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The Marion County Board of Commissioners meets Wednesday to consider expanding sheriff's office patrol in wildfire-affected areas of the Santiam Canyon and a contract that would provide hospital services for adults in custody at the Marion County Jail.

Commissioners will consider a proclamation designating the week of July 17-23 as Parole and Probation Officers Week in Marion County.

The board will consider a $250,000 contract with the Marion County Sheriff's Office for increased patrol of areas of the Santiam Canyon affected by wildfire. A state wildfire recovery grant will pay for "additional law enforcement" in the canyon through June 2023, according to the agenda item.

Commissioners will also consider a roughly $950,000 contract with Apex Mechanical, LLC for air conditioning and HVAC control upgrades in two Marion County Jail pods.

They will consider a $150,000 contract with the North Santiam Sewer Authority to support the development of the organization, which the cities of Detroit, Idanha, Mill City and Gates formed in 2020 to serve as their government organization dedicated to sewer infrastructure.

The board will consider a $600,000 contract with Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics to provide hospital services for people in custody at the Marion County Jail through July 2025.

They will also consider accepting about $202,000 from Alpenglow Forestry Consulting, LLC to remove timber from wildfire-damaged trees in Gates' Minto County Park. The funds would go to the county's Environmental Services Department.

Commissioners will consider a roughly $750,000 contract with SCS Engineers to do monitoring and reporting for the North Marion County Disposal Facility and Browns Island Demolition Landfill. The services are required by the state Department of Environmental Quality permits for those sites.

The board will also consider purchasing 10 Ford F-150 pickup trucks for about $331,000 as part of he county's annual replacement plan for light-duty vehicles.

Meeting details: The commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Senator Hearing Room at 555 Court Street N.E. Anyone can sign up to give public comment in-person at the meeting. The meeting is streamed live on YouTube. 

The Salem-Keizer School Board meets Tuesday to select a new chair and vice chairs for the upcoming year and discuss a policy that would prohibit concealed weapons in local schools.

Board members will hear a report from Superintendent Christy Perry, including a written report on district operating data through the end of the 2021-22 school year. That report, included in the agenda packet, shows attendance rates, major discipline incidents and threat assessments.

The board will have a first reading of a policy that would prohibit concealed weapons in schools after a work sessions discussing the policy on June 28. The board is not scheduled to vote on the policy at Tuesday's meeting. Oregon law already prohibits open carry of firearms in public buildings, but has historically made an exception for concealed weapons holders. In 2021, legislators passed a new law which allowed school districts to ban concealed weapons on campuses.

Board members will also consider reappointing the district's legal counsel for the 2022-23 school year.

To participate: The board meets in-person Tuesday, July 12 at 6 p.m. at Miller Elementary School, 1650 46th Place S.E. in Salem. People must sign up in advance to give public comment during the meeting, either live or virtually. Sign-ups are open until 3 p.m. Monday here, and a lottery system is used to select speakers at random if more commenters sign up than time allocated during the meeting.

The meeting can be viewed live on YouTube using the links below:

English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDYEjou9Kmw

Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSvmwjQFDeA

A home under construction along the Santiam River in Gates, Ore. on Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)

The Oregon Building Codes Division is partnering with eight counties, including Marion, to help rebuild businesses and homes destroyed during the 2020 wildfire season. 

Home and business owners in Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn and Marion counties qualify for the program if their structure was damaged during the wildfire season and they use more fire resistant materials in the rebuild.

“These improvements are particularly effective at preventing ignition from embers, which can travel great distances from wildfires,” said Alana Cox, administrator of the Oregon Building Codes Division in a statement. “We hope this program will help people affected by the wildfires build back more fire-resistant communities.”

The Beachie Creek Fire swept through the Santiam Canyon including the hard-hit areas of Detroit and Gates in September 2020 after initially being detected on Aug. 16 approximately two miles south of Jawbone Flats. In total, the fire burned 182,600 forested acres and left about 700 families in the Santiam Canyon without homes. An Oregon State University report in February found just 13% of those families working through the Santiam Service Integration team had permanent housing following the fire.

To qualify for the grant, businesses or homes must be rebuilt with fire hardening materials like ignition-resistant roofing which could earn a grant of $2,200. New ventilation in attics are worth $350 while new windows that are fire-resistant can earn a grant of $550. 

Applications can be found online at the Building and Codes Division website. 

Meet the Editor: Les Zaitz is nationally-acclaimed journalist with nearly five decades of experience, including more than 25 years as a reporter and editor at The Oregonian.