By Eric Christoffersen

Shaw Island

The residents of Shaw Island are encouraged by the amendment to the 2026 Six-Year TIP, which includes the repairs needed for Blind Bay Road, which has been eroding and sinking for over 30 years. In 1989, Bradley-Noble Geotechnical, Inc. provided the county with an “Investigation Report Into the Causes of Roadway and Subgrade Failure” on Blind Bay Road, noting that the section of the roadway that skirts Blind Bay “exhibits failure on the bay side of the roadway in many places.” The report concludes that “it is possible that a slide or slump will occur of sufficient size to result in the loss of the roadway.” Two possible solutions were recommended in 1989, but neither has been implemented.

Given the current budget shortfall, with a forecast showing a projected $6.6 million deficit in 2027, we request that the property purchased with SJC Road Funds at 1427 Neck Point Road, Shaw Island, be sold with those road funds to be used to implement one of the two possible solutions recommended by Bradley-Noble Geotechnical. As Public Works director, Colin Huntemer assured the County Council in a recorded public hearing in the summer of 2024, if they were unable to change the zoning from residential to industrial, Public Works would sell the property.

In the same hearing, Huntemer assured the Council that Public Works did not need the property for at least the next 20 years. He informed the Council that he could manage with what he had, which is the Public Works site next to the Shaw Community Building. That site has worked well for over 40 years for all road work needed on the 12 miles of county roads on Shaw.

Public Works has not been able to change the zoning to industrial in the last 16 months, with two pending appeals that will not be resolved for another six months to a year. Either of these appeals may result in the requirement that the County perform an Environmental Impact Statement, which would take another period of time. There are expensive environmental assessments and improvements already identified that must be done, such as the $30,000 to $50,000 upgrade to the residential well on site, with, as Bob Eagen noted, “ no guarantee of approval.”

The county spent $1,069,000 to purchase the property, which would pay for nearly all of the Blind Bay improvements in item 8 of the TIP, estimated at $1,200,000 over two years. The sooner that work begins, the lower the cost will be to the County, especially if it can be done before the “loss of the roadway” occurs.

We appreciate the running theme of the budget discussions so far, which is to use scarce County funds for public safety and essential maintenance, not for “bright and shiny” new things. The stabilization of Blind Bay Road is a matter of both public safety and essential maintenance for the residents of Shaw Island and all who travel there.