Commissioners appoint Mark Letham as Strong's successor

Following a brief executive session Tuesday, Wahkiakum County Commissioners Dan Cothren and Lee Tischer adopted Resolution No. 05-26, appointing candidate Mark Letham as successor to Wahkiakum County Commissioner Gene Strong, who retired from the position over District No. 3 effective Jan. 1 of this year. Opting not to "go to the governor's office," Tischer and Cothren noted the decision was tough but were also glad the position would only be held for the remainder of the year. "This is short term," said Cothren. "I don't want anybody going away mad...We're just trying to get somebody to fulfill this until the end of the year." Tischer encouraged "everybody who's serious about the position" to file, as an election for it will take place later this year. "Being a small county like we are, we pretty much know everybody and are comfortable with whomever we choose," said Tischer. Other candidates considered were Brian McClain, Cindy Langston, Blair Brady, Kay Walters, Garrett Miller, Krist Novoselic, and Robert Reid. "I'm glad it's just going to be this year," said Cothren. "If it had been any longer, then we would have had interviews."

Prior to Letham's appointment, Auditor Nicci Bergseng requested approval for Evergreen Septic Pumping to continue service at Johnson Park. According to the meeting's packet, Evergreen has "changed hands and has asked Johnson Park to sign a new service contract." The commissioners unanimously approved the request. Following Bergseng's request, Emergency Technology Coordinator Beau Renfro requested approval of a bidder for the "migration from Microsoft Office 365 Commercial to Microsoft Office 365 Government Community Cloud." According to Renfro, three bids were presented from More Power Technology Group, Consultadd, and Golden Five, LLC. The lowest bid of $35,967.47 coming from More Power Technology, Renfro asked the commissioners to approve and authorize him to begin the contract negotiation process. The commissioners unanimously approved Renfro's request, accepting More Power Technology's bid.

In an action that would add $80,000 to the public health budget, the commissioners authorized Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Chris Bischoff's signature for contract 2025-052-00 between Area Agency Agency on Aging & Disabilities of Southwest Washington (AAADSW) and Wahkiakum County HHS. According to the packet, the $80,000 would go to "sustaining and expanding Living Well events, holding workshops and presentations focused on the needs of the populations, expanding fitness classes, and creating a volunteer-based program to handle a variety of needs for this population."

Before the commissioners gave their reports and went into executive session to come to a final decision on the District No. 3 vacancy, a public hearing was held for "adjusting rates for the disposal of solid waste at the KM transfer station. The garbage can rate of $6 per can. The rates varied according to the volume of garbage in pounds ranging from 1-140 pounds ($15) to 1,951-2,000 pounds ($163). The public hearing was then brought to a close and the meeting reconvened.