Submitted by the League of Women Voters Observer Corps.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, encourages informed participation in government. The Observer Corps attends and takes notes at government meetings to promote public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members.

Friday Harbor Port Commission regular meeting of Oct. 10

The Commission approved a change order for HB Hansen to repair the taxi lane and apron pavement failures that were exacerbated by construction at the airport. Grant funds will cover 95% of the repair.

The ports of Friday Harbor and Port Angeles are collaborating on a grant-writing and technical support interlocal agreement. The commissioners seek help from experienced grant writers in applying for funding to rebuild the breakwater at Jensen’s and Shipyard Cove. The executive director requested authorization to submit a $750,000 CERB Rural Ports grant application. A letter of recommendation is required from the Economic Development Council. This grant is very competitive as limited funds are available statewide.

The commissioners approved a lease amendment for a 10-year extension to Downriggers. They approved an amendment to the Blake Marine lease, giving them a rent reduction as the proposed new travel lift has been delayed due to zoning problems and neighbor issues.

The Port introduced new staff accountant Megan Workman. The commission reviewed the Citizens’ Budget Guide for 2026 and the differences between the operating budget and non-operating budget. The Federal Aviation Administration visited and praised the airport as one of the only cash-positive regional general aviation airports. The Port will have paid off the general administrative bond in 2040.

The executive director gave his third-quarter budget report and a projected ending balance for 2025 and the 2026 budget. There has been a lot of positive feedback about the Port’s purchase of the Cannery property. The government shutdown is causing delays in waivers for specific airport projects.

SJI Fire District regular meeting of Oct. 14

Mike Coryell took the oath of office, replacing Alexa Rust, who resigned in September.

Chief Noel Monin introduced Jason McLennan of Perkins & Will, an architecture and design firm, who has offered to design the new Stuart West fire station pro bono. He is based on Bainbridge Island but has a home on Stuart Island and wants to give back to the community and to Stuart Island. An anonymous donor is giving the Fire District $75,000 to build the new Stuart West Fire Station.

Public comments were sought on the draft 2026 budget as well as at the next commission meeting on Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. The assessor recommends $4,714,000 as the working property tax revenue under the highest lawful levy.

The Commission approved a motion to change the date of its meetings from the second Tuesday of the month to the third Tuesday of the month, starting in January. This will align better with County schedules for processing claims and payroll.

The Commission approved the purchase of a $2 million ladder truck. The truck has a 100-foot ladder, is weight-compliant and will fit in existing buildings. This truck will take 40-50 months to arrive, coinciding with the decommissioning of the current 30-year-old ladder truck.

Seventeen applicants are competing for six open positions, three lieutenants and three apparatus operators.

The public is invited to Tom Eades’ retirement party on Oct. 27 at Brickworks from 6-8 p.m. The Fire District will bring equipment to the grade school on Oct. 17 for the “Touch a Truck” event. The district is sponsoring a film at the Friday Harbor Film Festival called “Incandescent,” a documentary about wildfire in the Canadian Okanagan.

County Council regular meeting of Oct. 20

Friends of the San Juans made public comment on the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan, asking for clarifications on multimodal corridors and for revisions of service level map designations to better reflect actual width and safety.

The Council heard a County Fair recap. Despite frequent rain, the fair had 16,000 visits and over 800 projects exhibited. Traditional favorites: the Chicken Race, the Zucchini 500 and Trashion Fashion proved popular, and the Latin Stage was a big success.

Ferry issues were again a serious challenge, and the inclusion of sales tax in the ticket prices reduced fair revenue. The Council reviewed a draft resolution to establish a Cultural Access Review Board. They reduced the proposed membership from nine members to five, asked for more clarification on eligibility for pre-school children and asked that the State RCW language be included in the resolution.

The county heard departmental budget presentations from the Assessor’s Office, the court clerk and the Superior Court. These departments all do legally mandated work, with only a small fraction of expenses being discretionary; even cutting those back significantly left them unable to reach the requested 9.5% cut without cutting staff. The courts are operating with eight fewer staff hours per week than in 2008, although the court workload is growing, with a 300% increase in protection orders. Trials have been fewer in number but much longer and more complex. The Assessor’s Office cut travel, software training and office supplies, and will try to boost identification of new construction. Identified new construction will add $358kK in revenue in 2026.

The Community Development planner reviewed proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan draft approved by the Planning Commission at a September meeting. The amendments reflect hundreds of public comments. She covered potential updates to Land Use, Water Resources, Housing, Transportation, Utilities and Economic Development elements. She reviewed proposed mapping changes, many of them in the Eastsound sub-unit. The Environmental Stewardship presented the Climate Element, which is newly mandated and which itself had public input from over 1,200 people. The climate engagement also provided recommendations that were incorporated into other elements of the Comp Plan.

County Council regular meeting of Oct. 21

The Council appointed Department of Community Development Director Sev Jones as the certifying officer for HUD Environmental documents. During public comment, Friends of the San Juans proposed steps to reduce flood risk and to monitor seater intrusion into the aquifer to the Climate Element of the Comp Plan.

After a public hearing, the Council approved the Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program and the 2026 Annual Construction Program, including moving funds from a Pear Point sidewalk project to an urgent project to relocate the road near Agate Beach. The Decatur project was determined to be maintenance rather than a capital project and was removed from the priority array. The Council approved an ordinance after a public hearing in which six members of the public spoke in support of raising the rates and charges for the Conservation District to provide more stable funding for this high-demand service.

The Council heard an update on the new law that provides public safety grants and allows local governments to implement a one-tenth of 1% tax to support these goals. The state has provided some but not final details. Council asked for a more detailed analysis of the County’s needs in the areas potentially eligible for the programs.

The Council set public hearings for Nov. 25 for a periodic update of the Comprehensive Plan and for ordinances setting property tax levies for Current Expense, County Roads and Land Conservation. The housing coordinator reported that the Five-Year Homeless Plan had reduced the number of goals from 21 to 17 and identified six priorities: expedited permitting for affordable housing, pre-approved housing plans, SAFE San Juan emergency housing funds, a host program for teens, cold weather shelters and local funds for rental subsidies.

The Council continued the third-quarter financial review, with most revenue coming in on track and most expenses coming in below budget. They then heard budget presentations from the Fleet Department, the Road Department, the Council Office and Health and Community Services. The fleet proposed to cut costs by moving to lease vehicles and equipment needs and raise revenue by providing maintenance services to other public entities. The Roads Department has dedicated funding and has not increased staff in decades. Council members agreed to forego salary COLAs and cut travel and training to meet the 9.5% cut. Health and Community Services met the cut by reorganizing the workload to cut two positions.

SJPHD1 meeting of Oct. 22

Evan Perrolaz reported that the community paramedicine program is expanding and has enrolled 11 new intakes this month. Village at Home is also expanding and has hired three more part-time staff. They are not hiring full-time employees because providing benefits is too expensive. The two programs are coordinating, but the Villat at Home is licensed only for home care and cannot do many community paramedicine program tasks.

Perollaz reported on repairs of the Village at the Harbor freezer, and installation of accessible doors to the courtyard and emergency medical services building roof repairs. The Public Hospital District will submit two grant proposals for solar projects totaling $2.7 million to the State Department of Commerce for roof panels: one on the EMS building and one on the Village at Home.

Chief Nathan Butler said the EMS has better targeted the paging systems to the needs of individual calls. EMS calls in August hit an all-time high, remained high in September, and calls for the year will be the highest ever. Some private insurers are withdrawing from the County, creating stress in the community. Two commissioners attended the County Health Care Consortium of PHDs, providers and County staff to share information and coordinate on addressing health challenges in the community. Federal program cuts, including food benefits, are expected to be hit hard this fall.

The PHD has drafted status quo budgets for 2026 but is awaiting the results of the levy lid lift on the ballot, before possibly revising the budget or finalizing the current draft. Some line items have been shifted among programs or revenue streams. The PHD wants to move forward to develop a new five-year strategic plan with concrete goals and timelines. The plan to create housing for health care workers has been dropped due to federal issues, and a proposed expansion of The Village at the Harbor is on hold.

The Council approved a resolution to transition the PHD staff to the Washington Public Employees Benefits Board. During public comment, a citizen discussed the importance of including donors and the new Community Health Foundation in the strategic planning/five-year plan process. The Commission noted that the process would be open to the public.