ISLAND COUNTY: A Message from Commissioner Bacon [Feb. 14, 2025]

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Feb. 14, 2025.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 7^th week of 2025. Happy Valentine’s Day! And btw: if anyone reading this is thinking about running for County Commissioner in the future, today’s newsletter gives a really good example of some of the diversity of issues that the County Commissioners are responsible for.

Most County offices will be closed next Monday, February 17^th, in honor of President’s Day.

• Regular Session.  The agenda and recording for the Tuesday February 11^th Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners is here.
• We started by welcoming our new employees and recognizing service dates for long-tenured employees. Beth Becker has been the custodian at our Camano Admin building for 15 years, and James Wiaczek, the Coupeville Road Shop Supervisor, has been with the County for 30 years! Both of these individuals are foundational to our daily county operations, and we are very grateful to them for their dedication to our citizens and our mission.
• We received public comment from Steve Myres, who has developed a draft flip chart to distribute to citizens as a tool for County emergency response. A really cool tool, and I look forward to working with Steve on its further development and roll-out.
• We pulled item 5 from Consent and addressed it at the Regular Session, moving it to Wednesday’s work session for discussion (see below).
• The next regular session will occur on Tuesday, February 18,^, The agenda for that meeting is here. On that agenda: Resolution C-08-25, In the Matter of Supporting ICOM 911 Emergency Services Request for an Increase Of 2/10 of one Percent In Sales and Use Tax to Support Emergency Communications for Fire, Police, EMS, And 911 On An Island County Special Election Ballot. For more details on this, see Wednesday’s work session, below.
• Upcoming Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Public Hearings (held during Tuesday board meetings, beginning at 10 am).
  • February 25:       Ziply Fiber Telecommunications Franchise
  • February 25:       Comcast Cable Franchise
  • March 4:             Resolution C-09-25 to review and receive comments on Island County’s past performance using $605,579 in Community Development Block Grant–Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) Funds for homeowners and renters who were financially impacted by COVID-19 and were in arrears.
  • March 4:                 Lincoln Street vacation
• On Tuesday afternoon the Board of County Commissioners held an extremely productive joint session with the Oak Harbor City Council to discuss the Oak Harbor Urban Growth Area (UGA). All of the County Commissioners, the Oak Harbor Mayor, and all of the Oak Harbor City Council Members were in attendance, a demonstration of how important this meeting was to all of us. I am very grateful to the Oak Harbor City Council that by the end of the meeting they had agreed to the County’s requirement that they consider a rezoning infill strategy to accommodate more of the 0-50% income levels within the city limits. You can access the video recording of that meeting by clicking on the little TV icon next to the agenda for the February 11 joint meeting, under Board of County Commissioners Regular and Special Sessions, here.
• Work Session.  The agenda for the Wednesday, February 12, 2025 work session is here. The recording is here. Additional documents from the meeting are here. A reminder: in order to move in the recording to the locations I mark below, you will need to download the recording on your computer, which you can do by clicking on the three-dot “more options” selection at the right of the player bar.
  • We started with an add-on from the Prosecuting Attorney’s office, the item that was pulled from Tuesday’s Consent Agenda. This move was in order to hold a conversation in public about the Prosecuting Attorney’s request for the Board to pass a resolution to authorize the commencement of litigation against a citizen to bring a property into compliance with County code. The resolution can be found on page 3 of the “Additional Documents” link above. The Board agreed to move this resolution to next week’s Consent Agenda.
  • We talked with our federal lobbyists, Merchant McIntyre, about funding focus shifts in Washington, DC, about a couple of pending projects for Island County, and opportunities for 2026. Mark 0:10:55 in the recording.
  • Sheriff Felici and Prosecutor Banks spoke with the Board about ICOM’s desire that the Board pass a resolution to submit a proposition to voters in April to pass a 2/10ths of 1% sales tax to fund costs associated with ICOM 911’s emergency communications systems and facilities. The Board will discuss this further in our Regular Session next Tuesday. The ballot would include arguments on both the pro and con side of this initiative; If you would like to serve on either of those committees, let me know. Mark 1:04:02 in the recording.
  • Budget Director Susan Geiger brought the wonderful new Digital Budget Book to the Board for our review before this week’s roll-out. See my comments above. Discussion begins at mark 1:33:25.
  • The Board is reviewing how we select individuals to serve on our advisory committees. In the meantime, the appointments we make this year will be for one-year appointments only. Mark 1:48:24 in the recording.
  • Due to inadequate staffing levels in Juvenile Detention, Superior Court brought the Board an interlocal cooperative agreement between Island County Juvenile Detention Center and Whatcom County Juvenile Detention Center. Lack of sufficient applicants for Juvenile Detention Officer is an issue we share with many jurisdictions, and we are grateful that Whatcom County is able to assist us by housing our youth while we try to staff up. We are actively recruiting and training staff—so if you or one of your loved ones would be interested in this job, go here for more information and to apply. Mark 1:55:00 in the recording.
  • Public Works brought us resolutions to surplus two Solid Waste vehicles: a 1990 GMC 7000 Truck with Aerial Lift and a 2000 Ford Focus Wagon, both of which have exceeded their life cycles. Mark 1:59:30 in the recording.
  • The Board held two conversations with Long Range Planning about Freeland: proposed changes to the Freeland zoning code to support workforce housing, and a discussion on past efforts to plan for and build a sewer in Freeland and potential options to support future growth. The Public Hearing on the Freeland rezoning would be held by the Planning Commission, not the BOCC; if that happens, I’ll let you know. The documents and presentation on the zoning code begin on page 7 of the “Additional Documents” link; the presentation on the Freeland sewer topic begin on page 18. Mark 2:01:45 in the recording.
  • We received two presentations on funding for the Island Roots Housing project in Langley—one a request for additional funds from our affordable housing fund; the other for an extension of some of the ARPA grant funds we awarded them at the beginning of the project. The Board favored both requests. Those discussions and a review of the new Affordable Housing Application began immediately after lunch, beginning at mark 3:06:13 in the recording.
  • This is the agenda for next Wednesday’s work session. This meeting will begin at 10 am. On that agenda: A presentation of the Marine Resources Committee’s Shoreline Armoring Report completed by Herrera in 2024, and proposed changes to APZ/AICUZ Maps for NASWI.
• On Tuesday afternoon, February 18 at 1 pm, the Board of Health will meet. Here is the agenda and zoom link. On that agenda: Environmental Health and Water Availability, and Community Health Improvement Plan Timeline & Activities.
• 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 meets at 6 pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month in the Commissioners Hearing Room in Coupeville. At next Wednesday’s meeting: Whidbey Environmental Action Network (WEAN), Island Roots Housing (IRH), and Agricultural Resources Committee/Island County (ARCIC) will all be giving presentations to the Planning Commission. Each organization will share insights gleaned from community engagement efforts funded by the Climate Commitment Act to engage our island communities in the Comprehensive Plan and offer recommendations for how ecosystem. protection, affordable housing, and the needs of the farming community can be addressed in the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
• Also in the Comp Plan: as the southern gateway to Whidbey Island, Clinton is a pivotal transportation node in the area. Through the subarea planning process, residents, stakeholders, and County staff will work together to determine potential future residential and commercial growth options and establish a vision for the community. A draft of the Subarea Plan is now available for public review, here. Comments will be accepted until March 21, 2025, at 4:30 PM. There are multiple ways to submit a comment:
  • Via the comment form on our public engagement website.
  • Via U.S. Mail: Planning and Community Development Department, 1 NE 7th St., Coupeville, WA 98239.
  • Via email to compplan@islandcountywa.gov
  • On Monday February 24, 2025, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, the County will host an open house at the Clinton Community Hall (6411 S Central Ave, Clinton, WA) to discuss the draft Clinton Subarea Plan. Following the open house, there will be a presentation during the Clinton Community Council meeting that starts at 6:00 PM.
• Congressman Rick Larsen will host a live telephone town hall tomorrow, Saturday February 15, from 1 – 2 pm. Attendees are invited to tune in to a live stream at larsen.house.gov/live or dial in to (855) 962-0954.
• I will NOT be available Monday, February 17^th at Crabby Coffee WiFire in Freeland at 3 pm to meet with citizens. I will also be unavailable in Freeland the following Monday, February 24—but I will be at the Clinton Community Hall beginning at 5 that evening to meet with interested citizens.

Melanie 

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”

~Charles Schultz