Commissioners back filling of StreamKeepers coordinator but ask HR to review pay and funding

Department of Community Development staff recommended hiring a full-time StreamKeepers coordinator to preserve continuity in long-running water-quality sampling, volunteer coordination and grant-managed monitoring.

Bruce (DCD staff, speaker 13) told the board the role is currently intended to be 50 percent general fund and 50 percent external revenue, and emphasized the position’s role in maintaining the County’s pollution-identification-and-correction (PIC) obligations and in preventing more stringent state regulation. He said the county has struggled in recent years to meet benchmarks for the program and that the right hire could expand monitoring to the West End and increase grant competitiveness.

Commissioners supported keeping the program and filling the vacancy but asked HR and DCD (speaker 12) to review the proposed salary range and to report back on sustainable funding assumptions. Several commissioners noted the program’s reliance on grants and contracts with Port Angeles and the Department of Ecology and requested data that shows how much work must remain on the general fund if external revenues decline. "We need to maintain the continuity of this database," one commissioner said, noting the possible regulatory and development impacts if monitoring falters.

Next steps: staff will return with revised job language, competitive compensation analysis and reports of recent year-to-year funding; the board signaled support to move forward with hiring once HR provides recommended adjustments.