BOARD OF ISLAND COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS MINUTES OF MEETING - JULY 26, 2004
The Board of Island County Commissioners
convened in regular session at 11:00 a.m. on July 26, 2004, for a roundtable discussion with Elected Officials and
Appointed Department Heads, held in
the Board of County Commissioners Hearing Room
(Room #102B), Island County Courthouse Annex, 1 NE 6th Street,
Coupeville, Wa. Other topics for the regular session followed at 1:30
p.m. as outlined
on the agenda, including Diking Improvement District
#4. William J. Byrd, Chairman, Mike
Shelton, Member, and Wm. L. McDowell,
Member, were present.
Roundtable
Meeting with Island County Elected Officials
AND APPOINTED DEPARTMENT
HEADS
Elected
Officials:
Tom Baenen Bill
Byrd
Sharon Franzen Mike
Hawley
Mac McDowell Linda Riffe Mike Shelton
Suzanne Sinclair
Maggie Paczkowski for Judge Strow
Appointed Department
Heads: Phil Bakke Elaine
Marlow Bill
Oakes
Cathy Caryl Tim McDonald Dan
Sherk
Betty Kemp Dick Toft
Public: Rufus Rose,
South Whidbey
Assessor. Appraisers in the midst of fieldwork to pick up
new construction, with about 2400 permits completed. Finished with area 5 for
new construction (Camano).
Anticipate getting revaluation notices out by November
which will enable completion
of new construction fieldwork.
Auditor. Primary election ballot changes will be
substantial. It is only for the
primary that a voter can vote only for one party; the general election will be the same as
always. For the primary, four
ballots will be provided since the rules passed by the Legislature call for “open primary/private choice”
and in order for a ballot to be counted voters must return
only one ballot in the envelope. If
a voter casts a vote for one candidate but returns all four ballots, that
voter’s ballot will not be counted [based on the idea that returning the ballot
is a choice of party]. This system for the primary almost doubles the cost of the primary, but the
County was able to obtain dollars
from the State to help pay for the difference in cost.
Budget
Director. Budget worksheets have gone out to
departments. The Budget Director is
available should there be any questions, and if departments are considering
making proposals for additional
staff, the Budget Director
would be happy to cost that portion out.
Hopeful this year that departments will provide a narrative with
submittal of budgets, reviewing
high points and accomplishments of the year; where the department would
like to be next year, any concerns, etc.
Central
Services. E-mail with zip file attached indicating
that “your computer has been monitored and has problems please open attached zip
file”, a note of caution; it is spam and employees need to delete the e-mail or
forward it to Central Services.
Never open anything with a
zip or exe extension. Central
Services is updating the virus
protection automatically on a weekly basis.
Commissioners. Elected Officials and Appointed Department heads reminded to submit, preferably prior to budget
submittal, a list of what services
are mandated by law and those services currently provided but are not mandated
by law.
Human
Resources. New employee orientations conducted the 2nd and 4th
Tuesdays of each month. The
employee on his/her first day needs to first report to H.R. And as the Auditor pointed out related to medical coverage it
is important a new employee
attends orientation early on - need to get them added onto medical
coverage in the first month of
eligibility. Federal Labor
Standards Act - Exempt and Non –Exempt employees. Rules have changed effective 8/23/04
in determining if an employee meets one of the FLSA tests. H.R. received a CD which after filling out the required
information, a determination is made
as to whether or not an employee meets the test. H.R. will go through that process with each
department throughout August, and re-visit the FLSA category of employees.
Public
Works. Next Roundtable will brief participants on the Juvenile
Detention Center construction schedule inasmuch as there will be some impacts on
departments, primarily
parking.
Roundtable
adjourned 11:20 a.m. Next
Roundtable scheduled August 23, 2004 at 11:00 a.m.
The meeting at 1:30 p.m. began with the
Pledge of Allegiance. By unanimous
motion, the Board approved the minutes from the July 19, 2004 Board meeting as
presented.
VOUCHERS AND PAYMENT OF
BILLS
The
following vouchers/warrants were approved for payment by unanimous motion of the
Board: Voucher (War.)
#194505 - 194842 ……………………………..$1,025,508.11.
nd County Fair
Fund
By
unanimous motion, the Board approved
Resolution #C-74-04
Authorizing an Interfund Loan to the Island County Fair and to pay the expenses
of the Fair during the year, to be repaid as soon as funds are available, before
December 31, 2004. [Resolution #C-74-04 on file with the Clerk
of the Board]
NORTHWEST ESD 189 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SYSTEMS COMMITTEE DESIGNATED AS ELIGIBLE LOCAL COUNCIL FOR ISLAND COUNTY – EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES ACT DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM
Because of a grant deadline
of July 27, 2004, Carol McNeil,
Nursing Supervisor, Island County Health Department, brought an urgent matter to
the Board for consideration and action. Early childhood educators from a five-county region [Skagit, San Juan,
Island, Snohomish and Whatcom]
served by the NW Educational Services District 189 have worked since March to develop a system of early
childhood education for the region.
A grant request of $987,717 through
the Early Learning Opportunities Act is for Phase I of the implementation of a developing
strategic plan that will create a system to strengthen the work force so that teachers prepare
children with strong emergent literacy and social skills; support parents in providing
environments to prepare children to be ready for school; and increase the availability of and access
to early childhood programs. The group learned just a few days’ ago that
county commissioners from
Snohomish, Skagit, Island, Whatcom, and San Juan must designate the NW ESD 189 Early Childhood Systems
Committee as a local council to apply for the grant and to designate the NW ESD 189 as
the fiscal agent.
Questions posed by
Commissioner McDowell were referred to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and to
Ms. McNeil to contact grant contact
with regard to what assurances are
in place should the grant recipient not perform insulating the County from any
pay-back requirement of the almost one million dollars.
Josh Choate, Deputy
Prosecutor, contacted Skagit and
Snohomish County, and although he was not able to speak with county attorneys,
learned that Snohomish County entered into several agreements in the past of a similar nature with NW ESD. He was able to read through the grant announcement and reported that nowhere
in it does it say that if the grantee is
unable to carry out the terms and conditions of grant that the
legislative body would be on the hook for the funds; on the other hand, there is
no statement that says the legislative body is not on the hook for the
funds. However, reading the agreement as a whole does not lead one to believe there would
be any liability for Island County.
Ms. McNeil spoke with the
grant consultant and was assured that intent of having county commissioners
designate NW ESD 189 is that of
“gate keeper”. Other information
from the grant consultant was: (1)
no one else in the region or community is
applying for this grant; (2) NW ESD
189 is a functioning
appropriate agency to be
receiving this money; and (3) should the grant be approved, they are
an
appropriate fiscal agent to handle that amount of
money.
With those assurances, the
Board by unanimous motion approved and signed the letter authorizing the NW ESD 189 as the
eligible Local Council for Island County for the purposes of the Early Learning
Opportunities Act (ELOA)
STAFF SESSION SCHEDULE – AUGUST, 2004 The August Staff Session Schedule was approved by unanimous motion of the Board. The schedule outlines the regular staff sessions for August which will be held on August 4 and August 18, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Courthouse Annex Hearing Room, 1 N. E. 6th Street, Coupeville, Wa.
APPOINTMENTS
AND REAPPOINTMENTS
By
unanimous motion, the Board made the following appointments and reappointments
to the Noxious Weed Control Board and the Workforce Development
Council:
Reappointment:
Reappointment:
Sheila Case-Smith, Oak
Harbor
Tom Eisenberg, Camano Island
Representing District I
Representing District V
Term: July 6, 2008
Term: July 6, 2008
New
Appointment:
Fred VanBenschoten,
Clinton
Representing District IV,
filling an existing
vacancy for a term expiring
July 6, 2006
Mike Gallus,
Freeland
Representing Private
Business sector
Term: July 27, 2006
JUVENILE
AND FAMILY COURT SERVICES – CONTRACTS
APPROVED
Having
reviewed contracts at a recent Staff Session with Michael Merringer,
Administrator, Juvenile and Family Court Services, the Board at this time
approved the following two contracts:
§
Contract #0463-53521
(RM-JUV-04-0066)with DSHS for
Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration to provide ESSB5903 Disposition
Alternatives
§
Contract
(RM-JUV-04-0067) with DSHS, JRA
Region 3, to provide family therapy
services, contract in the amount of
$4,650.
Ordinance
#C-75-04 (PLG-012-04) Amendments to County Building Code, Fire Code, Fire
Inspections - ICC 16.13.100; ICC 16.19.040; ICC
17.03.260
Ordinance #C-75-04
(PLG-012-04) Amendments to County Building Code, Fire Code, Fire Inspections
- ICC 16.13.100, ICC 16.19.040 and
ICC 17.03.260 was presented for the Board’s consideration by Phil Bakke,
Planning & Community Development Director, and Bob McCaughan, Building
Official.
Documents provided
were: Proposed Ordinance PLG-012-04
with Exhibits A and B; and Island County Planning Commission Findings and
Recommendations dated July 13, 2004.
The recommendation of the Island
County Planning Commission was reviewed by Washington State agencies
pursuant to the Growth Management Act, and no objections were received from any
State agencies.
Mr. Bakke outlined
available options to the Board: accept and adopt the amendments as
recommended by the Planning Commission without substantive changes; remand the
matter back to the Planning Commission; or schedule a public hearing before the
Board to consider changes to the
Planning Commission recommendation.
Mr. Bakke noted that at the beginning of the year the Planning Commission
appointed a subcommittee to work with Planning & Community Development, and
others, in order to come up with a
new building code in response to the Washington State Legislature having adopted
the International Building Code, International Residential Code, International
Mechanical Code and International Fire Code to replace the Uniform Building Codes effective July 1, 2004. The subcommittee recommendation was presented to the Planning
Commission with a recommendation of approval, and the Planning Commission held three
hearings to gather public input.
The Planning Commission made no changes to the work product of the subcommittee and
recommended unanimously that the Board of County Commissioners adopt Ordinance
PLG-012-04. He then outlined key
points of the proposal:
1.
Adopting formally in local code the International Building Code as
Island County’s code.
2.
The County’s “Owner-Builder
Code” has been taken out of the Code.
The Washington State Building Code Council advised that amendments adopted prior to
establishment of the State Building Code Council would go by the wayside upon
adoption of the International Building Code [IBC]. Affordable housing and
accessibility to building homes was subsequently addressed through the County’s Affordable Housing
Program and allows for a building permit to be issued for $204.50, and is still
available for an owner-builder to
build a home.
3.
The UBC and IBC provide for
a building code board of appeals.
The county has had such a board for years but Mr. Bakke could not recall
not a single issue brought to that board in his tenure. The subcommittee recommended that given the litigious nature and complexity of these issues
that the Hearing Examiner take over
the responsibility for hearing those cases and that section of the code be
repealed.
4.
Enforcement process be
handled through enforcement
standards of ICC 17.03.
Mr. Bakke and Mr. McCaughan
provided clarification with regard to owner built homes in response to questions from
Commissioner Shelton. Even if the
County retained the provision, the same number of inspections would be required
as for a regular building permit, along with plan review thus no basis on which
to say that an owner-builder permit would provide a permit for less money based
on less time and review by the County. There was a
fairly diverse group of folks who
attended the Planning
Commission hearings and builders
certainly were aware of the
provision. Most folks
understood that the owner
builder provisions were really eliminated
by action taken by the Washington State Legislature. The owner-builder would not
have the advantages in the code that some people believe it would since all inspections and plan
review would be required; the only
benefit is a $500 permit but the affordable housing standard can now bring that down
to $204.50. Utility of the
owner-builder code has been slim,
probably about three permits in the first six months of this year.
As to a question from
Commissioner McDowell on Exhibit A,
Page 2 of 17, item 2.6 at the top of the page, Barrier-Free Design Standards, Mr. Bakke
indicated that this language replaces WAC 51.20 and does not bring about a new set of rules into the
County’s code. Mr. McCaughan
commented that IBC
standardizes the general
building codes, but there is a
separate handicap code. What
has happened this year is that the
State of Washington went to a more
simplified version, and this does not cause Island County to have the same
requirements as for example Seattle would. With regard to County
provisions with respect to noise disclosure, this proposal does not usurp that; the key distinction there as
Mr. Bakke noted is that those items were taken before the State Building Code
Council whereas the owner-builder code was prior to the State Building Code
Council.
Mr. Bakke stated that
on Exhibit A, Page 14 of 17 –
revocation of approvals or permits, that is currently in code and none of it is
new. Exhibit A, Page 15 of
17 Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Areas, all of ICC 17.03 enforcement
provisions of restorations; the
language is current code. These
are areas adopted by the Board of
Commissioners as areas that could
get more attention from the critical area perspective – this adds building code enforcement to ICC 17.03
enforcement code section. With regard to
adopting the International Fire Code, it is not significantly
different that current fire code.
Lori Hilleary, Langley,
expressed concerns about eliminating the owner builder provisions to build a
home. Commissioner Shelton
explained that nothing in the code says that an individual cannot build on their own; it is just that it
cannot be built under an owner-builder permit.
With regard to concern by
Ms. Hilleary about
potential affect including
provisions of fish and
wildlife restoration here would have on the 2005 Comprehensive Plan update,
Mr. Bakke stated that would be none at all; the County has in place a comprehensive
enforcement program and instead of trying to create a new standard for dealing
with buildings, this proposes to simply add building enforcement to that
chapter.
Commissioner McDowell moved
the adoption of Ordinance #C-75-04/PLG-012-04, Amendments to County Building Code, Fire
Code, Fire Inspections - ICC
16.13.100, ICC 16.19.040 and ICC 17.03.260
Motion, seconded by
Commissioner Shelton, carried unanimously. Further, by unanimous motion, the Board added
verbiage to page three of Ordinance
#C-75-04/PLG-012-04 to state that
“Ordinance #C-75-04/PLG-012-04 is adopted
pursuant to the Island County
Planning Commission July 13, 2004 recommendation”. [Ordinance, Exhibits and July 13, 2004
Island County Planning Commission Findings and Recommendations placed on file with the Clerk of the
Board]
Public
Input or Comments
Lori
Hilleary, Langley,
brought three issues to the
Board:
(1) Jane Hilton [Ms. Hilleary’s aunt] resided for approximately 35 years on the corner of Bush Point Road and Shore Meadows Road and has shared in a well with the neighbor to the south. Before the owner of the house to the south sold some 9 or 10 years’ ago, an agreement was made between that owner and Jane Hilton to secure her water rights. There is an agreement, but was not sure that it was an approved two-party well. For some years’ now the current owner of the house to the south has been turning down Ms. Hilton’s water to a trickle, making it unsanitary and inhumane. Discussed with the Health Services Director who instructed her to write a letter and outline all details.
Commissioners noted that she
had taken the correct step, and encouraged her to write the letter outlining the
issues involved and pursue through the Health Director.
(2) County decision on Saratoga Beach
property mentioned at previous
meetings, located on the northern side of the
bulkhead and in front of the bulkhead, with regard to deeding property including
second class tidelands and
non-exclusive easement for ingress or egress or any other use to the County. Ft. Ward Estate has
right to the property.
Commissioner Shelton
recalled some e-mail from Terri Arnold,
GSA/Parks with some comments and questions. The budget under which Parks
currently operates is stressed at
this point to take care of the
existing properties the County owns,
and to take on the
responsibility of another property
with major capital expenditures [recreate the bulkhead] required at some point, needs
to be assessed. The County has not come to any decision at this point.
(3)
Inquired about the status of
the County’s determination on the
ownership of McMaster Road.
The Public Works Director
confirmed that written response was
in today’s mail, and handed a copy to Ms. Hilleary at this time. The letter indicated that the Department
was able to trace back to the Seventies
where the County maintained that stretch of road, and had been included on the County Road Log sometime during the
Seventies.
Ms. Hilleary disagreed with
the determination outlined in the letter from the Public Works Department that McMaster Road is a county road. Asking about provisions to appeal
the decision, she was advised that the appeal probably would be to Superior
Court.
Donna Sedey, Coupeville, who has been working on a project on
Snakelem Point started in 1997-98,
stated that they had cleaned up property that had been used as a neighborhood garbage can for about
fifty years, so that the property would be returned
to its natural state of a
wetland. She has yet to receive a
call back from either Mr. Bakke or Mr. Tate in the Planning Department to
explain why they never got the plat
map brought up to date and the designated
wetland on the plat map.
Ms.
Sedey was assured by Commissioner Shelton
that she would receive a call today.
Dick Moa, Camano
Island was appreciative for the opportunity
given to Camano Island residents to participate via the video conferencing system.
Resolution
#C-76 -04/R-24-04 – Initiating
County Road Project CRP 04-04 -
Woodland Beach Road Repair
As presented by Bill Oakes,
Public Works Director, the Board adopted Resolution
#C-7604/R-24-04 In the Matter of
Initiating County Road Project designated as CRP 04-04, Work Order, Woodland Beach Road Repair in the amount
of
$226,000.00.
[Resolution #C-76-04/R-24-04
placed on file with the Clerk of the Board]
Agreement
for right of way Negotiations
Supplemental Agreement #2 to
PW-0020-28(B) between Island County
and Rosa M. Abeyta LLC, changing scope of work to an Agreement for Right of Way
Negotiations and Compensation for
Services, Notices & Authorized Representatives, was approved by unanimous
motion of the Board as presented by Mr. Oakes..
Bid
Award FOR Harbor Hills Outfall Project
The Board by unanimous
motion awarded bid for the Harbor Hills Outfall Project, PWP 00-02, Work Order 28, to the low
bidder, SRV Construction, Inc., in
the amount of $96,578.50.
Stormwater
Mitigation Agreement & Covenants –
Holmes Harbor Home Building, LLC; Lot 9, Blk 5, Div. No. 8, Plat of
Holmes Harbor Golf & Yacht Club
The Board by unanimous
motion approved Stormwater Mitigation Agreement and Covenants #PW-0420-88
between Island County and Holmes
Harbor Home Building, LLC, related to
Lot 9, Block 5, Div. No. 8, Plat of Holmes Harbor Golf & Yacht
Club.
Change
Order to Contract PW-0420-102 -
Krieg Construction, Inc. – 2004 Whidbey Island HMA Overlays
By unanimous motion, the
Board approved Change Order to Contract PW-0420-102 with Krieg Construction,
Inc. – 2004 Whidbey Island hot mix asphalt overlay project under CRP 04-02, in the amount of $94,776.00. As explained by Mr. Oakes, the
change order adds paving of basketball court at the site of the old modular in
Coupeville [per lease agreement]; deletes a portion of Bayview Road and
transfers in-house chip seal roads for items 60 through 69 located in the plat
of Scatchet Head, and adds 4 days to the contract time. The change order brings the total
contract to $785,989.85.
NOTE:
The 2:45 p.m. Public Hearing
on Resolution #C-67-04 Amending Island County Code 2.20A Island County Fair has been
continued to August 23, 2004 at 2:45 p.m.
There being no further
business to come before the Board at this
time, the meeting adjourned at
2:55 p.m.
The next regular meeting of the Board is scheduled for August 2, 2004,
beginning at 9:30
a.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ISLAND
COUNTY, WASHINGTON
______________________________
William J. Byrd,
Chairman
_____________________________
Mike Shelton, Member
_____________________________
Wm. L. McDowell,
Member
ATTEST:
__________________
Elaine Marlow, Clerk of the
Board