By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
The San Juan County Council voted on April 28 to order staff to negotiate with the Town of Friday Harbor for a lease-purchase agreement aimed at acquiring the right to build a new San Juan Island transfer facility on Town-owned property on Sutton Road.
The property in question encompasses the current transfer station site. The vote was 4-1, with member Richard Fralick of Orcas voting against and Council Member Bob Myhr on an excused absence. All three San Juan Island Council Members supported the choice.
The Sutton road site had been chosen as acceptable, but ranked third, behind sites on Beaverton Valley Road and Daniel Lane by both the Public Works Department and the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. Council Member Lovel Pratt and Council Chair Rich Peterson both expressed reluctance not to follow the recommendations, but cited factors including relations with the Town of Friday Harbor and concerns that because it is adjacent to a closed landfill, the land might not be usable for other purposes.
Peterson said he also felt that it was fair to consider that the people who live in the neighborhood near Sutton Road, bought their property knowing that there was a transfer station nearby.
Fralick said that he could not support the selection of Sutton Road as a first choice because it appeared that construction its costs would be higher than on the other sites, it was too small to take advantage of co-location with other County facilities, it had less capacity for expansion and came with uncertainties over zoning and land use restrictions made it possible that, “it could be up to five years before we could put a shovel in the dirt.”
In a 4-0 vote with Council Member Gene Knapp abstaining, the Council directed County Administrator Pete Rose to begin negotiations with the Town and determine within 30 days if a suitable arrangement can be made to lease or acquire the land. It also asked Rose to explore environmental risk factors in the process.
The Council indicated that it was prepared to revisit its decision if it does not look like negotiations with the Town will be productive.
The vote followed a public hearing during which neighbors of the two top-rated possible sites each raised environmental and safety concerns about each site’s suitability as the location for a transfer station.
