Island County Board of Commissioners – Work Session

The Board of County Commissioners meets in Work Session routinely on the first three Wednesdays of each month (unless otherwise scheduled). Work sessions are public meetings which provide an opportunity in an informal workshop format for the Board to review in detail ongoing issues with individual departments and elected officials. This time also is used for the Board to meet with other agencies, committees and groups to discuss specific topics of mutual interest. Items are typically first reviewed at Work Session before being scheduled on the agenda for the Board’s regular business meetings held on Tuesdays. The agenda for this meeting is at this link.

Topics of interest include: discussion by Sheriff Rick Felici of a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program grant that will allow the Island County Jail to hire a full-time employee to provide counseling to inmates; presentations by Public Works Director Connie Bowers on a variety of topics, including a partnership with the Whidbey Camano Land Trust to apply for grants to purchase approx. 250 acres between Bakken Rd and Lagoon Point Rd for the Lagoon Point Community Forest project; an update on various programs by WSU Extension/Island County Director Timothy Lawrence; a discussion led by Planning and Community Development Director Mary Engle on a site-specific rezone of a parcel at 6098 Maxwelton Road; discussion of two collective bargaining agreements (with the deputy prosecuting attorneys and the corrections guild) by HR Director Catherine Reid; discussion of the annual surface water quality report led by Public Health Director Keith Higman; and discussions led by Budget Manager Doug Martin on the allocation of up to $120,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Port of Coupeville for their Broadband project, and a budget adjustment for the 2021 Fiscal Year.