ISLAND COUNTY: A Message from Commissioner Bacon [Feb. 6, 2026]

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Feb. 6, 2025.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 6^th week of 2026. Go Hawks!

Most County offices will be closed Monday, February 16 for Presidents’ Day.

• Regular Session, Tuesday February 3.  This is the agenda and recording for Tuesday’s meeting:.
  • The hearing room was packed and we heard public comment from 17 individuals across a gamut of issues including: Deer Lagoon Preserve; animal kennel licensing and animal control; and Housing and Agriculture in the Comprehensive Plan draft elements. The Board is very grateful to have so many dedicated citizens taking time to provide us with public comment! We listen to and consider every comment we receive.
  • Nine citizens also provided public comment during Part 2 of the Public Hearing we held on the Speed Study. The Board voted to approve the Engineering speed recommendations as amended by us—which includes (1) no speeds will be increased on any County roads (the recommendations included some speed increases which we declined to adopt), and (2) we established a maximum speed limit on County roads of 45 mph (the State Highway speed limits will remain unchanged).  Presentation and discussion begin at mark 00:48:00 in the video recording.
  • The next Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. The agenda for that meeting is available here. There are no regular agenda items or public hearings scheduled for the meeting.
  • The Tuesday February 24 Board Meeting has been canceled due to lack of quorum.
• Tentative Upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearings (held during board meetings, beginning at 10 am, unless otherwise noted):
  • Tuesday March 10:    Mabana Shores Franchise
  • Tuesday March 10:    Mutiny Sands Franchise
  • Tuesday March 10:    Jordan Acres Franchise
  • Tuesday March 10:    Passage Way Franchise
  • Tuesday March 17:    Driftwood Shores Franchise
  • Tuesday March 17:    Ledgewood Beach Franchise
  • Tuesday March 17:    Camano Vista Franchise
  • Thursday March 19 at 1 pm:   Joint public hearing with the Oak Harbor City Council regarding annexation into the UGA
  • Tuesday May 12:   Curbside Recycling

• Work Session, Wednesday February 4^th work session. Agenda; Recording. Reminder: if you want to scroll through the recording to get to one of the times I note below, you will need to download it first.
  • We started with Washington State University Extension, who gave an update on the Island County 4-H program. Our 4-H group is thriving and enrollment is up. These days 48% of students are involved in animal projects and the rest are participating in other programs—you can find a list of programs on page 17 of the agenda. 4-H is actively looking for adult volunteers—contact 4-H Program Coordinator R-A Mazzola if you’re interested or have questions, r.Mazzola@wsu.edu.
  • Public Works brought a discussion on the Deer Lagoon Preserve. Attached to the agenda beginning on page 65 is a draft management plan for Deer Lagoon Preserve which was written by Carlos Anderson of the Audubon Society; I asked that it be included in the agenda as an example of what a management plan for that property might include, noting that the County’s final adopted plan would need to comply with our County standards, goals, and capacity. The Board made it clear that we want the Parks element of the Comprehensive Plan to include establishing management plans for all of the County’s preserves. Discussion begins at mark 0:44:35 in the recording. I thank Carlos Anderson and the Audubon Society for all the work they put into this draft document, and I want to express my gratitude for the fact that they (and other environmental organizations) continue to remind the Commissioners of public expectations regarding important preservation and protection activities.
  • Kristina Hines, Executive Director of the Economic Development Council (EDC) brought us the first Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Reporting for July 2024 – December 2025. The proposed update, presentation, and progress report can be found beginning on page 158 of the agenda; discussion begins at mark 1:07:46 in the recording.
  • Long Range Planning brought us the Economic Development and Clinton Subarea Plan draft elements to the Comprehensive Plan. The documents begin on page 260 of the agenda; the conversation on the Economic Development element begins at mark 2:06:39 in the recording; the Clinton Subarea Plan discussion begins at mark 2:43:44.
  • The next Work Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners will be held on Wednesday, February 11. This is the agenda. On that agenda: an update on Facilities’ discussions with Enterprise Fleet Management; the annual request from the Treasurer to write off uncollectable personal property; a proposal to revise County Code to add residential curbside collection of recyclable materials to current solid waste curbside collection services (we will schedule a public hearing on May 12 so citizens have an opportunity to express their thoughts); an update to our procurement code; and 2026 Rural County Economic Development (RCED) fund and application opening. Beginning at 1 pm, there will be a Joint Work Session between the Board of Island County Commissioners and the Planning Commission to discuss the Comprehensive Plan draft (the public is invited to attend but we will not take public comment during the meeting).
• 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 agendas are published at least a week in advance. The Planning Commission usually meets at 6 pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month in the Commissioners Hearing Room in Coupeville.
  •   IMPORTANT: the current drafts of the Comprehensive Plan elements have been released. We are asking for public comment through 4:30 pm next Monday, February 9^th. You can find those elements here.
  •    On February 11 at 1 pm the Board of County Commissioners and the Planning Commission will hold a joint meeting to take a first review of the Comp Plan draft after all public comments have been noted.
  •    The February 18^th meeting of the Planning Commission has been CANCELED; the Planning Commission will return on March 4.
• Island Transit held its February meeting today; agenda here. We did not take any actions of significance to citizens; we elected the Chair for next year and representatives for committees.
• I will meet with interested citizens at the WiFire Community Space in Freeland at 3 pm on Monday, February 9^th. I will not be there February 16^th (Presidents’ Day) or February 23^rd (I will be in Washington, DC at the National Association of Counties conference, where I will visit with our congressional delegation about Island County issues).

Melanie

“Always give your best effort so your memories won’t be filled with: would-haves, could-haves, should-haves and what-ifs.”   

~ Russell Wilson