HomeMy WebLinkAbout072824 email - Swimming Pool CommentsALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear County Commissioners and Healthier Together Task Force,
I am writing to add my thoughts to the recent discussion about the Jefferson County swimming pool. First and most simply, I think that the path of least resistance is to simply keep
the pool where it is currently located and invest in repairs and long term maintenance. While I recognize that the repairs are extensive and expensive, they are still substantially
lower than the costs to acquire and develop a completely new location. In addition to the additional costs, the current location has already had its impact on the environment. It
already is in a location that has been cleared, paved and built. It already has local infrastructure. Since there is considerable resistance and cost to developing a new location
and facility, it truly seems like the best option.
However, I recognize that may not be the direction we are headed, so I would like to comment further. Personally, I would appreciate and benefit from a pool and community facility out
in Jefferson County, as opposed to Port Townsend. As a local Zumba instructor, I have struggled to find appropriate rental space to hold my classes. It is important to me to offer
my classes in the county, but it is difficult and expensive to find appropriate spaces. So I personally feel if my tax dollars are going to be spent for a facility, I would prefer
it be in the county. There are many public spaces and facilities in Port Townsend and I would welcome similar, community building spaces in the county.
I was quite alarmed to discover, however, that the Chimacum Park is the top contender for the location. I understand that a significant reason is that the park is already owned by the
county and can be logged and the timber sold, offsetting the cost of the septic. I understand there are other reasons as well.
I think that using Chimacum Park contradicts the values that most of us hold in this county. This is a lovely piece of land and forest that adds to our community and our environment,
just the way it is. In this world of climate change and global warming, a stand of trees is priceless. I think most of us can remember from our science classes the benefit that trees
have on air pollution and therefore the quality of the air we breathe.
I have lived in the county for over 25 years and regularly I see more trees cut and stands cleared. Besides clean air, parcels of trees provide habitat for animals. They prevent erosion.
They contribute to cooling, or at least help prevent further global warming, by providing shade. They also cut down on noise for the many homes around there, by providing a noise and
wind break. And it keeps our streams and oceans cleaner by absorbing water rather than contributing to polluted water run off.
That little patch of forest is a haven, surrounded by pavement and cars and buildings. It is a refuge for animals and people. And accessible for almost everyone, with flat, wide paths.
I have spent hours walking in there, sharing the space with owls and hawks and little song birds. I have seen deer and coyote. And I have been scolded regularly by busy little Douglas
squirrels. All these animals will be displaced and many will die, if this patch is cleared. Already, forest habitats are disjointed and fragmented. Many animals that live here will
find it difficult to find another patch to move to. If you look at aerial views of this parcel, you can see it is an important joining passage between other forested parcels. Removal
of this will further fragment the already fragmented (and challenged) adjoining forest land.
I am often amazed by the variety of plant life I find in this little forest. I am attaching photos of the various flowers and plants I have observed in this little slice of the Pacific
Northwest. Our native trilliums grow here. I have spotted wild tiger lily and the delicate and charming calypso fairy slipper. There are maiden hair ferns and salal and Kinnikinnick.
There is profuse oregon grape with fruit that can be harvested and made into jam. There are other little wild orchids and shooting star. There is also an abundance of mushrooms,
some I can name and many I cannot. Mushrooms such as shrimp russula, lobster mushrooms and the creepy, yet edible elfin saddle.
While I have spent many hours in this forest and can attest to the special place it holds in my soul, I would gladly give it up and never set foot in it again, if I knew it would be
protected. Because this unique forest has value in its existence, whether I get access to it or not. I believe it contributes to everyone’s quality of life because it is there. And
we will all be a little bit poorer if it is cut and razed and paved and replaced with yet another parking lot and large, impermeable building. Yet another heat sink in our modern,
warming world.
There are two other spots that were listed as contenders. I understand that no spot will ever be 100% perfect. There will always be pros and cons to each situation. But the other
two spots are already cleared. There will not be a significant environmental toll to developing either the spot in downtown Hadlock, near the hardware store, or the spot near the library
and elementary school. There are other significant advantages to these spots. Both these locations are in the early zones for the sewer. So the advantage that logging could pay for
the septic at the Chimacum Park location is only slight. If we believe that a sewer is better for the county, then shouldn’t the county commissioners support using the sewer for a
large facility such as this, rather than building a separate septic?
A pool and facility in Hadlock is really just as accessible as Chimacum Park. And the bus routes already include downtown Hadlock and the library. It would not take much adjustment
to add comparable bus access. And while the high school kids could use the pool easier at Chimacum Park, the grade school kids could use it at the other locations. And, imagine what
a fantastic resource it would be for the low cost housing that is being developed near the library, in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity.
We all have budgets. We all have to live within our budgets and that includes our government and our county. But some things just shouldn’t be up for sale. This is a pretty forward
thinking county. Most of us live here in large part because of the environment and natural beauty surrounding us. We must protect this beautiful place we call home. We must protect
and implement the values we profess…. even when it costs us a little more. Clearing an environmentally valuable forest for concrete is against our county values.
Please, do NOT log and pave the Chimacum Park forest for the swimming pool.
Thank you for considering.
Aleta Anderson
64 West Fitchburg Ave
Port Hadlock, WA 98339
360-379-8655