Weed Management, Governor Updates and More from Union County Commissioner Donna Beverage
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, May 15th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – Spring is a busy time in government, be it at the national, state, or local level. Union County Commissioner Donna Beverage recently shared a few updates on several local projects.
Firstly, Beverage has been working with the Tri-County Weed Department, or Tri-County Cooperative Weed Management Area, to get ready for the spring uptick in weed spraying. Overseeing weed control in Union, Baker and Wallowa Counties, the Tri-County Cooperative is funded via federal and state agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest service, with some county level investment. As Beverage commented, “we’ve been trying to get the word out to people that the county will help. It’s easier to get a grant if all three counties are working together.”
Tri-County primarily coordinates private contractors for spraying on federal lands, but also works with counties, cities and some private landowners to provide cost sharing options for spraying, with Beverage noting, “They’ll do a fifty-fifty match in spray. Even working with cities on their weeds.”
More information on the Tri-County Cooperative Weed Management Area can be found at Residential Cleaning, Professional Cleaning, Cleaning Services – La Grande, OR (tricountycwma.org)
From a county update to a state update, Beverage was also one of several Eastern Oregon Representatives to speak with Governor Tina Kotek and her staff during their recent visit to Union and Baker Counties. Primary points of discussion included water storage and housing planning, as Beverage described:
“A few of the things I was able to share with her is that we need storage in Union County as she came through and saw how high the water was in the Grande Ronde River. I also talked to her about the planning sheet because housing is one of her highest priorities and that the state has not done period review for many, many years. The counties are working on an about forty-year-old state plan. So, I talked to her about doing a period state review and updating their plan, which would help to figure out things like housing. Things have changed a lot in forty years.”
On the subject of housing, Beverage noted that The City of cove is working on reviewing ordnances related to their own local housing plan as of their latest city council meeting. Lastly for local updates, commissioners have been involved in testimonies to the Oregon Ways and Means committee on finishing additional infrastructure in the Bahm Industrial Park to accommodate incoming businesses.
More testimony, along with plenty of bills, should be expected as the spring legislative session reaches its apex and more and more essential policy comes up for debate, with beverage telling the community:
“I just want people to know that the legislature has narrowed a lot of things down…but right now we are still really focusing on bills that we think are important or that we don’t like. Our representatives and senators are working really hard. This is a busy time for them and some of those bills are really long. You don’t want to just vote on something when you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
For those that may have missed it, Commissioner Beverage also recently gave an update on Union County’s wolf depredation funds, which can be found at Union County Receives $81,000 in Wolf Depredation Funds – Elkhorn Media Group
