Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Apr. 18, 2025.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 16th week of 2025.
- Regular Session. The agenda and recording for the Tuesday April 15th Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners is here.
- There was no public comment this week.
- We took action on a significant add-on to our agenda this week: we passed Ordinance C-29-25, declaring a land use regulations emergency and adopting an immediate emergency moratorium on the processing of applications for and construction in mixed-use zones of rural center, rural village, and Camano Gateway village (e. our commercial RAIDS), with a twelve-month effective period. We will hold a public hearing on this moratorium within 60 days (probably on June 3), but the moratorium went into place effective Tuesday April 15, 2025. The reason for this moratorium is: Island County is currently conducting a periodic update of its Comprehensive Plan, which requires counties to “plan for and accommodate housing affordable to all economic segments of the population of this state, promote a variety of residential densities and housing types, and encourage preservation of existing housing stock” (RCW 36.70A.020(4)). In order to meet the housing allocation outlined by the state and preserve capacity in our RAIDs for new dense housing types, Island County adopted this emergency moratorium (under RCW 36.70A.390) to allow staff time to develop updates to the Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations. The link to the resolution and exhibit can be found on page 3 of the the agenda link above; the discussion begins at mark 0:02:34 of the video. If you listen to the discussion and read the resolution, you may be confused because we discuss a potential exception regarding multifamily residential components that does not appear in the posted document—that is because after discussion the Board opted to strike that exception from the resolution we passed.
- The next regular session will occur at 10 am on Tuesday, April 22,, The agenda for that meeting is here. There are no regular agenda items or public hearings scheduled for that meeting. The following Tuesday occurs during a “fifth week”, so no meeting is scheduled for the last Tuesday of April. The agenda for the Tuesday, May 6 meeting will be available by Friday, May 2nd, here.
- Upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearings (held during Tuesday board meetings, beginning at 10 am):
- May 16: 2025 Budget Amendment
- Work Session. The agenda for this week’s work session; the audio recording.
- Long Range Planning brought requests from Langley and Coupeville to make Urban Growth Area (UGA) and Joint Planning Area (JPA) changes as part of the Comprehensive Planning process. Since both requests retain the agreed-on housing numbers for those jurisdictions, the Board indicated our willingness to support those changes in the development of the Comp Plan update. The documents begin on page 30 of the agenda; the discussion at mark 0:05:50 in the recording.
- Public Health brought two items. The first was a collaborative request from Public Health, Emergency Management, and Facilities to accept funding for equipment needs that enhance emergency preparedness across our county. The funds will be used for infrastructure improvements for the County’s Bayshore building and to get a new storage unit for emergency equipment in the South Whidbey Family Resource Center. The presentation can be found beginning on page 41 of the agenda; the discussion begins at mark 0:20:16 of the recording.
- The second Public Health item was a preliminary overview of Conservation Futures Fund applications. The purpose of the Conservation Futures Fund is to preserve, protect, maintain, improve, restore, and limit the future use of lands of public conservation importance through a variety of means, except eminent domain; these lands include shorelines, wildlife habitat, wetlands, farm, agricultural and forest lands that are under pressure from increasing urban development. We received 2 applications for acquisitions and 2 applications for Maintenance and Operations (M&O) funds for existing projects. The Board expects to take action on the M&O applications early in May, and on the acquisition applications later in the month. The presentation begins on page 54 of the agenda; the discussion at mark 0:30:01 in the recording.
- The next work session will be held on Wednesday, May 7. The agenda for that meeting will be available by Friday, May 2nd, here.
- The Board of Health (BoH) meeting for April was cancelled due to lack of quorum.
- Next Wednesday April 23 the Council of Government (COG) and Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization (IRTPO) will meet. COG starts at 9, IRTPO at 10, both in the Commissioners Hearing Room using the same Zoom link.
- COG agenda: Roundtable Discussion.
- IRTPO agenda: Unified Planning Work Program and Call for Projects criteria.
- Last Saturday, Congressman Rick Larsen met with the Executive Board of Island Senior Resources to talk about Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs. He stated that Congress needs to be informed when these programs are not working, so if you have difficulty receiving your Social Security or being signed up for disability through the VA or face other frustrations with federal entitlements, you should let his office know so that they can track if any of these important government programs begin to fail in providing the necessary services.
- Saturday, April 26, Island Senior Resources is sponsoring Aging In Place, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island on SR 525. Aging in Place is a free event hosted in-person and on Zoom. A panel will discuss available services for different types of care and support, including Independent, Assisted, Full-Care, and End-Stage topics. People can register online using the links below or they can call the ISR office at 360-321-1600, and the receptionist will assist with sign up if people are uncomfortable using the online versions. Registration is required. To register to attend in person. To register to attend by Zoom.
- I appreciated this film featuring Charles LaFond, sponsored by Island Senior Resources, that talks about why we must care for aging seniors.
- The U.S. Navy will host four public meetings to inform the community about its recent and ongoing efforts to test drinking water wellsin sampling areas near Naval Air Station Whidbey Island for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These substances may be present in drinking water wells due to past use of firefighting foam or other PFAS-containing materials on base. The meetings will feature detailed informational displays about drinking water sampling near the Area 6 Landfill, Ault Field, and Outlying Landing Field Coupeville. The Navy is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State Department of Health, and Island County Public Health Department. Representatives from these agencies will be available to answer questions and provide information. For more information.
- Tuesday April 29, 12:30 – 2:30 pm or 5 – 7 pm, Coupeville Rec Hall
- Wednesday April 30, 12:30 – 2:30 pm or 5 – 7 pm, Elks Lodge, Oak Harbor
- 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.
- We’re monitoring measles cases in surrounding counties after Snohomish and King County have both had patients with measles. No suspect exposure in Island County. But Public Health wants you to know:
- Measles is highly contagious, and preventable through routine childhood immunizations.
- As many as 1 in 20 kids with measles will get pneumonia, and 1 out of 1,000 will develop encephalitis, or brain swelling that can lead to death or intellectual disability.
- The MMR vaccine is the strongest protection against measles. Two doses of the measles-containing vaccine are approximately 97% effective at preventing measles.
- You can learn more about measles here.
- These are the childhood immunization locations in Island County.
- I will be taking vacation the next two weeks so I will not be available to meet with constituents again until Monday, May 5. I will be available at 3 pm that day at the WiFire Community Space in Freeland, to talk with citizens interested in community conversations about county matters.
Melanie
“I wonder what Santa Claus wears for Easter?”
~ my grandson Callan
