HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-08-11Board’s Official Business
Highlights from Monday’s Commissioner Meeting March 8, 2011
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following
comments were made by citizens in
attendance at the meeting and reflect their
personal opinions:
•The Brinnon Motel is not operating and is
impacting other businesses such as
restaurants that have laid off staff. The
County was urged to put out the RFP for the
operation of the motel as soon as possible.
•The DOE is wrong in not allowing the
County to place a ban on net pens.
Whatcom County passed their SMP with a
net pen ban.
•Net pens cause a stressed environment on
the sea bottom where they are placed.
•A member of the Committee that worked on
the LASMP reported that the committee all
agreed that net pens should be banned in
Jefferson County and since Whatcom
County has banned them it doesn't make
sense that DOE won't allow Jefferson
County the same ban.
•Mitigation will not contain or stop the
pollution that is caused by net pens and they
should be banned.
• A representative of the Jefferson County
Sportsman’s Association invited the Board
and the Public to the "First Shots Event"
which is an introduction to shooting sports
on March 26, 2011 at 10 a.m.
•The State had no idea of the impact of fish
farms on the environment when the
Shoreline Management Act was adopted
and the Board was encouraged to insist that
the language of the SMP not allow fish
farms.
•The people making comments on the SMP
today should be told that if the Board doesn't
have a hearing on these issues they won't
be able to consider the comments and a
suggestion was made that the Board confer
with their legal counsel about the content
allowed in this comment period.
•Fuel costs $9/gallon in England and the
price of gas keeps rising here and may be
$4/gallon by the tourist season which will
drastically effect the tourist trade here.
•A man that works for a company that grows
salmon in Washington State took issue with
comments about foreign ownership of net
pen businesses because they provide jobs
in this country and all of the issues on net
pen aquaculture were reviewed several
years ago and it was found that the risks are
not great.
CONSENT AGENDA: The Board approved all
of the items on the Consent Agenda as
presented.
AGREEMENT: Water Resource Inventory
Area (WRIA) 17 Water Availability, Supply
and Demand Assessment; Public Utility
District (PUD) #1
Advisory Board Appointment: Jefferson
County Marine Resources Committee,
Representing Recreational - Boater; Term
Expires March 7, 2015; Shelby Smith
Payment of Jefferson County
Vouchers/Warrants Dated February 28,
2011 Totaling $199,048.95
COMMISSIONERS BRIEFING SESSION:
The Commissioners each provided updates
on the following items:
Chairman Austin is in Washington DC
representing the County at the National
Association of Counties meeting. The trip
costs are paid through a federal grant.
Commissioner Johnson noted that there is a
federal legislative proposal to put together a
group of agriculture representatives to come
up with a new agriculture program. The gravel
extraction tax legislation has not moved out of
the Ways and Means Committee. The septic
system repair loan program is waiting for
capital funding of $1.5 million from the State.
Commissioner Sullivan reported that he was
on a conference call with the Coastal
Counties ferry caucus last week. A letter and
a number of bills have gone forward to the
legislature about the ferry system. There
doesn't seem to be support for a separate
ferry district at this time.
Philip Morley noted that the County will be
issuing an RFP for the Brinnon Motel in the
near future.
Bid Opening: Official County Newspaper:
The Board asked staff to review and make a
recommendation for bid award between the
bids received from the Peninsula Daily News
and the Jefferson County/Port Townsend
Leader.