HomeMy WebLinkAbout031723 FW_ August bridge maintenance closure
________________________________
From: William Dean
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2023 9:37:30 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: Bret Black
Cc: Willie Bence; Katie Dean; Heidi Eisenhour; Greg Brotherton; David McDearmid; Jeanne Joseph; Mike Glenn
Subject: Fwd: August bridge maintenance closure
________________________________
ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
________________________________
Hello Chief Black,
There has been a tremendous amount of energy expended trying to modify DOT's plans. To date, that does not seem to have accomplished very much. The attached assumes they go forward
with their August plans and suggests some solutions to the emergency evacuation subject. This has a lot of moving parts, but it seems to me that you are the primary focal point when
medical transport is needed after a 911 call. I guess the hospital is likewise faced with that need if a patient is in their care and requires transport to Seattle or elsewhere, and
I would hope if you establish a coordinated effort for 911 emergencies, that you would include them in the process.
Of course, we citizens are not aware of plans you are already working on and this may be mute or duplicative, but I thought it is worth passing along. If there is already planning being
done to solve this problem, I would suggest it be shared with community groups to ease the agnst within the community.
If there is anything that I can do to help, don't hesitate to reach out.
Regards, Bill
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Peter Joseph <jjadv@olympus.net <mailto:jjadv@olympus.net> >
Date: Thu, Mar 16, 2023 at 1:55 PM
Subject: August bridge maintenance closure
To: William Dean <cmdwbd@gmail.com <mailto:cmdwbd@gmail.com> >
Cc: jeanne joseph <jjadv@olympus.net <mailto:jjadv@olympus.net> >
Bill you seem to be the guy who is dialed in politically as well as in the emergency preparedness realm so I am going to bounce this off you.
I have been reading about all the angst associated with the August weekend bridge closures vis-vis level 1 or 2 emergency room care.
My initial thoughts are to use the Coast Guard Auxiliary flotillas located in Port Ludlow, Port Townsend, and possibly Sequim and Port Angeles. I am not sure if there are any regulatory
obstacles that would preclude them from participating since they are called upon by the Coast Guard to assist with certain rescue cases. Some of their boats are designated as facilities
which means their costs are reimbursed and have gone through a training process that makes them qualified for certain rescue endeavors.
If this is not possible then I suggest the four yacht clubs step up and volunteer two boats for one weekend during August, i.e., each YC would take one weekend. There are large yacht
clubs in all four ports mentioned above. Even though it is the height of the boating season, there are probably 250 qualified boats between the four YC's. The boats, of a certain size,
would be located at Port Ludlow with a hand off in Port Gamble to either one of our own EJFD vehicles or a Kitsap mutual assist aid car. It is about 7 nautical miles to Port Gamble
so it would be a 30-35 minute run for a vast majority of the boats, with those times being shorter for the faster boats. The volunteer boats could moor at the PLYC reciprocal moorage,
shifting to the fuel dock for on-loads. The boats would only bring back people from the ER when they were delivering an outflow person. Otherwise they would have to have someone drive
them around the Hood Canal to get back home. I am sure the boat owners would want a hold harmless agreement to limit their liability.
If the yacht clubs don’t want to be the beneficiary of a lot of good will, then a simple request for volunteer boat owners should work. There are a lot of good samaritans in the boating
community.
I am sure there are many other little items that need to be addressed, but they are all doable. As I use to tell my attorneys, don’t tell me I can’t do it, tell me how I am going to
do it. We have a lot of highly paid public servants out there who can pull this off without a lot of extra effort.
Peter
*Ă