||| FROM NECIA QUAST for LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS |||
Kari Koski updated the Council on the Derelict Vessel program. Old boats are hard to dispose of and our county offers ideal conditions for people to abandon or hide failing boats. San Juan County was the first in the state to have such a program and has become the model for other places. The program coordinates with state agencies to remove derelict vessels and to prevent aging boats from becoming derelict by providing support to owners and offering turn-in events where people can safely get rid of unwanted boats.
The county lobbyist said the state budget was moving forward with hearings scheduled this week. He coordinated with the Council on draft language to amend a bill that would suspend Ferry Advisory Committees.
The county consultant briefed the council on Comp Plan proposals to expand the Eastsound urban growth area with three parcels and to increase density in some existing parcels to add 278 plots, erasing the deficit and providing a surplus of buildable plots. There were no proposals made to change the Lopez Village UGA. Long-range planner Sophia Cassam reviewed proposed changes to land use elements that will impact map amendments. These include incorporating updates to the growth management act, and policies to support farm worker housing, ease permitting for agricultural outbuildings, address infrastructure and resource constraints. They plan to add policies supporting renewable energy siting.
The director of the Islands Oil Spill Association (IOSA) briefed the council on the association’s role in coordinating response to oil spills, large and small. IOSA was founded in 1985 and remains unique as the sole all-volunteer local oil spill response organization in the nation. The organization responds to reports of oil spills, does an assessment, identifies the hazard, and begins the initial response, then calling in the state on larger spills, providing key local knowledge, trained volunteers and equipment and supplies. IOSA will be running an Oil Spill Response Exercise with local, state and federal partners in June.
The council agreed to move forward to amend an ordinance that would designate a set amount of the Public Facilities Financial Assistance Program funds to the Economic Development Council annually for administrative support.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization encourages informed participation in government. The Observer Corps attends and takes notes at government meetings to expand public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members.
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