HomeMy WebLinkAboutAR Drainage Distrct Hearing JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Mark McCauley, County Administrator
DATE: September 1, 2023
SUBJECT: Public Hearing: to Consider Dissolving Drainage District No. 1, aka
Chimacum Drainage District
STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Board of County Commissioners received a notice earlier this year from
the Jefferson County Auditor indicating that the Chimacum Drainage District appears to have met a number
of the criteria in RCW 36.96.010 required to be declared inactive:
(3) "Inactive" means that a special purpose district is characterized by any of the following criteria:
(a) Has not carried out any of the special purposes or functions for which it was formed within
the preceding consecutive five-year period;
(b)No election has been held for the purpose of electing a member of the governing body
within the preceding consecutive seven-year period or, in those instances where members of
the governing body are appointed and not elected, where no member of the governing body has
been appointed within the preceding seven-year period; or
(c) The special purpose district has been determined to be unauditable by the state auditor;
The Auditor's notice also indicated that a public hearing needed to be held by September 1, 2023 to
determine if the district has in fact met the criteria for being declared inactive and further to decide whether
to dissolve the district.
The hearing was published in our legal paper of record for three consecutive weeks: 16, 23 and 30
September 2023. It was also posted on the county website over the same time period.
ANALYSIS: Commissioner Eisenhour and Administrator McCauley have been engaging with key
stakeholders regarding the district to determine what course of action to recommend to the Board during the
public hearing. There are several options to consider. Among those are:
• Take no action—declare the district inactive and do not dissolve it
• Declare it inactive and dissolve it
• Reactivate the district in its current form
• Change the purpose of the district perhaps adding irrigation and/or watershed improvement to its
mission
Reactivation and changing the purpose would require substantial interest by residents of the district and
would require a public vote to elect officers and impose a property tax assessment on residents.
Dissolving the district presents a host of issues such as the disposition of easements between the district and
landowners in the district.
A 2022 report of then current conditions of the drainage district completed by the Jefferson County
Conservation District is attached for background purposes.
FISCAL IMPACT: This request has no fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board open the hearing, hear a brief staff presentation(attached), take
public testimony, discuss and deliberate, close the hearing and then take-action.
REVIE D BY:
ark McCau*, County Administrator Dat