After a heated meeting of around 18 members of Diking District 3, the future and purpose of the governing body remains uncertain.
District members have expressed frustration with their three-member board for not properly protecting the property owners within the district or informing them of pending projects.
At the Wednesday meeting, the first in more than a year, the board voted to relinquish easements to the state Department of Transportation for a Dike Road improvement project on North Whidbey that will begin in July.
The move enables the DOT to breach and eventually destroy the existing dike — the very reason for the district — and raise Dike Road to function as a new county-owned dike.
Some questioned the need for a diking district if the original dike is gone.
“If there’s going to be a new dike owned by Island County, there’s no diking district,” Sam Miller said. “There would be no diking district left. No dike, no district.”
Board member Bonnie Newkirk said the diking district should continue to exist to protect the reclaimed tidelands.
“It sounds like you’re worried about your empire,” said one attendee to Newkirk.
Becky Spraitzar, who didn’t attend the meeting, said Friday that she agrees that the district should remain intact but she’s “not happy with my commissioners.”
“I am asking you to stand strong for protecting the reclaimed tidelands for the property owners,” Spraitzar wrote in a letter read aloud at the meeting. “Additionally, I request that all parties be held accountable to hold well-published public meetings with all Diking District 3 constituents for any changes/modifications to the dike.”
A few members asked why there had not been a public hearing on the DOT project and why they had not been informed by the diking district.
Newkirk said there had been a public hearing before the Hearings Examiner in September of 2013, and representatives from the DOT said that information had been posted at the site for some time.
Board member Ron Christensen said he was alarmed to learn about the DOT project through news reports. Christensen said he was further upset to find that the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project was looking at flooding their properties to restore wetlands.
“The only reason we can have the valley is because of the dike,” Christensen said. “It’s like having a home and it comes out in the paper that they’re going to take your home.”
Pat Powell, Whidbey Camano Land Trust executive director, reminded the group that the bulk of the flooding to occur because of the DOT project will be on the Land Trust’s property.
Powell also said she does not support the larger Nearshore project.
“The Land Trust is merely interested in wetlands on the west of Dike Road,” Powell said. She said she found out about the larger Nearshore project “around the time the rest of you did.”
“This is not at all a part of that project. I don’t believe in that project,” Powell said. “That would affect a lot of property owners who want to do farming. I don’t even know why it’s being proposed.”
DOT representatives gave a presentation outlining the scope of the project, which is expected to close Dike Road for several months.
“It’s a relatively simple project, but it’s difficult to pull off,” said Alan Soicher, DOT environmental manager.
Joe Cerullo said he was concerned that the new dike under Dike Road wouldn’t adequately protect the property owners from flooding.
“Ala Spit was supposed to stay put and its gone,” Cerullo said. “If this goes away, it’s a big deal.”
Board member Grant Heiken, who also serves on the board of the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, supported the move to relinquish the property rights for the DOT project.
“This project for Dike Road, I think it’s a great deal,” Heiken said. “They’re beefing up the dams to protect everyone to the west.”
