Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Dec. 30, 2022.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the final week of 2022. This week I want to talk about the Board’s priorities for 2023.
Let’s start by discussing how the big issues of 2022 will continue into the new year. As I mentioned last week, the Board talked a lot in 2022 about broadband, ferries, COVID, affordable housing, equity, and climate resiliency.
Broadband. This will certainly continue to be a major topic next year. 2023 Board Chair Janet St. Clair is the driving force behind this initiative for our County, with support from Jill and me; right now the discussion is on how we can change the FCC maps to reflect the reality of our poor broadband availability, and assist our local telephone providers to receive grants to help build their broadband networks.
Ferries. I’d like to say this problem will be resolved next year but we all know that would be a lie. I fully expect to continue my regular complaints to Washington State Ferries throughout the year, and to continue asking you to apply to serve on the Coupeville Ferry Advisory Board (hint hint).
COVID. This disease has entered the endemic phase. In the fall we may encourage everyone to get their annual COVID shot along with their flu shot, but other than that I don’t expect the disease itself to be a major topic of conversation for the Board in 2023. But we continue to live with the fall-out from two years of disease, like the impact on business, on education, and on housing—and I’m afraid those will remain critical issues for a long time to come.
Affordable Housing. The Board of Island County Commissioners uses the term “affordable housing” to cover a wide range of housing concerns, from homeless housing to subsidized housing to workforce housing. In 2023 the Board will reflect our focus on this through: entering contracts with other organizations to pursue affordable housing on land owned by the County; following up with our ARPA affordable housing grants; considering housing actions using the revenue from the 1/10th of 1% sales tax we enacted in 2022; looking at policies associated with short-term rentals; the forward-movement of housing projects we approved or funded in 2022; reviewing our land use and building codes; and continuing our regular work in Human Services trying to help people in need find and afford someplace to live.
Equity. One of the major “a-ha!” moments at the County during the pandemic was the awareness that we have not succeeded in serving our citizens equitably. We realized that when we saw not only that the disease impacted people differently according to demographics—but also that access and participation in our testing and vaccination services differed according to community demographics as well. We are determined to do better going forward, working to ensure equity with all of our County services and opportunities.
Climate Resiliency. We will begin working on our Comprehensive Plan Update next year. Plans for significant actions toward achieving climate resiliency will be embedded throughout that document. Expect lots of outreach and community meetings. For example, I expect that this week has really emphasized for us all the importance of planning for sea level rise.
Expect to hear the words Health, Equity, and Climate repeatedly through the year. The Board is committed to viewing all of our actions through those lenses.
The Board has State legislative priorities, items that we hope the State legislature will consider on our behalf in 2023. These include an emergency generator replacement, assistance with finding septic/sewer solutions to accommodate housing needs, full ferry funding, SR-20 shoulder widening from Race Road to Welcher Road, Deception Pass Vicinity guardrail replacement, a roundabout at East Camano Drive and Cross Island Road, and we also support regional requests regarding behavioral health, inflation, public records act reform, and two capital budget requests made by regional partners. You can find more detailed information on that list here, at 10:41 in the agenda.
All of the departments that report to the Board have work plans for 2023. In addition, Public Works and Planning have docketed items for 2023, and Public Works has a 6-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and a 6-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP), all of which might be of interest to you.
| 2023 Planning/Public Works Docket: Click on Resolution C-85-22 at 10:29, here. |
| 6-Year Transportation Improvement Program: Click on Resolution C-56-22 at 10:04, here. |
| 6-Year Capital Improvement Program: Click on Resolution C-67-22 at 10:05, here. |
Some of the studies I expect to see in 2023:
| Boat ramps |
| Public Works climate resiliency |
| Campground feasibility |
| Sewer feasibility |
In addition, in January we expect to enter into a contract with a Washington, DC consulting group to help us access grant funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and other federal programs. Having access to these federal dollars will enable us to more fully provide for the needs of our residents in Island County.
Some other issues on the radar for 2023:
| Fireworks |
| Airports: access to the Whidbey Airpark near Langley, and continuing discussions with the owners of the Eisenberg Airport near Oak Harbor |
| Fee Schedules |
| Blue-green algae in our lakes |
| PFAS in our ground water |
| Noise |
| Permit times |
| 2024 Planning Docket (I’ll be pushing for a full PBRS update) |
| Roundabouts, both County and State (two examples: Main Street Freeland, and SR-525 at Honeymoon Bay Road) |
| Forest management |
And no doubt my colleagues have their own lists going. So it looks like 2023 is going to be another full year for your Commissioners!
Happy New Year!
Melanie
“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.”
~ Brad Paisley
