The
Board of Island County Commissioners met in Special Session on December 19,
2006, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Elger
Bay Elementary
School, 1810
Elger Bay Road, Camano Island, WA. Wm. L. McDowell, Chairman, William J.
Byrd, Member, and Mike Shelton, Member,
were present. The Special Session called for the purpose
of conducting a Public Hearing to
consider Franchise #144.
HEARING HELD: APPLICATION FOR FRANCHISE BY TR CAMANO INC. - SANITARY SEWER TRANSPORT SYSTEM TO BE LOCATED
ALONG A PORTION OF NORTH CAMANO
DRIVE SITUATED IN SECTIONS 19 AND 20, TOWNSHIP 32
N,
RANGE 3 E, W.M., ISLAND COUNTY, WA.
As
scheduled and advertised, the Special Session was called for the purpose of
conducting a Public Hearing to consider
Franchise #144 (PW-0620-109) between Island County and TR Camano, Inc. for a
Sewer Transport System to be located in North Camano Drive, Camano Island,
Sections 19 and 20, Twp 30 N., Range 3E.
Attendance:
Staff:
Bill Oakes, Island
County Public Works
Director
Jeff Tate, Assistant Planning Director
Applicant
David Platter, TR Camano, Inc.
Press and Public
Rick Wood, Stanwood/Camano News
John Dean, Commissioner-elect
Approximately 115
citizens
[Attendance/sign
up sheet on file with the Clerk of the Board].
For the record:
·
List of telephone
calls received from citizens at the Camano Annex December 19, 2006, expressing
opposition to granting the franchise: [on file with
Clerk of the Board]
·
Correspondence
received via e-mail and Fax in
opposition of granting the franchise: [on file with
Clerk of the Board]
Bill Oakes, Public Works Director, summarized with respect to
the franchise, a 25-year
lease of the use of the right-of-way to
operate utilities in a public right-of-way.
Psroposed Franchise #144 is for a sanitary sewer
transport line along North Camano
Drive as it leaves SR 532 as indicated on the
map. It would transport effluent to an
off-site disposal system with distribution trenches located in the Terry Heights
development.
Chairman
McDowell pointed out to the audience that the Hearing was with regard to the Board’s approval or
disapproval of the Franchise for the septic line in the right-of-way, not about
the project at either end.
David
Platter commented that the Supreme Court ruled that on compliance with the
ordinance, the permit must be issued as a matter of right.
Pat
Finn, Arrowhead Drive,
submitted a December 14, 2006 memo from Michael W. Gendler, Gendler & Mann, LLP, Attorneys-at-Law, Seattle, providing legal advice and
representation for CARE (Camano Action for a Rural Environment). The memo explains legally why the County is
not compelled to grant a franchise to use right of way to anyone, and that the Board has broad discretion to deny the franchise when
the request does not serve the public interest or is not consistent with the
Comprehensive Plan. The request by TR Camano is to use County land for
private benefit. There is no State regulation that
compels the County to grant a franchise simply because a State permit for a LOSS system has been
granted. He referenced other court cases supporting
that point of view. [memo on file with Clerk of the Board]
Jane
Cassady, Terry Heights Lane,
living immediately
adjacent to the proposed drainfield, noted over 100 concerned residents gathered last
June to hear from State and County officials about TR Camano’s intent to pipe
effluent 2½ miles from the Bayside Development to Terry Heights Lane. Because the approval
process on this massive system was based exclusively on information submitted
by the developer, many people in attendance at that meeting donated money to
hire HWA GeoSciences, Inc. to review the application and
permit. HWA concluded that the 13,592
gallons of effluent per day pumped into the drainfield would likely “daylight”. [report dated July 5, 2006 HWA
Project No. 2006 055 on file with the
Clerk of the Board]. Ms. Cassady recalled a meeting a few weeks back,
attended by Commissioner Shelton, when Doug Kelly, Island County Hydrogeologist
agreed with the findings. Her concern was that a tremendous amount of
this water would move laterally and surface in the County ditch. Having a County ditch serve as receptacle for
TR Camano’s sewer water is neither in the County nor public interest. The HWA
report highlights other concerns not to be ignored: uncertain quality of the water regarding
nitrates; no wet season review; no clearly defined monitoring program to ensure
nitrate levels are within acceptable levels prior to being pumped into the
drainfield; and no monitoring regime to
track contaminants leaving the site. She
suggested the County would be negligent to grant the Franchise prior
to a through review and additional safeguards in place. Additional studies are needed to
determine how much effluent will daylight and where, what the water quality
will be, and evaluate existing drainage problems and the impact of additional
water flowing off the proposed drainfield.
Allison
Warner, Dove Drive, submitted a letter
dated December 19, 2006, with attached exhibits, on behalf of CARE [on file with Clerk of the Board]. CARE is concerned about drainage issues because the
drainfield and the Franchise cannot be separated as an environmental impact. Approving
the Franchise to pump effluent to the septic drainfield would cause impacts
with respect to the public benefit. CARE attempted to
comment during Bay
View Park’s
permitting process, but at that time were told the County was not responsible for the
drainfield decisions. Issuance of a Franchise would have environmental affects, such as treatment of nitrate by a drainfield
that intends to use twenty-three acres including wetland down-slope from the
property for further treatment resulting in day lighting discharge from
effluent traveling horizontally on glacial till
[see Robinson and Noble report dated March 17, 2005 provided as an
exhibit to the letter]. Pointed out by Ms. Warner was that a required grading permit for the
drainfield had not been applied for or issued.
Another concern has to do with water day-lighting in the bank along the
County road ditch, thereby increasing flow, volume of water, and decreasing the
storm water capacity to the County drainage facility. An increase in the storm water as a result
of franchise issuance would not be in
the public interest. It would reduce
storm water capacity of the existing facility, which currently is already at
capacity during winter months [refer to photo exhibits North
Camano Drive just downstream of the
property]. The County must consider drainage impacts
to the day-lighting discharge in issuance of development permits for the Bay
View development. ICC 11.03.090 states
that all “major development activities” must undergo drainage review. She
encouraged the Board to wait until the drainage review of the drainfield was completed with accompanying environmental
review before approval of the Franchise.
Joan
Shrammeck, Scenic Avenue,
explained CARE’s position that the application is not in the public interest. TR Camano has a poor track record relating to
the Bay View Park
project, a source
of the effluent under discussion, noting at least four times when officials required that work
be stopped, or cases of Mr. Platter going ahead with items not yet permitted. A
Stop Work Order was issued December 20, 2005 by the State Department of Heath until the site
use was determined, a condition of LOSS permit. The Fall of 2005, Mr. Platter installed the septic transport
line along State Highway 532 and there was some concern whether or not the septic
transport line had been pressure- tested and certified as require. The State Department of Transportation
requires that during the process of preparing the site for construction, local
drainage areas need to be protected from storm water runoff, yet the Summer of
2005, Platter & Cole began clearing,
grading, and preparing the Bay View Park site without necessary protections, not in compliance with
State Department of Ecology rules. Mr. Platter took over the Terry Heights
water system several years ago and allowed the system to fall into disrepair, and individual land
owners were forced to dig their own wells. Because of Mr. Platter’s poor track record
supplying water, local residents were very concerned about his commitment to
properly install and maintain this septic line.
For all of these reasons, CARE believe the Franchise is not in the
public interest and should be denied.
Tammy
Finn, Arrowhead Road,
on behalf of CARE, believed that approving the Franchise would set a dangerous
precedent for Island
County. Folks arriving at the hearing signed a petition in opposition to
granting the Franchise and she submitted the petition into the record [on file with
Clerk of the Board]. CARE handed out
numbers on red cards to folks attending this evening, numbering 104 – so the Board could get a visual of the number of
people opposed to approving the franchise, 90% against.
Victor
Lesher, Lake Drive,
expressed concern about the proposed commercial center, with effluent piped two miles away. He
questioned why there weren’t more reasonable alternatives considered, such as purchasing
additional property adjacent to the proposed site for the septic system. Another option would be to utilize the eight acres
TR Camano owns across the road for a septic system. He concluded that TR Camano’s plan was to use
all the commercial property for revenue and dump the sewage where most folks
live on the Island.
Carolyn
Ehret, High
Road, had concerns that the hearing was being held a few days before Christmas
when many
local residents are gone for the Holidays, scheduled at a time when those who commute out of the area could not arrive by 6:00 p.m. She believed that the proposed septic system would have a long term affect
on the integrity of Camano
Island and the Board must
be able to determine it is in the best interest of the community. The definition of the word “public”
is: “Of the people as a whole, for the use and
benefit of all.”
Myron
(Jay) Leque, owns
a 100 acre farm below Terry’s Corner at 704 State
Highway 532, and is a Drainage District
No. 5 Commissioner, which drains the
entire basin from Utsalady Road
to the north, Hanstead Road to the west and all the way
to the Utsalady School,
drain about 2,000 acres down through
their ditches and their pump system which goes into Livingston Bay. The Drainage District was established in
1934. Mr. Leque read a letter dated
December 19, 2006 on behalf of the Drainage District, summarized as follows:
The District recently received engineering stating a potential for the proposed
drainfield at Terry
Heights to fail and
overflow and that the State received
incomplete and inaccurate data as part of their approval of the proposed
drainfield. In the event of any such
overflow or failure,
the effluent would flow into the County ditch along N. Camano Drive and directly into
District facilities. The District requests that the Developer and successive
owners be required to submit perpetual bi-annual water testing reports from
water immediately downstream in the N.
Camano Drive ditch to ensure no overflow/failure
has occurred at the LOSS. The District
also requests permanent bi-annual inspections/testing of the tight line which
serves the LOSS. The District wishes to
go on record that if Island County approves this permit, the District will hold
the County, any other approving agency, and the developer liable for any
damages resulting from any system failure.
[on file with Clerk of the
Board]
John
Edison, Wayne’s
Ridge Circle, thought if the Franchise were to be granted, folks must be able to trust that the applicant
will do an acceptable job of installing the sewage pipe, and he did not believe
this applicant had earned that trust.
Should the pipe fail, effluent would flow ultimately to Port Susan Bay and it is not a risk worth
taking. He urged denial of the
franchise.
Pat
Churchill, E. North Camano Dr., was not happy the developer had not followed the rules.
She saw the mess the developer made and did not want a mess in her yard,
which she felt would happen if this goes
through.
Ida
Bearden, Granite Lane, commutes to
Seattle everyday and has watched it turn
into a sewer because of people with money bypassing the laws which is what she
believes is happening in this case. The request is clearly not viable, not in the
public interest and she is concerned about precedence.
Karl
Neue-Lawson, E. North Camano Dr., was interested in
what passes through the septic line as
it is a concern, noting that his
property is surrounded by the proposed
drainfield. He inquired what the “receiving lot” indicated on the plan meant.
Briggs
Ekrem, Terry Heights Lane, stated that his
property was two properties away from the proposed drainfield and commented
that County right-of-ways should be for
the needs of all residents. He felt the
County would be opening itself to more lawsuits should the Board approve the
request, and urged the Board vote “no”
to those who use it for private interests.
David Gladstone, S. Camano Dr., noted that most of
the comments expressed the belief that the project is not in the public
interest and had not heard anything from the Commissioners that would counter
that position. He suggested
Commissioner Byrd excuse himself from voting tonight, or the
Board defer voting until after the first of the year when Camano
Island will be represented by a
Commissioner who resides on Camano
Island.
Bobbye
Miller, Vista
Del Mar, understood the Franchise would
be for 25 years to operate a utility in a public right-of-way,
and that it must serve the public use and be for the public good, and typically,
public utilities are run by a public entity such as a sewer district and available for the public for all who live in the area. This is a private utility for private use;
residents in the area could not use this franchise utility
line, and approval would set a bad precedence.
The right-of-way
needs to be reserved for public use. In the
Buena Vista development water
lines are in private easements even though there are public roads in the plat
itself.
Carl
Neue, Ridge Lawn Place, stated
that his son unfortunately is one being
surrounded by Mr. Platter’s drainfield.
His son is building a new house and does not want the effluent from the
drainfield going through his yard. When the water makes its way into Livingston Bay and on into Port Susan, someone will be to blame for lack of
fish. He wondered if the County and State had taken
Mr.
Platter’s
information at face value to grant this permit for the drainfield realizing the
liabilities they may incur. The City of Sultan just ruled that homes with septic systems
cannot be built on city-sized lots. Mr.
Neue believes that granting the Franchise would be a
stop-gap measure, putting off the inevitable, opening the door to lawsuits from
the State and Federal government as well as the Tulalip Tribe. He was concerned about the County’s liability should
the franchise be granted.
Mary Bellue, James Way, member of CARE but speaking as an individual, believed
this an important long term decision that
needs further consideration and
information, and asked that a decision be made after January 2, 2007, when the new Commissioner is in office. She questioned
if granting the franchise would cause Island County
to pay increased costs if the road were to be widened or repaired, or sewer system needed,
and if so, who would pay those increased costs.
She urged denial of the Franchise.
Chairman
McDowell explained that if the County road needed to widened, the franchise
holders would have to pay to have the line moved.
Brett
Ekrem, Terry Heights Lane, suggested the Board
taste water from the Terry Height Water System, commenting that the
taste and smell is awful. He was unhappy that
Dave Platter owned the water system for several years and had not
improved it. Since Mr. Platter had not been
responsible for the water system, he wondered why anyone would think he would
be responsible for the proposed drainfield.
Susan
Urich, Terry Heights Lane,
recently bought her house from her father, and recalled a
situation when her father had asked Mr. Platter to fix the water over 6 years
ago, but nothing happened.
Louise
Key, Skagit Avenue, believed unanswered
questions and issues must be resolved
before the franchise is approved, and a decision to be made after the new Commissioner
takes office.
Tammi
Leroy, Terry Heights Lane,
was distressed about the information since it was not disclosed when the house
was purchased. She lives downstream from
the proposed drainfield and would like to have more information before a
decision was made and favored postponing a decision.
Mark
Key, Spruce Ridge Drive,
was interested in discussing engineering, concerned about the septic
pipe itself. Procedures and engineering
studies must be done and satisfied before proceeding in order to protect public
safety. He thought that safety reinforcement tests for concrete had
been bypassed which resulted in
extensive damage to property and life and was concerned whether the sewer pipe was properly
installed and pressure tested to avoid any problems.
The
public input portion of the hearing was closed at 7:30 p.m., concluding with
Commissioner comments.
Commissioner
Shelton noted Island
County’s long history of allowing people to
use the County road right-of-way for different purposes. Many people who have off-site drainfields
utilize the County road right-of-way to pump effluent to their drainfield. The County generally does not, without good reason,
deny the public use of the public road
right-of-way, whether by many people or one.
The State Department of Health, who has the permitting authority for
this size LOSS,
approved this drainfield; the State Department of Ecology also reviewed this
permit. Commissioner Shelton asked Mr.
Oakes whether a clearing and grading permit was required for the drainfield
area, and if so, whether it would trigger SEPA for the
drainfield site. He inquired whether the
Island County SEPA responsible official would be the controlling person, or would it be the
State Department of Health.
Mr. Oakes confirmed that a clearing and grading permit was
required since it would exceed two acres.
Jeff Tate explained that the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)
relates to environmental review and its thresholds
not based on acreage, but other factors
may apply. If the applicant meets one of the exemptions, it is
exempt. When the project was submitted a couple years
ago, the project went through a SEPA process.
The Planning Department will look at that SEPA review to determine
whether it covers all the factors relevant in that project. Mr. Platter’s SEPA review makes reference to
an off-site drainfield and a LOSS system.
The County follows the State Department of Health and State Department
of Ecology established regulations for reviewing and permitting those types of
systems. The SEPA responsible official
for local projects is the local County Planning Department. There is the ability within SEPA regulations to spread that
responsibility to other agencies if another agency is the primary reviewing
body.
Ms.
Cassady stated
that the State Department of Health placed two conditions on the permit: a County conducted SEPA and a County granted
Franchise along the right-of-way, neither were done when the original permit
was issued. SEPA signage may have been
posted on the construction site, but never on the proposed drainfield
site. The community was unaware of the
proposal to transport effluent 2½ miles to their neighborhood. There has been no environmental review and no
understanding of the quality of water leaving the hillside (including pathogens,
nitrates) going into the ditch and ultimately into Livingston Bay. It is a non-point pollution problem and the
County has an opportunity to stop it.
Commissioner
Shelton explained the County follows the law and the Department Ecology has
stated they would
approve this system if it fell under their authority. He explained pressure testing for the
entire septic line that has been installed will need to be done before the
system can be used.
Since
the County was not responsible for inspecting the septic line installed on
State right of way, the Chairman asked that the Public
Works Department contact the State to determine whether proper pressure testing
and certification was done. The Chairman
believed the Board needed that answer before moving ahead,
as well the requirement for a Clearing and Grading permit.
Commissioner Byrd
commented that if a clearing and grading permit were required it should be in place before approving the
Franchise.
Commissioner
Shelton stated the County needed to ensure for everyone’s benefit that SEPA
requirements for the drainfield area were met; the clearing and grading permit
needed to be approved by Public Works as well.
Mr.
Tate explained if it were determined that additional SEPA review is required, the two issues
become married because the clearing and grading process would require SEPA
along with it. The Planning Department
would review the environmental checklist; the Department of Health
SEPA review that was done for
creation of those regulations, and the proposal itself. A clearing and grading permit without SEPA
would require a minimum of thirty days to process; a clearing and grading permit with
SEPA could take up to 60 days, suggesting 90 days to allow sufficient time.
Mr.
Oakes indicated the SEPA process has a time frame for certain requirements and
the clearing and grading permit required 30 days for the public notice for the
Public Hearing.
Mr.
Platter asked the Board to make a decision on the Franchise subject to these
future permits and SEPA.
By
unanimous motion, the Board continued the Public Hearing on Franchise #144 between
Island County and TR Camano, Inc. for a
Sanitary Sewer Transport System to be located in North Camano Drive, Camano
Island, Section 19 & 20, Township 32 N., Range 3 E. to Tuesday, February 6,
2007, at 7:00 p.m. to Utsalady School, (if available).
There
being no further business to come before the Board of Commissioners at this time, the
Chairman adjourned the meeting at 7:53 p.m.
The Board will meet next in Regular Session on Monday, January 8, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. in the
Commissioners Hearing Room, Coupeville,
WA,
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ISLAND
COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Wm.
L. McDowell, Chairman
William
J. Byrd, Member
Mike
Shelton, Member
ATTEST: Elaine Marlow,
Clerk of the Board