Community Development Director Lauren updated the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners Aug. 4 on permitting workloads, the county comprehensive-plan update, and a review of the City of Waitsburg's draft water-system plan.

Why it matters: The comp-plan update will set local policy and land-use direction for years; water-system planning and urban growth-area (UGA) changes affect where municipalities can extend urban services and development.

Permits and numbers: Lauren reported 69 building and fire permits approved in July, with a total permit valuation stated in the staff report at about $55 million. Commissioners flagged a possible discrepancy in attachments and asked staff to verify the permit-valuation list; Lauren said she would check the numbers and clarify if the $55 million figure was a typographical or reporting error.

Waitsburg water plan question: Staff described a concern in their January review of Waitsburg's draft water-system plan. The draft suggested the city might plan to expand its UGA to serve areas now outside municipal boundaries. Lauren said that while the city has historically provided service to some properties outside the UGA, the plan language implied the city would seek UGA amendment to allow higher-density urban development; county staff asked the city to remove the language and confirmed in July that the city would not request a UGA amendment. County staff advised Waitsburg on reconciling the water plan with comprehensive-plan population allocations.

Comprehensive plan and outreach: Staff held an initial planning commission meeting and an advisory-group meeting to address economic development, utilities and capital facilities elements; critical areas and shoreline elements are being drafted with consultant input. Lauren said the county would continue public outreach through August and operate a comp-plan booth at the county fair; she expects regular planning meetings to resume in September.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to verify the permit-valuation totals in the record and to proceed with the comp-plan schedule, leaving the July-to-September public outreach window open for additional comment.