Tuesday Public Meeting - 08.11.2026

The Cowlitz County Commissioners held a public meeting on August 11, 2026, which included several procurement and budget-related discussions. Key procurement items included approval of IT funding requests totaling approximately $1.6 million for Microsoft 365 enterprise renewal, CrowdStrike Falcon cybersecurity renewal, and managed services for PeopleSoft payroll and HR systems. The board approved these with a modification to delay activating the Teams chat feature. Additionally, the commissioners approved switching to a new workers' compensation claims third-party administrator (Gallagher Bassett) under a cost-effective contract. The meeting also covered the adoption of a comprehensive emergency response plan and a second budget amendment for 2026. A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to a public hearing on updating the county's critical areas ordinance, a state-mandated environmental regulation tied to state funding eligibility. The commissioners expressed concerns about the ordinance's impact on property owners and affordable housing costs and ultimately voted to remand the ordinance back to the planning commission for further review and revisions to address these concerns before resubmission. The discussion highlighted the tension between complying with state environmental mandates and local control over land use and development costs.