Monday Business Meeting - 10.26.26

At the Cowlitz County Commissioners’ Monday business meeting on October 26, 2026, staff previewed items for the following day’s agenda. Health and Human Services presented an interlocal agreement with Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department for the online food-handler card testing program, along with grant-funded contracts for coordinated-entry services with Family Health Center, Emergency Support Shelter, and Community House on Broadway, and a new Family Promise contract to expand homelessness prevention services. Coordinated-entry reimbursements generally cover provider staff time; Family Promise may also provide direct client assistance. Commissioners discussed stronger follow-up on client outcomes and whether to conduct random client surveys, but no action was taken. Public Works described an approximately $50,000 change order for third-party construction inspection on the Allander Road Bridge Replacement project, whose total cost was cited as about $3.6 million. IT previewed a capital purchase to replace aging servers, funded from IT reserves, and cybersecurity renewals: Cisco Duo at $56,000 and a three-year Varonis renewal totaling $366,375 ($122,125 annually). The transcript does not provide a server purchase amount.

The meeting also discussed appointing a member to Castle Rock Cemetery District 1 after two members resigned, with a resolution and public application process expected on the next day’s agenda. No procurement approvals or spending votes were recorded at this meeting; the contracts and expenditures described were agenda previews. An executive session on collective bargaining concluded with no decisions rendered.