Commission Briefs

Dally reappointed to historic commission

Mason County commissioners reappointed David Dally for a three-year term to the Mason County Historic Preservation Commission at Tuesday’s meeting.

According to the information packet, the seven-member commission identifies and encourages the conservation of Mason County’s historic resources. The commission has one position that expires Nov. 30 and an open seat will expire Nov. 30. The reappointment of Dally fills one of those seats, with another seat empty until filled and the county has received no other applications for the open seat.

Park program removed from county code

County commissioners approved the removal of the Park Development Partnership Program from the county code.

According to the information packet, the park development partnership program was established in 2007 and allows public entities to apply for up to $50,000 in funding from Mason County to plan, construct, reconstruct, repair, rehabilitate and improve public parks serving people in the county. No county money has been identified to fund the program and staff requested the program be removed from the code.

Pitching machines at rec area replaced

County commissioners replaced four mechanical pitching machines at the Mason County Recreation Area.

According to the information packet, the current machines were purchased in 1998 with an expected lifespan of 20 years and are five years beyond expectation.

The cost per machine is $4,350 per machine for three baseball and one softball machine, totaling $17,400. The ball distribution system for each machine costs $6,050, and 360 yellow dimpled baseballs and 144 dimpled softballs cost $1,653.90. With shipping, the cost is $28,300 and the delivery time is expected to be three to four weeks.

The total cost is budgeted using REET2 money.

CodeRed new disaster system

Mason County commissioners approved the switch from Alert Sense to CodeRed for the county emergency and disaster alerting system at the Oct. 11 commissioner’s meeting.

According to the information packet, the Alert Sense system has 3,000 county enrollees out of a county population of 66,000. Both CodeRed and Alert Sense have the same abilities, but Alert Sense prices its system on the number of administrators authorized to activate the system. The county is trying to increase enrollment by making the system available to any organization in Mason County.

The estimated cost of the Alert Sense system is $27,000. CodeRed is priced at $15,862.15 per year. The plan is for the county to transition to CodeRed and fund the total cost of the system for the first year. MACECOM will assist with paying for the system in the second year and the third year cost will be divided with the organizational uses to assist the expense to Mason County and MACECOM.

Extra help OK’d for digital scanning job

An extra help position for the Mason County Human Resources imaging project was approved by county commissioners.

According to the information packet, HR has thousands of physical paper documents that are at risk of fire, flood, image decomposition and common misfiling errors. HR has savings in the 2022 budget and requested to hire an extra position to assist with the scanning of documents. Files will be converted into optimized character recognition format to ensure all records will be in the same location to access digitally and be easily searchable.

The project provides HR the opportunity to ensure the Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule and only hold records for the requested amount of time. The position will be funded through salary savings and not exceed $10,000.

strong>County road projects going forward

Resolutions were approved for county road projects No. 2043 to 2045 and a revision for road projects No. 2022-039 for No. 2041.

According to the information packet, county road project No. 2043 is Bear Creek Dewatto Road from milepost 5.28 to 5.30. The project will replace the existing culvert under the Toonerville Bridge and replacing with full span concrete bridge. The project is estimated to cost $1,860,000 and the Bridge Replacement Advisory Committee will fully fund the project.

County road project No. 2044 is Little Egypt Road from milepost 0.34 to 0.35 and will replace the westerly timber cap on the North Fork Goldsborough Bridge. The project is estimated to cost $167,000 and the Bridge Replacement Advisory Committee will fully fund the project.

County road project No. 2045 is Kamilche Point Road from milepost 0.02 to 2.80. The project is for road improvement, including asphalt overlay, upgrading shoulders, road restriping and any other necessary safety improvements. The project is estimated to cost $1,150,000 and $984,750 will pay for the project out of the Surface Transportation Program fund.

County road project No. 2041 is Mason Lake Road from mileposts 6.23 to 7.83 and will improve the road through resurfacing, upgrading shoulders, road restriping and other safety improvements. The project is scaled back from resolution 2022-039 due to a lack of money, and the project length has been decreased. The project will cost $810,000 and $692,000 from the Surface Transportation Program.

County reaches professional services agreement with consulting company

Mason County has reached an agreement with Cabot Dow for amending a professional services agreement.

According to the information packet, the amendment increases the agreement amount by $20,000. The county has additional agreements opening for negotiations in 2022 and the need to start the process and collect data is imminent with more time needed for contracts moved to mediation.

Sheriff’s Office replacement vehicle approved

The Mason County Sheriff’s Office was approved for the purchase of a Ford Explorer Police Interceptor Utility vehicle through Enterprise.

According to the information packet, MCSO’s K-9 vehicle, a 2018 Ford Explorer, was wrecked and declared a total loss. The vehicle is owned outright by the county and was scheduled to become a spare patrol vehicle in 2023. MCSO requested a replacement Ford Explorer be authorized to order and lease through Enterprise. The total cost for the replacement vehicle is $31,500 and an estimated 2023 lease payment is $13,000 for a total 2023 budget line of $44,500.

Emergency trailer locations established

County commissioners approved three locations for Community Emergency Response Team trailers.

According to the information packet, a CERT trailer will be placed at the Port of Shelton, North Mason Fire Authority and Mason County Public Works. CERT trailers and supplies are inventoried and will be signed for by an appointed individual on a quarterly basis.

Items in each trailer include folding tables, solar generators and panels, caution tape, portable radios, rain ponchos, shovel, backpacks and a bow saw.