ISLAND COUNTY: A Message from Commissioner Bacon [Apr. 5, 2024]

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Apr. 5, 2024.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 14^th week of 2024.

April is National County Government Month.

• Regular Session.  The agenda and recording for the Tuesday April 2^nd Regular Session is here.
• Three people spoke during our regular public comment period—one regarding a zoning issue on the shoreline maps of the draft SMP; the other two raised concerns about increased fees from their Cascadia water system. I’ve heard other people raise the Cascadia fee issue, and you might be interested in how the Commissioners responded to that item: all three addressed it, and our responses begin at mark 0:08:12 in the video recording.
• On our consent agenda (which means we didn’t discuss it): we approved a transfer option agreement to a developer, of a county-owned 5.58 acre parcel in Oak Harbor to create a minimum of 82 affordable housing units. We purchased this property a couple of years ago for this purpose, and I mention this agenda item here because we probably should have spoken about this transfer during our regular meeting since it’s an important step in providing more affordable housing in our County.
• Also approved on the consent agenda: Resolution No. C-17-24, Surplus of County Property: 1993 Harris TP 150 Compactor.
• We heard a presentation from our Public Works Solid Waste group on a 3-year contract for Solid Waste Landfill Monitoring and Maintenance Services, mark 0:25:12 in the agenda. This is an old closed landfill that we continue to monitor for gas emissions and ground water testing. The Board remains in support of the monitoring—we just don’t think we should have to continue to keep $2 Million in reserves for it since we’ve been monitoring this thing now for over twenty years.
• We held a public hearing on Resolution No. C-11-24, an amendment to the 2023 Budget to fund unforeseen expenditures. The Board goes through these types of final budget amendments every year, on the previous year’s budget. There were no public comments.
• There was a lot of public comment received during our second public hearing of the day: six Camano Island residents spoke in opposition to the request by an owner of multiple parcels to open an unopened County road right-of-way. The public hearing begins at mark 0:52:58 in the recording, and if there’s only one part of our meetings that you listen to this week I recommend this be the one you choose because the Board discussion on this really demonstrated how your three commissioners approach things differently. The concern the residents had was that opening this right-of-way would lead to development in a large forested area with many wetlands, that was platted in 1979 but never built out. The Board is not being asked to approve any development yet; we are being requested only to open our unopened right-of-way so that the property owner can put in a road to access their land-locked property. Commissioner Johnson is in support of opening the right-of-way; Commissioner St. Clair wants to get more answers to public questions before she votes on it; I am opposed to opening this right-of-way. My statement on this can be found at mark 1:48:57 in the recording: “We are working on our comprehensive plan. We’ve held many public meetings to determine what our public values. As a result of hearing what they value, we’ve–at least in one meeting–stated that our citizens clearly want us to keep the wild areas wild and if we need to be prepared for increase in population, which we admit we do, we would do that by intensifying density in already dense areas. What this project wants to do, from what I’ve heard, what you’ve told me, is in opposition to that vision. And so we, as County Commissioners, can say no to opening our public road in order for this to happen. Therefore I am going to vote against the opening of this public road.” Two motions were made; both died for lack of a second; after a short recess we voted to deliberate on this item on June 11 for a final up-or-down vote.
• The agenda for our Tuesday, April 9^th regular session is here. There are no public hearings or items on our regular agenda.

• Upcoming BOCC Public Hearings (held during Tuesday board meetings, beginning at 10 am):
  • April 16: PBRS application 382/23, 16 acres on Camano Island
  • May 7 (pending BOCC approval of date): Holmes Harbor Franchise
  • May 7: Hensler Sewer Collection Franchise
  • May 14 (pending BOCC approval of date): Deception Park Franchise
  • May 14 (pending BOCC approval of date): Franchise Renewal Saratoga Beach (Whidbey)
  • May 21 (pending BOCC approval of date): Marshall Drainage District Assessment
  • May 21 (pending BOCC approval of date): Sierra Country Club Water Franchise Expansion
  • June 6 (pending BOCC approval of date): Port of Coupeville Broadband
• Work Session. The agenda for the April 3^rd work session is here. The recording is here. Other presentations from the meeting are here.
  • The first item on our agenda was a discussion of what the Board’s priorities are for the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) to work on for the next legislative session. Next month we will talk about what happened this year regarding Island County’s legislative priorities, and begin our discussion of what we would like to get from the legislature next year for our county.
  • We talked about amending the Rural Counties Economic Development (RCED) grant awarded to the Port of South Whidbey in 2018, for improvements to the fairgrounds and the fair campgrounds, mark 1:05:13; the documents associated with this item begin on page 13 of the agenda.
  • We reviewed the Planning Commission feedback on the Comprehensive Plan’s Housing Element Goals and Policies, beginning at mark 1:17:50 in the recording; the presentation can be found beginning on page 7 of the presentations link above.
  • We all worry about the physical and mental health of our teenagers. During their time talking about next quarter’s “Health Matters” newsletter, Public Health mentioned the State Department of Health site Teen Health Hub, which provides links to quality, accurate information on health topics that are important to our youth. Good news: we are seeing improvements in youth mental health since isolations and restrictions were lifted.
  • Public Health brought us a Conservation Futures Fund request from the Whidbey Camano Land Trust for an Accessible Trail and Educational Pavilion Easement on the Keystone Preserve. The recording of this discussion begins at mark 2:39:20 in the recording; the documentation including maps begins on page 69 of the agenda. Whidbey Camano Land Trust will provide the Board with a presentation on this during a future regular session.
  • In a discussion about the funding of our new Solid Waste Compactor (mark 2:50:32 in the recording), we learned that preparations for the transition to our new compactor at the Coupeville Transfer Station will begin on April 15. This will mean that beginning on April 15, for 2½ months until everything is installed, the transfer station will be using open-top containers. We expect that this will have only a minor impact on our non-commercial users.
  • We reviewed an agreement with Ziply Fiber to develop high speed internet service to 112 locations on North Camano Island. The Board of County Commissioners will allocate $296,296 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds for this initiative. You can hear this discussion at mark 3:21:41 in the recording; documents available beginning on page 115 of the agenda.
  • The agenda for the April 10^th work session is here. On that agenda: Discussion with North Whidbey Pool, Park, and Recreational District regarding forming a metropolitan park on the August 2024 ballot; an agreement with the Department of Commerce to use State Capital Funds in the amount of $2,000,000 to support the development of affordable housing by paying for the construction of utility infrastructure improvements and reimbursement of waived system development for the Camas Flats – Oak Harbor project; purchase and sale agreement of County owned land to Opportunity Council at no cost for the construction of affordable housing for a mix of income targets at or below 80% of the Area Median Income; a Public Benefits Rating System (PBRS) application; discussion about our April 23 joint meeting with the City of Oak Harbor; and Comp Plan – Natural Resources Goals & Policies Review.
• The Island Transit Board met today.
  • We heard a presentation on our community vehicle grant program, which provides surplus Island Transit vehicles to local non-profit groups. This year we are giving vehicles to four non-profit organizations: New Leaf, an Oak Harbor-located organization that provides employment opportunities to disabled adults; Eternal Springs Church, which provides transportation to help low income and disabled individuals in North Whidbey get to the services they need; the Island County Historical Society Museum in Coupeville, which will use their van to take seniors to various sites and events; and Whidbey Island Waldorf School on the South end of Whidbey, which will use their van to transport kids to field trips and community projects.
  • We held a public hearing to adopt a no-show policy for our On Demand service. Island Transit requests at least a one-hour notice if you decide to cancel your On Demand trip. Under the new policy, 5 no-shows within a 60-day rolling period without proper notice of cancellation will result in a 15-day suspension from On Demand services (they would still be able to use our fixed bus schedule service). All of our On Demand areas on Whidbey and Camano have been experiencing between 7% to 13% no-shows. About 15% of the On Demand riders account for all of the no-shows.
  • We approved a flat-rate fare structure for our van pools.
  • We agreed to ask for $14,013,149 in federal grants to purchase twelve 40-ft hydrogen fuel cell buses and infrastructure for temporary hydrogen fueling.
• 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.
  • The Comprehensive Plan Update public engagement website is now live: https://www.islandcounty2045.com/. I encourage you to join and participate.
  • At our work session this week the Board of Island County Commissioners reviewed the Planning Commission feedback on the Comprehensive Plan’s Housing Element Goals and Policies; see links above.
  • Today the Board of Island County Commissioners received a memo from the City of Langley. Langley Resolution #85-23 accepts the Medium Population Growth projection that the County has requested, but in turn Langley wants to see Island County plan for and act to ameliorate the associated impacts of climate change, and in their memo they list actions they would like to see the County take. The BOICC has not yet discussed this memo or Langley’s ratification of the Medium Population Growth projection, but you can read the City’s memo to the County beginning on page 86 here. The recording of Langley’s April 1^st meeting can be found here. Their (very short) discussion and vote on their memo to the County begins at mark 0:32:31 in that recording; they’ve been working on this memo for a while now, so Monday’s vote did not need much discussion.
  • Island County is currently reviewing the existing Natural Resources Element. The purpose of this initial review is to determine how our goals and policies need to change to reflect changes in state law, priorities of the Board, and public opinion. We encourage all residents to take our Natural Resources survey: https://www.islandcounty2045.com/compplan.
  • Planning will be reviewing the Natural Resources Element at the Board of County Commissioners meetings on April 10th and 17th, and at the Planning Commission on April 17th.
  • The next meeting of the Planning Commission will be held Wednesday, April 17.
• Habitat for Humanity of Island County has several volunteer opportunities right now: they’re seeking volunteers to work in the Freeland store, to help with a landscaping project, to help with their Women Build event, and to walk in the Holland Happening parade. Call 360-679-9444 or email office@islandcountyhabitat.com for more information.
• Another great local housing organization is the community land trust Home on Whidbey. They are currently seeking members and donors.
• April’s events sponsored by Island County Parent-to-Parent can be found here.
• Stop off at your local Chamber of Commerce to get a copy of the new “24 Cultural and Heritage Experiences Field Guide”, published by Embrace Whidbey and Camano Islands.
• You can find all of my newsletters since January 2023 here.
• I spend every Monday afternoon meeting with citizens in my district. These are opportunities for you to meet in an open group to discuss anything County-related with me and anyone else who drops by. Below is my normal Mondays with Melanie schedule:

1. 1:30 – 2:30 pm, Cedar & Salt Coffee House, 200 S. Main Street, Coupeville
2. 3:00 – 4:00 pm, WiFire Community Space, 1651 E. Main Street, Freeland
3. 4^th Monday of the month: 5:00 – 6:00 pm, Clinton Community Hall, 6411 S. Central Avenue, Clinton.

Melanie

“In local government, it’s very clear to your customers – your citizens – whether or not you’re delivering. Either that pothole gets filled in, or it doesn’t. The results are very much on display, and that creates a very healthy pressure to innovate.”

~ Pete Buttigieg