HomeMy WebLinkAboutNews Release CHIMACUM’S GLENDALE FARM CLEAN UP
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
April 3, 2023 Pinky Feria Mingo, Director, Environmental Public
Health and Water Quality (360) 379-4476
CHIMACUM’S GLENDALE FARM CLEAN UP UNDERWAY
JEFFERSON COUNTY WORKS WITH FAMILY TO RESOLVE LONG-STANDING
ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS
Jefferson County has settled long-standing code compliance cases with Linda Sexton for the
Glendale Farm property and the Peat Plank Road property. The Glendale Farm property is located
near the intersection of Beaver Valley Road (Highway 19) and Center Road (Highway 116) in
Chimacum, and is one of the oldest and largest farms in Jefferson County. Jefferson County and
the Jefferson Land Trust are co-holders of a conservation easement on the property.
Both the Glendale Farm property and the Peat Plank Road property have been the subject of
extensive code compliance efforts by Jefferson County. Daily fines under Title 19 of the Jefferson
County Code have been accruing on both properties since last year, primarily as a result of solid
waste code violations. As of March 24, 2023, daily fines for the Glendale Farm property were
$156,500 and daily fines for the Peat Plank Road property were $108,000.
The settlement provides for new ownership of the property, extensive clean-ups of both properties,
and a partial payment of the fines accrued. As part of the settlement, Linda Sexton will transfer
ownership of both properties to a trust for which Sexton’s children are trustees. The trust will
assume responsibility for the remaining cleanup of the Glendale Farm property by December 31,
2023, which already is nearly complete. The trust also will provide a plan for cleanup of the Peat
Plank Road property by December 31, 2023 with a cleanup completed by December 31, 2028 and
status reports every six months demonstrating progress.
Sexton will pay the county $14,425 in equal quarterly installments over the next two years to cover
some of the county’s costs in enforcing the code. In exchange, the county will release Sexton and
the trust from 80 percent of the accrued daily fines that have accrued as of the date the settlement
agreement was signed. 20 percent of the accrued daily fines will be released upon completion of
the cleanups. Finally, the trust will enter into voluntary compliance agreements for each property,
Phone (360) 385-9100 Fax (360) 385-9382 heisenhour@co.jefferson.wa.us
under which Jefferson County maintains significant leverage to ensure enforcement under Title 19
of the Jefferson County Code.
A code compliance case for solid waste violations at the Peat Plank Road property has been
pending since 2008 and at the Glendale Farm property since 2012. Pinky Feria Mingo, Jefferson
County’s Environmental Public Health and Water Quality Director said recent changes in the
Jefferson County Code played a large role in achieving this settlement. In 2021, the county
adopted a new code compliance code that created effective tools for code compliance that the
county has never had before. “The most effective tool in the new code is the ability issue daily
fines,” Mingo said. “Our focus always is on voluntary compliance, but for violators who refuse to
address code violations, even after significant effort by the county to obtain voluntary compliance,
the daily fines are a big motivator,” she said.
The Glendale Farm property has had three fires since 2015 made worse by the volume of solid
waste on the property. After an April 2022 fire which destroyed Sexton’s house on the Glendale
Farm property, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy directed the Prosecuting
Attorney’s office to make the solid waste problems at Linda Sexton’s properties a high priority.
“There was so much solid waste in the way that firefighters could not effectively fight the fire,
which put the firefighters and the public at greater risk,” Kennedy said.
“These properties have been a problem for a long time. We want to acknowledge the efforts of
Linda Sexton’s children, in cleaning up the Glendale Farm property. What they have done in a
fairly short period of time is amazing,” said Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour. “I’d also like to thank
our partner, the Jefferson Land Trust, which worked with the county to achieve this result,” said
Eisenhour.
“After the 2022 house fire, county departments came together to push for a cleanup. Kudos to
Code Compliance, Public Health and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for their focus in bringing
us this settlement,” said Commissioner Greg Brotherton. “I was pleasantly surprised that most of
the Glendale Farm property has been cleaned up, without the county spending hundreds of
thousands of dollars on outside contractors,” said Brotherton. Commissioner Kate Dean also
expressed appreciation to county staff and Linda Sexton’s children, but said, “This settlement is a
great result, but more work still needs to be done. We are counting on the Sexton children to
complete the requirements of the settlement. The settlement was drafted with provisions that the
county can use to ensure completion of the cleanups and continued compliance with our code.”
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