ENTERPRISE — The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners at its meeting Wednesday, April 23, agreed to join a Building Evaluation Support Agreement.

Cierra Radford of the Building Codes Department explained a BESA is created in response to industry needs for increased resources for building officials, plan review and inspection services. The Oregon Building Codes Division has created an intergovernmental agreement that will make it easier for local building departments to share resources directly with each other and with BCD.

The BESA is a voluntary agreement that jurisdictions may use to request and share Building Official services between building departments, such as plan review and inspection services.

Hillock moved to join the BESA, subject to approval by legal counsel. The motion was carried.

Replacing DEQ

The commissioners also approved an intergovernmental agreement between the Planning Commission and Harney County. This comes because the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality no longer has an Eastern Oregon staffer to do inspections in particular of septic tanks. To help with service, Wallowa County is partnering with Harney County to schedule inspections in a timelier manner, with DEQ’s approval.

Collier said she talked with Harney County the previous day and their plan is to have someone here three days a week.

Hillock said he expects it will be better than working with DEQ out of Pendleton.

“We’re hoping this is a big improvement in service,” he said, noting that the DEQ representative was plagued with medical problems limiting her time.

“We were waiting three or four months sometimes for tests, but she was doing as good as she could,” he said.

Planning Director Franz Goebel said the DEQ hired an “environmental person” to reach out to various communities to conduct inspections to ensure civil laws and ordinances are being complied with and enforced. That also includes nuisance ordinances governing items such as junk vehicles on properties.

In other business, the county board approved:

• A request for $3,000 for signage and an overhead for the Mountain High Broncs & Bulls. The event is scheduled for June 21 at the Harley Tucker Memorial Arena in Joseph. Hillock said the $3,000 is about what the county funded the event last year. In making a motion to approve the funding, Collier said she believes it’s a good fit for the free event.

• A new hire of Dominique Fregulia as a maintenance worker in the Public Works Department.

• Offering a gift of flowers to the three employees who are instrumental in making the commissioners’ jobs easier on Administrative Assistants Day. Honored were Executive Assistant Tera Elliott, Administrative Services Director Brenda Micka and Administrative Executive Assistant Amanda Piper.