Superior Court jury trials will be held at Fairgrounds

POMEROY––Allowing Superior Court jury trials to be conducted at the Fairgrounds buildings was approved by the Garfield County Board of Commissioners (BOCC), following submission of a resolution by Matt Newburg, Garfield County Prosecutor. A fringe benefit of the move will be funding to extend the Port of Garfield’s fiber-optic network to the fairgrounds.

The Washington Supreme Court had already given approval for the resolution, which will be in place for the duration of the pandemic. The resolution was necessary because the courtroom is not considered usable for jury trials at this time due to the necessary restrictions for spacing to avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

John Hirsch, Garfield County Emergency Management Director, stated that utilizing the Fairgrounds for this purpose will qualify the location for use of COVID-19 funding for extending the Port of Garfield’s broadband system to include it under Phase 1 of the construction.

The Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) will be meeting in Garfield County for its annual courthouse briefings. The WSAC is considering two dates for the two-hour meeting, July 28, or July 29, 2020. Because it will be difficult to set up the meeting as “open to the public”, the BOCC will consult Prosecutor Newburg on what will be necessary to accommodate the meeting.

Grant Morgan, Garfield County Engineer and Public Works Director, reported that with the ongoing work on the courthouse lawn to correct some drainage issues to the County Extension Office building, other building owners that share space in the same strip of buildings on the north side of Main Street, west of the courthouse, have come forward with a request to be tied in to the new storm water drain being installed by the County. Morgan stated that it can be done, but it would have to be approved by the BOCC, and a discussion about the responsibility for that cost needs to be discussed.

The BOCC approved a request by Hirsch for the designation of money to be spent through two grants, as presented to the board at the previous meeting. The first grant is the 2020 EMPG which is used to purchase emergency services equipment, in the amount of $27,896. This grant will be used to help purchase repeaters for the Sheriff’s office patrol cars, as well as support the Alert Sense Program. The second grant is the 2021 Homeland Security Grant, in the amount of $17,324, to pay the salary, training and travel for the Emergency Management Director.

Deputy Jim Nelson, on behalf of Sheriff Drew Hyer, reported that there currently are four inmates at the jail, and they are being monitored for COVID-19 regularly.

Commissioner Wynne McCabe asked about the status of the Dunes re-opening. Nelson replied that the Corps of Engineers (COE) did re-open the beach area and is monitoring it themselves. However, shortly after opening the Dunes, the COE shut down all public crossing of the Lower Granite Dam. Nelson stated that Martha Lanman, Garfield County Health District Administrator, may be able to supply more information on the status of the situation.

Commissioner Justin Dixon announced that due to no items for the agenda for the meeting of the BOCC for the following week, the meeting will be cancelled. The next meeting of the BOCC will be held August 3, 2020, at the Garfield County Courthouse, at 9 a.m. The public will most likely be required to attend via teleconference.