PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners today are expected to grant a request from the newly formed Trust Lands Advisory Committee to expand the group from 16 to 20 members.
The committee will offer those positions to representatives of the Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Olympic Medical Center and city of Port Angeles, all of which have expressed a willingness to participate.
The ad hoc trust lands panel was tasked by the Charter Review Commission and a majority of the board of county commissioners to examine how the state manages some 92,500 acres of trust lands on behalf of the county.
Based on the committee’s recommendation, the three commissioners agreed Monday to add to today’s meeting agenda a resolution to expand the membership to a maximum of 20.
Commissioner Bill Peach convened the first meeting of the trust land committee Friday. The panel consists of representatives from diverse backgrounds, including the timber industry, environmental community and political parties.
The committee was charged to study the possibility of re-conveying trust lands back to the county for management.
Alternatively, it will help the state Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, fulfill its trust obligations.
Arrearage is focus
Central to the effort is arrearage, timber that DNR was authorized to sell but did not sell in the last decade.
Revenue from DNR timber sales supports county government and junior taxing districts such as schools, hospitals and fire departments.
Committee members agreed Friday that a commissioner-requested interim report would not be ready by February.
The new target for an interim report is April 15.
“Rather than come to us with an interim report that says ‘we’re still working on it,’ they’d like a more meaningful date,” Peach told fellow Commissioners Mike Chapman and Jim McEntire in a Monday work session.
The trust lands committee was asked to prepare a final report by the end of next year. Some members questioned Friday whether that deadline is realistic.
Chapman and McEntire said the board should revisit county policy next month before approving mileage for Trust Lands Advisory Committee members to travel to and from monthly meetings in Port Angeles.
Several members reside on the West End, and others come from Seattle and Olympia.
“I’m trying to send a message back to this committee that I do appreciate what you are doing and that we do want to keep the wheels turning,” Peach said.
Mileage
Clallam County does not pay mileage for members of other advisory committees, County Administrator Jim Jones said.
“For the ones that are statutorily required, we may want to consider a policy change to say those individual members could get either a monthly stipend or mileage,” said McEntire, whose final board meeting is today.
“I think that’s probably a conversation that needs to take place next year.”
Chapman agreed.
“We have to have a consistent policy across the board,” Chapman said.
“We’ll look at it. We can’t promise what the policy will say.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
