Budgets and funding dominate group discussion

On Tuesday, March 24, the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments (CWCOG) met as a continuation of the previous meeting of the Wahkiakum County Commissioners on Tuesday, March 17. Those in attendance included the Wahkiakum Board of County Commissioners, Cathlamet Mayor Nick Sevald, Brian Anderson of Governor Ferguson’s office, and Noah Sullivan on behalf of U.S. Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s office. Conducting the meeting was CWCOG Executive Director Bill Fashing. Sullivan noted Representative Perez’s efforts in bills intended to lower costs for mobile and manufactured home residents. Sullivan mentioned community project funding for 2026 is expected to be $17 million. When Sullivan mentioned a “force act” that would allow for the first $100,000 of law enforcement officers’ income to be tax free for the first five years,” Wahkiakum County Commissioner and Chair Dan Cothren said such a tax break “adds to our problem.” Cothren went on to say, "It could help us if it were only for the real poor counties. We're losing our deputies to the bigger counties or the state patrol with the funding that they allow. It's really put us in a jam. We send people to the academies and they train, stay here for a little while, and they're gone. We spend all that money and we just can't keep folks." The commissioner also noted he “doesn’t blame the folks for leaving” if they can get a big increase in their salaries. “We’re getting hit hard here,” said Cothren.

Addressing the matter, Wahkiakum County Sheriff John Mason said, “It's definitely a tough problem when you get to the rural level..I do appreciate the Congresswoman's attention...Not just in our region but all the way to the east side, the smaller counties are hit with the same issues...Right now, we're in the same boat that Ferry County was where it's me, my undersheriff, and one deputy that's able to control by themselves. I've got one guy in field training, one in the academy, and one whose last patrol day is today before he goes to state patrol. We're gonna be spread the thinnest we've ever been since I've been here.”

During his update, Wahkiakum Public Utilities District (PUD) General Manager Dan Kay announced PUD had submitted an application for a booster pump station. “What we saw, as we're still trying to triage the Cathlamet water system and develop the Puget Island water system, [is] if the mainland runs into issue, we need to be able to get the water back uphill,” said Kay. “This would be something in 2028 plus, once the Puget Island well is developed or is online...We saw that need, between the extreme drought and the flooding conditions, that we may need to get water back onto this side.” Kay expressed gratitude for the letters of support the PUD has received and thanked Representative Joel McEntire for helping secure $258,000 in construction dollars. Kay noted that they originally applied for $900,000 a couple of years ago, but funding cuts brought the resulting $258,000. “We're just going to keep clawing away and take what we can get," said Kay.

Mentioning the $980,000 one-time, “get right for the ferry” amount that was included in this year’s budget, Commissioner Lee Tischer noted the funding, right now, “is in the hands of the governor and his budget team,” but “it’s not 100 percent sure we're going to get that money.” Tischer added, “It's under a million, so maybe they'll look at it as pocket dust and move on and not worry about it. Our fingers are crossed...Last session, we had increased our percentage for what the state would pay towards our ferry. Then, at the last second, the governor's budget team scratched it and took it back to the old percentage. It's never a given until signed, sealed, and delivered.”

Wahkiakum County Public Works Director Chuck Beyer announced the Oscar B. Ferry is now accepting credit-card payments. Beyer noted Public Works is “in a tight spot,” as federal money has not been released for past events. “We've had to expend most dollars and not getting them back is really hamstringing our department,” said Beyer. “We're talking three-year-old events that we haven't gotten reimbursed for. That's our biggest concern right now. If we don't get our revenue instantly in January to cover things, we've got to wait until when taxes are due and the state releases the tax or fuel taxes.” Beyer added the department has paid out hundreds of thousands in consultant fees and “still hasn’t gotten a cent back.”

As he has in past meetings, Cothren noted access to land in certain parts of the county is only given to “a select few who have a bunch of money,” thereby cutting the public out. “To me, that's not being proactive,” said Cothren. “That's excluding folks. That's my big issue.” Expressing Wahkiakum County is “getting hit hard here,” Cothren said, “If people don't get their heads out of the sand, this is going to have a domino effect...You're taking livelihood, you're taking history, you're taking a lot of things away, and it's not just here in the rural. It's going to hit the urban settings, too. Those folks like to come down and recreate. There's not going to be anything to recreate. You're not going to get on those lands. They're locked up. We've got to do something now. We've got to be proactive."

During his report, Anderson announced the State is “waiting to hear back on applications for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) aid.” As far as numbers go, Anderson noted individual assistance was $21.3 million but public assistance was $182 million. According to Anderson, if approved, “both would be eligible for 75 percent of those figures in federal assistance.” Anderson encouraged those in attendance to “reach out to Governor Ferguson’s office if they want to get a word in.” Speaking briefly on large interstate projects, Anderson noted cost estimates for the I-5 Bridge Replacement Project are roughly $14.4 billion, with the bridge itself estimated to cost $7.5 billion. The remainder of the $14.4 billion, according to Anderson, include items such as risk assumption, future-cost escalation, inflation, and trade uncertainty. As the project is large and costly, Anderson said the focus “is on phasing this out.”

Open discussion was held at the meeting’s conclusion. Regarding the tax base, Fashing asked what should be done to start generating ideas; specifically, where the next land project should be. Cothren suggested a workshop “putting people at the table from different entities." Concurring, Fashing said, “If we don't think out of the box, we sink.”