Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Dec. 16, 2022.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 50th week of 2022. This was the last week of regular sessions and work sessions for 2022.
Regular Session: You can watch this week’s Tuesday meeting at this link.
| Prosecuting Attorney Greg Banks gave the Board a presentation on the opioid settlement, and the memorandum of understanding we had to sign to receive the first tranche of funds this month (around $60,000); mark 00:27:31 in the above video. This settlement will continue to provide funds for the next seventeen years to assist the county in responding to the impact of opioid misuse on our community. Expect to hear about additional settlements next year. PA Banks has been tenacious in pursuing this and has worked on this issue on our behalf for several years now. |
| Congratulations to Commissioner Janet St. Clair, the 2023 Chair of the Board of Island County Commissioners. |
| Resolution C-86-22 (consent agenda): Authorizing Certain Petty Cash, Change, and Revolving Funds within Island County. |
| Resolution C-87-22 (consent agenda): Certifying the Levies for Collection of Taxes in the Year 2023 to the island County Assessor. |
| Resolution C-88-22 (consent agenda): Providing Lump Sum Travel Allowance in Lieu of Actual Expenses to County Commissioners. The County Commissioners have received a stipend for travel since 1982. This stipend was $800 per month in 2008; reduced to $700 per month in 2009; eliminated entirely in 2010 (due to the recession); then raised to $500—and now raised again to $700 per month in recognition of the increase in the cost of gas since 2011. |
| The next regular session of the Board of Island County Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, January 3rd at 10:00 a.m. You will be able to find the agenda for that meeting, including how to attend virtually, by Friday, December 30th , here. |
Work Session. You can see the agenda for the Wednesday December 14th meeting here. The two audio recordings and three “other” documents can be found under the December 14th tab here.
| The first item on the agenda was a Ziply Fiber presentation on a Broadband grant, which can be found at the beginning of Audio 1. |
| The second item was a draft resolution I brought to the Board on restricting fireworks. Fireworks have become a very contentious topic in my district, and I expect we will hear a lot of passionate arguments from a lot of people over the coming months on this issue. I encourage you to contact your commissioners if you have thoughts on this—and if your organization would like to hear a presentation about the proposed resolution, let me know and we will make those arrangements with you. There will be a lot of outreach and at least one public hearing on this before anything is voted on by the Board. You can see the DRAFT resolution and code change here and listen to the audio of the discussion at mark 00:26:00 in Audio 1, linked above. |
| Wednesday morning, before work, I fell and broke my ankle (did you know that falls are the #1 reason people go to the WhidbeyHealth emergency room?). Anyway, because I knew the fireworks resolution was so important to so many of my constituents, I attended Wednesday’s meeting until that conversation was over. After that, I asked Commissioner St. Clair to chair the meeting while I went to the emergency room (diagnosis: an avulsion fracture of my left ankle). So everything I’m writing below happened without me—I just listened to the work session online this morning, taking notes on what was actually a pretty interesting meeting. |
| At the beginning of Audio 2, Sheriff Felici and Jail Chief Briones talked about making donations for prisoners (games, books, etc). |
| Public Works Director Connie Bowers and Public Health Director Keith Higman gave an update on the Clean Water Utility. The Board talked about the need to identify how today’s needs regarding the Clean Water Utility may have evolved since the code was enacted ten years ago. This conversation can be heard on Audio 2, at the 00:04:50 mark. |
| At 00:40:08 in Audio 2, Connie Bowers talked about an organization that has approached the county to construct a solar and battery project on public land and has identified three Island County parcels for this. One which would have been perfect was determined to not be feasible because of existing restrictions on how the property can be used. The other two parcels are wooded. Commissioner Johnson, who has known me for a long time now, felt very confident in speaking for me in my absence: “She’s not cutting down those trees.” Connie Bowers had heard the same thing from me when she talked about the proposal with me earlier this week. This proposal is not going any further, unless better sites can be found. I am a firm believer in solar power and love the idea of constructing such a project on public land. But not at the sake of losing more of our woods. |
| Human Services gave a really interesting Homeless Housing update. You can listen to it on Audio 2, 00:52:08; the presentation is available as “Other 2” in the work session link above. They discussed the cliff in Housing Assistance funds since the end of COVID assistance. Also, at the Point-In-Time count in January 2022, around 80 unsheltered individuals were counted—and the reality of unhoused people in Island County is estimated at 2 or 3 times that. The next Point-In-Time count will happen on January 26, 2023. If you’re interested in volunteering to assist with the 2023 count, contact Island County Human Services. |
| The Board discussed the Planning Commission’s revision recommendations to the Public Benefit Rating System (PBRS) code. Mark 01:26:36 in Audio 2. I appreciate the addition of points for forest stewardship and drainage into PBRS which is included in this focused revision. This item will go to the Regular Session of the Board on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, for a vote. I am hoping we will include a full review of PBRS in the Planning Docket for 2024, because there is still more to be done with this code. |
| Planning also proposed updates to the permit fee schedule and building fees, mark 01:38:23 in Audio 2. The chart they reference is here. |
| This was probably the last work session for two exiting Island county stars: Public Health Director Keith Higman and Human Services Housing Guru Joanne Pelant. Thank you both for your great service. You have both had a lasting impact on the citizens of Island County, and we are all better off because you were there. |
| The next work session of the Board of Island County Commissioners will be held on Wednesday, January 4th at 10:00 a.m. You will be able to find the agenda for that meeting, including how to attend virtually, by Friday, December 30th , here. |
The Council of Governments (COG) will meet virtually on Wednesday, December 28th at 9 am. Click here to join the meeting or by telephone: 1-323-433-2396 Phone Conference ID 829 612 938#. We will talk about broadband and the FCC maps; if you have issues accessing the internet due to where you live, you may find this meeting of interest. We may also talk a little bit about the county’s upcoming grant writing collaboration with Merchant McIntyre Consultants.
The Commissioners will not be holding any of our regular meetings the last two weeks of December. I plan to write newsletters both of those weeks, though: on December 23rd , an encapsulation of Board actions in 2022; and on December 30th , a discussion of the issues I hope the Board will address next year.
We are tentatively planning an open house in April 2023 to discuss the Freeland Roundabout project. As I know more, so will you.
The South Whidbey Record had a great article this week on the importance of clarifying the FCC broadband maps, an issue Commissioner St. Clair has been championing for a long time. If you have poor or nonexistent broadband, I urge you to go to https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home. Type in your address, click on the map dot for your house, and if the information it shows is incorrect, click on “location challenge.” It lets you check for both fixed broadband and mobile service.
I want to salute Michele and Scott in the Island County Elections Office, their hard-working election workers, and the dedicated citizens who observed the extended elections process this year. They ensured the accurate count of ballots from a large voter turnout, a hand recount for one race, and a machine recount for another, all with honesty, integrity, and a deep commitment to our democratic processes. Without question, democracy, and public service at its finest.
I’ll be back with my Monday Tea with Melanie on January 9th at 3:00 p.m. at the WiFire Community Space, 1651 E. Main Street, Freeland. Tea is on me.
Hanukkah Sameach!
Melanie
“If we’ve learned anything, Melanie does not want to cut down those trees.”
~ Jill Johnson
