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Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
City of Hood
River to resume
in-person meetings
Summer Oasis
Hood River sets
June 28 for first
in-person meeting
its regular works session and
business meeting. The Port
of Hood River’s Board of
Commissioners began meet-
ing in person June 22.
The return is far from
HOOD RIVER — “Get
“back to normal,” however.
out of your fuzzy slippers,
guys,” said Hood River Mayor All those attending the actual
city council meetings must
Kate McBride at the June 14
Zoom-based meeting of city show proof of vaccination.
council. “You’re going to have Additional screens and
cameras are being installed
to put on your real shoes.”
that will allow councilors to
The council agreed that the
next meeting, June 28, will be see virtual participants, and
let virtual participants see
in-person, although virtual
councilors and reports from
options are being installed
guests. The port is working
for both visitors and coun-
cilors. McBride commended on a similar hybrid system,
although it won’t be ready
Hood River-area healthcare
workers who have vaccinated for the June 22 in-person
meeting.
more than 70 percent of the
The Hood River County
county’s eligible population,
Commissioners are prepar-
for making it possible for
groups to gather again.
ing a similar hybrid set-up at
The Hood River County
the meeting room at 601 State
Board of Commissioners
Street. Beginning July 19,
is on the same track. It will
visitors may attend virtually
meet virtually June 21, then
as in the past, via the Zoom
meet in-person — with
webinar, or attend in person.
virtual options — July 19 at
A small group of birders explore the Klickitat Rails to Trails trail along upper Swale Creek in Klickitat County, accessed from a trailhead on
Harms Road. The green of the small creek contrasts sharply with the dry lands that characterize the unirrigated areas of the valley west
of Goldendale.
Mark B. Gibson photo
PROJECT
improvements,” said Hons.
As Hons gets set to spend
Improvements
more time with his family
upon retirement, the City of
planned
Bingen named Brian Zabel
Continued from page 1 as the person to take up the
mantle as one of two opera-
advanced automation system tors of the plant, along with
Buckland. Zabel has worked
for the plant’s operations,
with the city since the project
as well as surface repairs
got underway as the project
and replacement of older
inspector.
components. Outside the
“The aim and goal of [the
plant, contractors replaced
project] is to be able to main-
approximately 1,750 linear
feet of existing 10-inch sewer tain with consideration for
lines with newer and larger
growth,” Zabel said.
18-inch lines, replaced older
The project was funded
lines with newer lines the
through a variety of sources,
same size, and rehabilitated
with both cities of Bingen
22 existing manholes.
and White Salmon pitching
Hons said the improve-
in, along with a loan from the
Washington Department of
ments have been in the
works and been planned for Ecology. Vancouver-based
firm Gray & Osborne is lead-
nearly 10 years. All told, the
improvements will mark an
ing the engineering services
increase in solids capacity
of the project, while TEK
from 20-30%, he said.
Construction was hired for
“It’s nice to see all
work on the project.
that work led to these
Wasco County plans in-person meeting July 7
Mark Gibson
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
of the commissioners since
the pandemic began —
held at the Wasco County
Fairgrounds in Tygh Valley
THE DALLES — The
June 16, with commissioners
Wasco County Board of
Commissioners will resume and staff seated outdoors at
picnic tables.
limited in-person board
Commissioners will be
meetings in July, with a
hybrid format that will allow able to view those presenting
via Zoom on two screens to
continued access through
either side of the commis-
the Zoom platform. In-
person public access to the
sioners, and communicate
meetings, which will resume via a single microphone.
at the courthouse, will be
One camera will broadcast
contingent on the lifting of
the full commission during
state restrictions.
meetings for those online.
“If state restrictions are
A second camera will be
lifted, we could unlock the
installed facing the audience
door,” said Kathy Clark,
so those online can see those
executive assistant to the
attending in-person, and an
board, during a work session additional screen will give
— the first in-person meeting those attending in-person a
view of the Zoom interface.
“All the meetings will also
be on Zoom, Clark said. The
core of the system is already
installed, and has been
tested, Clark noted. “I’m sure
it will be awkward at first,”
she added. “I’m confident it
will be ready on July 7,” the
next meeting of the board,
she said.
The commission also dis-
cussed the county’s extended
pandemic emergency dec-
laration, which they agreed
should be allowed to expire
as scheduled on July 21. The
declaration acknowledges
the county will follow state
guidelines in regards to the
emergency, and does not
implement any restrictions
or policies of its own and will
therefore have no impact
after state restrictions are
lifted.
COVID-19 updates from
North Central Public Health
and Unified Command,
which have led off commis-
sion meetings since March
2020, will also be moved off
the regular agenda. At the
height of the pandemic, the
commission met weekly to
hear the updates, but have
since resumed their regular
meeting schedule. Updates
on the pandemic and vac-
cination efforts will now be
made “as needed,” the board
agreed.
S
c gn
Forth launches CRuSE Program
HOOD RIVER — Forth
is hosting a ribbon-cutting
ceremony to celebrate the
launch of The CRuSE Project,
a program for community
carsharing in Hood River,
at 11 a.m. on June 24 at the
Hood River Fire Department,
1785 Meyer Parkway.
In-person remarks will be
provided by program part-
ners including Kate McBride
(mayor, City of Hood River),
Maddy Reznick (Columbia
Willamette Clean Cities
Coalition), Etta Lockey (vice
president, Pacific Power),
Patty Fink (executive director,
Columbia Area Transit), and
Kelly Yearick (senior program
manager, Forth).
The Clean Rural Shared
Electric Mobility (CRuSE)
Project is a three-year pro-
gram to demonstrate a finan-
cially sustainable model for
plug-in electric vehicle (PEV)
carsharing in rural commu-
nities. It is funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy, Office
of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy’s Vehicle
Technologies Office.
The CRuSE Project
launched on June 8, provid-
ing residents and visitors
access to five Honda Clarity
Electric vehicles throughout
Hood River at affordable
housing sites, the city center,
and tourist areas.
Two cars are placed on City
of Hood River property and
one can be utilized by city
employees for business-relat-
ed travel. A third car is placed
near the waterfront area of
Hood River to provide easy
access for tourists visiting
the Columbia Gorge. The
public is invited to begin
reserving these vehicles
at the following locations:
Columbia Parking Lot, Hood
River Fire Station, and along
the waterfront near the Gorge
Paddling Center.
Two additional cars are
placed at affordable housing
sites in Hood River owned by
Columbia Cascade Housing
Corporation, which includes
low-income and non-English
speaking residents. These
vehicles will be available to
reserve later this summer.
Skamania County Announces
Special Candidate Filing Period
The Skamania County
Auditor’s Office will open a
special three-day candidate
filing period from June 29
through July 1for offices that
did not have filings during
the regular filing period.
Online filing will not be
available during this special
filing period, so candidates
wishing to file for office
must do so in person at the
Auditor’s Office during busi-
ness hours (7:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m.) from June 29 to July 1.
Offices open for this
special filing period in-
clude: Mt. Pleasant School
District (Director Position
No. 2), Mill A School District
(Director Position No. 1), and
Stevenson-Carson School
District (Director Position
No. 1).
A complete list of offices
and positions open for filing
during the three-day period
is available at the Auditor’s
Get your
smile back!
ARE YOUR
DENTURES:
• Loose
• Have food under them?
• Cracked or broken
• Making your gums sore?
• Constantly in your
pockets?
WE REFER ALL IMPLANT PLACEMENTS
TO A RECOMMENDED DENTIST
Office, located at 240 N.W.
Vancouver Ave., Room 27,
in Stevenson, or online at
www.skamaniacounty.org/
elections.
For more information
and questions, voters and
potential candidates can call
the Elections Department
at 509-427-3730 or send an
email to elections@co.ska-
mania.wa.us.
This project is made
possible with contributions,
collaboration and input of
many local organizations
including Columbia Area
Transit, Columbia Cascade
Housing Corporation, Pacific
Power, the Hood River
County Energy Council,
local governments, and
Mid-Columbia Economic
Development District staff.
Columbia
Gorge News
ColumbiaGorgeNews.com
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