Skagit County commissioners approve consent agenda, authorize IT equipment purchases

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — The Skagit County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a 15-item consent agenda Monday, April 21, 2025, and adopted a separate resolution authorizing the county's information services department to purchase computers and other technology through a federal General Services Administration schedule contract.

The consent agenda, approved 3-0, included ratifications, vouchers and warrants for the day and several substantive items discussed briefly on the record: a personal services agreement with consultant Kimberly Horn to assist with updating the county's Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan; payment to Coberson Marine Construction for emergency repairs to dock wing-wall timbers serving Anacortes and Guemes Island; and routine Parks and Recreation civil-engineering work at local play fields.

The Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan update was flagged by Commissioner Wason, who said the plan must be refreshed every "four or five years" and that keeping the plan current is important to preserve eligibility for federal reimbursement if the county experiences a qualifying natural disaster. "We have to do this every 4 or 5 years ... if at some point we do have a natural hazard that we don't have our plan up and to date, our federal funding reimbursement thing is not acceptable," Wason said.

Commissioner Browning highlighted the county's cybersecurity services contract with vendor Lumify Cyber, calling the service "fantastic" for addressing occasional computer issues, and praised ongoing Parks and Recreation projects, noting local communities including Burlington and Mount Vernon are active partners. Browning also noted the county uses Freeland and Associates for civil engineering on the play-field projects.

Separately, the board approved a resolution under which the services (IT) department may acquire workstations, laptops and related equipment through the federal GSA schedule. County staff told commissioners many of the county's devices are at end of useful life and cannot be upgraded to Microsoft Windows 11; commissioners noted Microsoft support for Windows 10 ends in October, creating a practical deadline for many replacements. The resolution passed unanimously.

The meeting record does not identify which commissioner formally moved or seconded the two motions. The votes were recorded as unanimous: the consent agenda passed 3-0 and the miscellaneous IT procurement resolution passed unanimously.

The board adjourned and noted it will return for a work session later this week to continue discussion of proposed on-site septic code revisions.