ISLAND COUNTY: A Message from Commissioner Bacon [June 14, 2024]

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., June 14, 2024.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 25^th week of 2024.

County offices will be closed next Wednesday, June 19^th, in celebration of Juneteenth.

• Regular Session.  The agenda and video recording for the Tuesday June 11^th Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners is here.
  • On the second Tuesday of every month we welcome new employees and celebrate employees with significant service anniversaries. This week we recognized Mariah Knobloch of the Auditor’s Office, who is celebrating 10 years with Island County.
  • Public Comments: We heard public comment from two citizens this week: one person asked the Board to adopt the South Whidbey Shoreline Group suggestions on the SMP; the second person spoke about nature’s impact on the County’s economic well-being.
  • Prosecuting Attorney Greg Banks brought an add-on to the Board, a settlement agreement with the Department of Social and Health Services. Mark 00:14:17 in the video recording.
  • The Board once again deliberated on whether or not to open Rowe Road on Camano Island, and once again the motion to do so died for lack of a second. This issue is not done—expect to see it again on an upcoming agenda. Mark 00:26:15 in the video recording.
  • The agenda for the June 18^th regular meeting is here. There are no public hearings or regular agenda items on that agenda.

• Upcoming BOCC Public Hearings (held during Tuesday board meetings, beginning at 10 am):
  • June 25: Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Amendment
  • July 9: Polnell Shores Franchise
  • July 9 (pending BOCC approval of date):  PBRS Freedom Park
  • July 16 (pending BOCC approval of date):  Port of Coupeville
  • July 16 (pending BOCC approval of date):  WAVE Broadband
  • July 23 (pending BOCC approval of date):  Crescent Acres Franchise
  • Sept 17 (pending BOCC approval of date):  Budget Amendment
• Work Session. The agenda for the June 12^th work session is here. The recording is here. The documents not published in the original agenda are here.
  • Human Services had two important presentations. The first, at the beginning of our agenda, was on Emergency Housing. There are approximately 245 unhoused men, women, and children in Island County. This presentation begins on page 3 of the agenda.
  • The second presentation from Human Services was on Local Affordable Housing funding streams. This presentation begins on page 17 of the agenda; the discussion begins at mark 0:23:44 in the audio recording.
  • Planning and Public Health together brought us a discussion on a proposed water study. We’re going to update our Coordinated Water System Plan (a recommendation made by the Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC) a number of years ago), focusing on infrastructure, and pay for the study using funds from the Clean Water Utility and the GMA grant (this is the study we asked the State to fund; both the House and the Senate had it in their budgets, but it was axed in the final). Staff and commissioners had a robust conversation, talking about stormwater runoff, infrastructure, and necessary changes to behavior. The presentation can be found in the “unpublished presentations” link above, pages 1 – 16; the discussion begins at mark 0:39:45 in the audio recording.
  • Planning also brought us an update on work completed to date on the Comprehensive Plan and a schedule for the remainder of 2024 and 2025 work. The audio recording begins at 1:30:06; the presentation can be found in the “unpublished presentations” link above, pages 17 – 29.
  • The Commissioners discussed the 2025 LTAC funding categories. We have a budget of $805,000, and will apportion 40% of that for the Chambers of Commerce and Chamber events; 20% for museums; 30% for other community groups; and 10% for capital projects. Discussion begins at mark 2:17:29.
  • Public Works brought a discussion on projects for the 2025 – 2030 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for Roads Facilities, Solid Waste, and Parks. The presentation for this begins on page 61 in the agenda; the discussion begins at mark 2:32:29 in the recording.
  • We also discussed the first draft of the 2025 – 2030 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The presentation for this can be found in the “unpublished presentations” link above, beginning on page 30; the discussion begins at mark 3:01:03 in the audio recording.
  • We discussed a variety of options for the Marshall Drainage District assessments—and I think that community will be extremely happy with the direction we’re going on this now, which is to forgive the loans due to the fact that the only reason they were necessary at all was because the County failed to collect annual Maintenance & Operations funds from the residents for many years, so we’re proposing now to just continue collecting M&O and not have an additional assessment. Since this is a significant change from what we discussed at the last public hearing, we will hold another public hearing to discuss this new approach. The presentation for this can be found in the “unpublished presentations” link above, beginning on page 34; the discussion begins at mark 3:45:50 in the audio recording.
  • The next work session of the Board of Island County Commissioners will be held on Wednesday, July 10^th. The agenda for that work session will be available by Friday, July 5^th here. Since it will have been 3 weeks since the last work session, I would expect July 10^th to be a long one.
• The Board of Health will meet next Tuesday afternoon at 1 pm. The agenda is here. On that agenda: a panel discussion with Island County School Superintendents to discuss the physical and behavioral health needs of Island County students, and a presentation on “Extreme Heat and Wildfire Smoke Readiness.”
• Island Transit
  • Today Island Transit ran a mock accident scenario. So if you drove through Coupeville and saw a bus and people in trouble, don’t be concerned—it was just training.
  • There will be a Special Session of the Board of Island Transit next Friday, June 21. The agenda for that meeting will be posted next week here.
• Our legislators in Washington are working hard for Island County. I am extremely grateful to both Rep. Larsen and Sen. Cantwell for their work in seeking funding to help us with our waste disposal solutions.
  • Rep. Larsen’s request for Island County’s Recycling and Reuse Station (the Coupeville Transfer Station) was included in the list of projects for the FY25 House Appropriations bill and is moving forward as a $1 million request. The Appropriations Committee will still need to vote on the bill, followed by the full House and then it will go through conference with the Senate before being passed into law.
  • Senator Cantwell included  a $2.8 million request for funds for this same project, through a different program.
  • Therefore, we are actually now pursuing two separate earmarks, not reconciling one.  One for $1.0 million, one for $2.8 million.
  • The Board talked about this Transfer Station project at this week’s work session with Public Works (see Capital Improvement Plan link info above). It is budgeted to cost $11.7 million over the next 5 years—so we are grateful for any funds the federal government will appropriate for it.

• Planning Commission and the Comprehensive Plan Update: This is a link to the Planning Commission page. You can find details on their meetings and minutes, including Zoom info, here. The Planning Commission meets at 6 pm on the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday of each month; the agendas are published at least a week in advance.
  • I encourage you to join and participate in the Comprehensive Plan Update public engagement website: https://www.islandcounty2045.com/.
  • On Wednesday at work session the Board of County Commissioners received an update on work completed to date on the Comprehensive Plan. See link above.
  • There will be no 2^nd meeting of the Planning Commission this month because the 3^rd Wednesday, June 19, is a holiday. The next meeting of the Planning Commission will be held Wednesday, July 3^rd, at 6 pm.
• You can find all of my newsletters since January 2023 here.
• I will be available to meet with interested community members this month on Monday June 24^th at 5 pm at the Clinton Community Hall, just before the Clinton Community Council monthly meeting.

Melanie

“If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho’ we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny.”

~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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