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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 17, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 17, 2020
 
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A culvert replacement on Deegan Road in Shelton Valley is one. of several ro‘ad co coUrtesy Shelton-Mason Chamber of Commerce Trask talks about state of Mason County By Kirk Boxle'rtner kbox/eitner@masoncounty. com Sharon Trask, District 3 commis- sioner and board chair of the Mason County commission, summed up the “State of the County” on Sept. 3, fol- lowing the “State of the City” presen— tation by Shelton city officials. Trask opened with the county’s fi- nancial outlook, noting the increased staffing in the county’s district court, juvenile court services, sheriffs office, office of public defense, public works and information technology offices to help meet the demands of state and federal mandates as they apply to county government. Trask also touted the county’s abil- ity to adopt a-balanced budget with- out the use of its ending fund bal- ance, while also meeting its reserve requirements and fully funding its rainy day fund for the second year in a'row. ~ ' Trask also noted the county avoid- ed layoffs or reductions in service in 2019 or 2020. Given the financial effects of CO- VID-19, it helps that the county. has more than $5 million in grant fund- ing to draw from, including the De- partment of Commerce’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act for $3.821 million to support per- ‘ sonal protective equipment, building upgrades, touchless scanners, eco- nomic community support, disinfect- ing and teleworking. The Department of Commerce’s CARES Act Community Develop- ment Block Grant Coronavirus—1 funds, when coupled with public ser- vices funding, accounts for another $725,000, which can be turned into forgivable loans and distributed to individuals and businesses suffering from COVID financial disruptions. Trask praised county health per- sonnel for the hours they’ve spent on contact tracing. The county’s COVID-related expenses added up to $1,558,101.59 at the end of the month. Trask said the county commis- sioners received a preliminary bud- get Sept. 1 and will spend October in work sessions with the county’s departments regarding that prelimi- nary budget. The county is stressing “smart in- vestments” with an eye toward the future, in addition to protecting its reserves, Trash said, to guard against layoffs in the event of another down- turn. It’s also considering public/pri- vate partnerships to discover efficien- cies and cost savings. Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal Page A-15 STATE OF THE COMMUNITY Although the county’s permitting was closed to the public for 30 days in April, Trask said cOunty permit-- ting was using that time to catch up, and once it reopened, it did so with an additional planner and front counter help'to handle the increase in [permit applications. > . Residential permits are up from 109 in 2019 to 163 in 2020, while' all permit types are up from 223 in 2019 to 286 in 2020. ' . Trask credited SmartGov online permitting for environmental health with allowing evening and‘weekend submissions, and lauded the county’s food safety program for continuing to help restaurants and other business- es meet their COVID requirements. Trask added that CARES Act funding has been allowed to provide further. assistance to Crossroads, Turning Pointe Survivor Advocacy Center, Community Lifeline and oth- ers, all while'nurses work seven days a week to comply with contact tracing requirements. Trask credited new leadership at the county’s public works department with improving efficiency, cost-effec- tiveness, internal teamwork and ex- ternal partnerships, while working to improve how the department engages the community on.the planning and npstruction projects in the county approaching conclusion. Photo execution of its projects. Among those projects are the $22 million Skokomish River Ecosystem Restoration, with the accompanying $8 mill-ion Skokomish Valley Road, as well as the Belfair seWer extension, which most recently had a Commerce loan of up to $8 million executed on its behalf to increase the number of equivalent resident units. The Rustlewood Wastewater Treatment Plant won a 2019 Out- standing Performance Award from the Department of Ecology, and achieved full compliance with waste- water treatment requirements, while the Deegan Culvert project used Fish Barrier Removal Board funding. Trask reported the county’s district ' court is adding two larger courtrooms to comply with COVID distancing requirements, while the county sher- ' ifl’s office anticipates adding body _. and dashboard cameras in the future. In spite of the problems posed by the pandemic, Trask closed on an op- timistic note, pointing out that Ma- son County’s Emergency Operations Command not only made partners of first responders, emergency man- agement, hospitals, schools and city officials, but it also allowed them to establish and test-drive procedures for future emergencies. Helping Kids Learn to Read is One of . the Best Gifts You Can Give Them! V fluttbnefitmammmm 5110an I