County reopens facility lobbies to the public |
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After a four month closure, Benton County reopened public access to all county facility lobbies on January 3, 2022. Benton County had one prior opening of facilities on April 26, 2021, but chose to reclose on August 30, 2021 to comply with the State’s business sector guidelines, and to protect employees and residents from the risks of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 and the Delta variant.
At that time, Benton County experienced rapidly increasing case counts and local hospitals were at or over capacity with COVID-19 cases. Since then and throughout the entire pandemic, public health officials and leadership have continued to monitor health metrics in hopes to resume business operations.
With the reopening of County facilities, health and safety of Benton County employees and residents remains the County’s highest priority. Now that lobbies have reopened, the community can continue to expect enhanced COVID-19 safety measures at County facilities.
These safety measures include:
- Check-in stations at the entryway of each County facility which provide hand sanitizer and disposable face masks, and guide individuals that feel sick or have symptoms not to enter the facility and instead to conduct business over the phone or by email.
- Everyone must wear a face covering or mask while in County facilities.
- Enhanced cleaning of high-touch surfaces in all County facilities.
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Commissioner Wyse makes plans for the new year
At Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, one year to the day of being sworn in as a commissioner, Nancy Wyse was elected to serve as Board Chair by fellow commissioners Pat Malone and Xan Augerot.
In her first year as County commissioner, Wyse served as the Board’s Vice-Chair. Wyse also served as a member of the Community Health Centers of Benton and Linn Counties Board and liaison to the cities of Philomath and Monroe. Wyse was an acting member of the Association of Oregon Counties, Library Board, Oregon Cascades West Economic Development District, South Valley Regional Solutions Advisory Committee, Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area, and Oregon Department of Forest Trust Lands Advisory Committee.
In 2022, Wyse will continue to serve in many of the same roles, while adding the Home, Opportunity, Planning & Equity Advisory Board and Executive Committee, Housing Alliance Homelessness & Tenant Protection workgroup, and liaison to the City of Adair.
Wyse is committed to several goals including pandemic impact recovery, improving public records access and transparency, prudent steps forward on the Justice System Improvement Program, and land use stewardship. As chair, Wyse’s responsibilities will include administrating meetings, planning agendas, and responding to constituents who reach out to the Board of Commissioners.
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Commissioners poised to make final site selection decision for proposed Justice System Improvement Program facilities
The Benton County Board of Commissioners will meet several times the week of January 17 to begin deliberations and make a final site selection decision for proposed Justice System Improvement Program facilities. A preliminary discussion is scheduled for Tuesday, January 18, as part of the commissioners’ regular Board meeting, followed by a virtual public meeting on Thursday, January 20, at 5:30 p.m. to review site selection options. On Friday, January 21, a special Board meeting is scheduled for the commissioners to make a final decision.
Although public comment is available at Board meetings, time restrictions may be imposed. Individual comment may be limited to three minutes. Board meeting links and materials will be made available at: https://bit.ly/BentonCoGov-2022BoardMeetings.
The two sites under consideration for JSIP facilities include:
- A site in west Corvallis on Reservoir Road
- A site in north Corvallis next to the Hewlett-Packard campus
On November 30, 2021, the Board voted unanimously to allow the letter of intent for the south Corvallis site at Kiger Island Road to expire, removing the site from its immediate list of possible locations for future justice system facilities. This decision was made after an 18-month site selection process including four months of public engagement.
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County allocated over $20 million in state matching funds to construct new courthouse
With statewide recognition for the need for a modern courthouse that meets best practice standards for safety, access and services, the County’s program was placed on a priority list by the Association of Oregon Counties-Oregon Judicial Department Courthouse Task Force five years ago.
Benton County collaborated with the Oregon Judicial Department, to apply for state matching funds for a new courthouse from the Oregon Capital Construction and Improvement Fund. The matching funds enable the state to pay for half of an approximately $40 million new courthouse, with the County funding the remainder. A mandated service, building a new County courthouse to meet the needs of current and future Benton County residents is critical. The Historic Benton County Courthouse was built in 1888 and is no longer capable of meeting current accessibility, safety and trauma-informed services standards.
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Jones to lead as next Community Health Centers Director
Following a thorough selection process, the Community Health Center Board and Benton County Board of Commissioners have selected Carla Jones to serve as the director of the Community Health Centers for Linn and Benton Counties.
Since March of this year, Jones has been serving as the interim director for the Community Health Centers (CHC). Prior to her role as interim director, Jones joined the County in April 2019 as the quality and analytics manager, before quickly promoting to deputy director of operations for the CHC in July 2020.
In addition to her current experience at the CHC, Carla has 15 years of experience with Samaritan Health Services as a manager in reimbursement, contracting, credentialing, compliance, and government programs. She brings a deep understanding of value-based pay initiatives and healthcare reform to the Federally Qualified Health Center space.
In this new position, Jones hopes to continue to lead care teams and health center employees to provide responsive, high quality, and team-based primary care, behavioral health, and dental services. While the Community Health Centers offer care to anyone in the community, they are uniquely able to focus on addressing the intersection of complex health, wellness, and social needs.
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Thank you to our partners!
With freezing temperatures and flood events occurring across the Willamette Valley over the last few weeks, Benton County worked with local partners to open warming shelters for community members without access to warm spaces.
Thank you to our partners at the Alsea Community Library, Corvallis-Benton Library, Corvallis Community Center, Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center, Corvallis Men's Shelter, Corvallis Women's Shelter, Monroe Community Library, Osborn Aquatic Center, Philomath Fire Department, and Philomath Community Library.
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Youth COVID-19 vaccination events Jan. 9 - Jan. 14
Benton County is collaborating with the Oregon Health Authority, Samaritan Health Services, and school districts to host COVID-19 vaccination events in Philomath, Alsea, Corvallis, and Monroe the week of January 9. These events will be focused on providing first and second doses, and only a very limited number of boosters will be available.
The Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available at each event except for Cheldelin Middle School, which will only offer the Pfizer vaccine. All individuals who receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the clinics will also receive a nonperishable food box, while supplies last.
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Understanding sources of water pollution
Water quality series part 2: by Benton County Public Works
Water quality is the most important factor in watershed health and the biological food web it supports. Small changes in water quality that seem insignificant can have long-lasting effects on plants and animals that live within the watershed. Negative effects on one organism will cause negative effects on other organisms that feed on them, or rely on their presence. Each organism fulfills a particular function and if that function is stopped, part of the system collapses.
Nonpoint source water pollution
- Nonpoint source pollution is a much bigger problem for water quality. This type of pollution comes from many different, repeated sources and is difficult to trace. The effects of nonpoint source pollution are cumulative and add up over time. Examples of nonpoint source pollution include fertilizer runoff, animal waste and automobiles. (figure upper right)
Point source water pollution
- Visualizing water pollution typically brings up a picture of sludge pouring out of a pipe into a river, or an oil well-spewing oil into the ocean. These are accurate visualizations of one type of water pollution called point source. They are called point sources because they originate from a single point. Point source pollution can be traced, contained, stopped, and cleanup can begin. The effects can usually be fixed in a short period of time depending on the amount and type of toxic material entering the stream, river, lake or ocean. (figure lower right)
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What you can do…
Our waters should be clean enough to fish, swim, and drink. Non-point source pollution is a major threat to that standard. Here are a few things you can do:
- Use less fertilizer on lawns and landscaping.
- Drive a little less, make your trips more efficient.
- Pick up more piles of dog waste.
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Questions?
Benton County Public Information Office
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