A volunteer coalition presented photos and data to Mason County commissioners, saying hillside encampments and an ETS mobile treatment van have grown dramatically and strained EMS, created public-health hazards (2,500 needles collected) and damaged shorelines; they urged enforcement and structured sheltering.

Commissioners and community members spent the meeting focused on technical shortfalls in water-system engineering and as-built drawings, a returned $10,000 holdback tied to an earlier system purchase, and the pending removal of the derelict vessel “Seabear,” which staff said will strain the port’s budget until state reimbursement arrives.

The board approved the action agenda package including warrants totaling several million dollars, the appointment of Virginia Feldman to the Historic Preservation Commission, authorization of a $6,000 vacant land sale, setting a public hearing for Feb. 17, 2026, and a letter to Gov. Bob Ferguson raising concern about indigent defense costs.

State auditors reported clean accountability and financial-statement opinions for Mason County's 2024 audits but identified a material weakness in federal grant controls: one ARPA-funded contractor payment of $25,702 lacked documented suspension/debarment verification. Auditors recommended stronger vendor checks and recordkeeping.

Treasurer-level staff told commissioners November revenues were roughly $45.6 million (about 103% of budget) and flagged an unexplained $387,000 sales-tax anomaly in August; staff said they have contacted the Department of Revenue and are investigating whether the amount must be repaid.

Public defense staff proposed a weighted "case-waiting" system to meet Washington State Supreme Court reductions beginning in 2026. Commissioners agreed to place a contract package for outside counsel (Tashner) on tomorrow's action agenda and deferred formal adoption of the countywide policy to January for further review.

After a lengthy public hearing and debate, the board voted to move the 2025 comprehensive plan forward for adoption, citing staff and PAC work; public commenters urged stronger language on forest protection, climate resilience and racial disparities in housing.

Emergency management staff briefed commissioners on switching to the state's Everbridge system after Code Red issues and on elevated post-fire debris-flow risk from Bear Gulch, recommending targeted alerts and re-registration for residents previously on Code Red.

Staff reported progress on Ecology'required work at the Belfair Water Reclamation Facility, said full operational redundancy remains outstanding, and described pond-defect options and funding pathways including grants, REET/O9 and loans; staff estimated an order-of-magnitude repair up to $1,000,000 and said recruitment for two operator positions is underway.

County staff asked commissioners to place a two-year renewal of the county's fire investigation contract on the Dec. 16 action agenda, noting an increase to $105,000 per year driven mainly by a higher standby-pay rate tied to Central Mason Fire's MOU.

After staff presented a $199.66 million 2026 budget, Mason County Auditor Steve Dungo urged cuts to avoid continued deficit spending; commissioners voted unanimously to continue the public hearing to Dec. 9, 2025 to allow more deliberation and public input.

Mason County commissioners set the 2026 current expense levy at $11,230,126.50 and the road levy at $11,982,340.51 (including a $2,160,000 diversion), certified small refund levies, and continued final levy certification to Dec. 9, 2025.

Mason County commissioners voted Nov. 25 to sign a memorandum of understanding with the City of Bremerton to study extending sanitary sewer service into the Puget Sound Industrial Center; the vote follows public concern about capacity, environmental impacts and who would pay for upgrades.

County staff presented the 2026 budget briefing with a $24 million beginning general-fund balance and revenue estimates, recommended supplemental appropriations (mobile hospital pods), opioid fund allocations, a public-defense contract increase, and proposals to restore diversion funding and prepare property-tax levy resolutions.

Mason County commissioners discussed draft MOU language with the City of Bremerton that sets 180 days for a feasibility study and initially proposed 45 days for a determination. Commissioners debated who should pay for the feasibility and agreed to seek revisions requiring Commerce grant or Bremerton funding and extending the decision window to 90 days.

At a Mason County government-to-government briefing, Skokomish leaders urged stronger enforcement of shoreline and land-use rules, sought a formal working relationship on economic development, and flagged a dispute with Suquamish over Belfair’s historic village designation ahead of a Dec. 16 public hearing on the county’s comprehensive-plan update.

Squaxin Island Tribe representatives and county staff met government-to-government to request basin-level well inventories and stronger, active language in the county comprehensive plan committing Mason County to develop and finalize offset projects that mitigate consumptive uses from exempt wells. Commissioners and staff discussed inserting tables and appendices and pursuing grants and monitoring to support offset projects.

The Mason County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with the City of Bremerton to study whether Bremerton can provide sanitary sewer service to part of the Puget Sound Industrial Center; the MOU requires a preliminary engineering and financial evaluation and sets study timeframes. The county will decide in writing within 90 days of the study’s completion whether to provide service.

County staff asked commissioners to place on the Nov. 25 agenda a resolution to set a public hearing on Dec. 16 for the Mason County 2025 periodic comprehensive plan update; staff included responses to a Jeff Carey comment letter and said the Department of Commerce sent an initial review letter awaiting county reply.

Staff briefed commissioners on a wide set of 2025 budget amendments and 2026 policy-level requests, reporting a roughly $24 million beginning fund balance and tentatively approving only some enterprise capital items while holding most operating increases pending more documentation or deferral to the formal budget. Commissioners asked for sole‑soure

Long-range planning staff presented the draft GMA-required comprehensive plan update to 2045, including a housing needs assessment, land capacity analysis that found no urban growth area expansions necessary, a new climate resilience chapter, and a consolidated capital facilities/CIP chapter; staff will seek Commerce input and proceed to public-not

Housing staff reported one RFP response for a winter single-adult emergency shelter and the Housing and Behavioral Health Advisory Board recommended moving ahead to contract negotiation; commissioners asked for city buy-in and said staff should return with a draft contract.

Public-health staff told commissioners that the maternal-child health block grant was reduced from $67,500 to about $5,320 and that federal and state funding changes are forcing near-term staffing and program adjustments; the director said she will pursue alternate DOH grants and prepare for difficult legislative budget talks.

Finance presented preliminary 2026 figures including an estimated $24 million beginning fund balance, $46.65 million in revenues, $38.27 million in salaries and benefits and a projected $13.29 million ending fund balance; commissioners discussed prioritizing maintenance items and reconciling PLRs and special-fund requests.