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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM051605 District No. 1 Commissioner: Phil Johnson District No.2 Commissioner: David W. Sullivan District No.3 Commissioner: Patrick M. Rodgers County Administrator: John F. Fischbach Clerk of the Board: Lorna Delaney MINUTES Week of May 16, 2005 Chainnan Phil Johnson called the meeting to order in the presence of Commissioner Patrick M. Rodgers. Commissioner David W. Sullivan wasn't present due to an excused absence. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BRIEFING: Acting County Administrator Allen Sartin asked which of the Commissioners would be covering the OlyCap meeting tomorrow for Commissioner Sullivan? Chainnan Johnson volunteered to go to that meeting in Commissioners Sullivan's place. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioner Rodgers moved to approve the minutes of May 9,2005 as presented. Chainnan Johnson seconded the motion which carried. The Board met in Executive Session with the Prosecuting Attorney and the Acting County Administrator regarding potential litigation from 9:00 to 9:15 a.m. APPOINTMENT; Jefferson County Civil Service Commission; Dennis Cowan: After interviewing Mr. Cowan, Commissioner Rodgers moved to appoint him to an unexpired tenn on the Civil Service Commission. Chainnan Johnson seconded the motion which carried. Mr. Cowan's tenn will expire November 14,2005. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The Chair read the infonnation regarding the public making comment during the public comment period. The following comments were made: The Commissioners were encouraged to put together a meeting of all the taxing districts in the County and provide leadership regarding fiscal responsibilities because taxpayers are tired of rising taxes which is what all of the taxing districts are talking about; the Commissioners were urged to fonnally weigh in on the City's fonnula store ordinance to represent the interests in County owned property in the City limits; the County could bond to restore and repair the Courthouse and has anyone studied the bonding capacity, current bond load and the total assessed valuation of the County? and a blue ribbon citizens commission needs to be Page 1 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of May 16, 2005 ~-~' ~ ·\/11""\ established to review this issue; there is no legal way to stop chain stores from coming in but there is no problem with limiting the scope of these types of stores; and the Department of Peace is an idea that is being re-introduced at the federal level, but it needs to also be started at the local level and it would be a good thing for the County to support. APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Rodgers moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Chainnan Johnson seconded the motion which carried. 1. RESOLUTION NO. 31-05 re: Authorizing the Substance Abuse Advisory Board (SAAB) to Report to the Jefferson County Board of Health 2. RESOLUTION NO. 32-05 re: Naming a Private Road Mossy Lane; Michael Hughes, Richard Schweiger, Elaine and Jerome Jernberg, E.J. and Alice McKeever, Thomas Nunamacher, and Ronald Look, Petitioners 3. AGREEMENT re: Guaranteed Pricing for MicroSoft Products; Jefferson County Central Services; Washington State Department of Infonnation Services 4. AGREEMENT re: Painting the Correction Center Building Exterior; Jefferson County Central Services; Todd Robinson Painting, Inc. 5. AGREEMENT NO. LOI00030, Amendment No.2 re: Septic Repair Revolving Loan Fund Project; Amending Loan Amount, Project Completion, and Final Repayment Schedule; Jefferson County Health and Human Services; Washington State Department of Ecology 6. AGREEMENT NO. 0363-28151, Amendment No.3 re: Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment; Amended to Reduce Funding Amount; Jefferson County Health and Human Services; Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse 7. AGREEMENT NO. G001786, OGRD NO.1 03462 re: Beach Watchers Volunteer Monitoring Training Program; Jefferson County WSU Extension; Washington State University 8. AGREEMENT NO. 02-1292 re: Acquisition and Construction of Segments 3 and 4 of the Larry Scott Memorial Trail; Jefferson County Public Works; Washington State Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation 9. AGREEMENT re: Collective Bargaining Labor Agreement for Sheriffs Office Administrative and Jeff Com; January 2004 through December 2006; Jefferson County Sheriff and Jeff Com; Teamsters Local Union 589 10. LOCAL AGENCY AGREEMENT And PROJECT PROSPECTUS re: Funding for Emergency Repairs to Upper Hoh Road, Project No. CR1689; Jefferson County Public Works; Washington State Department of Transportation 11. EASEMENT re: Granting Underground Utility Easement Rights Across a Portion of County Owned Property Located at North Beach Park in Perpetuity for Sewer Outfall Purposes; City of Port Townsend 12. TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION PERMIT re: Repairs and Construction Improvements to the Existing Sewer Outfall System Located at North Beach; City of Port Townsend Page 2 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of May 16, 2005 (f},.,,,,,,,, ;' . ~ ",>.~,,- ·;'/1"'" North of SR 20 and Anderson Lake Road Intersection; Malamute Associates, LLC, Applicant (Previous Applicant: BMW Investments, LLC) 14. Advisory Board Reappointment; Jefferson County Solid Waste Advisory Committee; Two (2) Year Tenn Expiring April 26, 2007; Representing the City of Port Townsend, John Merchant Dennis Schultz, Conservation Futures Advisory Board Annual Funding Recommendation for 2005 Application Period: Dennis Schultz, Chainnan of the Conservation Futures Citizens Oversight Committee explained that the Conservation Futures Fund is a special tax assessment (set by State law and County Ordinance) to be used to purchase land or conservation easements. The Citizens Oversight Committee is appointed by the Commissioners to make recommendations on how these taxes should be spent. Applications are submitted, the applicants make a presentation to the Advisory Board on their project and the Advisory Board members tour the site in person or by video tape. Then the Committee rates each application on how it meets the goals of the Fund. This year there were two applicants: 1) Tamanowas Rock Sanctuary: Jamestown S'klallam Tribe for property they purchased adjacent to Tomanowas (or Chimacum) Rock. The property does not include the rock itself and it is bordered by Anderson Lake. The Tribe wants to put a conservation easement on the property and they will abandon the right of way leading up from Anderson Lake Road. They are also trying to purchase the property the rock actually sits on. This is a 20 acre parcel, zoned R20 and is currently in the Open Space Timber program. They are asking for $67,699.00. This is phase one of a multi-phase project to help protect the rock which is a sacred place to the Tribes. 2) East Tarboo Creek Conservation Project: This is a series of parcels located off East Tarboo Creek. It is a 47 acre property that the Northwest Watershed Institute is in the process of purchasing for a conservation easement. They are asking for $140,341 for this easement. The applications can only be for 50% ofthe cost of the easement. The match is a 20 acre conservation easement on timber on the adjacent Yeakel-Purdy property. The plan is to restore this property and retain one acre that has a house on it. This will protect 2,000 feet of East Tarboo Creek and 2 tributaries which will protect salmon runs. This is a critical watershed area and is part of a long tenn plan to protect the whole Tarboo Creek area. Mr. Schultz continued by noting that the impact on property taxes of these conservation easements is misunderstood. Currently the Tamanowas Rock property is assessed at $1,500 and pays $15.00 per year in property taxes. Putting this easement on means that this property will be taken out of the Open Space Forest program and be reassessed which may result in higher property taxes. Part of the East Tarboo Creek property may also see an increased valuation which could mean a higher tax. These easements will still provide some property taxes and the implications are very complex. Commissioner Rodgers stated that the registered members of an Indian Tribe pay no federal tax. Mr. Schultz added that there is a new Supreme Court ruling that if an Indian Tribe purchases land and places it in Indian Trust the Conservation Easement still applies to the land. It would not be taken off the tax roles. Page 3 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of May 16, 2005 f)-'~."" "\ II·~- .,. ~' \//1""\ Commissioner Rodgers asked about the access to the Tamanowas Rock property? Mr. Schultz advised that there will be non-motorized public access. They will leave it open for the public and the Indian Tribes to use. Commissioner Rodgers asked if the easement is subject to the right ofthe public to enter and enjoy the property? Sara Spaeth, Jefferson Land Trust, answered that the easement would be written in such a way to allow public access. Commissioner Rodgers asked if it would allow or insure it? The Tribe is in the process of detennining if they want to transfer some ofthat land to State Parks. At this point the easement placed on the property would insure that public access would be pennitted, Sara Spaeth explained. Commissioner Rodgers stated that he is concerned in this particular case (Tamanowas Rock) the public access and enjoyment is an issue and he doesn't want the County to be put in a place where public funds have an odd unintended consequence of barring the public from the property. Mr. Schultz stated that the easement hasn't been written yet and the County can put conditions on the use of the funds if the Board approved this request. Commissioner Rodgers stated that he wants it clear that there is no discretionary ability to prevent usage by the general public. He would like David Alvarez to review the conditions on this easement. We need to have equal access to every person in this County or the County doesn't have to provide funding. The purpose of this easement is recreation and the public interest is best served by all people having access and recreation ability. If the purpose of the easement is to protect the source of water or some other resource, you wouldn't necessarily require public access. It's what the underlying fundamental purpose is for granting the money from the fund that dictate what the conditions will be. Sara Spaeth added that the purpose of this project is to assure that it is a place for recreation by the Tribal members and the general public of the County. The intent of the Conservation Futures program is to look at public benefit and public access is one public benefit. One benefit Commissioner Rodgers stated that he sees with this project is that the people of the County would receive a park, but the County doesn't have to maintain it because that is the responsibility ofthe Tribe. The Tribe is really benefitting from this project. Mr. Schultz thanked the Board for the staff support provided to the Committee. HEARING re: Conservation Futures Advisory Board Annual Funding 2005 Application Period: The Chair opened the hearing for public comments. Kees Kolff. Port Townsend, Member ofthe Board of the Jefferson Land Trust: Stated that he is speaking as an individual. He thanked the Committee and the staff for all of the excellent work they did on evaluating these projects. He fully supports the concept of allowing controlled reasonable public access that is consistent with the values the Conservation Futures Fund is trying to protect. Dennis Schultz: Mr. Schultz pointed out that the Jefferson Land Trust will oversee the stewardship of these easements. He also added that when they rated these applications it was a unanimous vote of the Committee that both of these projects be funded. They rated very high. They are projects Conservation Futures Funds are intended for. Owen Fairbanks. Port Townsend. Member of the Jefferson Land Trust Board: He said it's exciting to see how working together properties can be protected and made available to the public in ways that individual Page 4 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of May 16, 2005 f).'.'"'''' ;". \ \~~,- ·\'f¡,,-,,' groups could not do alone. He thanked the County for supporting their part of the puzzle. Peter Bahls. Northwest Watershed Institute: He thanked the volunteer committee that reviewed these proposals. It was a rigorous review this year. The Committee members took their jobs seriously and he appreciates their work on this. Hearing no further public comment the Chair closed the public testimony portion of the hearing. Commissioner Rodgers said that he wants the Board to review the public access plan for the Tamanowas Rock Project because no group should be favored over any other group. Ifthe public access right is given to one group, the same access should be given to every other group. He then moved that conditioned upon guaranteed reasonable, controlled public access, compatible with protection of the conservation values of the property and as specified in a public access plan produced and provided by the property owners and approved by the County, that the recommendation of the Conservation Citizens Oversight Committee for the Tamanowas Rock Project is adopted. Chainnan Johnson seconded the motion which carried. Commissioner Rodgers reiterated that he wants the County Commissioners to see the public access plan before any funds are dispersed on this project. Commissioner Rodgers then moved to adopt the recommendation of the Conservation Futures Citizen Oversight Committee for the East Tarboo Creek Conservation Project. Chainnan Johnson seconded the motion which carried. The Board members thanked the Committee for their hard work. MEETING ADJÇ}URNED , ..' " . · r, V . . ,r, f; . SEAL: /' ,;. . . J " " f . \f . "~~ \ . h . j \ .' '. ! \. i I ATTEST:.' , ~.;~..':' æ~· '!JiJ/~ Lorna Delane~MC' .. Q---- Clerk of the Board (Excused Absence) David W. Sullivan, Member ~~ Patrick M. Ro gers, Member Page 5