HomeMy WebLinkAboutUPDATE Chimacum Drainage District No 1 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Josh Peters, County Administrator
FROM: Heidi Eisenhour, Commissioner
DATE: April 20, 2026
SUBJECT: Chimacum Drainage District#1 (DD1)—interim board recommendation
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
CHIMACUM DRAINAGE DISTRICT: Drainage districts are local special purpose districts organized
under chapters 85.06.010 and 85.38.180 of the Revised Code of Washington. DD1 was formed on June 23,
1919. The original territory of DD1 encompassed about one-third of the Chimacum watershed, totaling
7,526 acres (see Figure 1). DD1 remained active until 1974 but has been inactive since then. Considerable
drainage system infrastructure was completed in the early years of the district but keeping up with ongoing
maintenance has always been a challenge. (More info: https://vvww.jeffersoncd.org/chimacum-creek).
Flooding and drainage problems have persisted throughout the past half century, much as they did during the
previous half century, impacting landowners and fish habitat. During the past few decades, drainage
problems have worsened because of increasing beaver populations and the lack of comprehensive
maintenance. During this period of drainage district inactivity, drainage system maintenance responsibilities
have fallen upon individual landowners. This has resulted in inconsistent, inefficient, and sometimes
ineffective efforts to address conditions, that by their very nature, demand a comprehensive approach to be
successful.
RECENT OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS: Over the course of the past few years, we
explored -via mtgs with the Conservation District,public focus groups, an open house, and finally a survey
sent to all landowners in the DD1 geography -the pros and cons of reactivating DD1. The BOCC also held
two hearings and decided to keep DD1 in its inactive status rather than dissolve while we undertook this
outreach. The Jefferson Conservation District(JCD) and WSU Extension were major partners in outreach
led by consultants from Maul, Foster and Alongi. A number of options for drainage management were
considered including Individual Landowners Manage the Creek, Organizations Support Landowners,
Drainage District(DD), Watershed Improvement District(WID) and Flood Control District(FCD). The
outcome of all of this community engagement has been strong interest in reactivation of DD1 and engaging
JCD in undertaking drainage maintenance and improvement activities. On July 14th after a public hearing,
we voted to reactivate DD1. Since then, in partnership with the Auditors office, we have been developing a
plan for appointing an interim board.
ANALYSIS:
We solicited applications widely amongst residents of DD 1 and received seven applications. At the end of
March, a team consisting of incoming Jefferson Conservation District Supervisor, Sierra Young, Port of Port
Townsend Lease and Contracts Administrator, Heron Scott, and Commissioner Eisenhour conducted six
interviews for interim DD 1 board members. After those interviews and deliberation, we are recommending
the following slate of three DD1 residents to serve as the interim board:
• Chuck Boggs, West Valley Road
• Kris Sims, Center Road
• Crystal Taggert, Center Road
Their initial tasks will include:
• Developing a governance structure and renewing governance documents for DD1
• Outreach to DD1 landowners
• Developing a model for assessment for DD1 landowners
• Planning for the election of the board in 2028
FISCAL IMPACT:
TBD.
RECOMMENDATION:
Appoint the recommended slate of interim DD1 board members.
REVIEWED BY:
Jo'4 Peters, County Administrator Date