Clatsop Cty. Board of Commissioners Mtg. Highlights

CLATSOP PLANNING COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS
The board appointed seven new members to the county Planning Commission.

On March 23 the board voted to vacate all seven seats on the commission effective June 30 and to invite both current commission members and new applicants to apply. None of the current members re-applied.

Appointed to the panel were:

· Bruce Francis of Warrenton

· Susana Gladwin of Jewell

· Kay Foetisch-Robb of Seaside

· Jan Mitchell of Astoria

· Robert Stricklin of Warrenton

· Lianne Thompson of Arch Cape

· Mike Tiedeman of Astoria

Two of the seats are for terms that expire June 30, 2012; three for terms expiring June 30, 2014; and two for terms expiring June 30, 2015. The board did not assign the new appointees to particular terms but will allow them to choose their terms themselves when the commission convenes in July.

Prior to the vote, Commissioner Patricia Roberts made a motion to rescind the board’s March 23 decision and to reinstate all the former members. The motion did not receive a second. Roberts abstained from voting on any of the appointments.

Chairperson Dirk Rohne explained that following the board’s March 23 decision he sent a letter to all of the then-current planning commissioners explaining that the board vote reflected a desire to “cast a wider net to see what interest there may be in serving on the very important land planning commission. We hope to have a balance of viewpoints represented, if you feel you have a different point of view, you may be re-selected for precisely that reason,” he quoted from the letter.



NEW DISTRICTS ADOPTED
The board voted to adopt new boundaries for the five commissioner districts. The redistricting project, required every 10 years to conform the boundaries to shifts in population, resulted in shifts in some boundaries but largely left the existing boundaries intact.

The board adopted without change a map approved in May by a citizen panel.



COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS SHIFT
The board approved a resolution placing the county Community Corrections Department under the supervision of the Sheriff’s Office. The vote finalizes a reorganization plan that was given preliminary approval in February that included the closure of the Community Corrections Transition Center in April.

The board’s action included placing the Animal Control Division, which operates the county animal shelter in Warrenton, under the Sheriff’s Office, and naming the Sheriff as the sole Supervisory Authority for the county.



ZONE CHANGES APPROVED
The board approved three separate zone-change requests in Westport. They are:

· Request from Stan Egass for a rezone from Rural Community-Multi Family Residential to Rural Community Commercial for a 0.28-acre property in Westport.

· Request from Wilma Devries for a rezone from Rural Community Commercial to Rural Community-Multi Family Housing for a 1.2-acre property in Westport.

· Application by Clatsop County to rezone a property in Westport that was mistakenly zoned as Rural Community-Multi Family Residential in 2003 with the adoption of the new Rural Community zoning overlay. The county application rezones the property to Rural Community Commercial-Light Industrial.



Action on a fourth zone change application, on property on Dolphin Road near Warrenton, was postponed to allow the applicant to provide additional required information. The request is from Michael Benesch, Warrenton Fiber Co. and Waldo Veelle to rezone 13 acres ? eight acres are to be rezoned from Residential Agriculture-5 to Light Industrial and five acres rezoned from Residential Agriculture-5 to Natural Uplands.



OTHER BUSINESS
In other business the board:

-Adopted the Fiscal Year 2011-12 budgets for the county, 4-H and Extension Service Special District, Road District #1, Rural Law Enforcement District and Westport Sewer Service District.

-Approved a special event permit for the 2011 Hood to Coast Relay, scheduled for Aug. 26-27. The permit includes a requirement that the event organizers reimburse the county for costs associated with the event.

The board directed staff to review the current event permit ordinance and develop language that would allow the county to act as an agent for other public entities such as fire districts that also receive reimbursement from Hood to Coast for their expenses.

-Approved a loan of $45,000 from the county General Fund to the Marine Patrol program in the Sheriff’s Office to provide operating funds until September, when the program receives funding from the State of Oregon.

-Approved the 2011-13 Public Health agreement with the Oregon Health Authority for funding of health services through the county Public Health Department.

-Approved contracts with Oregon Health Authority for addiction and mental health services and food-borne illness prevention.