Zero active cases of Covid-19 in April

POMEROY–Garfield County Health District announced zero active cases for Garfield County during the month of April at the Garfield County Commissioners' meeting April 26. The amount of testing has not dropped, and an estimated 37% of the county population has been vaccinated.

Health District Program Coordinator Jessica Nelson is working with the School Wellness Committee to promote healthy nutrition. They are currently promoting fresh fruits and vegetables with a fruit basket in the school office that is highly successful. Nelson is also manning the food handler's card program that helps kids get cards, which allows them to get jobs and community service hours. Twenty-eight kids signed up to go through the program on April 27.

A change to the Health District bylaws and charter is planned to align with a new requirement from the Department of Health (DOH). They now require an equal number of elected and unelected officials on the Health District board. A time for public comment will be set aside when the Health District makes the changed to their bylaws and charter. The date for this change has not been announced.

Five resolutions were passed at the meeting. Resolution 2021-06 was an amendment to the consolidated contract with the DOH, adding $531,231 to the money allotted and bringing the total to $1,328,518. Resolution 2021-07 was a year-long extension of the contract with Asotin County for septic services. No changes were made to the current contract. Resolution 2021-08 was a review and increase of funds to the Youth Marijuana Prevention grant to compensate the program coordinator for her creation of an ad. Resolution 2021-09 was a review and approval of a renewal of the Boost Collaborative Interagency agreement for their services as IP contractors. Resolution 2021-10 was a review and approval of a Care Coordination Contract with Providence Population Heath of Walla Walla.

The Farmer's Market will operate the first Thursday of every month at 4–7 p.m. starting in June.