It’s going to be a busy Monday for governmental meetings.  The Hood River County Commission will hold a worksession at 3:30 p.m. in the County Administration Building as it continues to hash out details of a ballot measure to ask voters in May for a levy to help fund public safety services.  The Dalles City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in its chambers inside The Dalles City Hall, with adoption of a short term rentals ordinance that has been discussed for a number of weeks on the agenda, along with a resolution to refer to voters revisions to the City Charter.  And the Hood River City Council meets at 6 p.m. in their chambers at Hood River City Hall.  Their proceedings will include presentation of a recently completed downtown parking study including 31 short- and long-term proposed strategies for dealing with increasing demand, and potential approval of a $1.2 million purchase of about seven acres off of Rand Road for development of affordable housing.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued a $1.3 million fine to an aluminum recycler in The Dalles for multiple violations of air pollution regulations.  A statement issued Thursday by the DEQ says the fine assessed to Hydro Extrusion USA represents the largest ever issued by the agency for an air quality violation.  The DEQ statement says that in April, inspectors found that the company, which is owned by Norway-based Norsk Hydro, had been improperly melting down coated aluminum for over a year.  The Dalles facility was only allowed to melt down “clean charge” material free of grease, oil and other coatings.  Hydro Extrusion was ordered to stop processing unclean materials, upgrade its tracking programs and submit monthly reports to the state to verify it was in compliance with the law.  DEQ officials say monitoring has improved, and the company has certified with the state that it no longer processes the prohibited material.  The company did not immediately respond to a request from the Oregonian/OregonLive for comment, and has 20 days to appeal.

Swimming

Hood River Valley’s boys and girls defeated Pendleton in an Intermountain Conference dual meet at the Hood River Aquatic Center, with the boys winning 94-72 and the girls taking a 116-54 decision.  David Hecksel and Luke Southall won two events apiece for the HRV boys, while Sarah Arpag won twice for the Eagle girls.

 

Girls Basketball

Columbia 56, Seton Catholic 45

King’s Way Christian 72, Stevenson 38

Damascus Christian 54, Trout Lake 47

 

Wrestling

Culver 52, Hood River Valley 27:  Maverick Geller, Andrew McCreary, and Danny Chavarria recorded wins by fall for HRV.

The Klickitat County Board of Adjustment this week approved a conditional use permit for Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation to build a 52-unit assisted living and memory care facility on 6.1 acres in White Salmon near Columbia High School.  Klickitat County Commissioner and CCHC vice-chair David Sauter says the permit clears the way for CCHC to proceed with the project, even though there remains funding to be put together to make it happen.  Sauter it optimistic that will happen.  The proposed facility would consist of sixteen studio memory care residential units, thirty studio assisted living units, six one-bedroom assisted living units, public and private dining areas served by a commercial kitchen, lobbies, activity spaces, lounges, offices and breakroom for staff, storage and other support spaces.

 

There will be intermittent lane closures on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge beginning Monday at 9:00 a.m. until work to repair lights on the automatic gates at the lift span is complete.  Closures will conclude by 3:00 p.m., but could resume Tuesday morning from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. if needed.  Flaggers will direct traffic around the work zone.  Minimal delays of 10-15 minutes are expected, depending on traffic volume. 

Boys Basketball

Scappoose 61, The Dalles 60

Stevenson 74, Columbia 53

A two-vehicle accident on Highway 97 in Klickitat County on Tuesday night has left one man dead and another facing a vehicular homicide charge.  According to the Washington State Patrol, a pickup driven by 45-year-old Jose Franco of Aumsville, Oregon was southbound on Highway 97 at milepost five when it crossed the center line and struck a northbound utility vehicle driven by 27-year-old Travis Atchley of Klickitat.  The WSP says Atchley was pronounced deceased at the scene.  Franco was transported to Klickitat Valley Hospital in Goldendale, and the WSP report indicates he will be charged with vehicular homicide.  The police report also says drugs or alcohol was involved.  The accident occurred Tuesday evening at 8:35 p.m.

 

Klickitat County Commissioners approved renewing a funding assistance agreement for the next six months to reimburse the Columbia River Gorge Commission for providing a dedicated land-use planner to process County development permit applications within the National Scenic Area.  Commissioner David Sauter says the agreement is intended to provide a bridge to the position receiving renewed state funding during the upcoming session of the Washington Legislature.  The funding total is $40,000, and if the Legislature approves 18 months of funding, the County will be reimbursed.  The position has been in place for about four years under an agreement between the County and the Gorge Commission to reduce a backlog of permit applications in Klickitat County, and Sauter says there has been progress on that even though there is more work to be done on getting applications done in a timely manner.

Hood River County Commissioners continued the painstaking work toward preparing a public safety levy for the May ballot, asking County Administrator Jeff Hecksel and Sheriff Matt English to look at service levels at various tax rates.  Hecksel says they continue to narrow down the options, but another worksession has been set for Monday at 3:30 p.m. in the County Administration Building to continue to hash out details.  The Commission has been targeting a rate no higher than 89 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value, and Hecksel says the numbers he and English have been asked to look at and determine services that can be covered are around the 80 cent mark.  Hecksel says the hope is to have a draft of a ballot measure for the Commission’s January 21 meeting, with approval to place on the May ballot in February.

The latest update today from the Natural Resources Conservation Service puts the snow water equivalent in the Hood, Sandy, and Deschutes Basin at 40 percent of normal, which is up from 24 percent a week ago, underscoring the variability of those numbers as the winter goes on.  NRCS Oregon Snow Survey Supervisor Scott Oviatt says they’ve seen wide swings in variables during the course of winters over the last 15 to 20 years, and the peak numbers usually come in late March, determining what kind of runoff can be expected.  The snow survey’s water supply outlook report comes out later this week and will be based on January 1 numbers, which were lower than they are now.