Local News

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners heard from Pipe Fork supporters, made appointments to three local advisory committees and addressed the problem of local drug overdoses during its weekly business session today.

With no public hearings or action items on the agenda, Board Chair John West started the 66-minute meeting with Requests and Comments from Citizens.

At least a dozen people spoke of their support for the sale of the Pipe Fork timber property near Williams, with some of the speakers chastising the Commissioners for not agreeing to an immediate sale. The speakers included the Williams Rural Fire Protection District Chief, who pointed out that the sale would benefit his community by helping to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.

As part of the Consent Calendar, the Board unanimously approved appointments of Jamee Harrington to a four-year term on the Special Transportation Committee, Justin Lyons to a four-year term on the Housing & Community Development Council and Todd Greer to a three-year term on the Collaborative Economic Development Committee.

Board Vice-Chair Herman Baertschiger talked about the alarming increase in local drug overdoses and the ineffectiveness of Measure 110. He cited City of Grants Pass statistics that show 22 responses to overdoses and 11 deaths in 2022 grew to 197 responses to overdoses and 15 deaths in 2023. He said statistics for Josephine County were unavailable because they had not been released by the state.