Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Jan. 20, 2023.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 3rd week of 2023.
Regular Session: You can watch this week’s Tuesday meeting and access the agenda and supporting documentation at this link.
First, I apologize to anyone who dialed in to Tuesday’s meeting at 10:00 am but finally left in frustration because it looked like we were never going to get started. Due to technical difficulties, our scheduled 10:00 a.m. meeting didn’t start until 10:16 a.m. They’ve been working hard this week to identify and repair the problem, and we’re expecting all will be well next week. Fingers crossed—because I will be attending the BOCC board meeting by Zoom myself next Tuesday, since I’ll be in Olympia for a board meeting of the Wildland Fire Advisory Committee that afternoon. The agenda for next Tuesday’s 10:00 a.m. meeting can be found here.
Second, a Big Thank You! to Virginia Shaddy, the Island County Clerk of the Board, for her creative technical work-around that allowed us to have a virtual meeting this week after all—and even got it recorded! I am continually impressed by and grateful to the amazing women who support us in the Commissioners’ office.
During the Public Comment period, citizen Pat Lamont gave us an update on the condition of the animals who were rescued by the Sheriff and concerned residents in the recent animal cruelty incident. Thank you for that, Pat. You can hear her remarks at mark 00:01:48 in the video.
Resolutions approved this week:
| C-06-23 (consent agenda): Establishing the Jail Commissary Fund. |
| C-07-23: Amendment to the Island County Public Benefit Open Space Rating System. With this amendment, the County provides PBRS points for drainage areas and for forest stewardship. The intent behind providing forest stewardship points is to encourage people with forested land to protect those trees from harvesting by entering their property into the PBRS system instead of into the forest management program. You can watch the presentation on this by John Lanier of the Planning Department at 00:07:59 in the above video. |
We are expecting king tides again next week. Most of my time this week was spent discussing the impact of the December flooding, mitigation options for next week’s flooding, and long-term ideas for shoreline resilience. I spoke with several people from the Mutiny Bay neighborhood, a business owner from Coupeville’s Front Street, a group from the Greenbank Beach and Boat Club (big thanks to Public Works and Planning for trying to help them implement a temporary finger-in-the-dike fix before next week), and tomorrow I’m attending a meeting of Diking District 1 neighbors. On Wednesday I had lunch with Congressman Rick Larsen, who was in Coupeville touring the damage and listening to business owners and town government representatives. Over lunch I shared the stories I’ve heard from citizens these last weeks. I want you to know: your local, state, and federal representatives are listening to you, and we are trying to figure out solutions to help.
Upcoming Public Hearing, January 24th, 10:00 a.m.:
| C-90-22: Petition to vacate and dedicate a portion of county road right-of-way. |
Wednesday’s work session (January 18) was cancelled. The next work session for the Board will be held on Wednesday, February 1. By Friday, January 27, you will be able to find the agenda for that meeting, including how to attend virtually, here.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing in the Commissioners Hearing Room, Coupeville, WA, on January 23rd, at 2:00 p.m. The purpose of this public hearing will be to discuss proposed updates to the RAID Use Table, ICC 17.03.035 table C, and also to review the implementation of Ordinance C-53-19, updates to the Rural Service RAID, including code footnotes and use table, and updated naming of Midget Market RAID. Interested persons may appear at the public hearing and give testimony for or against the proposal or participate remotely via phone or by computer, smartphone, or tablet at via Zoom or (253) 251-8782 Meeting ID: 931 2458 9425 Passcode: 990487
We just learned from Senator Patty Murray that the federal government has awarded WSDOT a $4,900,000 grant for the Clinton Ferry Terminal! Wonderful news—I have no other details yet, but I send cheers and congratulations to everyone who worked to get this. I expect to hear more about this project at next week’s Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization (IRTPO) meeting, and will share what I learn with you in next Friday’s newsletter. To attend the IRTPO meeting yourself next Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., see the January 25th agenda here.
Monday Tea with Melanie is back next Monday, January 23, at 3:00 p.m. at the WiFire Community Space, 1651 E. Main Street, Freeland. Tea is on me.
Melanie
“Grace grows best in winter.”
~ Samuel Rutherford
