Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Apr. 29, 2022.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 17th week of 2022.
- The contractor who provides our shipping containers to transfer solid waste from our sites to the landfill has been having some issues and is failing to provide the containers in a timely manner. As a result, solid waste facilities have been impacted regionally as solid waste has continued to be dropped off to local sites but not transferred off site (Snohomish and Skagit are having this same problem). In Island County, we are rapidly running out of local space to temporarily store solid waste materials. Yesterday we had to close our facilities for solid waste drop-off. We may have to close the sites to Island Disposal/Waste Management collection services as well; our staff is working with both vendors. We do not know the length of the closure. We continue to put pressure on and work with our provider to have containers delivered. Expect to see updates and press releases on this emerging issue—and know resolving this is a priority for us. Recycling is not impacted and remains open.
- This week I sat in on an interesting meeting with Sergeant Crownover from the Sheriff’s Office and some concerned citizens over issues in their community. I learned about something in the meeting that some of you might want to know. If you are a property owner in unincorporated Island County, you have significant rights if someone is squatting on your property or residence (this is not always true in some states). If this is happening, you should call the Sheriff’s Dispatch Center at 360-678-4422. An officer will come see you or your agent to start the legal process. They have a form you will fill out, and a form they will serve on the trespasser or squatter. They will then send the person away. If the person returns, the form the citizen filled out the first time has laid down the legality of the process; you call the Sheriff’s office again and the trespasser will be arrested and prosecuted in District Court. I have heard people express worries in the past about this situation, so I wanted to share this information with everyone. My thanks to Chief Criminal Deputy Tingstad for walking me through the procedure. If you live in a city or village, I feel confident the process will be the same; you should call your municipal police for their assistance.
- I want to thank Whidbey Telecom for their ferry cam and schedule pages, which I use all the time. Clinton is here: https://www.whidbeytel.com/cams/clinton/ ; Coupeville is here: https://www.whidbeytel.com/cams/coupeville/ . I keep them both as icons on the home page of my iPhone. A great public service.
- Representative Rick Larsen’s office gave the Executive Board of the Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization (IRTPO) an informative presentation this week on the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA). We heard about a lot of funding opportunities that I know several (municipalities, port districts, and county) are going to try to take advantage of to assist in projects to serve our constituencies. If you’re interested in hearing the recording of that presentation, contact my office.
- Resolutions & Proclamations passed this week.
- Resolution No. C-28-22 (Consent Agenda): Approving Plans & Specifications and Authorizing Call for Bids for 2022 Camano Island Hot Mix Asphalt Overlays
- Resolution No. C-29-22 (Consent Agenda): Treasurer’s Annual Designation of Financial Institutions Qualifying as Public Depositories for Island County
- Resolution No. C-23-22 (Regular Agenda, Public Hearing): Amending the 2021 Island County Budget to fund unforeseen expenditures and recognize unanticipated revenue related to COVID-19 pandemic and unanticipated events
- Upcoming Public Hearing. This meeting will be open to the public at our regular 10 am Tuesday Board meeting, both in person and virtually at: https://meet.starleaf.com/4919878603/app
- May 3rd: Public Hearing CONTINUED on a revision of the Planning Code regarding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). At the public hearing on April 19, in response to a comment from a member of the public, the Board discussed making an additional change to the code. Since this change had not been part of the documents made available to the public previously, we continued the public hearing to May 3rd so interested members of the public will have an opportunity to review this change along with the other changes prior to a decision being made by the Board. Public comment during the public hearing has been closed—but the Board will review written comments and hear comments made during the regular public comment part of this meeting.
- COVID. Our case rates continue to increase. This week’s COVID response newsletter can be found here: https://www.islandcountywa.gov/Health/Pages/COVID-Report.aspx
Thanks,
Melanie
“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’”
—Robin Williams
