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 expand public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members.

SJC Public Hospital District #1 April 17

A member of the public who runs a social purpose organization that seeks to address community health through public dance events introduced himself to the commissioners. He is looking at doing some events at outdoor venues and partnering with other community organizations.

The PHD Finance Officer, Stephen Wambsganss, reported the conversion to the new financial management system went very smoothly with none of the possible glitches manifesting. In May they will move to bi-weekly paychecks and shift entirely to electronic payments to and from vendors. Most of the Spring tax revenue will come in in May. Their new volunteer pay system is working well.

The current EMT class is winding up and will graduate on April 27. Class members will then work to get their final certifications in June in time for summer field training. The Deputy EMS Director is training trainers on most of the islands. Staff members are getting credentialed to teach wilderness first aid, babysitters’ courses, and car seat inspections. The PHD# 1 is now a state credentialing agency so that people in the county can test here without going to the mainland.

Call volume was at a five-year high in the first quarter with January and February calls unusually high. Response times remain good. The PHD is developing plans to manage the many retirements that will be coming in the next few years. They have concluded three joint agreements with the SJI Fire District and the first joint OTEP training has begun for firefighters and EMTs.

The commission discussed what kind of payments The Village at Home homecare agency would be able to accept. Initially, it will be private pay and long-term care insurance. The agency needs to get up and running and be able to show a profit on that basis before looking at becoming a Medicaid provider. The program director will be creating a 501 (c) (3) and meeting with potential funders for providing charitable support for services to low-income members of the community. The Commissioners approved the dispatch fee agreement with the county.

The Public Hospital District is planning an Open House on the afternoon of June 7th to thank the community for all their support for the district’s initiatives. The event will kick off at the Village at the Harbor but will include the EMS building, The Village at Home, and the PHD administrative offices.

Board of Health regular meeting of April 17

The Board of Health heard a report on the Early Learning Program in the county. Orcas has four licensed programs and no waitlist for 3–4-year-olds. One program will be opening up new slots for infant care and toddlers. On San Juan Island there are several providers, two of which are licensed, and all providers have waiting lists and challenges finding enough staff. The SJI school district is setting up new pre-K programs. Lopez has two providers, one of which is licensed. There is no infant care on either San Juan Island or Lopez. The county is working with providers to get licensed, then evaluated for ranking against standards and then seeking to improve interactions between the caregivers and the children. Improving compensation for early childcare providers will be key to meeting staffing challenges.

Community Health Services gave a mid-year update on their programs. In 2023 they set up a new mother and child program that is serving 51% of eligible families. The Women Infants and Children (WIC) program is serving 1/3 of infants in the county and now has a Spanish-speaking breastfeeding counselor.

Vaccinations and especially school vaccinations are going well with vaccination rates higher than before the pandemic. There have been no reported cases of measles, and the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine uptake has been high, but the county is likely to see some cases eventually.

Respiratory infections are a major category of communicable disease with 2023 numbers similar to 2022. Of general communicable diseases reported in the county, 30% are viral hepatitis, 30% are enteric, 12.5% are vector infections, 7.5% are zoonotic, 12.5 % are tuberculosis, and 7.5% are other. For sexually transmitted infections there were increases of chlamydia and syphilis cases and a drop in gonorrhea cases. County health has seen an increased need for reproductive health services and is doing more STI testing and treatment including expedited partner therapy and for contraception and emergency contraception. The Health Department and the Board of Health approve expanding STI testing and treatment and the initiation of contraception and provision of emergency contraception to their standing orders. The Board approved the request.

Friday Harbor Town Council regular meeting of April 18

After two executive sessions, the council approved motions to hold over the expiring transfer station lease to the county on a month-to-month basis while they finalize a new lease and for the mayor to approve the county’s new contract with Lautenbach as transfer station operator.

The council approved an ordinance raising refuse service fees to counterbalance increased tipping charges they must pay for recycling and solid waste.

The Community Development Director, Ryan Ericson, asked the council about formulating an ordinance to provide for a hearing examiner to handle appeals that the town council does now. The council asked the director to provide more background information on this proposal, which would not apply to variance or conditional use requests. This will have no impact on the existing direction to appoint a hearing examiner for the Holliwalk issues.

The Visitors Bureau reported the reduced number of visitors to the county so far this spring, and summer bookings running 15-40% below normal at this point for lodging, whale-watching, biking, kayaking, weddings, and other activities. Lower tourism visits appeared last August due to concerns about ferry reliability. Lower visitor numbers will impact sales tax revenue. The Visitors Bureau requested $20k in additional LTAC funds for an ad campaign to counter travel concerns. The council asked for additional information and plans to discuss this further at the May 2 meeting.

The council deliberated on the appeal regarding the water use violation issued to the San Juan County Fairgrounds. The council voted unanimously to uphold the notice of violation. They noted a persistent pattern of the county ignoring town concerns about water use at the fairgrounds; their priority to protect their water supply for provision to town residents; and their willingness to work with the county to review and provide what is necessary and appropriate. The council directed staff to prepare a finding of facts and conclusions of law and the decision. During public comment, the County Parks and Fair Director Brandon Andrews requested the council to extend the notice of cutoff for two months to allow conversations about allowable use and time to prepare for the reduction or cutoff of water service.

The public works director reviewed with the council a resident’s requests for changes to the Marguerite project and the council concluded that the request could not reasonably be accommodated within the existing town rights-of-way and the current project requirements.

An existing sales tax that supports transportation improvements is expiring and the town needs to decide when they wish to bring a new levy request before the voters. The Conservation District is improving the wildfire readiness of the town watershed.

Friday Harbor Port Commission regular meetings of April 12 and 19

On April 12, the Commission approved the Washington State Department of Transportation grant application for $174,445, which with a 5% match from an FAA grant will help pay for an aircraft fueling system update, the south apron expansion, and the replacement of C hangar.

The commissioners reviewed site plans for the Southwest Development Area Trails Realignment and Environmental Assessment including the proposed realignment of the Clark McAlpine Trail with Corley McFarland from Precision Approach Engineering and John Vlas from Environmental Science Associates. The Environmental Assessment will be complete in Fall 2026, contingent on the National Marine Fisheries biological assessment which can take 18-24 months. The FAA-funded assessment must be approved by the FAA which has okayed relocating the Automated Surface Observing Systems. They hope to keep much of the character of the trail linking up to the American Camp Trail. The Trails Committee and other community organizations will give input. The commission wants to inform the community about why the trail may need to move to meet FAA limitations. Future discussions will cover the access roads and more on the trail alignment. The assessment team will discuss potential future developments with the FAA, meet with the town and county, and then finish layouts and preliminary concepts. They will do more fieldwork and due diligence while they wait for NMFS approval.

A citizen asked to see the archeological report for the replacement of the public restroom at Jackson’s Beach. He was referred to the county’s website to access the public records.

At an April 19 special meeting, the Port commissioners passed a motion to maintain the status quo of the Port Townsend model for Jensen’s and Shipyard Cove in which the Port operates the boat lift and all vendors and boat owners can do work on boats. Vendors would remain on a month-to-month lease. Given the complex environmental clean-up and construction projects taking place with the inevitable disruption it would be impractical to coordinate with a vendor operating the shipyard; the goal is to keep a level playing field for all parties.

Citizens commented on the need for chandlery services at the shipyard, saying that on a month to month it would be hard for some vendors to operate. They requested that any long-term lease contracts make it clear that boat owners could access the lift and sought a customer feedback mechanism. There was a request for more communication from the Port about events impacting boat owners, such as the recent crushing of derelict boats that created debris that interfered with some activities. The Port said the one-time boat-crushing event by the Department of Natural Resources was publicized and the Port contributed labor. The commissioners said they would be reviewing the Jensen’s Shipyard Master plan following input from the Citizen’s Advisory Committee.