The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum County planners will present issues involved in updating the county Critical Areas Ordinance next month in public meetings.

State law has mandated an update of the ordinance which is designed to protect wetlands and shorelines from adverse impacts of human activity and development.

The county has contracted with the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum Council of Governments for the work. Planner T.J. Kiernan recommended holding two public meetings to introduce the process to citizens and a third on January 28 to offer a short course in land use issues.

A major issue, Kiernan has said, is to align county policies with the mandate to use "the best available science" for the environmental issues.

Kiernan has said the county could propose that its past practices and ordinance constitute the best available science.

He added that the planning commission for the city of Napavine, of which he is a member, had success with that tactic in its recent update of its critical areas ordinance.

In other business before the board of county commissioners on Tuesday, Public Works Director Pete Ringen said the county will have reduced road construction funding from the state in 2011.

The County Road Administration Board (CRAB) notified members last week, he said, that a combination of factors led board administrators to revise funding practices. They will fund no new projects until the 2012 state biennium, he said, and they'll defer payment for some projects which are already approved, such as one Wahkiakum project on the Elochoman Valley Road.

Ringen said CRAB staff said they're facing a funding decline while at the same time counties have speeded up construction, thereby depleting the CRAB reserve.

Ringen said he has notified CRAB that the county will be happy to work with the board should any funding become available from counties which drop construction plans.