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Home My WebLink AboutM092704 District No. 1 Commissioner: Dan Tlttemess District No.2 Commissioner: Glen Huntlngford District No.3 Commissioner: Patrick M. Rodgers County Administrator: John F. Fischbach Clerk of the Board: Lorna Delaney MINUTES Week of September 27,2004 Chairman Glen Huntingford called the meeting to order in the presence of Commissioner Dan Titterness and Commissioner Patrick Rodgers, Approval of Minutes: Chairman Titterness moved to approve the minutes of September 13 and 20, 2004 as presented, Commissioner Rodgers seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. County Administrator John Fischbach re: Recommendation for Public Defender Services: The County Administrator asked the Board to pull this item from the agenda because he has been asked to meet with several people later this week about his recommendation, PROCLAMATION re: Proclaiming October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Chairman Huntingford read the proclamation declaring October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Commissioner Titterness moved to approve the proclamation, Commissioner Rodgers seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote, Suzanne Wildman, Community Education Coordinator for Jefferson County Domestic Violence organization, thanked the Board for their continued support, Their organization's goal is to eliminate domestic violence and sexual assault in Jefferson County. She mentioned several events scheduled in October including: four 2-hour Domestic Violence Awareness workshops dealing with domestic violence in the workplace that will be conducted by Port Townsend's Police Chief Kristen Anderson on October 25 and 26 and a lunch at Fort Worden Commons on October 28 co-hosted by the Soroptomists and the EDC where donations will be accepted, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Between Jefferson County Sheriff and Port Townsend Police Department re: Professional Services of Police Chief Kristen Anderson: Sheriff Mike Brasfield explained that this is a first step in exploring more formal cooperation between the two law enforcement agencies, Both the County and the City have to find new alternatives to deal with increased services and budget constraints, They will be looking at ways to share resources, procedures, and effect economies of scale for operations, They will also look at countywide services such as Animal Page 1 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of September 27,2004 Services and code enforcement. They will not institute any changes that are within the purview of the County Commissioners or the City Council. A report should be available after the first of the year, Commissioner Rodgers thanked the Sheriff and the Police Chief for working together to address these issues, Commissioner Titterness encouraged them to bring any changes to the Board if they find areas that are beyond their purview, Chairman Huntingford added that over the past few years the County and the City have really begun to work together to provide better service to citizens. Later in the Week: Commissioner Titterness moved to have the Chair sign the MOA between Jefferson County and the City of Port Townsend for the professional services of Police Chief Kristen Anderson, Chairman Huntingford seconded the motion which carried, COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR'S BRIEFING: County Administrator John Fischbach reported on the following: · Last week, he and Director of Community Development A1 Scalf met with representatives from the State Department of Ecology and the Attorney General's Office in Olympia to discuss several issues including: Port Ludlow, Fred Hill Materials, Shoreline Master Plan update, and Shoreline Management Act administrative issues, No conclusions were reached, however the State agreed to send the County a letter of clarification about their position on over-water construction and the Port Ludlow pond (lagoon) after they meet with several groups from Port Ludlow, There is some question about whether the pond is under DOE jurisdiction, · He and Chairman Huntingford will be attending an Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (L T AC) meeting on Thursday, The request for funding Fort Worden State Park parking fees from the Hote1/Motel fund is one of the agenda items, Chairman Huntingford asked that a funding request for 2005 from the Brinnon/Quilcene Chamber of Commerce be included on that agenda, · Central Services Director Allen Sartin explained that there are still several outstanding problems that need to be worked out with GEMS, the new financial system, The "live" date has been moved to February, 2005 and this means the new year would start out on the GEMS system, · Chairman Huntingford mentioned a fax that was received from Island County regarding restrictive septic system regulations being proposed by the State, The Board agreed that it is important for a Jefferson County representative to be present at the meeting when these changes are discussed, They also asked that written comments be submitted, PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following comments were made: concern about the City of Port Townsend's proposition on the General Election ballot to increase property taxes by 53%, yet they have taken three years and hired several consultants to plan the City Hall Annex project; who is holding staff accountable for their work?; a detailed analysis of a 1998 public records request was reviewed; Department Heads and Elected Officials need to set an example for employees regarding ethics in government; all government employees, including Department Heads, need to be held accountable; and the Page 2 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of September 27,2004 '.' '0', ''\ ~ <"-",,, ~1'J''''N~''~ Department Head that was told he can not take time to do community service was singled out because the policy that allows the County to interfere with volunteer work has not been used in the past. APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Tittemess moved to adopt and approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Commissioner Rodgers seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. 1. RESOLUTION NO. 48-04 and HEARING NOTICE re: Intent to Sell Surplus County Property; Hearing Scheduled for Monday, October 11, 2004 at 11 :00 a.m. in the Commissioners' Chamber 2, RESOLUTION NO. 49-04 re: Increasing Cash in the Solid Waste Scale House Cash Drawer 3, AGREEMENT re: Concrete Culvert Extension on Paradise Bay Road, Project No, CR1148; Jefferson County Public Works; Seton Construction 4, AGREEMENT NO. NFS 04-DG-ll060900-013 re: Grant Funding for Big Qui1cene River Road Improvements; Jefferson County Public Works; U,S, Department of Agriculture, Forest Services, Pacific Northwest Region 5, AGREEMENT, Amendment No.1 re: Individual Support Employment Services; Jefferson County Health and Human Services; Skookum Corporation 6, AGREEMENT, Amendment No. 13 re: 2003-2004 Consolidated Contract; Jefferson County Health and Human Services; Washington State Department of Health HEARING re: Jefferson County - City of Port Townsend Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan: (See also October 4,2004 minutes,) Chairman Huntingford opened the public hearing, Jefferson County Emergency Management Program Manager Bob Hamlin explained that this Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan was put together by the City of Port Townsend, The Plan has been adopted by all ofthe fire districts and several other junior taxing districts, as well as, the City of Port Townsend, Ken Horvath, City of Port Townsend, reported that the plan is mandated by FEMA and is a tool to coordinate the mitigation activities of various agencies in the County, It describes the natural hazards that are of concern in the area, Adoption of the plan is required in order to get hazard mitigation funding grants, Chairman Huntingford opened the public testimony portion ofthe hearing, Hearing no comments for or against adoption of the plan, the Chair closed the public hearing, Commissioner Tittemess moved to adopt the Jefferson County - City of Port Townsend Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, Commissioner Rodgers seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote, The Board met in EXECUTIVE SESSION with the County Administrator, Sheriff, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, and Risk Manager from 10: 15 a,m, to 11 :00 a,m, regarding actuallitigation, Page 3 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of September 27,2004 .-"",. ;:~ .-: +1.$'ltlti(,W'Õ!'. Monte Reinders, County Engineer re: County Timber Sale Options; Land Adjacent to the Transfer Station: Public Works Director Frank Gifford explained that before they finalize the contract, they want to update the Board on this timber sale proposal. The initial harvest is approximately 1,108 million board feet on 54 acres adjacent to the landfill, A future harvest in 2020 has also been planned at an adjacent location. Ten acres of the initial 54 acres with access off Cape George Road will be set aside as a future recreational site because a need for recreational land, such as Little League fields, has come up over the past few years, They also plan to set aside $50,000 from the timber sale to use for recreational site development. Monte Reinders explained that, once they get the Board's approval on the proposal, Mike Cronin, DNR Timber Manager will do the final cruise and mark the boundaries. A DNR forest practice permit is also required, The contract will probably be awarded in March, 2005 and the harvest operation would take place within a year. The property will be replanted and 12 ~ % ofthe trees will be retained for future harvest. One of the reasons for the two-phase operation is to allow a 12-15 foot screen to grow before the next cut. Commissioner Rodgers moved to have the Public Works Department proceed with the timber harvest. Commissioner Tittemess seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote, Charlie Courtelyou and Al Vaughn, Washington State Department of Natural Resources re: County Income Report: Charlie Courtelyou introduced Eduardo Olmedo, Forest Service District Ranger for the Pacific Ranger District in Forks, He then reviewed the revenues from January to June, 2004 which were almost $lmillion, The projected revenues for July through December, 2004 are approximately $1 million, This amount is a little more than the average per year over the past 10 years, The revenue is divided up between severaljunior taxing districts including schools, The County's General Fund receives a portion of it, DNR has been focused on bringing in more volume in Jefferson County, The proposed "Dragon's Back" sale for 2005 is one of the first contract logging sales that they have done, They will hire a contract logger, and DNR will actually sell the different products to the highest bidder, In the past they have done a "lump sum" sale to the highest bidder, They are anticipating an 18-20% increase in value over their standard sales process, There is more administration of the contract in this type of operation, A1 Vaughn, explained the goal of increased harvest levels for the Olympic Region, They will be increasing the number of employees in the region over the next 5 years, He presented the Board with a chart showing the increases in the sustainable harvest anticipated over the next several years, He added that several policies relating to riparian zones, spotted owl circles, and legacy trees were revised when the Harvest Conservation Plan (HCP) was adopted, The Sustainable Forestry Institute recently did a forest practices audit ofDNR's westside lands for "green certification." The Olympic Region did very well, Some outstanding issues were: the need to become part of a certified group and the need to participate in logger certification, Charlie Courtelyou mentioned that the DNR will open several gates in West Jefferson and Clallam Counties for hunting season from October 16 to November 21, They want to work with the public to provide access, Page 4 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of September 27,2004 .'0',,,, It ',':' -~ . ~-~ J'1t'N~"~ A subject that has received a lot of press lately is the èoncern of West end residents over the Western River's Conservancy land transactions on the Hoh River and their plans to turn the property over to a conservation land holder. DNR is the facilitator of the Federal funding, DNR met several weeks ago with key Elected Officials because they want to work with local residents and governments to address several issues including public access and campground maintenance, Chairman Huntingford mentioned that at that meeting, everyone agreed to meet again with suggested solutions to the problems, Representative Dicks issued a press release last week that indicated they were moving forward with the project. This negated a lot of the work that had begun and seemed to compromise the whole effort. Commissioner Rodgers added that he talked to some of the pioneer families in the Westend and the Conservancy has not contacted them, In fact, none of the 90 people that signed a petition have been contacted, He feels that the Hoh residents are trying to be proactive and open-minded, Charlie Courtelyou added that he hopes all the parties involved can meet again because DNR wants their part of the process to be as open as possible, Charlie Courte1you introduced David Roberts from the Aquatics Division who explained that the Legislature directed them to look at commercial geoduck aquaculture in both inter-tidal and sub-tidal areas on State lands, Growers began seeding geoduck on private property around Puget Sound several years ago, DNR will only be allowed to plant 20 acres per year and the locations haven't been decided yet. Within the district, there are an excessive number of buoys, many of which are not permitted or licensed through the DNR, They have been focusing on the San Juan Islands where they surveyed and put tags on the unauthorized buoys to alert people that they need to contact the Department. A residential buoy is free, but others will need to pay for licenses, They also surveyed Skow Bay, Mystery Bay and Oak Bay, but they won't be able to tag the buoys until next year, The meeting was recessed at the close of business on Monday and reconvened on Tuesday, Chairman Huntingford and Commissioner Titterness were present. Commissioner Rodgers was absent. The Board met in EXECUTNE SESSION from 11 :00 - 11: 15 a,m, with the County Administrator, Central Services Director, and the Deputy Prosecuting Attorney regarding potential litigation, The meeting was recessed at the close of business on Tuesday and reconvened Wednesday for a budget workshop with the County Administrator and the Central Services Director, Chairman Huntingford and Commissioner Titterness were present. Commissioner Rodgers was absent. Page 5 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of September 27,2004 The meeting was recessed at the close of business on Wednesday and reconvened Friday for a meeting to introduce Washington State Department ofFish & Wildlife Regional Director Sue Patnude and the Regional Management Team, ;- .I'-"<~-t-~~i~., "~,,, ' " JOURNED ""''jJ.~" " /:1, 'A \\ \.ì . !ll,....... ' )"'¡'f:.."~'III'" / I<.: ' t"l ',..,'. .., i' , ('l ... " J/ .- (:"" '" ' ", "",."". ~ ,: ~.. ~'.;"-, - '\~... .. ~ !. i ¿ ~ ~,~EAL,. S :. \11' ~,~ cO ., --"4 "4 ' . ~ ~ ,¡ ( \, ".' '.' J ~ I \ ... -. ., .~,'-.;...: :---.. ~ I .. ~ ," j. ~ ,- . . \... "ArlJ'''~,,~ ,"~ ~¿ , ,E · ~ '. . ( ,,-" ~ . " ' '. ~ ..... ' -J ) 'J "i : ~.\ -'./ JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ?,f¿ rya¡)~ éfYìC Julie Matthes, CMC Deputy Clerk of the Board Tittemess, Member ~~ Page 6