County Council Hears Good News on Orcas

— by Margie Doyle, updated Nov. 3 at 9 a.m. —

The Orcas Island meeting of the County Council on Tuesday, Oct. 31 was one of the fastest-paced, information-packed council meetings ever.  The agenda items amounted to an Executive Summary of the extensive progress made by Orcas agencies, resulting in ballot initiatives for local health care and education, re-opening of the Exchange, expansion of Orcas Montessori school and island work towards advancing the Comprehensive Plan and Vision for the next 20 years.

The 6-year Transportation Improvement Plan was also discussed with County Staff Colin Huntemer and Russ Harvey addressing the Council. Rick Hughes, Council Chair, took the opportunity to congratulate Harvey for his promotion to County Director for Public Works this fall, succeeding Brian Vincent, who has retired, “It is with pride that I announce that Russ has been promoted to Director of Public Works. Russ has an outstanding career with San Juan County with over 35 years of service. He has the history, imagination and ingenuity to continue to work with San Juan County to develop public works and road projects for the County.

Public Comment
The meeting started at the Eastsound Fire Hall with the Public Comment session, where Councilmembers Rick Hughes (Chair), Bill Watson and Jamie Stephens heard comments from:

• Michael Riordan who expressed his support for the County to rejoin the NW Clean Air Agency

• Hilary Canty, Larry Hughes and Art Lange presented the work resulting from funding by the County’s mental health funding program (1/10^th  of one percent retail tax) for case management, and asked for increased funding. Canty said the Orcas Island Community Foundation had pledged $30,000 in additional funding so that Case Manager Larry Hughes may expand his workload at the Orcas Community Resource Center. Canty also requested that funds not used in mental health programs may be redirected towards expanded case management.Councilman Jamie Stephens pointed out that mental health funds from the North Sound Mental Health alliance are “tight, and restricted in use; we don’t get to say that just because we’re not spending it [in the designated area] doesn’t mean we can use it elsewhere.” That said, Stephens affirmed that the council is committed to finding funding and also personnel such as Larry Hughes, who is a social worker.

• Canty also announced that OICF had decided to make $250,000 pledge towards OPAL Land Trust’s purchase of property and construction of affordable rental units at April’s Grove, across North Beach Road from Children’s House.

• Margie Doyle asked that the Council consider the compatibility of current land use and existing land use designations and zoning as it updated the Comprehensive Plan for 2036. One change that might benefit existing neighborhoods is to change zone boundaries that occur in the middle of streets such as North Beach Road and Seaview Street.

• Fred Klein spoke to the 6-year Transportation Improvement Plan, noting that the eastern portion of Bartell Road is a private right of way and is presently blocked off so that vehicles can’t get through to Terrill’s Beach Road. Klein said that section of the road presents “a significant drainage issue, not the kind of problem an individual or small group can deal with.”

• Klein also spoke of the Comp Plan update and expressed his hope that the “methodology will include a certain amount of illustrative maps to indicate existing development and potential for additional parcels to be created in accordance with existing land use designation.” Further he said that he hoped the competent staff in Community Development would find some way to illustrate the impacts of anticipated development: “I’d like to see some of my tax dollars used to create some pictures that will allow citizenry to understand the impacts of development,” Klein said.

Public Hospital District voting
The council then considered and approved a petition requesting a special election for Orcas voters to consider the formation of a public hospital district.

The three County Councilmen approved the order calling for a special election on the formation of a proposed Hospital District and the election of commissioners. The order says, “At the special election on the proposition to establish the public health district, there shall also be elections for five commissioner positions.”

Dale Heisinger and Anne Presson of the Coalition for Orcas Health Care presented the petition to the Council following a statement by Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord that all legal conditions for holding an election on such a petition had been met. They said that they coalition which they represent will now enter its second phase to discuss with the community through various meetings and notices:

• potential costs
• services to be included

Heisinger advised all interested to go to the website Coalitionfororcashealthcare.com  for further information. He also advised that the coalition is looking for commissioners who are experienced in finance, medical care and administration.

Following the council vote, Dave Williams asked how the commissioners for the proposed hospital district were being selected. Councilor Stephens said that, outside the outreach of the Coalition as private citizens, the county elections office would announce a filing period for a week. “If you want to run and you haven’t been recruited by the [Coalition’s nominating committee], you’re [still] welcome to run.”

To which Williams responded as many public servants have probably wondered, “In which direction?”

Following the council vote to set the special election day for April 24, 2018, Stephens said, “After the election, it’s only the beginning of all your hard work:”

Montessori School  receives $436,000 Block Grant
Orcas Montessori School Director Teresa Chocano and County Health and Human Services Director Mark Tompkins updated the Council on the work that’s planned to remodel and expand the Montessori School. The federal Housing and Urban Development Department awarded the County on behalf of the school a  Community Development Block grant in the amount of $436,000 to fund the school’s expansion project. The plans and the grant application have been the focus of much of the Montessori School’s attention in recent years.

Chocano described the project to enlarge the school on North Beach Road so that the classroom has enough space to permit younger students to stay all day, with a rest area, which will allow for parents to extend their work hours , so that the school is more accessible to more families.

Other improvements include:

• Improve the bathroom to be accessible to the disabled
• Increase the efficiency and safety of kitchen
• Increase office space so visitors don’t have to entry the school through the  classroom
• Add a meeting room for parent conferences and other meetings, so that there can be childcare can be provided during meetings

With the expansion, Orcas Montessori School will be eligible for additional state and federal programs and will increase access to families in need through programs such as Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (EEAP)

Mark Tompkins said there’s lots of work to be done between now and next fall; and Chocano said that their timeline is optimistic, with priority given to the classroom and office expansion. She added that a Plan B is ready if all the work is not completed by Sept. 2018.

Eastsound Planning Review Committee
Jeff Otis, Chair of the Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC), began his presentation thanking:

• Hughes for attending meetings and strengthen connections between the county and EPRC
• Community Development Director Erika Shook, and county staff Colin Huntemer and Colin Maycock for supporting the work of the EPRC advisory committee
• County funding of EPRC committee minutes-taker,  Matt Willis
• Citizen engagement during 2017

Otis expanded on the citizen engagement this year, particularly through the Eastsound Vision Process, proposed and moved forward by Bob Maynard and Jim Jonassen, which will be instrumental in the EPRC’s efforts towards updating the County Comprehensive Plan.

The Eastsound Vision Survey has been created to allow islanders to weigh in on their vision for Eastsond; people are asked to go online to EastsoundVision.com and complete the extensive survey. It is open until Nov. 5.

The EPRC is continuing to refine its recommendations for considerations in the 2018 County Comp Plan update, with incentives and the transfer of development rights being considered as “no cost” solutions in developing the future of Eastsound.

EPRC member Paul Kamin then reviewed other projects being reviewed by the committee:

• complete a trail on the south side of Enchanted Forest and south on Lovers Lane to Main Street
• work with the County Community Development Department on public access to parking spaces
• open Main Street view easements to East Sound, which were secured by the county in the 1990s and are “temporarily impaired”
• recalculate the cost of a parking space in Eastsound evaluated (evaluated years ago at $5,000, with current cost to build one valued at between $12-13,000)

2018 Plans for the EPRC:

• Subarea plan update
• Prune alley review and outreach
• “A” Street solution and design
• Service and Light Industrial areas
• Off-Site parking opportunities
• Street lighting demonstration project (at Orcas Park and Ride)
• Streetscapes code review by neighborhood: Kamin said that perhaps those design standards were “more onerous in areas than anticipated,” where full curb, sidewalk, and gutter installation are called for. “We want to be neighborhood sensitive,” Kamin said, giving the proposed OPAL rental housing on North Beach Road as an example.
• Establishing easements over existing paths

Short term goals for the EPRC are:

• Enchanted Forest Trail Design and Construction
• Bike Racks installed on county park lands
• Play area for Village GreenORS Pete Moe

Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange
Pete Moe, General Manager of ORS/TheExchange, informed the Council that the new Exchange building, which is operated by the ORS on leased county land, is “poised to open right after Thanksgiving.” He described the interior construction of the building, and thanked the county for its efforts to bring water on the site, “for the first time ever.”

Moe said that on Nov. 16, the traffic pattern at the Orcas Waste Transfer site will be reversed. He reminded the council attendees that ORS/The Exchange was required to redesign traffic flow for traffic safety reasons, as part of being awarded the contract to run the transfer station. “When we ‘flip the switch’ on that traffic pattern, switching the entrance and exit [to the site] will be fairly significant for people to figure out,” Moe said. The biggest concern looming ahead is “the tsunami of stuff that people are going to want to bring us.”

He also announced that the Orcas Transfer Station, operated by the ORS would become the first hazardous household waste containment unit in the county. The hazardous waste collection will begin after the “more-than-intensive training” involved in operations. The container for household hazardous waste is expected at the site this week.

Moe also spoke to comingled recycling, which will continue for the present on Orcas Island, despite San Juan Island self-haulers and Friday Harbor recycling customers now being required to self-select recycling materials.

“[Comingled] Recycling right now Orcas is okay; [it’s] going to the Waste Management facility in Woodinville, at the current time there are no plans to shut down comingled recycling on Orcas.

“At ORS, it will speed up our trajectory to getting back to source separation, [separating glass, plastic and paper recylables] which we used to do. That will be our next goal after The Exchange opening.”

Orcas Island School District
Orcas Island Schools Superintendent Eric Webb then briefed the council on the two different proposals on the November ballot: a bond and a levy. Their passage next week would “bring our facilities up to match the programs in our award winning school,” Webb said.

He explained that the $11.9M of 2012 had modernized the
• cafeteria
• kitchen
• middle school
• library and
• culinary arts rooms

and provided new construction for:
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) including applied physics lab
• band room
• school’s entry drop off

Webb described the formation of the current bond request after community forums and school board adjustments so that the bond will be voted upon separately from the work on the school’s fields.

He outlined the work ahead if the bond is approved:
• the HVAC system at high school: “It’s a high-needs project. The HVAC system is at the end of its life.”
• Water needs—“It’s been 30 years since piping and water suppression systems have been touched.”
• The “Old Gym” — “Though loved by every architect that comes to our district, it needs mechanical systems upgrades as well as interior finishes to the locker rooms and restrooms. It’s probably the most-used building on the campus.”
• A new music/multi-purpose room — “The music room is currently housed in Milton Elementary, not optimal for strings and instruments used in our award-winning strings program.” Plus that room can then be used for other classroom space, such as ELL or A-OK arts program.
• Construction of a new vestibule in the high school to minimize heat loss
• Windows in the Milton Elementary building – “They are double-paned windows and have plenty of life left in them, but a few have lost their seal and need replacement.”
• Electronic doors for ease of access, for three students currently as well as community access
• road improvements; a chip-seal or asphalt resurfacing on the district-owned roads extending to the north of the high school buildings

The cost of such a bond would be 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed values, Webb said.

LEVY
The levy, Webb said, would repair the structure and drainage, which are “poor at best,” of the fields behind the school buildings; “to allow us to improve the fields so that a track [for which funding has been donated] can be placed there.”

The school board has decided to dedicate some of the funding which Bob Henigson donated to the school as an endowment to maintain the track going forward, Webb said. “We have to get the land ready and enhance our fields.”

The cost for the levy would be 11 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for six years.

Councilor Bill Watson asked the Superintendent for an update on the McCleary decision and legislation [Senate/House Bill 2242] to amply fund basic public education. Webb replied that generally it’s a “shift as far as the money goes, with some [new] restrictions [for all county school districts]; on the positive side Senator Kevin Ranker is open to those discussions, will be in our corner and fight for us.

“For us the big change is staff mixture changes through regionalization.”

School Board member Janet Brownell added that in the process of regionalization, where districts are compared with their closest geographic neighbors, the San Juan Islands are “lumped with Mt. Vernon or Burlington,” which have great differences in property values and costs of living.

Brownell and Webb asked the Council to weigh in on regionalization in conversations with state legislators. Council Chair Hughes affirmed that it is “ready to support schools to the state.”

The Council then adjourned to the opening ceremonies at the Orcas Villlage Park and Ride. Please see accompanying story