The Marion County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved an agreement with the state Department of Justice to continue the county’s child support services program.
The agreement allows Marion County District Attorney’s Office to receive partial reimbursement from the federal government for paying employees who provide child support services, Concetta Schwesinger, trial team supervisor for the support enforcement division, said at the board meeting.
Commissioners approved a four-year agreement.
Within the district attorney’s office, the Family Support Division serves families who either live or have a child support order entered in Marion County. Such services include establishing paternity as well as setting, modifying and enforcing child support orders, according to the county’s website.
The board also approved a contract with Willamette University to study the impacts of environmental health threats on vulnerable populations in Marion and Polk County.
Katrina Griffith, deputy director of Marion County’s Health and Human Services Department, said at the meeting that the $125,000 contract is intended to plan for future emergencies and ensure that “communities are safe and healthy.”
“When we talk about vulnerable populations in Marion County, my mind immediately goes to the unsheltered as being our most vulnerable population that we have yet to figure out how to serve adequately and with dignity,” Commissioner Danielle Bethell said at the meeting.
Bethell asked to be kept informed throughout the university’s planning and conducting of the study to ensure parts of the work do not duplicate existing county services.
“I’d really like to get to a point in my lifetime that we don’t see people living in parks and struggling to feed their children,” she said.
The university’s duties under the contract include environmental assessments of the region, analyzing data and engaging “community leaders, stakeholders, the general public, and local government agencies,” according to the agenda item.
Commissioners also denied an appeal of the hearings officer’s decision to approve two partitions at 10813 Southview Loop S.E. in Jefferson.
County staff recommended holding a public hearing to allow the board to consider neighbors’ opposition to dividing the property, Associate Planner Nicole Inman said at the meeting.
Bethell said at the meeting that she believed no further hearing was necessary because no new facts were provided.
The board unanimously approved or advanced other agenda items, including housing placement services to families referred by the state Department of Human Services, hiring an engineering consultant to stabilize an eroding creek and updating the county’s engineering standards to meet current industry standards for design.
Original story below:
The Marion County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday will consider an agreement with the state Department of Justice to continue the county’s child support services program.
READ IT: AGENDA
Commissioners will consider a $750,000 agreement proposed by the Marion County District Attorney’s Office for the program spanning through June 2027.
Within the district attorney’s office, the Family Support Division serves families who either live or have a child support order entered in Marion County. Such services include establishing paternity as well as setting, modifying and enforcing child support orders, according to the county’s website.
The board will also consider a contract with Willamette University to study the impacts of environmental health threats on vulnerable populations in Marion and Polk County.
Under the proposed $125,000 contract, the university’s duties would include environmental assessments of the region, analyzing data and engaging “community leaders, stakeholders, the general public, and local government agencies,” according to the agenda item.
To participate
The commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Senator Hearing Room at 555 Court Street N.E. Anyone can attend or sign up to give public comment in-person at the meeting. The meeting is streamed live on YouTube.
Family services
Commissioners will also consider a $120,000 contract with the Oregon Health Authority for the county to provide housing placement services to families referred by the state Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare and Self Sufficiency divisions.
The county would provide case management to help families maintain stable housing, including removing barriers, helping families search for housing and connecting them with landlords.
Such services are required under a state law signed in 2011 that created the program Strengthening, Preserving and Reunifying Families. The program is intended to reduce trauma among children who were removed from their families due to abuse or neglect, continue services when the children are returned home and lower the overall number of children in foster care by reducing how long they spend in the state system, according to the agenda item.
Shopping list
Commissioners will consider adding $525,000 to a purchase order for reflective glass beads to stripe county roads through July 2025.
If approved, the county would be buying over $1 million of glass beads in total from Canby-based manufacturer Potters Industries.
The board will consider buying a 2024 10-yard dump truck with a snowplow, sander and road maintenance kit for $312,000 from Premier Truck Group in Salem.
They will also consider purchasing a $165,000 skid steer loader with attachments for bridge, guardment and pavement repairs as well as debris removal. They would buy it from Salem-based Brim Tractor.
Commissioners will also consider spending $102,000 on new firewall support and private network software from Tigard-based CVE Technologies Group Inc.
Engineering projects
Commissioners will consider adding $40,000 to a contract with engineering consultant David Evans and Associates, Inc. to provide construction engineering, inspection and contract services for a project that will add a log and stone wall intended to stabilize an eroding creek. The new contract would total nearly $140,000.
Erosion has caused Abiqua Creek, located northwest of Silverton, to slowly advance toward Northeast Nusom Road for several years. Commissioners approved an emergency declaration about the matter on June 14.
The board will also consider a roughly $559,000 contract with Portland-based Kittelson and Associates, Inc. to update the county’s engineering standards to meet current industry standards for design. The county Public Works Department’s existing standards were established in 1990, and the proposed contractor would “develop modern comprehensive engineering standards” for the county over about two years.
They will also consider appointing Natasha McVey to serve as Marion County’s tax collector.
The position requires 15 years of employment with the tax office.
“The tax collector is responsible for the collection and administration of property taxes for the county,” according to the agenda item.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
