Water agreement holds up Deer Harbor Fire Station

Teri Williams of Permit Resources consulting firm advised the Orcas Fire Department at its public meeting on Aug. 11 that “We should have a building permit soon, contingent on signing this [water users] agreement.”

Williams’ conclusion came following discussion of the remaining roadblocks to the issuance of a building permit for the Deer Harbor station.

A Boundary Line Modification (BLM) on the Thompson property adjoining the fire station property is scheduled to be submitted to the County Planning Department on Aug. 12. Williams plans to “ask the Planning Department to expedite their review so it doesn’t hold up the building permit.”

The landscaping plan has been signed off by two of the three neighbors.The stormwater plan is still waiting approval from the county.

The water system is the biggest hurdle here; we still are nowhere out there,” Williams said. She asked the Fire Commissioners to review a letter from Bill Weisinger, attorney for the management of the current water system, which involves four properties.

The letter, from Dec. 2008, lays out several points of discussion for agreement. Williams advised the board to respond to the letter in order to finalize an agreement with the water users’ association. “We have to get this done. If we get the water users agreement signed, the building permit will be issued.” Williams added that the occupancy permit requires compliance with the terms of the building permit.

In the following discussion, the main point of the agreement addressed was the responsibility for the $7,000 estimate for upgrade of the water system to health code standards for a building permit.

Fire Chief Mike Harris recommended that the Department pay the $7,000 and that it be considered a “deferred payment on the maintenance of the system: in the future, other property owners who are water users will pay for their fair share.”

Williams related that “Weisinger recommends all future maintenance shall be shared equally, considering the Fire Department’s contribution.”

“I feel compelled to push this forward,” Williams said. “Other wells would work, but we’d have to throw money at it.”

Commissioner Clyde Duke, acting as meeting chair in Commissioner Jim Coffin’s absence, said that the Commissioners would review the letter and make a decision in two weeks.