Recent amendments to the 2007 Island County budget will help funnel money into projects as diverse as mounting an A-6 Intruder at the intersection of Ault Field Road and Highway 20 and establishing funding for the Shellfish Protection District at Holmes Harbor.
The Board of Island County Commissioners approved $234,000 in 2007 budget amendments during a regular Monday meeting.
Budget Director Elaine Marlow highlighted the more notable amendments, including $2,500 and $10,000 earmarked for the Island County Historical Society and Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve Trust Board, respectively. Budget shortfalls in previous years precluded the county from providing the two entities a significant amount of money annually.
Nearly $8,000 will help partially finance a unique, “aircraft on a stick” project. An Intruder aircraft will be put in place this fall to greet visitors to Oak Harbor and the island. The formidable structure will sit at Highway 20 and Ault Field Road. It was formerly located at City Beach Park.
Island County has retained the Seattle law firm Foster Pepper PLLC to represent the county as it moves forward with the tidal energy project intervention process. The county has set aside $20,000 to pay for the services. Several other counties, local governments, and special interest groups have already filed motions to intervene on other potential tidal energy projects scattered around Puget Sound, including Deception Pass and Admiralty Inlet.
Assessor Dave Mattens scored a victory when the commissioners found space in the budget — an approximately $61,000 increase — to hire additional staffing to help whittle away at a work backlog that has plagued the assessor’s office for years.
The commissioners recently took the first step to clean up Holmes Harbor by adopting a resolution allowing the formation of a shellfish protection district for the southern portion of the harbor. A budget of $30,000 was added to the 2007 budget to help pay for professional services and other miscellaneous expenses.
“The county has applied for a $384,000 Washington State Department of Ecology Centennial Clean Water Fund grant to address contamination issues in southern Holmes Harbor. The $30,000 approved this morning is only for start-up costs,” Marlow said Monday.
The new district will try to isolate the source of pollution that has been found in water samples, improve water quality, and then reopen the area for shellfish harvesting.
