County to join Eastern Washington Council of Governments

POMEROY–The Garfield County board of commissioners (BOCC) tentatively chose a recording systems vendor to accept, adopted Eastern Washington Council of Governments articles of association and bylaws, passed a supplemental budget for Equipment Rental and Revolving Transportation fund, and passed insurance renewal paperwork at their meetings on September 19 and 26.

The BOCC passed Resolution 2022-19 to support and adopt the articles of association and bylaws of the Eastern Washington Council of Governments at their September 19 meeting, which is a newly formed coalition of upper Columbia River area counties. The council will address common issues regarding safety, health, and welfare of their citizens.

The board also looked at proposals from recorder system vendors to replace Garfield County's 911 dispatch multimedia logging recorder system. Decision was delayed to find out the yearly subscription rates, which were brought to the September 26 meeting. Valence proved the low bidder with $21,568.25 for the new system and installation, and $716.70 for yearly subscription rates. The proposal will be viewed by County Prosecutor Matt Newberg before a final decision is made.

Also conducted at the September 26 meeting was a supplemental budget hearing for ERR Transportation Funds. This account was used as a revolving fund for maintenance of transportation vehicles before the Garfield County Transportation Authority became a separate entity. The account is currently inactive and the BOCC is seeking to transfer it to the ERR General Fund. The hearing was held to create a supplemental budget that would increase the budget by $18,050.07 to make the $25,130 transfer a budgeted line item. After receiving no public comment, the board passed Resolution 2022-20, creating the supplemental budget.

The commissioners passed insurance renewal paperwork for 2023, including Washington Counties Rural Insurance Program 2022-23 renewal worksheet that provides information on the coverage that Garfield County is paying for and the number of employees, an administration service agreement and business association agreement with Rehn and Associates, and Washington Counties Insurance Fund 2023 master application for ancillary insurances. The coverage will be the same as last year, with no additional rate charges.

The Garfield County Employees Group, represented by Chief Deputy Clerk Katie Magill, brought a wages and benefit negotiation proposal including matching the wage schedule to a wage study of the average of similarly-sized Washington counties and a 10% cost of living pay raise to be effective on January 1, 2023. The BOCC will review budget figures before responding.

Further business conducted at the September 26 meeting is discussion on a contract with Garfield County Fire District No. 1 to provide dispatch services. The $30,000 compensation will be addressed yearly via memorandum of understanding. The contract will be viewed by Prosecutor Newberg before further action is taken.