to make this so full presentation, I would just say I was on
the hiring committee and we had a number of great
14:52:45 Applicants and unanimously chose Sophie and we're thrilled to have you.
14:52:48 Thank you. So there's a huge, huge amount. Her her huge task.
14:52:55 You have it is, it should be one of Hercules.
14:52:57 The task. We do it. Obnoxious. We you should throw it on after the aging stables, or whatever. Well, I'm glad that everyone can see that as well. Yeah, because I certainly feel
that way.
14:53:08 But yeah, well, thanks for having me. This is my first presentation with the board accounting commissioners.
14:53:15 I've talked with Heidi and I spoke on the phone with Greg one time, but it's nice to meet you and yeah, I'm excited to be here.
14:53:24 So it looks like presentation is coming. You can just start on that slide.
14:53:29 That's fine. So yeah, so I'll give a little introduction about myself.
14:53:38 Walk you through our notxious weed removal projects that we have, the crews will be using and the crew time, and then a little bit about public outreach and our board member
search
14:53:51 So my name is Sophie de Groot, and I've been in Port Townsend for 3 years.
14:53:56 I was born and raised in Seattle. So a Northwest native and I when I moved here because of Covid, I started farming and just found a lot of solace in the agricultural community
here in Port Townsend.
14:54:10 But I also was very interested in environmental policy. So I've been a masters candidate for environmental policy and management and transitioning to this job and noxious weeds
which gets to deal with the policy element as well as like the on the ground ecosystem element is like really
14:54:29 fascinating, and it is a big job, and I feel like I still have so much to learn.
14:54:35 But it's been really exciting, and I, before I moved to Port Towns and I was working in tourism.
14:54:41 So I do love talking to people, and you know, being out with the community, I don't really have so much a education like a formal education background.
14:54:51 But in tourism, you know, you have to teach people about the area that they're in often.
14:54:55 And so I love that. So I'm excited to just get to be in the community a bit more than I was with my agriculture background, and I'm really looking forward to just working with
everyone and creating really well rounded noxious weed program which in my mind includes a
14:55:14 Lot of partnerships with local, like public agencies and not profits, and personally, I'm just really excited to get more weeds surveying going.
14:55:23 So we can have maps that can really show the progress that we're making as a program more outreach and education.
14:55:31 And then, of course, controlling weeds, we're gonna need some Gis, too.
14:55:35 Oh, yeah, they'll be there one day. Oh, I skipped a slide, but that's okay.
14:55:41 It just listed. The Mo. Use that I'm about to go into some details with.
14:55:46 So our first one is the Jefferson County Public Works Roads Department.
14:55:53 So we have money coming from the Public Works Fund and the general fund.
14:55:58 The control of. I have some maps on the next slide so maybe I'll just go there.
14:56:04 But wild turvil is in the carrot family, and it's a pretty aggressive biennial that is, along the roadside, so you can see where they treat it.
14:56:17 Spot treated for it last year, and that's like Eagle Mount, West Valley Road Center Valley.
14:56:23 So that's kind of the priority for the Roads Department this year.
14:56:27 Well, it's been the priority last year. So until I survey for a different weed that I found wild.
14:56:34 Terrible is what we're going for, and it's really important, because it is not in Column county, or in the Forest Service plans.
14:56:40 So while it's a bummer that we have it, it's kind of our duty to try to keep it here, and maybe even eradicate it.
14:56:49 And then there's also some spotted jewel weed, which is another plant that is pretty aggressive, and is climbing up onto the Forest Service roads, so our crew will be doing
that as well.
14:57:01 It's kind of around the reservoir. So it's maybe city of port towns and land, and maybe roads department land.
14:57:08 And then Japanese not weed is a pretty big contender, with, like the conservation organization.
14:57:15 So we'll be doing some of that and poison hemlock, of course, but it that tends to be more in the city the solid waste facility is our other public works contract.
14:57:27 It's a smaller contract, but like monetary wise, but it is a smaller facility as well.
14:57:36 The landfill is a pretty major. Vector it could be a major vector because that's where people are dumping their weeds.
14:57:45 And so, you know, depending on how well they seal the bag, or if they were cutting leads back that had flowers and seeds on them, if they're dropping them off in the compost,
is that you know it's a pretty it could be a big vector so i'm, just making sure
14:57:59 We're always monitoring important. And that's just a map.
14:58:04 The orange outlines are the capped landfill that we've done a lot of control over, and then it's mostly like Scotch room and Himalayan blackberry poison, hemlock, and some nap
weed, and there was one giant hob we found
14:58:20 there, but that's a class, a lead, and it's been very like we don't have a lot of it, but we have some of it, but it's pretty.
14:58:30 It's toxic. So we want to get it before it's the new poison hemlock I mean the vector. The vector. You're talking about is monitoring it for new weeds like nap weeds or something
that doesn't really hit the old landfill as much as having eyes on it and monitoring it for new weeds
14:58:56 on like nap weeds, or something that we don't have a huge distribution of. But we do see them, and that they've been found at the site like in that orange circle at the bottom.
Of them. But based on some records from the past years.
14:59:10 I know that we've had giant hog.
14:59:12 Weed and nap weeds. So just trying to monitor it, and the point of having these mo use like these are the work areas from last year.
14:59:22 But if the solid waste facility is already planning on putting money towards noxious weeds, and then we find noxious.
14:59:28 Weeds. We can just hey, Roddy, them and it's not big deal.
14:59:33 So, yeah, nice to have a contract. Yes. So then we have a $25,000 contract with the public utility district.
14:59:44 And it's basically the the whole corridor, from the paper mill to the Discovery Bay Transfer station.
14:59:54 It seems like in past years management of the Scotch room is about 4 to 6 miles of the corridor.
15:00:01 I was just out there last week, and it's very obvious which areas have been managed in which areas have not.
15:00:10 And so that $25,000 will mostly be Scotch brim polling Scotch broom is a class B non designate in this county.
15:00:18 So it's not required for control, because if it was, we would spend all of our money and time, and still not get rid of all the Scotch room.
15:00:27 But it is a pretty important thing to control on places like a Pd corridor, because it can just take over.
15:00:34 And there are sections. If you walk that there's a 15 feet high.
15:00:38 And so you know, you imagine trying to work on the power lines with like a dense stand of Scotch room.
15:00:45 And it's also a fire hazard. They contain the plants have volatile oils, and so managing it in a place like a beauty corridor is pretty important.
15:00:58 And then there, you know, spot treatment of other weeds might happen as well, but not. It's not as common on that corridor
15:01:08 Oh, there's a picture before and after, and ultimately trying to control the Scotch room populations that are like they don't really start blooming until 3 plus years.
15:01:19 So keeping up with with managing one to 2 year old plants is a really great thing to do, so that you don't get places with 15 feet tall.
15:01:28 Scotch room, but those we do need to deal with those as well.
15:01:34 Do you use physical removal?
15:01:38 The city of Port Townsend. This the money for this one is split half between the city and half between the weed board, and this is mostly poison hemlock on roads.
15:01:51 We've already been getting a lot of calls about poison, hemlock.
15:01:55 And yeah, people are starting to manage it, which is great.
15:01:58 This is the time of year to do that it's easy at this point, and there's also some Japanese not weed.
15:02:06 And yeah, just trying to get people to really report the poison hemlock.
15:02:10 The contract is up for renewal this year, so that will come up later in the year.
15:02:15 But this is a map of previously treated roads for poison.
15:02:19 Hemlock, and Sims way, which is the curvy one on the bottom, as I'm sure you all know.
15:02:26 They treated it twice last year, and I've seen really good results.
15:02:31 There's pretty limited, hemlock. I think I'll be able to hand.
15:02:34 Pull it in an hour or 2. So that's great success, as far as like using herbicides.
15:02:40 That's a really successful way to do it like manage it so that you can hand pull it in like the next year.
15:02:50 So every year. So you said there are only 5 known infestations of the Japanese.
15:02:55 Not weed. That's on my map. It might be a much larger problem I'm sure it is but on my map, so I have 5 so yeah, feel free to report it.
15:03:07 That would be great. How does the someone in the public get something on the map?
15:03:11 Just caller and I'll go out, and you know, verify it and put it on the state wide.
15:03:18 Gis map. So I'm actually working with the Wsda to use their map, which then I have access.
15:03:26 But you know, back to all that information. But it's really vital to share that information on the state level.
15:03:32 So that the whole State can know the distribution of weeds, and also work on getting grants to which, you know benefits us in the long run the tree of heaven is something that
they're really trying to map right now, because of the spotted lantern fly I don't
15:03:50 have any information of that on my slide so this spotted lantern fly is a quite beautiful insect from China.
15:04:04 I think. And it's pretty bad on the east coast, and it comes, and it will.
15:04:11 I don't really know the words, for, like insect birthing like light eggs, and then have a bunch of babies on trees that are really like high value.
15:04:24 And so I think, if you Google spot with lantern fly, there will be a ton of videos that pop up.
15:04:30 And you'll see like they've just destroyed crops of like hardwood trees.
15:04:34 Cherry, apples, oak, I don't know if you know anything about this.
15:04:38 Yeah, but they no, that's okay. They. It's really bad on the east coast, and they have to like quarantine entire farms.
15:04:47 It's not something that we want to see in Washington State.
15:04:51 It would be devastating. And so the tree of heaven is a very nice ornamental tree.
15:04:57 That is a class C noxious weed, because it is pretty, has an a great aggressive growth pattern, and it can grow through like foundations.
15:05:06 And so it's a class C, but there are some import towns in, and if the spotted lantern fly was to arrive in Washington, the State would certainly make the tree of heaven a class
a weed which would mean control so it could be a really big project in the future because the
15:05:24 Lantern flies associate with the tree prefers the tree of heaven for its mating practices.
15:05:38 Like a fairy tale. Yeah. Well, go watch a video, and you won't think it's a very and that's a great example of its aggressive growth pattern. I think only one or 2 were planted
there.
15:05:54 And now it's every noxious week coordinator, Stream.
15:06:00 Oh, I think it is. I can't remember. Yeah, but it's yeah.
15:06:05 So you know, hopefully, we won't be talking about that in future years.
15:06:07 But I think education on the tree of heaven is gonna be really viable just to get people to understand and consider replanting before they are like legally obligated to.
15:06:20 So, and just mapping that, and the State wants to know how many trees of heaven we have so sharing that data is really important.
15:06:29 And that's just one example of why it's important.
15:06:33 But yeah, and our Oh, and there's some more poison hemlock sites.
15:06:38 Obviously there is more than that. But that's what we have on the map.
15:06:42 Can I ask you a little bit about poison, hemlock?
15:06:44 Yes, you said. You can pull it at this time of year.
15:06:48 I happen to have some on the road away by my house, this is very personally motivated question. But what do you? What do you?
15:06:55 What's the next? Now is a good time to pull it.
15:06:57 You wanna wear gloves and Ppe because it it is toxic, and I get and throw it away on phone not in the yard.
15:07:08 Waste the toxicity doesn't necessarily go away as it decomposes can I buy out? Try that stuff, or is it gonna release?
15:07:15 Doctors gases. I'll get back to you on that.
15:07:18 I don't know I don't know about by you shouldn't burn it, though.
15:07:21 Yeah, you shouldn't burn it. Right? Yeah. So yeah, in the the smoke can be toxic.
15:07:26 Yeah, but it's a great time of year to pull it, because the soil is really wet.
15:07:31 But you can pull it pretty much always. It's pretty easy.
15:07:36 It doesn't have a huge tap route, and it won't regenerate from root fag fragments so you can pull it, or you can like repeatedly mow it, and just not let it flour the seeds
only last for about 4 or 5 years.
15:07:47 So that is a somewhat sustainable on a small piece of property mowing.
15:07:51 Is a sustainable way to deal with it. Road crew, Mose, cause it's on the roadside.
15:07:59 So it came on some pieces of equipment or something, right?
15:08:01 So, but if they go and they mow it, and they go to someone else's property, saying it won't spread that way.
15:08:06 No, it will if there's seeds if they know it when it's in seed, it definitely will spread.
15:08:12 Yeah, and trying to kind of educate the road crew on like when to know things, when not to is.
15:08:21 Wash your stuff every time you location. Right?
15:08:24 Yeah. Yeah. And careful where you wash it.
15:08:26 That. Yeah, you should wash your equipment, but it you could still spread seeds that way.
15:08:31 Yeah, it's definitely a problem. But yeah, thank you.
15:08:39 And then the last one is Fort Warden, and that's another one where the money is coming from.
15:08:44 The friends of Fort Warden. So it's not actually coming from State parks.
15:08:48 And then half from the weed board and the friends of Fort Warden are really vital group.
15:08:54 They have, you know. One of them is walking around for Warden pretty much every day, so they have a ton of information on where the noxious weeds are, and they've been really
productive.
15:09:04 This is a 5 year Mo. And the point is was to go kind of have heavy on the herbicide just to get a handle on the poison hemlock in Fort Worth.
15:09:14 And now we're looking out a lot less. So that's great.
15:09:18 But this is a map. The yellow is all areas that were treated last year, and this year the predominant poison hemlock are going to be the campground.
15:09:31 It's already coming up the campground, and the road down to the campground along the east beach.
15:09:36 There and then the Chinese garden. There's a little bit as well, and there's a lot of Iv and holly there as well.
15:09:43 So if there's time that can be dealt with.
15:09:46 Sophie, when you say something comes from the weed board, it comes from from us, yeah, from the tax assessment.
15:09:54 Yeah, just comes from the fund. And because I wasn't a part of the conversation, and deciding that I don't, I don't know why.
15:10:03 That was decided, and I I don't know if we'll do it again.
15:10:08 Split the funds. But you know the tax assessment.
15:10:12 It it pays my salary, and then it also is helping us build a fund, so that when there's like a huge infestation of a class, a or a class B, we want to take seriously, we can
just afford to go and deal with it without having to create contracts or you know worry about
15:10:29 who's gonna pay for it. So I think splitting the cost was just a incentive to get the city and the for friends to to enter into an mou.
15:10:42 I don't know about the sustainability of that.
15:10:51 Thanks. So all of those projects altogether it's over $50,000 of funds that are like a 100% going back into the ground.
15:11:03 Or you know, into on the ground. Yeah, yeah.
15:11:07 Out of the ground work, and that is about 12 to 15 weeks of crude time, and a crew is typically between like 4 and 6 people.
15:11:18 And last year they we used 12 weeks of Wcc.
15:11:22 The Washington Conservation, Core crew time. And it. It wasn't even a 100% of the work that got done.
15:11:29 It was about 75%. And so I think 15 weeks would be ideal.
15:11:34 Unfortunately, we were only awarded 3 weeks of Washington conservation crew.
15:11:38 Time, and that is just because they can't hire.
15:11:41 They've had really low rates of hiring in Americorps, so it's not their fault.
15:11:47 So I've been seeking other crews to do that.
15:11:50 Unfortunately, like myself, and you know, even one other person would never be able to do all that work in the time, like at all happens in 3 months, while stuff is growing.
15:12:01 So the Washington Conservation core will have for 3 weeks.
15:12:04 We're working with the column we'd board to hire some of their crew to come.
15:12:09 Do we treatment, and that would predominantly be the wild turbul.
15:12:13 So it's in their best interest to help us monitor it or control it.
15:12:17 Earth core is another, like Americorps type thing. It's a nonprofit in Seattle.
15:12:23 So we'll get a good chunk of time with them, and then local businesses from the small works roster to help fill in the gaps, and then myself and I am looking to do a clerk hire
for a seasonal summer job, and that person would be predominantly
15:12:39 Surveying and helping with, we'd control and supervising
15:12:48 So that was funny. So public outreach and education is obviously a huge part of this getting citizens on the ground, knowing what they're looking for is a huge aspect of the
early detection.
15:13:02 Rapid response there's a curve. If you Google Invasive plant control, you know the time and cost of controlling things like Scotch room obviously is like in it.
15:13:16 We we just couldn't. So the earlier you detect something, and the more quickly you can control it.
15:13:21 The cheaper. It's going to be. And so getting eyes on the ground is just a huge part of that.
15:13:27 So I want to expand our education program and part of that.
15:13:33 I did bring some brochures for you guys, for the public.
15:13:37 They're all on the website. And so I guess well, I'll just keep going a little bit.
15:13:42 So yeah, increased accessibility to education. So we get free resources from the State.
15:13:48 Weed board, so just trying to disseminate those into the community will be huge.
15:13:53 They're really great pieces of like booklets on noxious weeds, and I created a integrated pest management, resource and strategy guide.
15:14:03 So you pass those over, they that will just help landowners.
15:14:08 They can get a brochure from me or from the website, and it kind of walks them through the different options of control and helps them decide what might be best for their property.
15:14:18 And I'm you know I'm a part of that resource, and being able to talk and do some research for people do site visits.
15:14:26 But just trying to put a little bit of the power into the individual's hands.
15:14:31 Is pretty important. We do have weed, wrench rentals for free at the yeah, just like that.
15:14:39 Yeah. Oh, Mark's got one. You can borrow right, Scott Broom, but also any like Woody Spurge laurel is another one like any weed that just has a huge route that you can't get
out. The weed.
15:14:56 Wrench just gives you a lot of leverage. But around here Scotch brim is definitely the predominant weed.
15:15:00 So with that educational presentations tabling at community events and then creating partnerships.
15:15:09 I've only been in this job since like full time since November, so I'm still very much wrapping my head around what's possible for this.
15:15:16 But I got to give a a presentation to some fifth graders at chimicom elementary, which was like super fun, and I think it sounds like, you know, why are you talking to kids
about this?
15:15:30 But trying to edit the kids in our community is really important because kids are like their eyes are closer to the ground.
15:15:36 They are the ones that are like paying attention to that kind of stuff, and actually a second grade in King County found a class, a weed in a lake that she was just curious
about, and she looked it up.
15:15:47 And it turned out to be like a super aggressive we that we had.
15:15:53 They had never found in King County before, so they eradicated it, which is huge, you know.
15:15:56 So that was exciting, and I created a little with some help from King County, created like a presentation geared towards kids with a game.
15:16:05 And then they pulled some Scotch room with the reed wrenches.
15:16:07 So that was fun, and I hope to be able to do that with more schools I'll be giving a presentation at the Washington Conservation core.
15:16:15 Noxious weed, specific training, I'm trying to work together to put, to get, to coordinate with all the public agencies, to put a presentation together about when not to mo,
you know, like call me, and I'll come cut the seed heads off of that before you mow it.
15:16:31 Or you know try to help them create a mowing schedule.
15:16:33 But just have the employees be able to recognize noxious weeds when they come across them and help people kind of get to the point where you just know by looking at it.
15:16:43 Ecosystem like a native ecosystem.
15:16:46 You can just know. What's out of place and question it, and it might not be a noxious weed.
15:16:50 But yeah, it's a great mindset to have.
15:16:52 And then working with nonprofits like the Land Trust and Mosque, you know, with their conservation efforts they're very in line with getting rid of invasive and noxious plants,
so you know, figuring out how we can help them.
15:17:06 If that means listing a weed for control which will give them a little leverage on getting grants, things like that can be really helpful.
15:17:16 And then mailers. Enforcement is a part of an noxious weed program, and that is part of the legality of choosing certain plants without a board which we do not have a quorum
right now on our board, so we cannot enforce and I do
15:17:31 Not plan on going in real hard on anybody, but providing mailers to someone who has that noxious.
15:17:40 We is really important and also being in touch with homeowners before we're using herbicide treatments along their property lines.
15:17:49 But I do expect this to be much more well rounded by the end of the year.
15:17:55 So. Yeah, oh, and I'm hoping to do a free dump day with noxious weeds.
15:18:03 But like I was discussing with Mallory, who tried it before, or was looking into it just trying to get as many public agencies involved to split the cost of that will be helpful,
because I think it will be very popular in our county.
15:18:18 So, yeah, yeah. And lastly, just our board members search correctly.
15:18:23 We have Sarah Fairbank and District one which is Port Townsend and Christine.
15:18:28 Haika, in District 2, which is Cape George, and, like the northern lands of Discovery Bay District 3, is Chimica, Marathon Island, Port Ludlow, and Nordland, and that's we have
one interested applicant Tammy Picorney.
15:18:44 Who was interested in the past and I believe she's planning on applying.
15:18:47 But I haven't received her application yet. District 4 has kind of always been yeah, we're able to confirm that she was in that yes, yeah, she's in. Yeah.
15:18:56 She's in District 3, which was when she was interested.
15:18:59 It was, but now it's empty, so she's she's right on the border like 3, 4, and 5, all intersect, and she's like, just inside.
15:19:09 So yeah, when she gets her 10 signatures for her.
15:19:11 I was like. You have to be careful that they're all in your district.
15:19:22 Yeah. And then District 4 has always. I think it's always been vacant.
15:19:25 I'm not sure I've I've been remiss, but I have 2 people, and I'll get yeah. But it's interesting, because people always discuss it like it's the West End, and it is the West
End.
15:19:36 And I really want to get the Western involved like they deserve to be involved in our weed control.
15:19:43 But it's also like the south end of discovery, Bay and Lake Leland, and so I don't think filling that seat should be as as hard as it is yeah, right?
15:19:58 Okay, I got a horse owner and the one that told me, Hey, you got poison, hemlock?
15:20:01 Yeah, there, you go. Yeah. And then, district 5, cool scene.
15:20:04 Embrace. So yeah, you've got a lot of work to do.
15:20:08 Yeah, I'm taking that on oh, right, those are all no 2, or in your day. So this is what I was talking to you about, Wendy, because we're sitting in the room. Is the board recruitment?
15:20:18 Yeah, you know. And this is, this has been one that's been long, long needed, some for them.
15:20:23 Yeah, yeah. And I am trying to do a little more like targeted outreach.
15:20:29 Rather than just like going on the radio and in the new newspaper.
15:20:33 Because I think a lot of people are interested and Sarah and Christine are are huge resources, but they're both masterguarders.
15:20:41 They're not involved in the primary production of agriculture.
15:20:42 So our next 3 seats have to be. That's like State law.
15:20:47 And so I'm trying to do a little more targeted research or or outreach in specific newsletters.
15:20:54 And just like emailing people. I'm not asking you to be on the weed board.
15:20:59 But I'm asking you to have your friends so it's yeah.
15:21:03 I think hopefully, Tammy applies, and then we'll be on our way.
15:21:07 3 is a quorum. What type of agriculture is most impacted by noxious weeds like it depends on the ground county.
15:21:18 Yeah, I think it depends on each county very uniquely, because there are noxious weeds that are toxic to livestock like poison.
15:21:28 Hemlock Tanzi, Reg. Wart, and so that's going to be really important for counties that have, like huge, you know, beef and cattle for us, I mean noxious.
15:21:37 We can impact vegetables as well. You know, they can steal resources out compete.
15:21:45 And yeah, hey, is another thing, if you get tansy and your hey?
15:21:49 You can't sell it. So it just yeah, kind of depends.
15:21:53 But and then get impacts them all. And in our area, it's probably all pretty, even from what I can tell.
15:22:02 But yeah, and forestry absolutely. Yeah. I know that there's a lot of and and forestry's an interesting one, because there's an overlap there of people recreating by foot or
with their animals on those lands that have been recently forested.
15:22:22 And yeah, roads are a huge vector for our our small forest landowners, agriculture
15:22:30 I don't know. Bye, bye, what definition for the board.
15:22:38 Yeah, I don't know. I think it would depend, how active they are with their if they're like sound, if they're making money off of it regularly, zone force practices yeah, you
know. Yeah. Cut it every 60 years.
15:22:52 Yeah, that'd be a question for the weed board.
15:22:54 Okay, yeah. So if you do, you know, do we have a certified hay program here?
15:22:59 Because I recall down in Clark County you can't transport, hey, unless it's certified to be seed free I don't. I don't think we do, and not that I'm involved with.
15:23:09 But that's actually a great point of something that I was gonna mention.
15:23:12 Scotch brim is not a designated weed in our county, but we discussed at our board meeting last month we're not doing it this year, but we're gonna try to build the programs
that next year.
15:23:24 We can control like legally designate gosh room for control within a 100 feet of gravel pits, within a 100 feet of soil and compost, because that's a huge factor for spread
so Column County, I've been working really closely with there They've been very
15:23:45 Supportive, and they have a really well done gravel pit inspection and certification program.
15:23:52 So I'm gonna learn from them. And hey would be another one to consider I visited Gravel Pit and said, Oh, yeah, we're certified. We'd free.
15:24:00 I'm like, what about that Scotch room right there?
15:24:02 Yeah, I've none of the gravel pits in Jefferson County have a current certification.
15:24:06 Some of them were sort of were inspected and were given not great grades.
15:24:13 In 2,018 there. Yeah. The A through C grade.
15:24:16 So, yeah. And then the last thing is just that you will be hearing from me a little bit more this year.
15:24:23 Maybe not a formal presentation, but as new board members apply, they'll come through you.
15:24:28 I'm working on a board member Handbook. That will be approved by you, and then a couple of contracts with the column we board and the earth core, so you'll definitely be hearing
more about noxious weeds.
15:24:41 Does your Mo use with? You know public works, or the city, or anything?
15:24:47 Have sops, or best practices, for you know, preventing the spread of they do not currently but again, learning from column column has awesome programs with the Roads department,
and every year they have to present a new and updated plan and I think that that is really helpful for everyone and
15:25:12 I was able to create like end of year reports and 2,023 plans that were kind of based off of the column plans, or just as a template, anyway.
15:25:23 But I just when I was doing that I didn't feel like I had enough like experience with each of those mo use.
15:25:31 But I think creating, you know, if Mlu is for 3 or 5 years completing 3 or 5 year plans that help the entity participate in.
15:25:41 You know. I think some of the agencies think that contracting the noxious speedboard is, it checks the box, and that's enough, and that would be awesome if it was but it does
take a little bit more practice and upkeep for or like you know even just notifying me of
15:25:57 The noxious reads that they see. That would be huge.
15:26:01 I can't survey, like everything really thoroughly, you know, in each season, and so getting them more involved is going to be important.
15:26:12 That's great. Okay? Well, that's it. From my presentation I think it's our work to get you some more board members.
15:26:25 We're that would be very helpful, at least at least one more.
15:26:27 Oh, yeah, do I need to call Tammy well, let's give her some time to put her.
15:26:33 I just sent her the application last week the application is much improved from what it was even 2 years.
15:26:37 Yes, yeah, we've shared it with a couple of other counties as well.
15:26:40 So that's that's felt great to be able to share it.
15:26:43 Yeah, I'm calling Tammy oh, and I do have the updated noxious lead list for you.
15:26:53 There's a few of those I put them into pamphlets, which I think is helpful.
15:26:58 And again, they are on the website. So anyone can go and download those
15:27:04 Good work, Sophie. Thank you.
15:27:14 Anytime likewise. Thanks alright, great to meet you
15:27:23 Alright! So that takes us to additional discussion items. We're gonna get our, you wanna start with the legislative update.
15:27:36 We haven't done calendaring for the coming week, either, so we should make time for that.
15:27:42 And run through some bills that I think might be of interest to you guys and maybe see if there might be some.
15:27:50 I'll ask if you have a position on, and but otherwise I'll just kind of run through what what I think might be interesting and applicable so in terms of West sec priorities,
the behavioral health network adequacy, they did end up dropping a bill it's been back
15:28:10 And forth as to how that was going to be dealt with, and that Bill number is 1515.
15:28:15 It was just dropped last week, and so it is really focused on the what are they calling?
15:28:24 Distribution services. Well, but it really is about requiring the state, the health care authority when they put out their next.
15:28:34 The call for proposals from Ncos to apply and be eligible, that they are willing to meet certain requirements, in shining in the selection process, where certain requirements
for network adequacy.
15:28:51 So like I said it just dropped. So it's really unclear how that will, how that will go.
15:28:57 The point 9 bill. Like I said earlier, another hearing, and that house this week Finance Committee.
15:29:09 So kind of the second round of committee is in the Senate.
15:29:13 In the first policy meeting I'm going to go looking good.
15:29:16 It is. Yeah. Yep. There was one amendment made for the bill which change the requirement for Department of Revenue to report how those funds are spent.
15:29:27 But pretty minor actually, this week, department of Revenue published the information collected.
15:29:34 Some legislators still want to see a little more accountability.
15:29:36 So that language a little bit better. It's very doable.
15:29:42 Yeah. The Federal Funds exchange.
15:29:47 Yup State for Federal for State funds, transportation projects.
15:29:53 It is in the governor's budget, and it looks, you know, sitting in the budget, his proposed budget.
15:30:04 So I just need to be working on folks on budget committees to make sure it ends up in both the House and Senate Committees giving us 25 million, which would fund the smallest
22 counties.
15:30:16 Yeah, hey? That's bad. Because they get the smallest amount of for once.
15:30:24 Yeah, the Black Grant funds. So it's most valuable to us.
15:30:27 Then the fourth is the jail modernization priority, which is running into some trouble.
15:30:35 The wants, a much smaller, faster study to be done, and to see more progress and he's recommending a one year study instead of a 3 year.
15:30:46 Study. Just provide kind of less, I think thorough information on me.
15:30:52 Other services that you also provide. There's so many things that jails do now that we don't think that is, jails there's stuff other than recidivism.
15:31:02 And basic human needs. Yeah, like, substance use treatment.
15:31:09 So, a bit of a sailmate that's still time to to work that out.
15:31:14 So those with the big 4 priorities for Wasack, some other bills worth noting
15:31:25 Well, let me go over the 3 issues we talked about at length in La Sec.
15:31:32 Those are usually the the most kind of pressing. This week.
15:31:36 Or number of bills on permitting reform, so growth management requires certain timelines for permitting, and there are well, gosh!
15:31:47 1, 2, 3, 6, or 8 bills permitting, and the legislature is realizing that in a report they had done that permitting delays are of the reason that's why we are slow in creating
affordable housing.
15:32:06 So they are very motivated to get some more accountability for counties to to move up their permitting deadlines.
15:32:16 That sounds like another layer of bureaucracy to speed up the bureaucracy yeah, but there are some logical recommendations being made, but like, for example, having 3 different
types of kind of creating 3 different pools of each time.
15:32:37 A different timeline right now. Everything yeah. Right now everything has to be permitted in a 120 days from receipt of an a lead application, and something should take way
less time, though.
15:32:48 And so how, with the reasonable expectation, is one of the bills the the most the one most likely to move.
15:33:02 Unfortunately it calls for the State to funds online, permitting software just in time. Right?
15:33:12 We still, there's we want to be able to do online permitting online that we don't have that functionality.
15:33:18 So there's stuff that we can still benefit creating one platform to be used statewide but it would sync with State agencies where there's often delays because it's being permitted
through, you know, their steps shoreline.
15:33:35 Or yeah, things that need to be to go through the state.
15:33:38 So there's actually support for that. So I'll report back on what's moving forward.
15:33:46 And I think that would help with those like shoreline, or where there is, you know you are a meeting Department of Health for a large outside septic system or something.
15:33:54 But that is 10% of the permits going through. So and I just don't.
15:34:02 Well, I think for a lot of small counties, investing as we have and these big upgrades is just not.
15:34:10 And so this gets them to that place, that it benefits the the customers.
15:34:19 Does anyone talk about permitting less and letting things not get permitted?
15:34:24 No, not in this legislature, I would say, or that in the of this legislature I don't know. Yeah.
15:34:34 Okay. And mark all these, there's a lot in between here.
15:34:39 So they 80. Use also a number of bills on Edu's.
15:34:46 But wanted to. Yeah, just call out the bill number.
15:34:56 To do that at least great. Since you are interested. 1133 is a Chapman Fairinger bill which specifically authorizes counties to allow AD use outside of urban growth areas
15:35:13 And there are a number of things built into that, so that it doesn't trigger it the same concerns from future wise feature, wise to testify against it.
15:35:25 But things like, you know, you have to share a driveway.
15:35:31 There have been some amendments made to it already about things like, oh, what did I just see that if you have a you can only have one attached, Ab, or one detached data, you
both.
15:35:47 So some things like that
15:35:52 I told you the the this concern about the State, preempting both the on our accuracy and short term vacation rental.
15:36:05 Yeah, stay soon there. It looks like the one that is likely to pass as 1333
15:36:14 The law enforcement there last year. So that's maybe one as well.
15:36:23 It is. Yes, there's a number of them
15:36:32 And then the last one we talked about was minimum parking requirements, getting rid of them.
15:36:39 Yes, getting rid of them again. A legislature, and in a report identified working requirements, as you know, taking up land that would always be buildable.
15:36:51 Certainly more cost. So there's a desire to remove them altogether, both from growth, management and from local codes.
15:37:01 Wow! The stack recommendation on this was to remove parking limits in growth management, but still a loud count used to have them, if they and some and some good points were
made.
15:37:14 If you know if you don't allow for parking, you don't require parking developers.
15:37:22 Event not required to kind of take on that cost. And so it ends up getting pushed to.
15:37:29 You know, those impacts get pushed. Yeah, roads which can then interfere with pedestrian.
15:37:32 Bicycle, safety, more kind of conflicting uses with neighbors, so I feel like there's not great models for this for rural communities.
15:37:45 Yes, in in urban areas, I think you could make that case with some.
15:37:52 I was gonna have the urban growth areas are just in.
15:37:54 This is state wide. They're talking so that would include them in growth areas.
15:37:59 Yes. Yeah. Because parking in a huge place, is it downtown?
15:38:07 Especially yeah, yeah, they're the yeah. It's yeah.
15:38:17 So.
15:38:20 It's yeah, it it. But it's gonna be talked about a lot of at the state level.
15:38:26 And I don't know that we need to get super involved in it.
15:38:29 But it's it is interesting to put that in the parking lot.
15:38:31 Yeah, exactly. The bike brackets. I prefer to say, okay.
15:38:35 So those are the big issues we talked about. So just quickly go through as usual.
15:38:40 There's a call to pull out the veterans and developmental disabilities levies from the 1% cap.
15:38:49 As usual. It's moving, but it's also Chapman Bill 1022.
15:38:56 What does it stall? Usually I don't know. Cool even.
15:39:00 I mean the last few years. There's been a super majority the perception of raise taxes, I think, and I desire to cap the increase I'm going increase the property taxes with
zoom.
15:39:18 It would do pretty small now.
15:39:22 I, to be more organized this week? And what I want to tell you about?
15:39:27 There is a comprehensive Blake Relief Bill that the counties are opposed to.
15:39:33 They feel like it would end up with. The county is still taking on a lot of the burden of Blake.
15:39:40 The cost going forward, or the retirement. I think both.
15:39:44 It's 1492. So there was hope, you know, that that the State would solve that in a useful and comprehensive way.
15:39:53 But so far that is the feel that's moving the most quickly and so zoom accounts are not brands.
15:40:01 The Micro Enterprise home Kitchen Bill is back, which the public health folks really oppose.
15:40:12 So that is, you know, folks wanting to sell things out of the kitchen, or do pop up restaurants.
15:40:17 And in in candid conversations to hear some folks in in public health say it's as soon as you create regulations for it, then they have to be enforced like it's it.
15:40:32 Yeah, cause I've always said, that's something I just can't.
15:40:35 I can't oppose that like I really believe in people able to.
15:40:39 We have lots of code that we don't enforce.
15:40:41 Yeah, yeah, I think they're their point. But yeah, we trade for happy to do it for me for my dogs.
15:40:59 Right, yeah, it's a. It's a tough one.
15:41:04 And yeah, nobody wants to touch it. It's funny, like, people don't want to say No, you can't make Granola.
15:41:11 And you know, right, yeah, my retirement plan.
15:41:17 Yeah. But I I always tell public health, though that's fine. Most things, but not that one.
15:41:24 No, the some law enforcement reform. There are a couple of bills that are have a lot of traction right now.
15:41:35 1025, and 1445, 1445.
15:41:42 Association counties is concerned with them. They are largely about law enforcement.
15:41:49 Misconduct, and removing qualified immunity from officers, and how a law enforcement misconduct is investigated.
15:42:00 They feel like it's too broad, so that'll be difficult one to work through.
15:42:08 Couple of public records bills. But again, legislature
15:42:16 Will not be applying it to themselves, and but there is a bill to limit frivolous records, requests.
15:42:29 How do they define a frivolous record? It disincentivizes the monetary game, for it.
15:42:39 There's a administrative and judicial review process instead of a financial liability or the school districts and everything exactly. Yeah.
15:42:52 It allows counties governments to if they find records, you know, couple of weeks after they have submitted them to, to then provide them again with no penalty.
15:43:00 Yeah, that one is favorable, interesting, is that cannabis Social Equity Bill 50, 80.
15:43:13 And this is, there's been a lot of talk about this, but the this would allow the liquor cannabis board, and it's it's all discretion to increase the number of cannabis retail
licenses, because this is based on the most recent
15:43:32 Census data. This one is a claim that that the licenses issued was not done in an equitable way.
15:43:38 I agree? Yeah, so Senator Saddam has a bill to try to remedy that before association.
15:43:50 Yes.
15:43:56 Whenever I yeah, whenever I talk to like school groups or something, I always say, like, you have a PET issue, you can make it a bill in the left side.
15:44:06 Jake, we'll find someone who will make it as negative.
15:44:10 No, take all the way. 1412 is the voluntary stewardship program which would allow, how to use to opt in to the Sp.
15:44:20 Yeah, a little bit. Not a lot. 14 went.
15:44:27 Well. 21 and a ping Brent on that.
15:44:33 And it sounds like it's unless here's sunny.
15:44:38 If either you have a strong position on it. I haven't gotten involved with it yet.
15:44:42 I feel like we have not taken a position on it, but so you know, I just said the Brent is coming up.
15:44:53 Do you have a strong, so capacity thing.
15:44:58 When it's yeah, marginal improvements of stuff.
15:45:02 Not a lot of upside. And we're doing
15:45:08 There are 2 trust and transfer bills implementing recommendations from the working group.
15:45:16 Id, yeah, it lines, yeah, support their their their bills to support.
15:45:24 Okay, all up in their business. And that's what I'm going this week to be part of that session with house capital budget.
15:45:33 Maybe with Dnr. And one
15:45:38 Yeah, and there, you know.
15:45:44 Along the way, but I think
15:45:49 Is the vehicle, and we're trying to make.
15:45:53 72 in line with that. So there was some changes made to 1,460 that and this is your preferred
15:46:04 Third language is that includes the Encumbered Lands, language and alright these 2 bills don't have that in there yet.
15:46:10 Okay, the same sponsor
15:46:15 Okay. Good. To know.
15:46:19 Let's see. Oh, the riparian bill is interesting, really interesting.
15:46:26 Actually the so the Governor's bill was 1215, and
15:46:33 Currently I didn't confirm this, but a tribe and egg apparently came to a different compromise.
15:46:43 I think it was James. I heard. Yeah, which is really interesting.
15:46:50 They weren't as involved as a lot of the other tribes in that process.
15:46:52 They were at the table, but just surprising. So they they have a new bill, 1,720, that is more likely to move forward.
15:47:02 It does not. Reference site, potential tree height as the best available science.
15:47:06 It does not require any base, any minimum buffer Governor's office doesn't support it.
15:47:12 So that's getting interesting. What does it do? It still sets up these, the funding source, you know, millions of dollars for incentive programs.
15:47:24 Right here in areas. I haven't read the new bill yet, but I think it's basically I think it's quite similar to the other one.
15:47:33 It still takes a lot of the recommendations from the work group, but takes a lot of the teeth and specific set of it which is what the egg community was opposed to.
15:47:42 The teeth. Yeah, yeah. Talking, I mean, do you think that the Vsp work is is like hand in glove with this?
15:47:52 It just feels like it's I don't know.
15:47:55 Maybe 2 vehicles that are working together somehow to get this to a different place.
15:48:00 I think the trouble is that Bsp. Also didn't have any teeth to it.
15:48:04 So the there's a feeling that it's harder to to get an existing program and add a bunch of teeth than it is to start over with new with the team either built in or amazing in
15:48:19 Bye, bye, the reason the Bsp Bill is being run is to be a a capture point to the newer.
15:48:26 Response. Right? More than an alternative. Yes, okay, yeah. And Vsp, for everyone.
15:48:32 Voluntaries to chip program. Yes, thank you.
15:48:38 And then, of course, 1131 solid waste.
15:48:40 The the bottle, Bill. I looked. It's more like 50 amendments that have been added to it.
15:48:46 So people will not try to represent those. And then this something we spent a long time on was the right terms.
15:48:56 That 1582 prohibiting drivers for making a right turn on Red with proximity of certain facilities, 60% of fatalities are related to right hand turns trustee and pedestrian.
15:49:12 Okay, yeah. So the data supports prohibiting.
15:49:15 Which is so long as you're near schools, and you know a certain amount of density.
15:49:22 That's some folks are very upset about this bill.
15:49:25 I don't like it. They can make a law, but I've never seen anyone.
15:49:26 Zipperberg, really yet, so I don't know.
15:49:30 Oh, yeah, that is the using turn signals and roundabouts.
15:49:36 Well, how are you supposed to do it? I turn it on.
15:49:39 I try to turn my left turn, and say, Go on until I want to exit, and then I turn it to the right.
15:49:44 Turn signal to exit, is that the appropriate use of a trans.
15:49:46 Signal in a roundabout. Most most people don't do anything right, and it is not log currently. So there is a lot that's only a yeah.
15:49:58 I'm I'm not sure I think we're supposed to do what you just said.
15:50:02 I don't know that's what I actually usually do.
15:50:09 I don't usually turn on my left one. Just turn on my right when when I'm in the Quadrant.
15:50:13 The quartets, port the quarter that? Yeah, yeah, I think, looking at the front tires, I think, is a more reliable measure of when they're gonna exit.
15:50:22 I mean we should all be defensive drivers, for sure.
15:50:24 That's what I do.
15:50:28 Right, yeah, I think it's really helpful when people signal in roundabouts, I get it teaching a teenager to drive right now.
15:50:37 So I'm which right hand turn are they taking?
15:50:42 Well, the the next some of them are signals.
15:50:46 On this the next right answer and I don't even leave it on.
15:50:47 I just hold it up for a second yeah, you're assuming that.
15:50:50 But it's not always the case. Well, you still look at their tires. I mean you.
15:50:54 Still a defensive driver, but I mean so now you're gonna give people tickets for not using a blinker in a roundabout.
15:51:01 I I'm not well if you or if you take a right turn at a red light.
15:51:07 And it's shocking how few people use their turn signals regardless wherever they are, and as an daily biker, I see it all it's terrifying.
15:51:18 I mean, it's it's yeah, right? Turns yeah, I'm trying to find that bill number. I didn't circle it because it didn't seem that important.
15:51:28 I think we better not well, being having port towns, and be my district, you have yeah, it's about to have plenty.
15:51:44 Yes, so that's thanks for this sure. And I did. I don't know if you saw I sent to Nola update.
15:51:55 Yeah, you know, they kind of thought would be an interest and all that.
15:52:02 So after that, yeah, 1711 days coming up with, yeah.
15:52:12 Great. Well, thank you very much for the bringing us up to speed.
15:52:17 When this event, there's a lot my favorite part of this season is there's a lot of comedic potential on all these bills.
15:52:26 Yeah, it is interesting, though I have such a majority that people are really empowered.
15:52:34 You know the them are really empowered go out on a limb and and and also there's money, you know, right?
15:52:41 And there's and the every you know so polarized that issues just immediately
15:52:49 Take them to their extremes. I'm curious what public of the Mike I can't get over the home kitchen micro enterprise, and how public health is like.
15:52:59 If we you know, if we permit it, then we can't let it go.
15:53:04 But people do it anyways, and if your food makes someone sick, it's usually I mean what I guess I don't know.
15:53:08 My my risk, reward. Ratio is all different. I usually I mean better about looking at population population level decision making on public health.
15:53:20 But I just know that if someone is making bad food, then no one will buy it, and it seems like self-regulation usually manages this.
15:53:30 I'm not touching it, not touching
15:53:36 We can make a bunch of people mad if you both took an opinion on this. Yeah, I don't see any point in doing that, Greg. Alright.
15:53:43 Didn't you get the? Yeah. Yeah. Rule one and elected office?
15:53:48 Don't think positions and things you don't have to right fair enough
15:53:52 Okay.
15:53:57 Other other topics for this afternoon calendars. We have another 30Â min.
15:54:01 We haven't done calendaring let's let's let's start with that. We might not have time for anything else.
15:54:07 And it's gonna full day. Go ahead. Once you start hiding you don't want to just do my conflict or do the week.
15:54:14 Oh, we'll both start with your conflict. Okay? So tomorrow I'm going to I'm just gonna do that.
15:54:21 The meeting with the port, and a constituent about the short farm questions about the short term work.
15:54:31 I have a meeting with Santa Monica and Gravel
15:54:34 I don't know why someone else set it up for me.
15:54:37 Yeah, we are all
15:54:43 Yeah, okay, I'm gonna draft the raise support letter tomorrow.
15:54:46 And I'm gonna meet with Scott. Rogers, our new Piff board member.
15:54:52 In the afternoon, and then I have an Mrc.
15:54:55 Meeting in the evening. I'm getting a shoreline master program.
15:55:01 Update from Josh at 11 tomorrow. So then, Wednesday morning Mark and I have the strategic planning Kickoff meeting with our strategic planning team.
15:55:12 So yeah, I'm gonna kick off the strategic planning process strategically, I'm meeting with Debianky to talk Jefferson transit outreach ideas in the afternoon, and I have an
Olympic discovery trail board meeting in the evening and then this is when it gets
15:55:30 Nutty so then, Thursday, I'm going to Olympia again, and I then I'm gonna go straight to the airport and go for my Nico conference.
15:55:42 So I have a conflict. Thursday afternoon for the Clean water district.
15:55:46 My from 3 to 4, 30. Are either of you available to do the clean water district?
15:55:53 Do it. That's good. Because I have. Okay. I'll send you a yeah.
15:56:01 And I love those meetings. They're great, always very educational.
15:56:05 Real stuff going on in the water. Yeah, 3 or 3, 33 to 4, 30, and then I'm out on Friday, and I'm out next week.
15:56:23 As well. Yeah, when I'm out of I'm not here.
15:56:30 So there's a Tc. Team, I mean, I don't know.
15:56:33 I I should be able to call in from part of our meeting on Monday, I should be able I'm I'm just not sure about these other meetings.
15:56:39 There's a timber, counties caucus meeting on Wednesday.
15:56:44 Add 2. I'm out of the office
15:56:48 Oh, okay, I could, potentially, if there's a critical thing like I'm still going to board of help.
15:56:53 Well, it looks like I might be able to actually call into it because I, our flight lands at 11
15:57:00 So that's a through getting back. And then no conflicts.
15:57:06 After that have a great conference. Yeah, and you know, let us know what your schedule is.
15:57:11 On Monday. We'll definitely make any action items in the morning and then keep the afternoon fairly light.
15:57:19 At least the beginning. Okay.
15:57:25 Okay.
15:57:32 Tomorrow I'm gonna be working remotely, but I'll be doing a couple of testimonies and working on some Lc legislative stuff tomorrow from from the Infusion room feedback on Wednesday.
15:57:53 Got a child care meeting, I'm pretty fairly late couple of days. Then.
15:57:56 Thursday. They're getting busier. Be healthier together, is the name of the wellness, facility work.
15:58:04 That's Mark, and I've been doing an interview on Thursday morning with the consultants of been hired to do that work.
15:58:12 Then the trolley ribbon cutting for the name Charlie downtown yeah.
15:58:23 Thursday, at 1215, City Hall. Don't do the clean water district then.
15:58:26 Friday, we have a long 3Â h meeting with the healthier together the consultants are here for much of the week, actually, and also meeting with the Miles rebel folks.
15:58:39 And that is it so? Here more this week, and then next week is another Olympia week. So
15:58:51 Alright! Let's see, I have an internal Hr.
15:59:00 Meeting tomorrow, as well as meeting with Miles, and send and gravel pretty late day tomorrow.
15:59:05 On Wednesday. Start early with some conversation about a couple of issues with Matt Court from Central services.
15:59:13 Then to Finance committee meeting for Orca virtually, and then there the regular meeting finishing that 360 review, then headed down to Quill scene to meet with Peter Bails
and Chief of Kern Commissioner Kelban about Trust, Land Transfer down at the Philippine
15:59:33 firehouse, and then back into port towns in the evening, for the only catboard meeting that evening the Eights on Thursday. I'll also be at the tribute trolley ribbon cutting,
and then I have the behavioral health consortium meeting, at 3 pm that's my conflict for
15:59:49 Your your conflict, Heidi, but so when you're there, listen for this, you know, need for coordination.
15:59:58 And I mentioned earlier. Right? I know it's definitely it's it's come up.
16:00:04 I mean, do you have a preference how that happens no, I just I mean, I I think we need to fly a little lower on this one.
16:00:11 And yeah, provide some support to Staff and Yup, that is my goal is to help create that bridge for these kind of yeah, I mean, I'll tell you, my brothers, from the the consortium
is supposed to be a big table where we can all meet.
16:00:25 So I would say, that's the natural place for it to happen but you don't want to have asymmetry and the power dynamic there.
16:00:31 So I'm not sure if it's possible I noticed that there we have a lot of similar entities on the 2 behavioral Advisory committee and the hey?
16:00:39 Real health consortium, but not the same individuals. Oh, yeah, so there may be, it may be more effective to have somebody said 3, 3, or 4 people sit on both.
16:00:50 So there's cross pollination. Yeah, I will pay attention to it and try to come up with some some constructive stuff I'm building bridge. But I'm from the other side of the river.
So it's meet in the middle.
16:01:05 Yeah. Totally. Let's see that's Thursday.
16:01:08 And then Friday, we have a a big meeting with the Housing Fund Board Community Conversations Committee meeting here in the Chambers, and virtually a 10.
16:01:18 But we're trying to kind of set the ground ground rules for the required coordinated entry Advisory Council.
16:01:27 So all all the agencies that use the coordinated entry system will be here to talk, to plan a hopeful training in March from the Department of Commerce, so trying to get that
set up.
16:01:41 And then I think my, as always, my Friday plan is to intend to go to the the Legislative update from wassack.
16:01:48 Which I have not quite made made yet, but I hope to got a fairly free Friday, so hope to make it then and that's my week.
16:01:54 Hmm, Mark, how's your week? Look
16:01:59 Well, tomorrow, senior management team meeting. I'm gonna discuss with them workshops with the board to have us all of them lay out their 2,023 work plan for the benefit of
the board so that you can provide feedback and see where they're headed and if
16:02:17 you need to provide some guidance then you'll have an opportunity to do so.
16:02:27 Right? Following that we have a risk management meeting, and then a security committee meeting at noon and then 18 in the afternoon, at 2.
16:02:36 And then, as Kate mentioned, strategic or like you mentioned strategic planning, kickoff meeting, and then the North Olympic Peninsula City manager, counting Administrator Zoom
call Thursday as Kate mentioned we've got a Pops us Healthier together meeting and then
16:02:57 Friday a longer one. The 3Â h meeting that Kate mentioned, and then in the afternoon I didn't get to meet with Brian Gleason.
16:03:06 Sophie and Judge Matt, Judge Mac to look at the setup.
16:03:15 They have in Superior Court now, maybe Mosey over to District Court, and I will be observing the proceedings, using Zoom and both Super and district corps before that meeting
on Friday, just to see
16:03:31 If I can agree with Mr. Tush's observations that the quality is not very good
16:03:40 Then, of course, prepare for next week's meeting with you.
16:03:46 Bobby set it up, setting up a recurring meeting, so that we have it on the calendar totally
16:03:56 And I don't. I don't know, Mark, if you and Wendy have talked about this.
16:04:04 But do we all agree that doing, having Wendy do a workshop with us?
16:04:10 On kind of comes we do. Good idea. Yeah. I mean, I like calling it com.
16:04:15 S, I think we should focus on that. It's it sounds good, sounds very technical.
16:04:20 Com, so the public know what that means. Sounds. Yeah, it sounds like my definition. She's semi-militating. All that.
16:04:28 Yeah, do we have comms, yeah, right? And one thing that Wendy you'll be doing is meeting with all the electives and all the department directors and I'd like to recommend that
she complete that circuit and then come back and have the the workshop with the board.
16:04:44 Yeah, I mean, I think the part of what she and I talked about is that like there's a little bit of a chicken and egg thing like, does she need the direction of what her role
would be before going to talk to all the departments
16:04:59 I think her perception of what they think her role ought to be would be helpful in the meeting.
16:05:07 Okay, not to put words in your mouth or anything
16:05:15 I mean I can. I can eat chicken or egg.
16:05:16 That that matter, it doesn't matter what the order is.
16:05:19 So if you want to the other way around, we can do that.
16:05:21 No, I just I like something that she and I talked about was, you know, whether she takes on kind of emergency road weather like that's a huge variable for a part time job you
know that that could be a lot of hours.
16:05:39 And so, you know, I think right. But I think we also talked about when we were establishing the position, the potential cover, your ears maybe depending on her ability to do
so is maybe increase the number of hours we are.
16:05:59 I don't ask me for the listing public event.
16:06:04 Wendy is in the room with us, and this is, you know, we're in sort of new waters here, and I I think a fair amount of learning is going to occur.
16:06:14 All of us are gonna learn. And so we'll see where it goes.
16:06:20 I'm okay with that. Yeah. And maybe maybe if you just start clear with folks that it's unclear, what the scope will be.
16:06:27 And but you're trying to get a sense of what people see.
16:06:30 The need is, and and as we work towards creating a communications plan, but don't, don't, maybe don't promise too much.
16:06:47 Yes. And and it's more listening rather than promising.
16:06:53 Or building expectations. Yeah.
16:06:56 Sounds good, so we'll be paid and and wait for a workshop.
16:07:00 A little further down the line after you get an opportunity to really get your
16:07:04 Yep.
16:07:08 We're glad you're here, Wendy. We are
16:07:15 Are there other issues we should talk about? We have a few more minutes before 4 30 in our mandated end of the meeting, we talk a little bit about timeline for the Arpa Sc.
16:07:26 Stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah, no, that's that's great.
16:07:31 So the deadline for submissions is this Friday that Yup but then we're not really gonna have hiding next week, right?
16:07:38 Right. And you're gonna need some time to digest those things.
16:07:42 So could we, maybe what would be the twentieth
16:07:47 Monday, the thirteenth, shouldn't be the Monday. No, on the twenty-first cause right?
16:07:55 So the twenty-first we did get our Jefferson transit meeting rescheduled. Right?
16:07:59 That's on Tuesday. Yes, till 30'clock in the afternoon.
16:08:05 30'clock. Okay, so we'll need to be done by so maybe it's a morning conversation on the twenty-first, right?
16:08:11 And and when we do the sit down for planning that agenda, yeah, we can trim it down if we need to, to make sure and create a little matrix.
16:08:18 So, coming in with a spreadsheet, and not having that lined up in the, in the first place for us to be able to, stare and compare, would be really helpful.
16:08:24 So Mark and I will work on that. Bring it forth. On the twenty-first, maybe.
16:08:28 Talk about a little bit this week, just to make sure I mean, because we already have a lot right?
16:08:32 We're gonna have at least 20. We could.
16:08:36 We could consider ranks choice voting. Yeah, in the future.
16:08:42 Right? Yeah, I, the, you know, actually put them in order of your priority.
16:08:50 With the most points to the least points, depending how you for it you know, we've we've set all along.
16:08:56 It's gonna be a
16:08:59 A qualitative process. So just something to consider if we assigned our own rank and priority, that would probably
16:09:11 Some of the yeah during during the workshop we we could, you know, I could distribute it in advance and then merge them.
16:09:24 No, I think ahead of time makes the conversation much more constructive.
16:09:29 I, yeah, I mean, right choice voting. Would that involve?
16:09:34 I an award, or just like, you know you've got some 100,000.
16:09:41 You got some of 20. Maybe you want to give, you know, partial funding.
16:09:44 Maybe my rank is like to partially fund this one.
16:09:46 Is there an architecture that allows that flexibility
16:09:55 Our own prioritization, and then through conversation, we might, you know, and advocating for kind of our priorities to make change each other's minds, we go back and refine
if needed.
16:10:06 Yeah, that makes sense. And then but rank them all so they're still something.
16:10:10 Yeah, if there's 25 projects, you put them in order, one through 25.
16:10:17 Yeah, Mark, and I will work on an average based on that kind of idea so we can bring it out.
16:10:24 Some of the that. A draft next Monday.
16:10:28 Yeah. Sounds. Good. Okay, great. So we'll bring some sort of straw in next week.
16:10:34 And and figure out the process for the twenty-first in the morning.
16:10:38 Okay.
16:10:41 Anything else you guys want to discuss this afternoon
16:10:47 Hmm! No
16:10:50 It's nice to have a full agenda today.
16:10:52 It feels like the most, you know. In some ways. The first full meeting of of the New Year will be Rcc.
16:10:59 So I'll be interested in marking your your research project on the the courts in the Zoom Meeting, and the whole the whole job.
16:11:10 So I think that was new. That was new feedback for me today.
16:11:12 Jet on about jab. So I'm I'm curious about that.
16:11:15 I can't recall what we spent, but the Trial Improvement fund and the General fund contributed I was spending.
16:11:23 It was like over 50,000 for for both courtrooms. That was in the last 4 years wasn't it?
16:11:30 Yeah. Judge at Landis left. Oh, no. So that was before my time.
16:11:36 So that was District Court, and then Superior Court followed. Okay, and the upgrade
16:11:42 From what I gather. I I think the attorneys are okay with the work.
16:11:48 It may be the viewing public that has the problem and right. So
16:11:53 And maybe the hardware is still usable with other systems like jabs is just the software right?
16:12:05 Jabs, integrates, computers, monitors can. Right?
16:12:09 Yeah, and in that research, you're doing. Did you also say, if you'll be talking to Judge Mac oh, he's he'll be in the meeting on Friday.
16:12:21 Great. Yeah, having calendar coordinating with Sophie.
16:12:27 Alright! Well, if there is nothing else, I will adjourn this.
16:12:33 February sixth meeting of the Board of County Commissioners.
16:12:35 Everyone have a great week and have a great trip. And in a long time, yeah, yeah, Nico and National National Conference, like, so
16:12:51 For me. Yeah, even a year and a half ago.