Letter to Editor | Have all options been explored for Killebrew Lake Road project?

||| FROM DANIEL THIEME for HARNEY VIEW PARK & ROAD ASSOCIATION ||| 

Should the County staff be directed to vigorously explore all available options for providing a bypass road during the Killebrew Lake Road culvert project, and to place that project on hold pending that exploration?

Time is of the essence because the construction and 2-3 month road closure is scheduled to start on July 10, 2023.  That construction start is before the Council’s July meeting.  The County first announced this project on May 31, 2023. 

I recognize that the Council is very busy and has a full agenda.  But I submit that your hundreds of constituents who reside off Killebrew Lake Road deserve to have this issue considered by the full County Council before the County proceeds to block our access to the ferry landing area for 2-3 months.  For full disclosure, I am reaching out to the Council as a whole because Chair Wolf declined my request to place this issue on the June 13 meeting agenda. 

We are asking for only the same consideration that was given to the residents in the Deer Harbor area when this same fish-bypass culvert project was recently undertaken under Cormorant Road.  For that project, the project did not proceed until after a bypass road had been  constructed. That appropriately allowed the residents, including Council Member Wolf, the ability to continue to conveniently access their homes during the construction.  In contrast, your staff’s project plan for Killebrew Lake Road is to entirely close the road for 2-3 months, with no bypass.  This will force the residents to take a 1 to 1.5 hour detour (round trip), over a single lane gravel road (Dolphin Bay Road), for every trip to our local post office (we do not have residential mail delivery), local grocery store, or local restaurant, all located at the ferry landing.  It will also extend by 30 to 45 minutes our access to the ferry, cut off our escape route in the event of a wildfire, and substantially slow our access to emergency services, particularly via ferry or helicopter evacuation. 

I make this request on behalf of the Board of Directors of Harney View Park and Road Association, a homeowner’s association comprised of 40 residences one mile east of the Orcas ferry landing.  I have reason to believe that this request is supported by all, or substantially all, of the hundreds of other residents whose homes are off of Killebrew Lake Road.

My statement of concerns, as presented to Council Member Wolf on Monday, June 5, can be found HERE.  I understand many other residents have emailed to Council Member Wolf with their own concerns. Your staff’s FAQ, posted today in response to the residents’ concerns, can be found HERE.

In today’s FAQs, your staff contends that a bypass road is “unfeasible” because the adjoining property owners did not voluntarily agree to accommodate a temporary road.  This ignores the County’s powers of eminent domain.  The County’s staff failed to pursue all available options for a bypass, and instead waited to announce a full road closure until the bid was let and the project was queued up to start.  This was wrong, and a complete disservice to your constituents.  Please direct your staff to go back to the drawing board on this.