Commissioners to start psilocybin ban process

Published 9:00 am Tuesday, August 2, 2022

ENTERPRISE — Two public hearings will be held this month prior to approval by the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners of an ordinance to declare a ban on psilocybin service centers and the manufacture of psilocybin products within the county, the county website states.

The commissioners will hold the first hearing Wednesday, Aug. 3, at 11 a.m. following their regular 9 a.m. meeting. The second hearing will be at 10 a.m. on Aug. 17.

The hearings are a necessary step to get the matter on the Nov. 8 ballot to give voters in the county the chance to ban psilocybin.

Oregon voters in 2020 approved Ballot Measure 109, which created Oregon Psilocybin Services as a new section within the Oregon Health Authority. The commissioners’ intended action would ban psilocybin in unincorporated areas of the county. Municipalities have the option to approve or deny psilocybin services.

Another public hearing is planned for Aug. 3. The county is completing an Emergency Small Business and Micro-Enterprise Assistance Grant Program funded with Community Development Block Grant funds from the Oregon Business Development Department, according to the county website. The location of the project is throughout the county. It is estimated that the project has benefited at least 29 people of whom 100% were low or moderate income.

The purpose of the hearing is for the commissioners to obtain citizens views about the project.

In other matters at the Aug. 3 regular meeting, the commissioners plan to:

• Consider an easement request by Ryan Lingard for a new driveway and culvert on Hurricane Creek Road.

• Approve Stacey Mueller’s separation from service in the Information Technology Department and then be rehired on a temporary basis.

• Approve a salary change for Wes Garth as a reserve deputy with the Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office.

• Approve the hiring of Samuel Witherup as a temporary youth employee.