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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM022508 District No.1 CommissioDer: Phil Job.SOD District No.2 Commissio.er: David W. Sullivaa District No.3 CommissioDer: JohD AustiD Interim County Administrator: Frank Gifford Clerk of the Board: Lorna Delaney MINUTES Week of February 25, 2008 Chairman Phil Johnson called the meeting to order in the presence of Commissioners David Sullivan and John Austin. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following comments were made by citizens: The Board of Health was thanked for postponing the implementation of the Septic Management Plan and opting for more citizen input; the runoff from city stormdrains, roads, lawns, and wastewater from toilets all contribute to saltwater pollution; Chairman Johnson was asked ifhe will attend the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAD) hearing on Wednesday night because he is scheduled out ofthe office for several days this week; the CAD must balance with the goals ofthe Growth Management Act; the County needs to have an integrative approach in managing environmental protection activities; water monitoring programs should be handled by one agency to reduce costs, increase staff efficiency and facilitate information sharing; the Critical Areas Ordinance Citizen's Review Committee should be commended because they volunteered hundreds of hours researching and formulating critical areas regulations that pertain to Jefferson County; a citizen plans to video tape the Board's meetings and post them on his website; the Board needs to support the Port Townsend Paper Mill because it is a vital part of Jefferson County's economy; why didn't the people who said they were shot at on the Paradise Bay shoreline file an incident report with the Sheriffs Office?; the proposed changes in State legislation regarding the Open Public Meetings Act were reviewed; the Board's final decision on the CAD will be appealed no matter which way they vote; a negative email has been distributed in an effort to get County citizens to attend the hearing on the CAD this week; and individual Commissioners should not be allowed to meet with staff to discuss proposed ordinances and any questions they have should be answered in public meetings. APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Sullivan moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Commissioner Austin seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. 1. RESOLUTION NO. 15-08 re: Naming a Private Road Corvus Lane; Gerald Lasser and Rae Deane Leatham, Petitioners 2. RESOLUTION NO. 16-08 re: Re-establishing a Jefferson County Cash Drawer, Petty Cash Account and Revolving Fund Amounts in Various County Departments Page 1 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of February 25,2008 3. AGREEMENT, Interlocal re: Building Code Review and Inspection Services; Jefferson County Community Development; City of Port Townsend 4. AGREEMENT re: Copier Master Maintenance; Central Services Department; IKON Office Solutions, Inc 5. AGREEMENT re: Legal Representation in Mental Health Cases for 2008; Stephen Greer, Esq. 6. AGREEMENT NO. C14950, Amendment No.7 re: 2007-2011 Consolidated Contract; Jefferson County Public Health; Washington State Department of Health 7. AGREEMENT NO. 0863-35087 re: Cover All Kids Infrastructure; Jefferson County Public Health; Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) 8. Payment of Jefferson County V ouchers/W arrants Dated February 18, 2008 Totaling $586,698.65 9. Payment of Jefferson County Payroll Warrants Dated February 19, 2008 Totaling $92,944.88 and February 20,2008 Totaling $17,359.65 10. Recommendation for Advisory Board Appointment; Peninsula Regional Support Network Advisory Board (PRSN); Three (3) Year Term, Expiring February 25,2011; Daniel Deane APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioner Austin noted that he has a correction to the minutes of January 7,2008 on page 2 regarding the board and committee meetings that the Commissioners attend. He explained that he does not serve on the Port Ludlow Village Council Board but does attend the meetings. He asked that the minutes be revised. Commissioner Austin moved to approve the January 7, 2008 minutes as revised. Commissioner Sullivan seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. . COMMISSIONERS BRIEFING SESSION: The following items were discussed: Clallam County Commissioner Steve Tharinger has requested that a Jefferson County Commissioner become an alternate on the Ecosystem Coordination Board for the Puget Sound Partnership. Commissioner Austin agreed to represent Jefferson County on that Board as the alternate. The Puget Sound Partnership has workshops scheduled on March 5 in Port Hadlock on the Hood Canal action area and on March 7 in Blyn on the Straits action area. The Board discussed who would attend the meetings. Representatives from Norm Dicks' Office met separately with Commissioners Sullivan and Johnson last week and discussed the following issues: ferries, the post office, wild and hatchery fish, continuing Secure Rural Schools legislation, and Tamanowas Rock. Commissioner Sullivan will attend the State Council on Aging meeting this week at SeaTac. The Peninsula Development Association (PDA) and Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) meetings are this week. Commissioner Sullivan noted that a job description for a Director position will probably be advertised after the meeting. The Director will write grants for economic development projects and assist other government entities proposing development projects to create jobs on the Peninsula. There is a program on flood plains in Brinnon on Friday. . Commissioner Austin stated that the Brinnon community is continuing to work toward participation in the Dosewalips State Park large onsite sewer system project. . . . . . . Page 2 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of February 25,2008 · Chairman Johnson reported that he attended a Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) Rural Counties meeting last week. The Director of the State Department of Ecology spoke and said that they will have funding available to assist local governments with water quantity and quality monitoring. · TheWSAC Legislative Steering Committee discussed proposed State legislation to require that executive sessions be recorded and whether climate change should be added to the Growth Management Act. Workshop re: Draft Critical Areas Ordinance: (Continued from February 19, 2008) Director of Community Development Al Scalf reviewed the schedule for adoption of the Critical Areas Ordinance. Planning Manager Stacie Hoskins explained the process for administrative review when an application for a building permit (Type I) is submitted. She presented a flow chart that indicates when involvement by other County Departments, State agencies, or the public is necessary. The departments or agencies review the application simultaneously. If an application is complete when it is submitted, the Department's goal is to get a permit through the process in 30 days. She also reviewed the process when a special report or a habitat management plan is required and comments are required by outside agencies. Assistant Planner Joel Peterson reviewed some of the basic components of the Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation section of the proposed ordinance. The ordinance adopts the updated stream rating system and a buffer table was added. He reviewed the buffers for each type of stream. A property owner can request that the Administrator reduce a buffer by 25%. There was a discussion comparing the buffers in the previous code with the revised buffers. Al Scalf added that they anticipate the increased shoreline buffers to trigger more stewardship plans which are allowed in the proposed ordinance. Commissioner Sullivan noted that there are clerical errors in the document that will need to be corrected. Associate Planner Donna Frostholm reviewed several definitions regarding wetlands review. The wetland category is defined by the State Department of Ecology (DOE) manual. The Jefferson County Code is used to find the buffer width. One area of concern is the dual ratings for wetlands. Several examples of wetland evaluation were explained. She noted that the DOE manual has some provisions for breaking up a wetland into units with different ratings. The tables for low, medium and high impact landuse for wetlands are another area of concern. Staffwill correct clerical errors in the tables and they will mirror the DOE manual. There was a discussion about lawns, orchards, gardens and landscaping intruding on the buffer width depending on the configuration of the property. Staff reviewed a wetland report that was submitted to DCD that has both the 1993 and 2004 wetland rating forms. Some consultants are using both forms because they know the code is changing. The Planning Commission's draft ordinance lists a single family residence as low impact and the DOE lists it as medium impact. Most of the parcels in rural Jefferson County are 1 unit to 5 acres or more andthe Planning Commission thought that 1 house on at least 5 acres was adequate protection. In their discussions, they felt that this was more of a community value. Staff estimated the cost of a wetlands report at $2,000 to $2,500. Page 3 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of February 25,2008 When monitoring is required, it would be done over a 5 year period and if it is successful, the property owner will have no further obligations. A mitigation plan would specify the monitoring work and expected results and would need to be approved before all the other approvals. If the mitigation fails in some way over the 5 years, there. is usually a contingency section in the plan. The wetland biologist will conduct site visits and ifthere is a problem, it can be changed. The mitigation plan goes with the property if it is sold. There was a discussion about the cost of the monitoring. Stacie Hoskins stated that, in general, a code doesn't indicate who pays forthe monitoring except in the case of a peer review on a special report. This would come under policy implementation. The fees were discussed. The Department's fees are updated and adopted annually. Stacie Hoskins reviewed the special reports section. In most cases the person doing the report must be licensed by the State. There are proscriptive methods of dealing with stormwater construction, pollution and prevention in the 2004 DOE Stormwater Management Manual. A property-owner is allowed to use these methods. She reviewed the qualifications for habitat and wetland biologists. The applicant must find a qualified consultant. DCD does not recommend particular firms. However, special reports are scanned and available on the web site and the public may find a consultant that has worked in their neighborhood and review the report. Joel Peterson reviewed the section and chart on channel migration zones (CMZs). The Planning Commission had several discussions about where these should be referenced in the ordinance but decided to list them under geological hazardous areas. CMZs are areas that are subject to natural lateral movement in the stream channel. The CMZs on the Dosewallips and Duckabush Rivers were reviewed. There are high medium, and low hazard zones. The high zone is where the stream channel movement is most frequent. In a review, there would need to be an overlay of several buffers including the CZM, flood plain information, and fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas. There aren't maps available for rivers in the Westend yet. The requirements for building in a flood plain were reviewed. Joel Peterson outlined the programatic implementation of stewardship plans. A voluntary stewardship plan is an option for an applicant who wants to do an activity in or near a buffer but doesn't want to take a prescriptive path or use other aspects of the code such as averaging, minimizing or an economic use variance. DCD or the Conservation District would provide an orientation where the applicant would be coached in how to develop a stewardship plan that would have performance standards to meet the criteria in the code with equal protection or better. Goals would be outlined and there would be a monitoring plan to meet them. Outside agencies would need to review the plan. At this point, DCD doesn't know how many people will use this option and apply for the permit. There will probably be staffing impacts on the Conservation District and DCD. The Conservation District does not want to be in a regulatory position. There is currently a vacant position in DCD that could become a Stewardship Planner who would facilitate and implement the stewardship plan requirements of the code. This planner would work closely with the Conservation District and Environmental Health. There was a discussion about the schedule and process for adoption. Commissioner Sullivan stated that revisions may need to be made to the draft ordinance after the February 27,2008 hearing. Page 4 Commissioners Meeting Minutes: Week of February 25,2008 Certification of Annual Inventory of the Capitalized Assets As of December 31, 2007: Clerk of the Board Lorna Delaney explained that the inventory of capitalized assets was developed by the Auditor with the help of the Elected Officials and Department Heads who have certified the assets in their departments and the Board has seen the information. There was a discussion about the reason two computer programs were used in the document and why there is a difference in the information fields. Auditor Donna Eldridge reviewed how the information was listed in the book. She explained that this is a new process and it is still being adjusted. The Clerk of the Board administered the oath to the Board members that they have reviewed and certify that the listing of capitalized assets as of December 31, 2007 as prepared by the County Auditor is a true and correct inventory. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BRIEFING: The following items were discussed: · Presentation on County Administrator recruitment process. · Tri Area Sewer System update and funding issues. NOTICE OF ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Sullivan moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:57 p.m. Commissioner Austin seconded the motion which carried by a unanimous vote. JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS QtJ;..t 1~1 CftI C. ~lie Matthes, CMC Deputy Clerk ofthe Board C1U)l~ Phil J olriison, Chair DUwL~~ ~tin~ Page 5 c c.. 'DeO 2.jlQ Jot:. Page 1 of 1 Miranda Schryver From: Jim Boyer [baysiders@cablespeed.com] Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 7:56 PM To: Miranda Schryver Subject: CAO comment Sirs; The draft as written sets the stage for declaring any and all property in Jefferson County as critical in one way or another. I know that this is the pOint of the ordinance, but some fairness should be applied to allow the property owners to appeal an arbitrary overlay without incurring expenditures which are in effect a de facto penalty for simply owning a piece of property in the county. The draft proposes to place an undue burden upon property owners in that it attempts to classify large areas of land as critical by relying on maps that are inaccurate or at least arbitrary more often than not. Furthermore, if the property owner appeals an overlay such as a buffer designation, the ordinance proposes that he invest time and money trying to prove a negative. Since it is the county that wishes to restrict use of personal property, in fairness it should fall to the county to prove their allegation of an actual critical condition upon the request and invitation of the property owner. Sincerely, Jim Boyer Citizens Alliance for Property Rights - Jefferson County 2/19/2008 Page 1 of 1 Miranda Schryver From: jim hagen Ochagen@donobi.net] Sent: Wednesday, February 20,20089:01 PM To: Miranda Schryver Cc: AI Scalf; Joel Peterson; Dr. Kenneth Brooks Subject: Fw: CAO Comment Phil Johnson, District 1 David Sullivan, District 2 John Austin, District 3 Commissioners, This past Tuesday, a question from Commissioner Sullivan to AI Scalf related to when the Department of Ecology best available science guidance was actually available during the 2004 Comprehensive Plan/CAO update. As you know, the BoCC at that time did not adopt Ecology's BAS on the basis it was still in draft form. Commissioner Sullivan implied that even in draft form it could be sufficient to be incorporated into Jefferson's CAO. It is relevant to note that at the time the BoCC decided not to include it, DOE was in the process of seeking public input to the draft of Wetlands in Washington, Volume 2, and after carefully reviewing those comments, published a formal response in April of 2005 (Draft Wetlands in Washington State Volume 2: Guidance for Protecting and Managing Wetlands; Responses to Comments). The final version was subsequently published that same month. Many of the public comments contained suggestions that could have altered buffer protection standards, Some changes were made to the draft in general and some were respectfully disagreed with, The fact is, in December of 2004 DOE guidance was still very much a working document and subject to revision. Both the WACs and RCWs stress the importance of the consideration of public input in the formulation of legislative land use policy. To adopt any recommendations prior to this important public review would have been premature and even legally precarious, in my opinion. Commissioner Sullivan has agreed in principle when he stated in August 2006 the Jefferson CAO was "just an initial draft and as such is no threat to anyone." I would also request that you seek clarification on the comments made by DCD planner Joel Peterson regarding his characterization of the wetlands group role in developing the Critical Areas Stewardship Plan. I believe a review of the record will show Dr, Brooks had already developed the CASP before the group ever met, and that, excepting the addition of some applicable criteria, the substance of the CASP remained largely unchanged. The record will also show, I believe, there was never any discussion by the wetland group of DOE prescriptive buffers or that the CASP was developed as a compromise to prescriptive buffers. The wetland group was born out of a series of one-on-one conversations between Dr. Brooks and Andy McMillan that focused on the stewardship plan as a site-specific method for achieving wetland and stream protection from development. Thanks, Jim Hagen 150 Maple Dr. Port Townsend 2/21/2008 S\A.~~\i\f-d Rt Q\..~b\\c (OWWVlt"i'\-t- Per'\6d -:2f;lEsfo'8 bi 6(o,\se~~ OL^-~'\. t- TIRED OF THE RISING PRICE OF RURAL LIVING? The Critical Areas Ordinance will cost vou $$$ Excessive fees are yet another cost directed at landowners without an environmental benefit This ordinance affects nearly every property in Jefferson County! Do you consider yourself a responsible landowner? The Seattle environmentalists don't think so. They believe that land ow":ers are irresponsible, and should give up the use of portions of their land. AFTER WAITING FOR TWO YEARS, YOU CAN FINALLY TELL YOUR COMMISSIONERS TO STAND UP FOR YOU! come to the CRITICAL AREAS ORDINANCE PUBLIC HEARING February 2i\ 6:30 pm, Chimacum High School ****WHO DECIDES OUR FUTURE**** YOU or the Seattle environmentalists? YOU CAN PAY ATTENTION NOW OR PAY $$$ LATER