County accepts proposal for new 911 logging recording system

POMEROY–The Garfield County Commissioners (BOCC) approved a proposal for 911 logging recorder; a request from the employees' group; and approved a sale contract at their meeting on October 24.

The BOCC accepted the proposal from WestTech Marketing for $21,798 for the purchase and installation of a 911 logging recording system for Garfield County's E911 department. WestTech has been servicing the current system and has maintained an excellent relationship with the E911 department.

The commissioners approved a request from the county's employees' group for using the county's floating holiday on December 23, excepting employees who are on a shift schedule. The courthouse will be closed on the 23, as well as on December 26 for the observance of the Christmas holiday, since it falls on a Sunday this year.

Performance agreement 2023 was also approved, consisting of a sale contract with South East Washington Council of Governments Aging and Long-Term Care for up to the amount of $4,000. The contract will be used for a fall prevention class that is taught at the Senior Center by Elizabeth Stringer.

The commissioners have been considering the purchase of a piece of a tower for radio use in the south of the county, but will not continue to consider it due to the landowner's desire to remove the tower. Another possible location for a radio repeater in southern Garfield County may be considered in the future.

The BOCC signed a letter to the Washington State Building Code Council, opposing the consideration of a mandate requiring heat pumps to be the main source of heat in new construction. The letter is in cooperation with other eastern Washington counties including Whitman and Asotin Counties. The opposition cites the inefficiency of heat pump performance in the extreme temperatures that eastern Washington experiences.

Larry Scoggin attended the meeting to ask the commissioners what information they had on county coalition in concern over Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife predator management. The commissioners explained that Eastern Counties Council of Governments, a coalition of several counties in Washington, have presented the concerns shared by the counties to the WDFW without much success. They promised to continue to address concerns over predators.