Commissioner Bobby Jackson, right, talks to fellow commissioners Edna Fund and Gary Stamper during a workshop in August in the commissioners' hearing room.
On Wednesday, the Chehalis Flood Control District passed operating budgets for 2017 and 2018 during what became the final meeting of the year.
With only weeks to spare, the Chehalis Flood Control District unanimously approved a budget of $84,000 that perfectly matched expected revenues provided by the State Recreation and Conservation Office.
“That’s the only source of revenue that we have at this point,’ explained Erik Martin, an administrator for the district.
A budget sheet listed an estimated $37,000 in expenditures for, among other things, a contract with Jim Waldo for governmental affairs. An additional $5,800 was budgeted for permits, fees, taxes and other costs, while $41,200 was earmarked for Army Corps of Engineers permits and reimbursement for Martin’s time.
After reviewing the budget, district supervisor and Lewis County Commissioner Edna Fund noted, “We are late in the game.”
Martin replied in the affirmative, stating, “We are late in the game but it’s better late than never.”
Martin explained that the group has been put on hold for a number of months due to the stalled capital budget, but added that since the district has not spent any money yet this year, the stalled funds proved not to be a huge problem this time around.
“That’s why we’re doing this now. In case we get those funds before the first of the year we want to make sure we have authority to accept them and expend them if need be,” said Martin.
A budget for 2018 was also approved by the supervisor panel of the district, which is comprised of the complete Board of Lewis County Commissioners. That budget was increased to $108,000 for next year, which matches the expected revenue that will be brought in through the Recreation and Conservation Office. The budget called for $53,000 for professional services, such as those provided by Waldo. Another $5,800 was designated for assorted fees, taxes and permits, and $49,200 was marked for Army Coprs permits and Martin’s wages.
Following the unanimous approval of both budgets for the Chehalis River entity, a discussion was held regarding the makeup of the district’s advisory committee. Members noted that while there were supposed to be 11 people on the committee, the most recent meeting earlier this week only had five advisers in attendance. Previously, the size of the group had been settled upon due to the abundance of quality candidates who expressed interest in filling the positions.
“We had some thought about seeing how many are truly interested at the next meeting and then going from there,” said Martin, who raised concerns about attendance and the general investment of members to the goals of the district.
“I advised them that when we created the committee they were given the ability to create bylaws and they are interested in doing that at the next meeting in order to make sure people are participating,” added Martin.
Hearing those concerns, supervisor Bobby Jackson advised against taking any action in haste and wondered if the lack of attendance at recent meetings could be attributed to the holiday season. His suggestion was to wait until after the new year to make any permanent decisions about the advisory committee.
The district is the project sponsor for a potential dam on the Chehalis River near Pe Ell.
Toward the end of the meeting, Fund took a moment to recount her memories from 10 years ago during the worst Chehalis River flood in recorded history. She told of how she and a friend convinced a member of the National Guard to let them onto Interstate 5, which was shut down at the time since it was under water.
“You could see the water glimmering and not very many lights, and it was just quiet,” said Fund. “I thought to myself, 60,000 cars go through here every day, and it’s just ... quiet. The water took control.”
Everyone in attendance expressed a preference to cancel the regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 27 in observation of the holiday season, so the next meeting will be held on Jan 10.
