HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-01-11Board’s Official Business
Highlights from Monday’s Commissioner Meeting March 1, 2011
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following comments
were made by citizens in attendance at the meeting and
reflect their personal opinions:
•The property tax for the Port Townsend Paper Company
Mill changes every year and appears to have gone down
over the years and the contents of an inert landfill at the
Mill are monitored by the County. A chemical analysis is
done but the Mill selects and submits it to the testing
agency and the County may be at risk;
•Shellfish Growers are happy with the locally adopted SMP
and the recommendation made and sent back to the
County, but the DCD staff have made some suggested
changes that will impact shellfish growing in the County;
•The Board and staff were thanked for their work on the
SMP and some of the staff suggested changes to SMP
have removed specificity between the types of
aquaculture and that will have a negative impact on the
local shellfish industry;
•The staff proposed aquaculture provision of the SMP
addresses "non-native" species and this would impact the
many non-native shellfish that are a large part of the
shellfish industry in the County. The County needs to
adopt the DOE recommendations.
•The franchise agreement for PSE needs to be amended
so that it does not allow a fee to be charged for fiber
optics carried on their poles. The expense to pay a person
to do minutes for the Health Board is an unnecessary
expense and there should be a time limit on the
agreement.
•Changes need to be made to buildings in Port Townsend
because of the possibility of an earthquake in the next few
years. The County should require any retailer that sells
products like "Weed and Feed" to hand out a material
safety data sheet with it because it tells the purchaser the
danger of using it due to the very toxic substances it
contains;
•A representative of shellfish aquaculture growers stated
that some of the DCD staff recommended changes are
too broad and asked the Board to approve the DOE
version of the SMP;
•A representative of the Washington Fish Growers
Association urged the Board to adopt the DOE required
and recommended changes to the SMP
•DOE has slapped the County's hand for banning a water
dependant use in the SMP;
• The US Congress is proposing to take a large amount of
funding from the Women, Infant and Children program
and the Board was asked to write a note to our
congressional delegation;
• Why is the County spending $2,500 on having someone
do the minutes for the Health Board? There was a
question about a meeting in 2004 as well as several
public records requests at that time.
CONSENT AGENDA: 3 items were deleted with 2 being
approved later and the agreement for preparation of minutes
for the Health Board delayed until the next agenda. The
following items were approved:
HEARING NOTICE: Granting a Franchise to Install and
Operate Electric Power Facilities in Eastern Jefferson
County; Puget Sound Energy; Hearing Scheduled for March
21, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in the Chambers
5 AGREEMENTS: 1) 2011-2013 Community Litter Cleanup
Program Funds; Washington State Department of Ecology;
2) Sheriff’s Office Commissary and Cash Handling Services;
Swanson Services; 3) Administration of North Pacific Coast
Marine Resources Committee; Clallam County; 4)
Administrative Support as Assistant 4-H Coordinator; Susan
Hay; and 5) For Beach Watcher Coordinator with Marine
Resource Committee; Washington State University
Payment of Jefferson County Vouchers/Warrants: Dated
February 17, 2011 Totaling $2,154.93 and Dated February
22, 2011 Totaling $181,442.86 and Payroll Warrants Dated
February 17, 2011 Totaling $88,597.41 and A/P Warrants
Done by Payroll Dated February 17, 2011 Totaling
$16,205.48
Advisory Board Appointment: Peninsula Housing
Authority; Term Expires February 28, 2014; Samuel
Shusterman.
Appointments to the Exploratory Regional Parks
and Recreation Committee: The Board approved the
following appointments to this Committee: Phil Johnson, Rich
Stapf, Kathleen Kler, Brian Miller, Pamela Roberts, Brian
Belmont, Jean Baldwin, Tony Hernandez, Nancy Thompson,
David Anderson, Gene Laes, Craig Downs and Mike Glenn.
COMMISSIONERS BRIEFING SESSION: The
Commissioners each provided updates on the following
items:
Commissioner Sullivan noted that he participated in a
conference call with several counties that have interest in the
ferry service. The State is not considering a "ferry district" at
this time. The process for appointments to the Ferry Advisory
Committee will be started.
Chairman Austin complimented the County Road
Department for their work to clear the roads and Jefferson
Transit buses for running during the snow storm. He will be in
Washington DC next week to meet with members of our
Congressional Delegation about funding issues.
Commissioner Johnson noted that he will be going to
Olympia on Wednesday for a meeting of the WSAC
Legislative Steering Committee. The gravel extraction tax
legislation is being reviewed by the Legislature's Ways and
Means Committee.
Philip Morley noted that good progress is being made in
negotiating regional services agreements with the City for
Jail, Animal Services, Substance Abuse and the Courts.