ISLAND COUNTY: A Message from Commissioner Bacon [Feb. 21, 2025]

Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Feb. 21, 2025.

Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 8^th week of 2025.

• Regular Session.  The agenda and recording for the Tuesday February 18^th Regular Session of the Board of Island County Commissioners is here.
• Commissioner St. Clair attended virtually. If you listen to this recording you might be confused by my insistence that we can’t hear Commissioner St. Clair, when you can hear her perfectly well on the recording. Turns out it was an issue with our system in the hearing room, not a problem with Zoom.
• We received public comment from a citizen speaking about Freeland sewer and water issues.
• Sofia Kohfield of ICOM 911 Emergency Services brought the Board a request that we put a 2/10ths of 1% Sales Tax increase on the ballot for voters in an Island County Special Election this April. The presentation on this ballot item begins at mark 0:07:20 in the recording. This 2/10^th of 1% (2 cents extra tax on every $10 spent in Island County, excluding groceries and prescriptions) would be used to repair and upgrade our emergency response system, which is aging and vulnerable to outages during disasters (plus, many areas in our county currently cannot connect to 911). I was particularly struck by learning that ICOM handled 93,000 911 calls in 2024—clearly this is a vital service for our citizens. The Commissioners voted to include this item on the ballot. Now we are looking for people to serve on the committees that write the pro and con arguments for the ballot. So far, we have 2 volunteers to work on the pro committee—but no one to work on the con committee.  So if you believe this additional tax is a bad idea, you need to let my office know immediately that you want to help write the con argument for the April ballot—this has to be done ASAP in order to meet the deadlines. We would also take other volunteers to work on the pro argument.
  • The next regular session will occur on Tuesday, February 25,^, The agenda for that meeting is here. On that agenda: the two public hearings shown 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 Health met. This is the agenda; this is the audio recording. There is also a video recording, but be advised that it may take a few minutes to download.
  • First on the agenda: we heard a really informative presentation from Chris Kelley, the County Hydrogeologist, on water availability in Island County. The presentation can be found beginning on page 5 of the agenda. This is a particularly important topic to our citizens—and if long-term water availability is something that worries you, I urge you to listen (or watch) the conversation. These are the takeaways I got from Dr. Kelly’s presentation: (1) we have enough water in our aquifers to support growth; and (2) our biggest vulnerability is our infrastructure and our strong need to repair and maintain that infrastructure. In planning for the future, we need to focus on repairing our water system infrastructure and work on ways to enhance our water recharge into our aquifers.
  • Citizens who want to keep informed on water issues are encouraged to sign up the County’s drinking water listserv, which you can do here.
  • The second major topic was Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) Timeline & Activities, beginning at mark 1:06:25 in the video recording and on page 12 in the agenda.
• Work Session.  The agenda for the Wednesday, February 19, 2025 work session is here. The audio recording is here; the video recording can be downloaded here.
  • Jen Schmitz of our Department of Natural Resources brought us a report known around the County lately as “The Herrera Report”; this report is an analysis of how and where shoreline armoring in Island County has increased or decreased since Herrera Environmental Consultants’ last report in 2016. It was an extremely informative, fact-based analysis of changes, using the same methodology they used for their first report. The takeaway the Commissioners got: people will do shoreline armoring whether they get permits or not, so we need to find some way to make it attractive for them to go through the permitting process and consider alternatives to hard armoring (there have been 391 new armor segments installed since 2016, 64% adjacent to existing armor, representing 14,000 new feet of armor; most new segments appear to have not been permitted). The presentation begins at mark 0:06:31 in the recording and on page 15 in the agenda.
  • As part of the Comp Plan work, Planning brought us their proposed changes for the APZ/AICUZ maps for NASWI. This would change the maps we use (from 2005), to reflect the fact that Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) updated their Accident Potential Maps (APZ) and Air Installation Compatibility Use Zone (AICUZ) maps after the introduction of the Growler plane. This discussion begins at 1:10:44 in the recording; the presentation can be found beginning on page 127 in the agenda.
  • The next Work Session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 5. The agenda for that meeting will be posted by Friday, February 28, here.
• Next Wednesday morning the Council of Governments (COG) and Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization (IRTPO) will meet beginning at 9 am. Zoom info for both meetings.
  • Agenda for COG (9 am). On that agenda: Emergency Housing and the 5 Year Homeless Housing Plan; Broadband Informational Presentation; and Bill 1791 (REET) Discussion.
  • On the Agenda for IRTPO (10 am): Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (CSAP) Priorities and Questions; 2025 Calendar Outlook.
• 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. The next meeting will be held on the evening of March 5. I understand they will be discussing the possibility of doing many or most of their meetings by Zoom only; I’ll keep you updated on what’s decided.
• 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.

• There are two upcoming events associated with the County’s food program.
  • Monday March 10, Consumer and Food Industry Meetings, both meetings to be held in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room in Coupeville. Industry meeting 9 – 12; Consumer meeting 1 – 3 pm. Both meetings will be facilitated by the Island County Food Safety Team.
  • Thurs & Fri March 20 – 21, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, Certified Food Protection Manager training. An in-person class, available for those in the food industry. Includes class, book and test. $150 per attendee. Training will be given in Room Room 116, 1 NE 7th Street, Coupeville (the County Admin building). You must register by 3 pm on March 17; this is the registration form.
• One of my favorite things about being Chair of the Board of County Commissioners is, I get to serve on the Canvassing Committee that certifies elections. Today we met to certify the results of the February 11 Special Election renewing the educations programs and operational levy for the Oak Harbor School District. The levy renewal passed.
  • My observation over fourteen years at the County is: Island County voters are well served by the depth of commitment shown by Auditor Sheilah Crider to ensure safe, secure, and accurate elections and election results.
  • Every week, someone from Island County has attended calls from the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency, to ensure that we are always up-to-date on the latest threats to elections systems. Last Friday the DHS notified the Center for Internet Security (CIS) of their intention to defund specific funding for certain program areas. We will stay tuned.
• Habitat for Humanity of Island County will hold a Homebuyer Program Information Session on Saturday, March 8 at 10:30, at the Oak Harbor Habitat Administrative Office, located upstairs at the Oak Harbor Habitat Store, 290 SE Pioneer Way. Please RSVP by 2 pm Friday, March 7^th at office@islandcountyhabitat.com. During this session they will go over the application requirements and answer any questions attendees may have regarding the application process.
• Next Monday. February 24, the Clinton Community Council will meet at the Clinton Community Hall at 6 pm. Main topic of conversation: the Clinton Sub Area plan (see above).
• I will NOT be available Monday, February 24^th in Freeland or Coupeville to meet with citizens. I will be at the Clinton Community Hall beginning at 4 that afternoon to meet with interested citizens to discuss the Clinton Sub Area Plan.

Melanie 

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

~the unofficial motto of the US Postal Service