District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Meeting: County Supervisors Compensation: Supervisors approved an ordinance that set their biweekly compensation rate at $2,277.67 regardless of how many terms they serve in office. The ordinance adds language to a provision in county code that justifies an extra $100 the Board chair receives, which is also paid biweekly. It also offers a cost of living adjustment for county supervisors that will be between 2.5% and 4% each year based on the Western Region Consumer Price Index. According to the county’s staff report, the Board of Supervisors will be required to review this COLA every three years starting in 2029 and can, by a four-fifths vote, waive that adjustment. In addition to approving the ordinance’s first reading, the Board of Supervisors set a public hearing for Dec. 9. The new ordinance changes a chapter in the county code that staggers supervisors’ biweekly compensation based on the number of terms they serve. Currently, a county supervisors’ compensation ranges from $1,462.60 during their first elected or appointed term to $2,146.26 during their sixth elected or appointed term, according to the Del Norte County code. Supervisors approved their new biweekly compensation rate after signing off on a revised salary schedule and wage adjustments for their unrepresented employee groups. Those changes were part of the county’s compensation and organizational structure analysis completed after consultants with Gallagher stated that base salaries were 10% below market median. Capital Improvement Project Policy: County supervisors approved a new teams-based approach to deciding what capital improvement plans to prioritize. Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper said the new policy creates a more inclusive approach to capital planning across county departments, but it will take about a year to be fully implemented. The new capital improvement team will include the county engineer, facilities director, county administrative officer and the auditor-controller, Hooper said. The team would work with the capital improvement technical advisory committee as well as the Board of Supervisors. “We believe it modernizes our approach and gets us out of silos where these functions have been taking place,” Hooper said, adding that the current approach to evaluating capital projects has been “very bifurcated.” “This would create a more holistic inclusive approach where, hopefully, all of the departments’ needs would be considered.” According to Hooper, the county’s goal would be to work with one of its on-call engineering consultants to lay the framework. He said he expected to see the new policy implemented in fiscal year 2026-27. New Truck: County supervisors authorized a budget transfer of $26,871 for the purchase of a 2026 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The vehicle will be used in the Facility, Maintenance and Parks department and will replace a 2002 Chevrolet S10 Blazer that was totaled following a traffic collision in May. According to the county’s staff report, there were no injuries. The funding comes from a reimbursement through Trindel Insurance Fund. The county obtained three quotes for the purchase of a replacement vehicle. The lowest price was from Airport Chevrolet in Medford with the $26,871 price tag including California sales tax and DMV fees.