Island County Commissioner Melanie Bacon (D-Langley) sent the following newsletter on Fri., Mar. 10, 2023.
Thank you for reading my newsletter for the 10th week of 2023.
Regular Session. You can find the agenda and recording for this week’s Tuesday’s meeting here.
| Our meetings begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, then we have public comment. This week we heard comments from citizens about fireworks and animal welfare. At the end of public comments, after the Commissioners spoke in response, the County Administrator gave an update on the status of the draft revision to the animal welfare code. |
| We approved one resolution this week: C-18-23 (regular agenda): Approving the updated Main Street Sewer District general sewer plan and engineering report. This is the sewer plan for the Maple Ridge assisted living community in Freeland. The Board and Public Health are concerned about elevated nitrogen in the groundwater in the vicinity, and at this meeting, we added language to the resolution to emphasize our expectation that denitrification actions will be undertaken for this sewer system before the next Board review occurs next year |
| We held a public hearing to approve the 10-year franchise renewal for Pinewood Community Club, Inc. |
| We added item 6A to the agenda, a letter in support of Oak Harbor’s request to the federal government for funds to dredge their marina. Mark 38:00 in the recording. |
| The agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting is here. |
Upcoming Public Hearings
| Scheduled: March 28th, at 10:00 a.m.: Franchise Renewal PW2022-0075–Bushpoint Tracpark Division #1 for Water Distribution System, Whidbey Island |
| Proposed: March 28th, at 10:00 a.m.: 2022 Budget Amendment (this date should be finalized next Tuesday) |
You can find the agenda and recording for the March 8th Work Session here.
| Sheriff Felici was first on our agenda. We discussed the staffing for animal control. |
| Eric Brooks from our Department of Emergency Management talked about the grants Island County will be able to provide to some citizens impacted by the December floods, using funds we will access through the State. These grants will be restricted to low-income and disabled persons hurt by the floods and will provide housing assistance, home repair, and appliance replacement. The Board will take action to adopt this grant program at our March 21st regular meeting. Applications will be due by June. I’ll address this more in my March 24th newsletter, in the meantime, for more information contact Island County DEM. You can hear this discussion beginning at mark 00:43:10 in the March 8th recording. |
| Diking District 7 in Snohomish County is in threat of failure, which could severely impact SR 532 to Camano Island, the only road to that island. Our State Legislators are trying to corral funds for repair and wondered if the commissioners in Island County would be willing to help with this. Opinions were voiced at the work session, but no final decision was made. You can hear this discussion beginning at mark 00:53:10. |
| We are considering a change to how we manage our Public Records Requests. Currently, each office manages its own; we are considering the adoption of a policy that would centralize this activity for most departments in the county. We will consider the adoption of this policy at our regular Tuesday meeting on March 21st. You can review the proposed resolution, policy, and procedure beginning on page 61 in the March 8th work session agenda. Discussion at mark 01:08:04. |
| We reviewed the budget amendment proposed for the 2022 budget. You can see detail on the amended items beginning on page 84 of the agenda. I anticipate that the public hearing on this will be held during our regular Tuesday Board meeting on March 28th. |
Public Works is in the process of preparing its 6-year Transportation Improvement Program and its 6-year Capital Improvement Program for 2024-2029. They are soliciting suggestions from the public in a variety of areas, including trails, parks, parking, solid waste, and more. They are accepting suggestions through March 28th. For more information, see this link.
This week’s wildfire safety reminder: This weekend is a good time to change the batteries in your Smoke Detectors
| This Sunday we shift to Daylight Savings Time |
| The “Change Your Clocks, Change Your Batteries” campaign was created by the National Fire Protection Association. It encourages homeowners to change their smoke detector batteries whenever they change their clocks. |
| Smoke detectors with non-replaceable, 10-year batteries are designed to work for up to 10 years. Once you begin hearing that obnoxious “chirping” sound, you’ll need to replace the entire smoke detector promptly if you have these kinds. |
| But most smoke detectors use other types of batteries and will likely need a new battery at least once a year. |
| Smoke detectors can be easily checked by pressing the “test” button and should be tested once a month. |
Monday Tea with Melanie happens most Mondays at 3 pm at the WiFire Community Space, 1651 E. Main Street, Freeland. Tea is on me.
Melanie
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
~Alice Walker
