Orcas News and Views Retrospective: 2013 Notable Moments

— by Margie Doyle, Publisher and Historian —

2013 Stories and Links an incomplete list, browse our archives (go to the link in the left-hand sidebar) and add your interests:

The Mt. Baker Road Reconstruction Project: Started on March 19 with a 90-day contract, excluding “holidays or when weather, differing site conditions or significant changes to quantities of work” according to Colin Huntemer, Senior Project Engineer for San Juan County Public Works Department overseeing the Mt. Baker Road project. Contractors had until August 20, to complete the physical road work and to avoid financial penalties.

Summer Economic Boom: Summer 2013 saw non-stop commerce on Orcas Island, with restaurants and retail outlets doing a brisk business. Several businesses opened or expanded, introducing a new generation of Orcas Island entrepreneurs:

• Golden Tree Hostel;
• Kathryn Taylor Chocolates moved into the Templin Center (Ray’s Pharmacy) building on the corner of Main Street and North Beach Road;
• Score! Nifty Thrifty, Orcas’ only thrift store, opened at the east end of the Post Office building;
• Brown Bear Baking Company moved into the Rose Garden corner building across from Darvill’s Bookstore and Crow Valley Pottery;
• Barnacles moved into the small building behind The Kitchen on Prune Alley, formerly occupied by Millie Vacarelli’s store and Dave Parrish’s music studio;
• Island Hoppin’ Brewery, making and selling unique island brews in its tasting room on Hope Lane off Mt. Baker Road.

Orcas Artworks fire in Olga:
On July 19, a fire broke out at the Orcas Artworks building, (the Olga Stawberry building). Within a short time a second fire broke out at a Willis Lane structure. Meanwhile, the non-profit Olga Strawberry Council, under the leadership of Patsy Stephens, began work to repair and restore the historic 75-year-old Olga Strawberry Barreling Plant. The building housed three businesses: The Artworks Cooperative, James Hardman Gallery, and Cafe Olga.

ORS Takes Over Orcas Waste Transfer Station: On August 19, county officials signed over a lease authorizing the Orcas Recycling Services(ORS) non-profit to manage the Orcas Transfer Station, following 10 months of negotiations with the County Public Works Department. The ORS hired Master Plan Consultant Terrill Chang, who met with the community-organized Exchange Redesign Advisory group to consider options for the transfer station on the four-lot site leased by the county.

The Orcas Island School District saw many changes, starting in September with:
New K-6 Principal Kathy Page, who introduced the Tardy Queen program, decreasing tardy rates significantly from last year;
New Middle/High School Principal Kyle Freeman, who has been the K-8 Principal for the past four years;
Increased enrollment, from the 744 projected last April when the 2013-14 budget process began, to over 850 (head count) in September, holding steady since then;
Superintendent Barbara Kline’s announcement that she will retire as of June 2014. The School Board has been selecting a search firm and community input to inform the selection of a new superintendent.
Meanwhile, work progresses on the school renovation approved through a $11 million bond vote, under the direction of project manager Liz LeRoy. Bids are planned to go out in January 2014.

Marijuana legislation passes: The initiative legalizing possession of up to one ounce marijuana took effect in 2013 after passage by 68 percent of island voters, and a majority vote of 56 percent statewide. The Washington State Liquor Board spent the majority of 2013 working out the rules and regulations for growers, processors, and retailers, along with top-level communications with Federal officials (as the new law is contradictory to federal law)/

Washington State Ferries Falter: A collision involving the motor yacht Tasya and the Washington State Ferries (WSF) vessel Hyak on Sept. 13 was due to human error, WSF concluded in its investigation. The sole occupant of the Tasya was rescued by a nearby vessel and taken to Orcas Island.The Captain and the second mate on the Hyak at the time of the collision were placed on paid administrative assignment. Earlier in the year, it was determined that the cause of the failure Walla Walla’s engine drive motor was due to human error — not following the procedure for repairs. The ferry was out of commission for five months.

CenturyLink Cable Break Causes 10-day Emergency, Internet Outages: On Nov. 5, a CenturyLink submarine cable break between Lopez and San Juan Islands announced the start of a 10-day break in emergency and internet service throughout San Juan County. OPALCO and Rock Island both offered assistance in temporary solutions; CenturyLink was able to fully restore services on Nov. 15. In a meeting of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in December to investigate the event and response, local business people, government officials and internet providers roundly criticized CenturyLink for its failure to inform the public and its own customer service personnel about the situation .https://theorcasonian.com/utc-hearing-on-c-link-outage-snapshot-of-complex-situation/

Orcas Food Co-op signs the lease to operate in the store formerly occupied by Homegrown Foods in Eastsound on December 3. The lease was the culmination of an effort to establish a member-owned and -controlled community food source. Ken Katz (VP board member) said, “Having a co-op in our community will provide access to high quality, local, organic and GMO free foods and goods. By buying local, islanders keep more money in the local economy, re-investing back to members, paying employees living wages, buying from local farmers, and strengthening the economic community.” Plans are to open the Orcas Co-op’s doors in the spring of 2014, after cosmetic and structural changes to the space. “This space has a rich history,” said future co-op manager Learner Limbach.

OPALCO Announces Plans to Expand Broadband through a “hybrid” system of fiber optics and wireless technologies. The original 2013 plan was estimated to cost $34 million and was dependent upon buy-in by the rural electric cooperative members. In the summer the first plan was revised due to lack of member support. In the words of long-time OPALCO Board Member Bob Mhyr, “we must stay on top of a complex equation of technical, organizational and environmental concerns to keep the Co-op—and our communities—healthy and strong. The “more conservative plan” advanced in June involved sharing OPALCO’s infrastructure with all of the other Internet Service Providers. “This infrastructure provider concept means that we will offer access to our data networking infrastructure through leasing agreements with local internet providers such as Rock Island, the Computer Place and Orcas Online. The CenturyLink cable failure in November left many county internet users scrambling to find OPALCO’s fiber-optic outlets at public institutions, and many more grateful to OPALCO’s non-stop work “in the spirit of of serving our members and helping a fellow utility,” according to OPALCO’s Suzanne Olson.

Orcas Response to Newtown and Meet the Deputies: The horrific killing of young children and their teachers at Christmastime last year elicited a local response to discuss how to protect Orcas schoolchildren from violence. Under the facilitation of Fred Klein, a group of 43 Orcas Islanders met for 15 hours over four days in January and February. Their guiding direction was articulated as, “Build trust first, reaching consensus is the easy part.” Trust-building and engagement proved difficult, but the group did issue a consensus statement. Moving forward, Undersheriff Bruce Distler worked with Orcas Schools, island counselors and Orcas Issues to continue the discussion for four months, in meetings called “Meet the Deputies.”

County Election Season: Due to the passage of changes to the County Charter, primary elections for a 3-member County Council were held in February. In April Rick Hughes was elected to the new position (he had previously won the 6-member council seat for Orcas West in November 2012). Hughes’ opponent in the spring election was OPAL Director Lisa Byers; their cordiality was noteworthy in a frequently vitriolic campaign. Jamie Stephens defeated Brian McClerran on Lopez Island, and Bob Jarman prevailed over Lovel Pratt on San Juan Island.

Exchange Fire and ORS Contract and Takeover: The Orcas Island Exchange buildings were consumed by fire in the late afternoon of Feb. 9. The Exchange was the physical manifestation of Orcas Recycling Services’ 30-year pledge to “Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.” The Exchange was situated at the Orcas Transfer Station, previously operated by San Juan County. Orcas Recycling Services, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, had been awarded the contract to lease and operate the Orcas Transfer Station in November 2012.
In August 2013, County Public Works concluded the contract with ORS, and the transfer station was open under new management on Sept. 2, 2013.

Culture Thrives! Some examples:

• Orcas Issues’ Poetry Month in April featured poems only from Orcas Island poets — a new poem each day!
• The Chamber’s Second Shakespeare Festival under the creative direction of Jane Alden took place on a sunny weekend, in sharp contrast to the first festival. Feasts, parades and performances ruled Eastsound village, culminating in a lively production of “Julius Caesar” by the young Seattle Shakespeare Company;
• The Public Library celebrated its 20th year on Rose Street with displays of the multi-volume Library archives, photographs through the years, and artwork depicting the many forums for reading and literacy brought to us by the Library. A new Seed Catalog was initiated in May, and the Library Board is now embarking on an expansion project;
• Orcas Choral Society, under the leadership of Roger Sherman, sings Mozart’s “Requiem” at Orcas Center and St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle;
• Orcas Island Historical Society had regular History Matinees with local treasures such as Katie Adams, Abby Rueb, Joyce Burghardt and Jane Barfoot-Hodde, who celebrated her 100th birthday in July.
• Fresh from workshops at the Funhouse Commons, Orcas filmmakers Conrad Wroebel and Bruce Bosley won regional awards for their zombie movie, “Little Dead Riding Hood.”

CAO Decision Appealed: On April 26 the Common Sense Alliance(CSA) filed a Brief with the State’s Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB), spelling out its objections to the County’s Critical Area Ordinances (CAO) as applied to Wetlands and Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas in San Juan County. (The County Council approved the update by ordinance in December 2012). CSA maintained that county ordinances should be “simple to administer, easy to understand and in full compliance with the laws governing the State’s Growth Management Act and the required update of all county’s Critical Area Ordinances.” On the opposite end of the land use spectrum, Friends of the San Juans contend the critical area ordinances make too many exceptions and ask that the Growth Board use other scientific reports. A request by Citizens Alliance for Property Rights (CAPR) to join the case was denied by the Growth Board.

On September 6, the GMHB issued its 109-page decision in the appeals; its findings of the multiple issues before it were laid out in over 100 pages; and the 11 components of its order of non-compliance concluded the decision. The Friends of the San Juans prevailed on buffer, habitat, wetlands and utilities challenges. The GMHB required an answer to its findings by March and April 2014, with a compliance hearing scheduled for April 24, 2014.