[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6160980,"mediaKeyId","5445806-fc8f46ea4ebec9d2f22db15ed4085767","parentId",5445806,"title","Mason County commissioners approve action agenda; appoint Travis Adams as county administrator and authorize several funding actions","audioSeconds",608,"startMs",492000,"endMs",1100000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5445806-fc8f46ea4ebec9d2f22db15ed4085767&start=492&end=1100","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5445806-fc8f46ea4ebec9d2f22db15ed4085767/thumbnail_492000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6160980/Mason-County/Washington/Mason-County-commissioners-approve-action-agenda-appoint-Travis-Adams-as-county-administrator-and-authorize-several-funding-actions","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6160980-f36d6b9b79f39a8c9cd84d702b65553c/orig.mp4?Expires=1775112506&Signature=RLKGW7rePoA-zmecOFJI3vGURRmMCKj-hm-fRyFNrjG3dK19DoAt7rkuwGm8CXq9Jp0oZX3C67TXMkLAS76RYwO~SC5ZUzKOr3TCF1D-q1-jTy7GgXnUK8iGjJqVTLLs~tjJECeaH6IjVxK0yRgZxgPYBNoGcZngtcvz7z-tutnHFGMqsJSy~2q9mMIzaFq16jFnphFchKcCTRF0AYGlqcwmMbKnNpVgy9NrA-kr2HgOOOdSxV35O~ib~DRwooZk~Ow2UOp8tV8cpP0oRm~H1nKdgxm9W-5AOirAOVHQo~9CUQL1xxI3m3tU--7STnh9LXVq2N9D1DaO23dttsxE8A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Mason County, WA","date","2025-06-29T14:05:49Z","article","The Mason County Board of County Commissioners on July 22 approved its action agenda, confirming routine warrants and a series of staffing and funding items, including the appointment of Travis Adams as county administrator and authorization to negotiate his contract.

During the action-agenda roll call, the auditor’s warrants and direct deposit listings were presented, followed by staff requests covering personnel, grants and contracts. The board then moved and unanimously approved the action agenda as presented.

The agenda items read into the record included approval of warrants (treasurer’s electronic remittance claims and direct-deposit warrants totaling several million dollars across funds) and the approval to appoint Travis Adams as county administrator and “negotiate the contract,” as listed on the agenda. A commissioner who spoke in favor of the appointment said the individual’s “integrity is unmatched” and that “the quality of the person is extremely high,” while noting continued personal reservations about creating the administrator position itself.

Other approved items included adoption of a resolution recommending the county’s 2025–2026 comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) as presented by the Economic Development Council; approval of requests for defense and indemnification under county ordinance 6-18 for named employees in the case John L. Corrigan Sr. v. Mason County et al. (case no. 25-2-00390-23); and procurement and capital items such as the purchase of an air conditioner unit for the Building 10 server room for an estimated $13,627.03 to be paid from real estate excise tax (REET) funds.

The board also approved closeout actions and contract funding items reported by staff: authorization for the county administrator to sign a closeout deobligation certification for a Community Development Block Grant jail study to deobligate $345,467.89 of unspent grant funds; allocation of treatment-sales-tax funds to expand the county’s co-responder program in the amounts of $5,400 for 2026 and $32,571.68 for 2027 to close a grant funding gap reported by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC); and approval of a Community Action Council contract amendment for consolidated homeless grant (CHG) housing and essential needs (HEN) funding totaling $220,000 for a two‑month period.

Public-health and environmental funding items included approval for the director of public health to sign a Local Solid Waste Financial Assistance Program (LWSFAP) contract renewal with the Washington State Department of Ecology for $175,352, with Department of Ecology funding of $131,514 and Mason County providing $43,838 for solid-waste tipping fees, as presented.

Public Works was authorized to advertise a request for quotations for hauling biosolids and to execute a two-year contract with three one‑year automatic renewal options. The board also accepted staff reports that it would consider a potential new voting systems supplier and a tabulation vendor recently qualified to Federal Elections Assistance Commission standards; Mason County Auditor Steve Dunkel said staff will “take a close look at features in that system for election security and ballot processing integrity.”

Commissioners gave staff and county employees public thanks during the meeting. The action agenda passed with no recorded roll-call dissent and no separate votes called on individual items in the minutes for this meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Mason County Commission July 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Mason County Board of County Commissioners on July 22 approved the action agenda, including the appointment of Travis Adams as county administrator and multiple contract and funding authorizations.","taxTitle","Mason County, Washington","taxId",56702,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6160985,"Mason County to send Island Lake management district formation to property-owner vote",2004,1043000,3047000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5445806-fc8f46ea4ebec9d2f22db15ed4085767&start=1043&end=3047","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5445806-fc8f46ea4ebec9d2f22db15ed4085767/thumbnail_1043000.jpg","/articles/6160985/Mason-County/Washington/Mason-County-to-send-Island-Lake-management-district-formation-to-property-owner-vote","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6160985-f5b1b3724d0d34c2e78acefdc7acee62/orig.mp4?Expires=1775112506&Signature=jJqjZc6MxL-xe5oPbaz4swrxzjkltIXQJxP-D7v6ZhoHdcqF6fgH3kkVbAribpv0OrMRU~S9-2kirz17gxxZBBp-9fkEmt0Xf24M-nBF4UcfMCi5U-r26Mky4xPo79UY6Ve7lZIZPjcu50rgkmdENVGWwKc2cyYK0x8s7t1IinoDk8wIv~OsYFVi~Z7rMkZExSBXUP39svdzQYj1Wspn6LPm8ZI5QsdaxVfc71fGCxVgKs9TCg~Ba6Pe2wUKgb7DI8NwQ2NRqY3ka2T5Y3tw4H3Hf7hO1X70kuQqdK5KH26uvBxOlsEtnkbrVVhsJqC5CLr3wyTW0r1Hr4pqDq-LTg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Mason County Board of County Commissioners voted July 22 to send the proposed formation of Island Lake Management District No. 1 to a weighted vote of the affected property owners.

The measure — if approved by a simple majority of weighted ballots — would authorize a 15-year special-assessment district to fund lake improvement and maintenance activities to control aquatic invasive plants, monitor lake health and maintain a neighborhood advisory committee.

Jennifer Byerly, support services, told the board the hearing was held “pursuant to RCW 36.61 0.07” and that signed petitions had been returned by “approximately 46% of property owners in favor of creating the LMD.” She said the proposed district would exist for 15 years and that the county has reviewed the plan and “finds that the formation of the district is in the public interest.”

Under the financing plan presented, the first-year assessment was estimated at $50,000; subsequent annual assessments were estimated at $15,000 with a 5% annual inflation factor beginning in year three unless the Island Lake Advisory Committee elects otherwise. Byerly gave a total projected funding amount of approximately $343,980 over the life of the district and said the county’s internal allocation (administrative) fee averages $800 for each LMD in 2026.

Byerly explained the proposed assessment formula would be an estimated 62¢ per $1,000 of assessed value in 2026 — roughly $620 on a $1,000,000 property — and an estimated 18¢ per $1,000 in 2027 (about $180 on a $1,000,000 property), adjusted annually with inflation. She said the assessments would be levied as special assessments, not bonds, and that the proposed district would include properties fronting Island Lake — 102 property owners covering 119 parcels, as presented.

Property owners and residents who spoke at the hearing largely supported the district’s formation but emphasized different priorities. Jeff Conklin, a current member of the previous Island Lake management group, said the district’s early budget is meant to “bring in people to help us figure it out” and to establish a monitoring and stewardship program beyond annual weed-spraying. “Lakes die. In their natural evolutions, lakes die. We don't want this one to die and we wanna maintain its integrity,” Conklin said.

Other residents asked about how state-owned parcels and the public boat launch would be treated. Beau Crabtree asked whether the state-owned fishing access would be assessed; Byerly replied, “Yes. They would.” When Crabtree raised that the state property’s assessed value on county websites shows no assessed value, county staff said they would base the LMD assessment for exempt parcels on real market value for the purpose of the LMD and coordinate with the auditor’s office to verify signatures on ballots for property owners registered outside Mason County.

Speakers also described past treatment programs and differing perspectives on whether past chemical treatments had been effective. Todd Fague and Steven Whitehouse, Island Lake residents, said previous treatments were Department of Ecology–approved and effective in reducing milfoil but require ongoing monitoring and repeat treatments. Bill Crabtree, another resident, urged broader state or county involvement to address boat-launch practices he said introduce invasive organisms.

Byerly described the next steps and timeline: if the board’s resolution is adopted, ballots would be mailed on Monday, July 28, and must be received at the Board of County Commissioners’ office by 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. Ballots will be weighted so that a property owner has one vote for each dollar of the estimated special assessment proposed to be imposed on that property, and the county auditor’s elections office will verify signatures. She said ballots determined valid will be tabulated and “a simple majority of the votes cast shall determine whether the proposed LMD shall be approved or rejected as per RCW 36.61 0.09.”

During deliberations the chair emphasized that the commission’s role at this meeting was procedural: to determine whether the petition and proposal met the legal requirements to be submitted to a vote. The board then moved, seconded and passed the resolution to submit the Island Lake Management District No. 1 formation to a property-owner vote.

If approved by the weighted vote, the district would fund monitoring, aquatic-plant control, shoreline best practices and a neighborhood advisory committee; specific projects and their costs would be determined by the advisory committee and contractors selected under applicable county procurement rules. The board closed the hearing after the vote and scheduled no additional county action beyond the ballot process.","The Mason County Board of County Commissioners voted July 22 to send the proposed formation of Island Lake Management District No. 1 to a weighted vote of the affected property owners.","actionData","errors"]

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Mason County commissioners approve action agenda; appoint Travis Adams as county administrator and authorize several funding actions

Mason County to send Island Lake management district formation to property-owner vote