[0:07] Good morning. I call

[0:07] this

[0:08] sessions Ketch County

[0:09] commissioners to order. Please

[0:09] join me in our salute to our

[0:10] flag

[0:13] . I

[0:15] pledge allegiance to

[0:16] the flag of

[0:16] the United

[0:17] States

[0:18] of America

[0:20] for what

[0:20] she stands,

[0:20] one nation

[0:24] . With liberty and

[0:25] justice for all

[0:29] . Good

[0:31] morning

[0:31] .

[0:32] It is

[0:32] August

[0:33] 31st

[0:33] , 2026, a

[0:34] little after 10 o'clock

[0:35] in the

[0:36] morning, and we are

[0:38] here

[0:38] for

[0:38] a

[0:40] public

[0:40] hearing and dealing with

[0:41] the loomma

[0:42] fairy punch cards

[0:42] ,

[0:43] and fair setting

[0:44] , steve

[0:45] Folquist, you're gonna take it

[0:45] away

[0:46] . Yes

[0:47] sir, we are. We're

[0:47] here for purposes of a

[0:49] public

[0:50] hearing, um, just to get

[0:51] things

[0:51] started

[0:52] . I have a quick pub a

[0:53] PowerPoint

[0:54] presentation here,

[0:54] uh, we'll go through that

[0:56] . The

[0:56] agenda

[0:57] this

[0:58] morning I'll make a

[0:59] quick presentation here about

[1:00] the

[1:00] punch card conversion and

[1:01] the

[1:03] 2025

[1:03] fares, uh, the board

[1:05] will then

[1:05] acknowledge written

[1:07] acknowledge and written

[1:07] comments, take oral

[1:09] comments. I

[1:10] believe there's been an

[1:10] executive

[1:11] session

[1:12] scheduled to be held with

[1:13] the

[1:14] board, and the two

[1:14] potential

[1:15] actions today are

[1:16] on the

[1:16] punch

[1:17] card conversion resolution and

[1:19] the 2025 fair

[1:19] setting

[1:19] resolution

[1:21] . The reason for the

[1:23] hearing today is to apply

[1:25] public works apply to

[1:25] court

[1:27] rulings. The recent court

[1:28] rulings, the public works

[1:29] proposals has

[1:29] two

[1:30] proposals to

[1:30] Public

[1:31] works has

[1:32] two proposals

[1:32] to

[1:34] implement

[1:34] these

[1:34] rulings. Uh,

[1:35] one

[1:36] concerning the punch

[1:36] card

[1:37] conversion to

[1:38] allow unlimited

[1:39] time to convert and to arrange

[1:41] for conversion with a

[1:41] phone

[1:41] call

[1:43] , and considering

[1:43] the

[1:45] 2025

[1:45] setting

[1:46] , uh, the actual

[1:47] . The

[1:48] proposal will

[1:48] indicate that

[1:50] the

[1:50] actual operation and

[1:52] maintenance expenses matched

[1:53] the projection and that

[1:54] no

[1:55] recalculation is necessary

[1:57] .

[1:57] Here's

[1:59] some history on the

[1:59] punch card conversion, the

[2:01] last

[2:01] resolution

[2:03] was 2026-0060. It

[2:04] allowed for a conversion of

[2:05] all

[2:06] unexpired punch

[2:06] cards

[2:08] converted

[2:08] unexpired punch cards do

[2:10] not

[2:10] expire, but

[2:10] the conversion did

[2:11] have

[2:12] a

[2:12] deadline of

[2:13] DECEMBER 31

[2:14] ,

[2:14] 2026

[2:15] , and it did require

[2:16] that

[2:17] conversion to occur during

[2:17] office

[2:19] hours

[2:19] . The

[2:20] ruling

[2:21] said

[2:22] that within 61

[2:23] days of

[2:23] the

[2:24] ruling of the county needed to

[2:26] .

[2:26] Enter

[2:26] a

[2:28] resolution establishing

[2:28] that there's no deadline for

[2:29] the

[2:30] conversion of punch cards

[2:31] ,

[2:31] and

[2:32] without

[2:33] otherwise without

[2:33] unreasonable restrictions

[2:34] on

[2:35] terms, conditions

[2:35] , or

[2:36] circumstances for conversion

[2:39] .

[2:39] Uh, public works

[2:40] , listened

[2:41] to

[2:42] that

[2:42] and

[2:43] has

[2:44] a

[2:44] resolution

[2:45] proposed that

[2:46] would have

[2:46] no

[2:47] deadline for a conversion

[2:48] of

[2:48] an

[2:49] expired cards and would

[2:50] arrange

[2:51] for a conversion time

[2:51] that

[2:51] is

[2:53] acceptable to

[2:53] the cardholder by

[2:53] phone call

[2:57] . Here's some history

[2:58] on

[2:59] the

[2:59] 2025

[3:00] fair setting. It

[3:01] was

[3:02] based

[3:05] on

[3:06] 20230152

[3:06] resolution

[3:07] uh dated JULY

[3:08] 27th

[3:09] ,

[3:09] 2023. It

[3:10] requires

[3:11] a

[3:11] 65%

[3:11] fair

[3:13] recovery requirement by

[3:13] DECEMBER 31

[3:15] , 202528. It

[3:16] uses

[3:17] a

[3:17] five-year

[3:18] average methodology

[3:19] ,

[3:20] the evaluation period at

[3:20] issue

[3:22] was 2022

[3:24] to 2020206 in

[3:24] capital

[3:25] expenditures were not included

[3:27] .

[3:27] And

[3:29] again, this

[3:29] is the

[3:31] uh bears

[3:31] the process that was gone

[3:32] through in

[3:33] 24. We looked at the

[3:34] period

[3:35] of

[3:35] 2022

[3:36] through 2026

[3:38] .

[3:38] 2025

[3:40] projected expenses

[3:43] . The

[3:44] 2025 fair

[3:45] setting timeline.

[3:45] This is the

[3:46] timeline of the

[3:47] actions that were taken on

[3:47] AUGUST 5th

[3:49] , 20224, there was

[3:49] a

[3:51] a presentation to the board

[3:52] of

[3:52] commissioners

[3:53] on

[3:53] SEPTEMBER 17

[3:54] ,

[3:54] there was a

[3:57] public hearing on

[3:57] OCTOBER 30th

[3:58] at 24, Public

[3:59] Works provided an

[4:00] updated

[4:01] report on NOVEMBER

[4:01] 26th

[4:02] of

[4:02] 24,

[4:03] the board held a work

[4:03] session

[4:05] on

[4:05] DECEMBER 26th of 2024, there

[4:07] was another public hearing, the

[4:08] second public

[4:09] hearing, after

[4:09] all of that

[4:11] . On

[4:12] JANUARY,

[4:12] JANUARY 21st

[4:14] , 2025, the Nickel

[4:14] Brothers Boat Builders

[4:16] contract

[4:16] was signed

[4:17] , and on JANUARY 20

[4:18] ,

[4:19] JANUARY 27th, 2025

[4:21] , uh resol

[4:23] Resolution 2025015 set the

[4:23] fares

[4:27] . So

[4:28] the 2025 fair setting

[4:28] in

[4:30] the context of the court

[4:30] ruling, which is the

[4:31] purpose of

[4:32] you know, this public hearing

[4:33] today is because we're on

[4:33] remand

[4:35] . The

[4:36] court ruling found

[4:37] that the following

[4:38] are

[4:38] not

[4:39] arbitrary and capricious

[4:41] . The

[4:41] exclusion of the youth ride

[4:42] free

[4:43] and

[4:43] federal ferry boat

[4:43] funds

[4:44] with clarification

[4:44] whether

[4:45] the

[4:45] federal ferry boat

[4:46] funds were actually used

[4:48] for

[4:48] o&m increased in

[4:49] hazmat

[4:50] charter

[4:50] fees, elimination of multi

[4:52] discounts

[4:53] , increasing ems

[4:54] after

[4:55] hours charter fees and

[4:55] the

[4:55] public process

[4:57] . You

[4:57] engage

[4:58] with

[4:59] citizens was

[4:59] not arbitrary and

[4:59] capricious

[5:02] . And so

[5:03] . And

[5:03] this

[5:04] is

[5:04] just directly from

[5:05] the

[5:05] court

[5:06] ruling stating that costs that

[5:08] are not unusual and

[5:08] customary

[5:10] maintenance, but are instead

[5:11] associated with capital

[5:12] improvements in the projected

[5:13] o&m

[5:17] . The

[5:17] 2025 fair

[5:17] setting

[5:18] remand

[5:19] order

[5:19] also requires that

[5:20] within

[5:21] 31 days, the county was

[5:22] to provide

[5:23] . A detailed

[5:24] accounting of

[5:24] expenses

[5:24] including

[5:26] the

[5:26] 2025 operations

[5:27] and maintenance budget for the

[5:28] Queen's Island Ferry

[5:29] , including

[5:29] allocation of

[5:30] all

[5:30] vendors,

[5:31] staff, and other expenses

[5:32] , and

[5:33] this was, uh, this has

[5:35] already

[5:35] been provided to

[5:36] the

[5:36] petitioners in

[5:37] that case

[5:39] . The

[5:40] remand order also required that

[5:42] within 45 days to

[5:43] recalculate

[5:44] the report using only proper

[5:46] onm expenses, excluding all

[5:47] capital

[5:48] costs associated with

[5:49] engine installations, outdrive

[5:50] ,

[5:50] extended

[5:51] dry docking, as you

[5:51] can see here

[5:55] . And under

[5:55] uh yeah

[5:56] let's keep

[5:57] moving on. These are

[5:58] the

[6:00] two definitions. These are

[6:01] the applicable standards that

[6:03] are used for o&m

[6:04] . Making

[6:05] that

[6:05] determination

[6:07] . And you can see

[6:08] ,

[6:08] um

[6:11] . These are

[6:11] just some

[6:13] uh this

[6:13] is

[6:13] just

[6:14] those standards

[6:15] , uh

[6:16] .

[6:16] Verbatim

[6:18] Not verbatim, but

[6:18] some

[6:18] of

[6:20] the more germane points

[6:22] .

[6:22] That's

[6:23] As

[6:24] pertains to the uh

[6:26] Administrative code

[6:28] . Here

[6:29] we

[6:29] have um

[6:32] These are

[6:33] the 2025

[6:34] projected expenses from

[6:35] the

[6:36] 2024 report

[6:36] . You

[6:38] can see

[6:40] $4,690,434

[6:43] . These

[6:43] are

[6:44] the

[6:44] steps

[6:45] taken, uh

[6:47] , 2025 fair setting

[6:49] .

[6:50] Uh, the Nickel

[6:51] Brothers

[6:52] boatbuilders contract capital

[6:54] expenses were received by the

[6:54] court to be attributed

[6:56] to o&m

[6:56] .

[6:57] The contract was not available

[6:58] in OCTOBER

[6:58] of 2024 and

[7:00] was

[7:00] not

[7:01] considered when the rates were

[7:03] proposed after Nickel Brothers

[7:04] boat builders's

[7:05] work was

[7:05] completed in 2025. The

[7:07] actual

[7:07] expenses were

[7:09] apportioned

[7:10] between operation and

[7:10] maintenance and capital

[7:12] . And

[7:14] uh

[7:14] this information is, is really

[7:14] just

[7:16] provided

[7:16] um with this

[7:17] information here was also

[7:18] already provided to the

[7:19] petitioners, but

[7:20] it's

[7:21] just uh

[7:21] some

[7:23] additional detail as to

[7:23] how that was broken down

[7:26] .

[7:26] Anybody's

[7:27] Interested

[7:32] . These

[7:32] were the

[7:34] expense categories. We

[7:35] looked at the following

[7:36] expense

[7:36] categories

[7:39] . And you

[7:39] can see

[7:39] that the

[7:40] actual expenses

[7:45] .

[7:46] $4694,137.90

[7:48] . So

[7:50] , In

[7:52] summary,

[7:52] uh

[7:55] , The

[7:55] 2025

[7:55] rates

[7:56] were

[7:57] set

[7:57] using 2025

[7:59] projected 2025

[7:59] expenses

[8:01] . The

[8:01] 225 Nickel

[8:02] Brothers boat builder

[8:03] contract

[8:04] was not part of the

[8:04] 2025

[8:06] projected expenses

[8:08] . Actual

[8:08] expenses properly apportioned

[8:09] were properly apportioned

[8:10] to

[8:10] o&m and

[8:11] Capital

[8:12] , all

[8:12] 2025

[8:13] actual expenses

[8:15] , evaluated

[8:15] under these two

[8:17] standards, and

[8:18] has apportioned by the county

[8:19] ,

[8:20] actual o&m was

[8:20] nearly identical

[8:22] to the

[8:22] to

[8:22] the projection, as

[8:24] you can see

[8:24] . The

[8:24] actual is

[8:25] actually

[8:26] just

[8:26] slightly higher

[8:27] by roughly 90

[8:29] . $394,000

[8:33] . Excuse

[8:33] me

[8:35] , $4000. What am I talking

[8:37] about? Just

[8:37] $4000 but

[8:38] . You

[8:40] . Ah,

[8:40] very close

[8:42] . Remarkable

[8:42] . Yeah

[8:44] .

[8:45] Great. So, that

[8:46] is it. That,

[8:47] that is, that concludes

[8:48] my

[8:49] presentation. All right. So,

[8:49] we'll open

[8:50] it up

[8:51] to public

[8:51] comment. Thank you

[8:53] , Steve. MR.,

[8:53] do you have any

[8:55] questions

[8:55] for

[8:56] Steve? I do not. That

[8:57] was very

[8:58] clear. Thank you, Mr

[9:00] . Burns. I

[9:00] do have a question. Could you

[9:01] go back 2 or

[9:02] 3 slides for me?

[9:02] Sure

[9:06] . Yeah, um

[9:11] . So these are

[9:11] all numbers that were

[9:14] Determined

[9:15] in

[9:15] 2024 when they

[9:16] were trying to set the rates

[9:16] for 2025

[9:18] , correct? This

[9:18] is all

[9:19] information that was available

[9:20] at that time

[9:20] . No

[9:22] . No

[9:22] . Well

[9:24] , I

[9:25] mean, this information

[9:26] , um, I

[9:27] think it'd probably be better

[9:27] if

[9:29] we had

[9:29] questions relating to

[9:30] this

[9:31] presentation to take them

[9:32] in another forum

[9:34] . Than here. I,

[9:34] I really

[9:36] don't have an answer

[9:37] for you right now. Ok, sorry

[9:40] .

[9:41] Ok, thank you

[9:42] very much

[9:43] . So

[9:43] we'll go on

[9:45] to

[9:45] the public

[9:45] comment on this now

[9:47] ? Mr

[9:47] .

[9:48] Browning, you have

[9:49] a list of

[9:50] people who signed up. I do, and

[9:50] I'll

[9:52] do as I usually do. We'll

[9:52] start with the name and

[9:53] then

[9:54] the person who's next, so that

[9:54] person

[9:56] can

[9:56] be prepared and

[9:56] in

[9:56] baseball

[9:59] . Season we will call

[9:59] them the

[10:01] people on deck. So

[10:01] starting with

[10:02] Michael Brown

[10:03] and

[10:03] Jodie Menkins on deck

[10:16] . Michael

[10:18] Brown 4366

[10:19] Clark Point

[10:19] Road

[10:20] ,

[10:21] Guaymas Island

[10:25] . I can't believe

[10:26] we're still here

[10:28] . After

[10:29] , uh,

[10:30] all of our

[10:30] work

[10:32] , Grimas Island

[10:33] to

[10:34] point out

[10:37] , uh, uh, the

[10:37] , uh,

[10:37] errors in

[10:39] the

[10:39] calculations, and

[10:40] we're still here

[10:41] talking about

[10:41] it

[10:42] . I

[10:43] am

[10:43] surprised today to

[10:44] learn that we actually have a

[10:46] .

[10:46] An appeal

[10:48] from

[10:48] the county for

[10:48] the

[10:50] remand order

[10:51] , but we won

[10:52] 3

[10:52] times in court

[10:53] . The court

[10:53] agreed

[10:55] . That

[10:55] there

[10:56] are

[10:57] serious

[10:57] errors in your calculations

[10:59] .

[11:00] Now we find today that

[11:01] in fact

[11:02] there are none

[11:02] . Is that correct

[11:02] ?

[11:04] But

[11:06] in fact the court said

[11:07] there was

[11:08] , so

[11:08] we're still here

[11:09] talking about this

[11:13] . And uh for

[11:14] the life of me, I

[11:14] can't

[11:15] understand

[11:15] . Why

[11:17] We haven't had

[11:18] a

[11:19] seat at the table to go over

[11:20] these numbers

[11:21] with you guys

[11:21] .

[11:22] We've asked

[11:22] this

[11:24] numerous times

[11:25] This

[11:26] is yet again another

[11:26] reason why we need

[11:28] to

[11:28] have the

[11:29] ferry committee or an

[11:30] advisory

[11:31] committee re-established on the

[11:32] island to be able to

[11:33] have

[11:33] this

[11:33] dialogue

[11:35] between because

[11:35] . I

[11:36] think

[11:38] Commissioner Wieson last

[11:38] week

[11:39] you bemoaned the

[11:40] fact that

[11:40] the county

[11:41] has

[11:42] to have

[11:44] a

[11:46] legal

[11:47] uh uh bills

[11:48] . Piling

[11:49] up

[11:49] and

[11:51] for

[11:51] various situations that happen

[11:52] in the county

[11:53] , but

[11:53] here's

[11:53] perfect

[11:55] example where all of

[11:56] this could have been, uh

[11:59] ,

[12:00] Addressed by residents and

[12:01] staff, but

[12:02] in fact

[12:03] , We're still

[12:06] here talking about this. You

[12:06] had to

[12:06] pay

[12:07] money for

[12:08] legal work

[12:09] We had to

[12:11] raise money on

[12:11] the

[12:12] island to fight this

[12:13] . And

[12:14] we

[12:14] won 3 times

[12:18] . Ok

[12:19] ? So, why

[12:20] are we

[12:20] still here? Why are we still

[12:21] arguing

[12:22] about

[12:23] this? We will

[12:23] show today that

[12:24] in

[12:24] fact

[12:25] we have

[12:27] uh, we have

[12:27] numbers that we

[12:28] keep wanting

[12:29] to sit down with

[12:30] you to talk about, and you guys

[12:32] are not engaging

[12:32] with us. Why

[12:32] is that

[12:36] ? I mean

[12:38] , we

[12:38] actually

[12:39] ,

[12:39] we actually

[12:40] email you

[12:40] guys and

[12:41] say we'd like a response

[12:42] . It's,

[12:43] it is crickets

[12:45] . We

[12:45] have this

[12:45] information we

[12:47] can provide it

[12:48] for you today. In fact, we

[12:49] did

[12:50] this morning. I think

[12:51] it's

[12:52] germane for you to look

[12:53] at

[12:54] yourselves and say, What

[12:54] are

[12:56] we

[12:56] doing wrong? Why are

[12:57] we

[12:57] still

[12:58] wasting time on this

[12:59] . I

[13:01] I, it's

[13:03] It's staggering to me. You'll

[13:03] hear from

[13:05] Our

[13:05] residents

[13:06] here

[13:06] today

[13:07] , why we are

[13:08] still

[13:08] fighting

[13:10] this because it's

[13:10] not

[13:10] fair

[13:12] . That

[13:12] you're using

[13:14] tainted

[13:14] data

[13:16] . To

[13:17] project fares moving

[13:17] forward

[13:19] . Thank you

[13:20] . I, I

[13:21] , I

[13:21] would like to hear

[13:21] from

[13:23] you

[13:23] guys after this, ok

[13:25] ? Thank you

[13:28] .

[13:28] Jodie Meekins with

[13:29] Glenn

[13:30] Veal

[13:30] on deck

[13:34] . Is Jody online

[13:39] Is

[13:39] Jody

[13:40] online

[13:43] Oh, that must be

[13:45] . Ok

[13:46] ,

[13:46] Glenn Beal

[13:48] . Glenn Vale's

[13:50] Oh

[13:50] , ok

[13:51] right there

[13:53] . Alright. Oh GOD

[13:56] .

[13:57] Go ahead, Jodie

[13:59] . Can

[13:59] you hear

[13:59] me? Yes

[14:01] . Ok

[14:02] . Um

[14:02] , I wanted

[14:03] to

[14:04] address today

[14:06] , um, some

[14:07] comments that have been made

[14:08] ,

[14:09] um, that follow

[14:11] fair

[14:14] .

[14:15] Calculations or

[14:15] presented

[14:17] calculations

[14:17] , however

[14:18] , um, they

[14:18] do

[14:20] . Go

[14:20] back as

[14:21] far

[14:22] as 24

[14:23] , um,

[14:24] on a

[14:24] consistent basis

[14:26] , the

[14:27] county has reported

[14:28] , as have

[14:29] other places, but the county

[14:31] has

[14:31] reported that the race

[14:33] between 24

[14:33] and 25

[14:35] went up a

[14:36] consistent

[14:37] 30%

[14:37] in 25

[14:38] to

[14:38] 26,

[14:38] they went

[14:39] up

[14:40] another 30% and

[14:42] you're proposing

[14:42] a

[14:44] 14% increase

[14:45] for 27

[14:47] , uh, additionally, in

[14:47] the meeting we had

[14:49] , I believe

[14:49] it was last week on the

[14:51] . 19th

[14:51] ,

[14:52] uh, Rachel said

[14:53] directly that

[14:53] she was

[14:54] willing to

[14:55] hear input

[14:57] and

[14:58] suggestions on what to

[15:00] do

[15:00] relating

[15:02] to

[15:02] the

[15:04] horrible

[15:05] Saraelasticity that the

[15:05] county

[15:07] raising rates

[15:08] has

[15:09] created and

[15:09] uh

[15:10] . I wanted

[15:11] to

[15:11] just

[15:11] quickly

[15:12] say that

[15:13] Um

[15:15] , My

[15:16] recent

[15:16] calculations

[15:18] on

[15:18] the

[15:19] fare

[15:20] increases

[15:21] between

[15:25] 2024, and I'm

[15:25] talking for

[15:25] a

[15:26] senior

[15:26] drive-on

[15:27] pass because that's what

[15:27] I buy

[15:28] and

[15:29] I'm

[15:29] talking about

[15:30] my

[15:31] cost

[15:32] because that's what

[15:32] I incur.

[15:32] I'm

[15:33] not

[15:34] separating

[15:36] out

[15:36] the

[15:36] extra

[15:37] rates

[15:38] for

[15:38] future

[15:38] ferry

[15:40] ,

[15:40] so

[15:41] between 24 and

[15:41] a

[15:43] projected

[15:43] 27, my

[15:45] Cost

[15:45] for a

[15:47] drive

[15:47] on

[15:47] senior pass

[15:49] . And

[15:50] I'm retired

[15:50] and

[15:50] I'm

[15:52] widowed

[15:52] . My rates are

[15:54] going

[15:56] up 2020%

[15:58] . For non-peak

[16:00] .

[16:01] For peak season they're going

[16:03] up 297%

[16:06] . And

[16:06] that's

[16:07] directly

[16:08] related to

[16:10] The fact

[16:12] that you've

[16:12] gotten rid of

[16:13] discounts

[16:14] .

[16:15] There's the

[16:17] ferroasticity that

[16:17] takes place

[16:19] because of

[16:19] the

[16:19] expirations on

[16:21] DECEMBER 31st,

[16:22] and

[16:24] as a result

[16:24] , My

[16:25] riding

[16:25] habits have

[16:26] changed drastically

[16:28] In 2024, I

[16:28] was

[16:30] driving across

[16:31] an average of 3 to 4

[16:32] times a

[16:33] week. I would buy a

[16:34] multi-use

[16:34] pass

[16:37] . In 2026

[16:37] , currently, if

[16:39] I

[16:39] drive across, it's once

[16:41] a week

[16:42] max to go

[16:43] grocery shopping,

[16:44] which adds to my grocery bill,

[16:44] which

[16:46] is already high

[16:48] . If

[16:48] you

[16:49] were to

[16:50] go back

[16:51] And actually

[16:53] ,

[16:53] Look at

[16:55] What needs

[16:57] to happen

[16:59] .

[17:00] For the county is that you

[17:01] need

[17:02] to increase revenue

[17:03] . If

[17:04] you

[17:04] go

[17:05] on consistently

[17:06] as it

[17:06] is

[17:06] now,

[17:07] you're

[17:09] going to realize from my

[17:11] one trip a week

[17:13] . A revenue of

[17:14] about

[17:15] $138. Thank you, Jody

[17:17] .

[17:18] Thank you. 3 minutes are up

[17:20] .

[17:20] Thank you. All

[17:21] right,

[17:22] Glennville and then Steve

[17:22] Orsini

[17:33] . Glenville 4453 Edens

[17:33] Road

[17:35] , Guaymas Island

[17:35] , and uh

[17:36] I'd

[17:38] like to reiterate what

[17:38] Michael

[17:40] Brown

[17:40] said about just

[17:40] being

[17:42] here and and uh

[17:42] Why

[17:43] we're

[17:44] in this

[17:45] situation because for

[17:45] me it's

[17:47] particularly disturbing

[17:47] having served on the ferry

[17:49] Committee for

[17:50] Over

[17:51] 30

[17:51] years

[17:52] and

[17:52] always

[17:53] had a seat at

[17:53] the table.

[17:54] We

[17:56] could always discuss

[17:56] whatever was

[17:58] going on, come up

[17:59] with a mutually agreed

[18:00] a

[18:01] decision

[18:02] based on

[18:04] factual

[18:05] and

[18:05] verifiable information

[18:09] . And

[18:09] instead of that now we have to

[18:10] have a

[18:12] seat in court. It just

[18:12] doesn't seem right

[18:13] to

[18:14] me

[18:14] , and I

[18:14] know that we

[18:16] have had a lot

[18:16] of

[18:18] success through the years with

[18:19] the Ferry Committee, which

[18:20] was

[18:20] over 40 years old

[18:21] , I think

[18:22] . I

[18:23] was on it over

[18:23] 30 years

[18:25] , and so

[18:25] it is

[18:27] disappointing to see that

[18:28] it's taken this kind of a turn

[18:30] ,

[18:30] so that's what I'd like

[18:32] to

[18:32] say

[18:32] about that, but the

[18:34] other thing

[18:35] is about what's going

[18:36] on now is

[18:36] having some effect

[18:38] . That's,

[18:39] it's more than just

[18:40] like what

[18:41] Jody was talking about and

[18:43] everyone else too

[18:43] . Uh

[18:45] , The

[18:46] county

[18:47] is actually not

[18:48] getting

[18:48] revenue

[18:49] from

[18:50] the taxing

[18:50] sources

[18:50] on

[18:52] Guaymas Island and the way

[18:53] that it used to, and I

[18:54] , I will

[18:54] leave this behind

[18:55] . But

[18:56] , uh

[18:57] ,

[18:57] Just, for example

[18:59] , I have these

[19:01] rates here that

[19:01] show that the

[19:02] taxable value

[19:03] in Guamass is

[19:06] From 2023 slid

[19:07] from

[19:08] 671

[19:08] million

[19:10] to

[19:10] $594

[19:12] million in 2025

[19:12] . And

[19:13] the

[19:14] county roads have

[19:15] taken in

[19:15] it was a high

[19:17] of 872,000

[19:19] in

[19:19] 2023

[19:21] and 729,000

[19:21] in 2025

[19:23] . But

[19:23] the total

[19:24] taxes from

[19:25] Guaymas

[19:26] are

[19:30] 52023

[19:30] , 4

[19:31] million plus

[19:32] in

[19:33] 2024 and

[19:35] 4 million plus

[19:37] in 2025

[19:38] So it just goes to show

[19:39] you

[19:39] there's having some

[19:39] other

[19:40] repercussions with

[19:41] these

[19:42] unaffordable ferry fares

[19:44] . So

[19:44] that's the one

[19:46] thing that the

[19:46] other thing is I'd

[19:48] like to

[19:49] suggest that the county

[19:51] commissioners take a hard look

[19:51] at the

[19:53] ferry

[19:55] district providing

[19:55] I found out

[19:56] that with

[19:57] the

[19:58] taxable base and just going to

[19:59] the maximum

[20:00] of 10%

[20:02] . Per 1000

[20:02] you can raise

[20:04] $3.5 million

[20:06] . And

[20:06] I think that

[20:07] the road that the

[20:09] ferry belongs in the road fund

[20:09] .

[20:09] You

[20:10] find

[20:11] it

[20:11] , you don't have a

[20:13] separate budget for the ferry

[20:13] .

[20:14] You find it in the

[20:15] road fund. I

[20:15] looked at the

[20:16] entire budget and

[20:18] the budget in the road fund is

[20:18] over

[20:20] $50 million

[20:21] . Now

[20:22] I don't

[20:22] know exactly what part of

[20:23] Assafari

[20:24] , but the fact that it

[20:25] is in with the roads, and

[20:25] that's

[20:26] the way they do it

[20:27] up in

[20:29] uh Wadcombe County too

[20:29] . I

[20:31] would like to suggest that

[20:31] we

[20:31] form

[20:33] a ferry district

[20:34] . And, and

[20:36] uh, and

[20:36] enter

[20:37] into a

[20:38] new

[20:38] where

[20:38] the

[20:40] ferry is part of the road

[20:41] system and

[20:42] not a

[20:42] separate

[20:43] division. Thank you. Thank you

[20:44] ,

[20:44] Glenn

[20:45] . Steve Orsini and

[20:46] then

[20:47] Jeff Burdock

[20:58] . Uh

[20:58] , good morning.

[20:59] My

[21:00] name

[21:00] is

[21:00] Steve Orsini. I

[21:01] live

[21:03] at 4971 Guaymas Island Road

[21:04] on

[21:05] Guamass. Thank you for

[21:06] the

[21:07] opportunity to be here today

[21:09] .

[21:09] Um, I

[21:09] have

[21:11] to

[21:12] forego my

[21:14] prepared statement to

[21:14] underscore several

[21:16] things.

[21:16] First of

[21:16] all

[21:18] , um, the county

[21:19] staff

[21:20] has

[21:21] supplied us

[21:22] with

[21:23] an

[21:25] a

[21:25] promise that we would get a

[21:26] full text

[21:27] of the new

[21:30] proposed

[21:30] resolutions

[21:31] for

[21:32] today's meeting

[21:32] We asked for

[21:34] those and we

[21:34] didn't

[21:35] get anything

[21:36] . I guess

[21:37] you've redone some

[21:38] parts of

[21:39] both of those

[21:41] , maybe, but we

[21:41] haven't seen anything

[21:43] , so

[21:43] our

[21:44] reason for

[21:45] being here

[21:46] today is

[21:48] very

[21:48] confusing

[21:49] 2

[21:50] is

[21:50] that uh Mr

[21:50] .

[21:51] Fahlquist

[21:52] , your attorney

[21:54] , uh,

[21:55] just restated the case

[21:57] . That

[21:57] was brought before

[21:58] the judge

[22:00] .

[22:01] And defended

[22:01] it

[22:02] again

[22:03] in terms

[22:03] of the

[22:05] fair calculation

[22:06] ,

[22:06] particularly

[22:08] , and the judge

[22:08] has

[22:09] found against Skadget

[22:10] . Each

[22:11] time and

[22:12] asked you to go

[22:12] back

[22:13] and make

[22:14] a

[22:15] meaningful

[22:17] recalculation. So what

[22:17] was

[22:19] stated

[22:19] today

[22:20] was something

[22:21] that

[22:21] is already settled in

[22:22] court

[22:23] . We

[22:24] thought we were going

[22:24] to move

[22:24] beyond that

[22:26] . Uh

[22:26] , our

[22:28] attorney

[22:30] received on

[22:31] this morning

[22:32] , a

[22:33] notification from

[22:33] the county

[22:35] that they

[22:35] have

[22:37] appealed the

[22:37] JULY 31st

[22:40] . Remand order

[22:41] from

[22:42] the judge, which

[22:44] caused this

[22:44] meeting. Now you

[22:46] have appealed

[22:46] that to

[22:47] appellate court

[22:48] . So

[22:49] it's obvious that number

[22:50] one

[22:50] ,

[22:51] the communication

[22:53] is

[22:53] terrible

[22:53] .

[22:54] 2

[22:55] is that you, you're not

[22:57] .

[22:58] Following the judge's

[22:59] original

[23:00] order, and I guess we have to

[23:00] go to

[23:02] appellate court

[23:02] now to

[23:02] prove that

[23:06] . My

[23:06] comments were

[23:07] About

[23:08] how to fix

[23:11] The system for

[23:12] the long run so that we

[23:13] can, we

[23:13] can both

[23:13] survive

[23:15] , but I'll just

[23:16] submit those

[23:17] as

[23:17] written

[23:18] comments, and

[23:22] I'm more

[23:22] than

[23:23] frustrated about

[23:24] the procedure

[23:24] this

[23:25] morning and

[23:26] what

[23:26] has

[23:27] happened to us. Thank you

[23:35] . Jeff

[23:36] Burdock with uh

[23:38] Devon Havens

[23:39] .

[23:40] On deck

[23:45] jeopardize

[23:47] South

[23:48] Shore

[23:49] Drive

[23:52] . And I'm a

[23:52] grateful

[23:54] Skagia County Ferry rider

[23:54] for

[23:54] the

[23:55] , the

[23:56] last

[23:56] 34+ years. I'd

[23:58] like to talk about public trust

[23:59] and input

[24:00] . In

[24:00] the

[24:01] last 8 years,

[24:01] a

[24:02] lot

[24:03] has changed

[24:03] . We embarked

[24:03] on

[24:04] an

[24:05] all-electric ferry design

[24:07] Ending

[24:07] in

[24:08] 2025 with

[24:09] just the

[24:09] design and

[24:11] $1.5 million spent

[24:13] .

[24:14] 2024 kicked in a new

[24:14] electronic

[24:15] ticketing

[24:16] replacing the

[24:16] punch

[24:17] card

[24:19] . This entails also a new

[24:19] crew member

[24:21] , assistant manager,

[24:21] plus a

[24:21] yearly cost

[24:22] to

[24:23] anchor of

[24:24] around

[24:26] $900,000 90,000 dollars

[24:27] ,

[24:27] excuse me

[24:28] , back to the

[24:29] island

[24:30] after witnessing the Guaymas

[24:30] parking lot

[24:32] with

[24:32] 100 cars

[24:32] at

[24:34] midwinter, at

[24:35] the invitation of

[24:35] gpac

[24:36] , you

[24:37] came up with a

[24:37] design

[24:37] for

[24:38] 57 cars

[24:39] . You

[24:39] are

[24:40] sending

[24:41] that out to

[24:41] a

[24:42] consultant we're

[24:43] going to have limited

[24:43] direct

[24:44] public input

[24:46] . A couple of

[24:46] years

[24:46] back

[24:47] , we

[24:48] learned from the

[24:50] Seattle Times that the county

[24:50] missed out

[24:52] on 1.2 million of

[24:53] federal ferry boat funds

[24:55] . The

[24:55] newsletters that

[24:56] you send out

[24:57] are great, but it's

[24:59] a one-way

[24:59] conversation

[24:59] . At our

[25:01] actual

[25:01] public meeting, you pay

[25:03] to

[25:04] facilitator almost

[25:06] $8000. Both

[25:06] of these

[25:06] were

[25:08] on costs to

[25:08] the

[25:08] islanders

[25:10] . The majority of us

[25:11] did not

[25:12] want

[25:12] an

[25:13] all-electric

[25:13] ferry and

[25:14] questioned

[25:15] its

[25:15] reliability and cost

[25:17] . We

[25:17] also

[25:18] saw no advantage with

[25:19] the

[25:20] ticketing system we shook

[25:21] our

[25:21] heads when we

[25:22] were told we

[25:23] were

[25:24] reducing our parking lot

[25:24] to

[25:25] 57

[25:26] cars

[25:26] . Then

[25:26] the

[25:28] annual price

[25:29] increases of tickets starting

[25:31] in 2023-2014

[25:33] , 1430, 30, and

[25:35] in

[25:35] 2027

[25:36] , another 14%

[25:37] . When

[25:38] we

[25:40] questioned it, you tell us that

[25:40] we're complaining

[25:42] . And

[25:44] sometimes ungrateful the

[25:44] service that

[25:46] we're getting. We

[25:46] keep

[25:47] asking for a

[25:48] ferry

[25:49] committee back to be involved

[25:49] to

[25:50] make use of our

[25:51] free

[25:51] knowledge has shown

[25:53] when a tag

[25:53] committee was formed and

[25:55] excellent work they produce

[25:57] .

[25:57] Then

[25:58] in 2023 you

[25:58] terminated the

[26:00] ferry committee which started

[26:02] in 1979. A lot of this could

[26:02] have

[26:04] been avoided if we were

[26:05] communicating openly

[26:06] with each

[26:07] other. We did not want to go to

[26:09] court to appeal your

[26:10] referendums, but when

[26:11] forced by

[26:11] lack of

[26:12] communication

[26:13] , our

[26:14] livelihood being threatened by

[26:14] cost

[26:16] increases, we felt we had

[26:16] to

[26:16] do

[26:17] something

[26:18] . This

[26:18] last 5

[26:20] years has

[26:20] been

[26:21] exhausting. I'm

[26:21] sure for

[26:22] all of us

[26:22] . I reminisce

[26:23] about the

[26:25] old days when all we

[26:25] talked about was local gossip

[26:26] .

[26:26] Up

[26:27] . So

[26:27] I'm asking

[26:29] for 3

[26:29] things.

[26:29] One

[26:30] , please reinstate

[26:31] the ferry

[26:32] Committee, all other

[26:33] ferry

[26:34] operations in the state have

[26:34] ferry

[26:35] committees

[26:36] to

[26:36] please

[26:36] truly abide

[26:38] by

[26:38] Judge Von's

[26:40] decision, and 3, let's have

[26:41] open communication so we

[26:42] can

[26:43] all feel that we are

[26:43] making

[26:45] the

[26:45] right decision, and

[26:46] 4

[26:47] , it's

[26:47] my

[26:48] birthday and I'm

[26:49] 78

[26:49] tomorrow

[26:49] .

[26:50] Please put

[26:52] the

[26:52] ferry back for

[26:53] my birthday

[26:56] . Thank you

[26:58] . Thank

[26:59] you, Jeff, and happy

[27:00] birthday

[27:01] tomorrow

[27:02] . Ms

[27:03] . Havens and then

[27:05] Cindy Camp

[27:05] . Hm

[27:08] Devon

[27:09] Havens

[27:10] 4709 South Shore Drive

[27:11] ,

[27:12] Anacortes. Ok

[27:14] . Good morning

[27:16] . Um

[27:16] I'd like

[27:17] to speak

[27:18] , in kind

[27:19] of

[27:19] generality about

[27:21] the main

[27:21] topic

[27:23] being money. Um

[27:30] . You

[27:32] know, we

[27:32] ,

[27:32] there's

[27:33] been thousands

[27:34] and

[27:34] thousands

[27:35] and 3,000s

[27:37] and

[27:38] thousands of dollars

[27:39] . That

[27:39] should

[27:39] have gone

[27:41] to

[27:41] Skagit

[27:41] County government

[27:43] . That

[27:43] did

[27:43] not

[27:44] get

[27:45] there

[27:46] because

[27:46] of

[27:47] staff

[27:48] negligence

[27:50] . There have

[27:50] been

[27:51] thousands and thousands

[27:52] and

[27:52] 30,000

[27:53] and

[27:53] 3,000s of dollars

[27:55] .

[27:55] That has been

[27:56] spent on

[27:56] the

[27:57] ferry and in

[27:59] my opinion

[28:00] , in a

[28:00] way

[28:00] that

[28:01] is

[28:01] ill advised

[28:04] . So I

[28:06] would like

[28:06] to

[28:06] request

[28:08] a you

[28:08] a

[28:08] couple

[28:08] of things

[28:10] . One

[28:11] is

[28:11] that

[28:12] each one

[28:13] of you take

[28:14] a

[28:15] good

[28:15] close hard look

[28:17] . At the books

[28:19] .

[28:19] At

[28:19] the

[28:20] county

[28:20] books related

[28:21] to

[28:21] the ferry

[28:24] . Something's

[28:24] wrong

[28:24] there

[28:26] . I really believe it

[28:26] . And

[28:27] I, yeah, I

[28:28] , I

[28:29] know that you

[28:29] guys have

[28:31] a really hard

[28:31] job,

[28:31] and

[28:33] I think that you

[28:34] really

[28:35] think that

[28:35] you're doing your

[28:36] best, and I, I

[28:37] think that you

[28:38] are too, but

[28:40] This

[28:40] is something

[28:40] that

[28:41] is

[28:42] really important that

[28:43] you look at those books

[28:46] . The

[28:46] only other thing that

[28:46] I'm

[28:47] requesting is

[28:49] Give us back our

[28:49] dang

[28:51] fairy committee, you know,

[28:51] you guys are

[28:53] missing out on

[28:53] an

[28:54] opportunity to

[28:55] engage

[28:55] with

[28:56] us

[28:56] in

[28:57] a, you know

[28:58] , personal

[29:00] close

[29:00] way

[29:01] , um, with people

[29:02] who

[29:02] are

[29:02] intelligent

[29:03] , skilled

[29:04] ,

[29:05] knowledgeable, and

[29:07] Have

[29:07] good

[29:09] hearts and want to do a good

[29:09] job

[29:12] . Thank

[29:13] you

[29:14] . Thank you

[29:16] . City

[29:16] camp and then

[29:18] Bogosian

[29:20] . Good

[29:20] morning, commissioners. Uh,

[29:21] Cindy Camp

[29:22] , 6729

[29:23] West

[29:24] Shore

[29:25] Drive. Um, Joe Burns

[29:25] ,

[29:25] Commissioner Burns, I believe

[29:26] I

[29:27] can answer your question for

[29:28] you that you asked Mr

[29:29] .

[29:30] Fahlquist that he was unable

[29:31] to

[29:32] answer, and the answer is

[29:32] yes

[29:33] .

[29:34] Those numbers were before you

[29:36] in 2024 when they made the

[29:37] decision, and that

[29:38] is exactly

[29:39] why

[29:40] Judge

[29:40] Judge Loring ruled as

[29:41] she

[29:43] did

[29:44] . Those numbers were

[29:44] included

[29:45] and

[29:46] known prior to

[29:46] the

[29:46] decisions made

[29:47] on

[29:47] the 2025

[29:48] fare

[29:49] increase. That is why we're

[29:50] here and that is why

[29:51] she ruled

[29:51] in

[29:52] our favor

[29:52] . Over

[29:54] and

[29:54] over and

[29:54] over again

[29:56] , 3 times

[29:57] . She also

[29:58] ,

[29:58] Judge Loring also has told you

[29:59] what

[30:00] self-serving language

[30:01] looks like in a resolution, and

[30:01] it

[30:03] sounds like you're about to

[30:04] do the exact same thing today

[30:06] .

[30:06] But if you did what the

[30:07] judge

[30:08] also ordered, you would go back

[30:08] and redo the 2024

[30:11] . Target

[30:11] report

[30:12] . And if you

[30:12] started that

[30:13] exercise, you'd go through it

[30:14] and you'd see that there's much

[30:15] more

[30:17] . Beyond just even

[30:18] the

[30:19] budgeted numbers of a projected

[30:21] budget numbers that include

[30:21] the

[30:22] capital that need to

[30:23] be

[30:24] investigated further. You will

[30:26] clearly see that the

[30:26] cpi index

[30:26] was

[30:27] not

[30:28] properly used on

[30:28] the

[30:30] 2024 target report, it

[30:32] says

[30:32] 2.64%, it comes out

[30:33] at 16%

[30:34] . You

[30:35] also have to

[30:36] ask yourself, how

[30:37] exactly was it that you

[30:37] budgeted

[30:39] only

[30:41] $200,000 for 2025

[30:42] a year that you knew

[30:43] that you

[30:44] had a haul out, that you knew

[30:44] that you

[30:45] were

[30:46] purchasing

[30:46] engines, all of that

[30:48] , and then

[30:48] I'm not saying that the

[30:49] projected

[30:50] budget or

[30:50] the o&m,

[30:51] the Capitol

[30:52] was clearly

[30:52] put

[30:53] aside for the engines. I'm

[30:53] talking about

[30:54] the

[30:55] engine

[30:55] installation. You knew all that

[30:56] was going

[30:57] to happen, but you

[30:57] only

[30:59] put

[30:59] $200,000 but what did

[31:00] you end up

[31:01] spending? Over

[31:03] $1.3

[31:04] million

[31:04] . Where, where

[31:06] was

[31:06] that

[31:06] money? So when

[31:08] , when you come

[31:08] up with this Christmas miracle

[31:09] of a

[31:11] 4.69 looky looky here

[31:12] .

[31:13] It's exactly the same, so

[31:13] there's nothing

[31:15] to recalculate.

[31:16] That is the

[31:19] biggest load of

[31:20] garbage I had ever heard. Then

[31:20] what are just

[31:20] think in your

[31:21] head for one second

[31:21] what

[31:22] the

[31:22] statistical odds

[31:24] are of

[31:24] a

[31:24] number

[31:25] being projected

[31:27] in 2024

[31:27] and you

[31:28] have all the

[31:29] staffing

[31:29] costs

[31:30] , the fuel

[31:31] , the hull out

[31:32] ,

[31:33] the two, the propeller fell off

[31:34] The second

[31:35] . Haul out

[31:35] at 10

[31:36] weeks turned

[31:37] into 11 weeks. All

[31:38] the

[31:38] different things

[31:40] that

[31:40] happened

[31:41] in 2025

[31:41] and we're

[31:42] expected to believe that the

[31:43] number turned out

[31:44] exactly

[31:44] the

[31:44] same

[31:45] , and even if

[31:46] it does turn

[31:47] out to be exactly the same

[31:48] ,

[31:49] it's still irrelevant. You

[31:49] still have to

[31:51] go back and look

[31:51] at all of

[31:51] the

[31:53] entire 2024

[31:54] target report and look at all

[31:56] the decisions that were made,

[31:56] and I'd also

[31:57] like you to

[31:58] think

[31:58] back to

[32:00] OCTOBER

[32:00] of

[32:01] 2024

[32:02] when

[32:03] your staff found out that they

[32:03] lost 1.3

[32:05] . Million dollars in

[32:07] federal ferry boat program

[32:07] funds and then 2

[32:09] weeks later

[32:09] stood

[32:10] before you in

[32:11] a, in a

[32:12] work session that none of

[32:13] us

[32:14] knew about, and they called

[32:14] us

[32:14] an

[32:15] angry mob

[32:16] . They told us

[32:16] that

[32:16] we put

[32:18] our

[32:18] thumbs

[32:18] over

[32:18] the the

[32:19] no

[32:20] expiry cards or the

[32:22] , the

[32:22] tickets, all the things that

[32:23] they said to us while

[32:24] you're

[32:25] making a decision and what did

[32:26] you turn around and do

[32:27] ? You

[32:27] raised our

[32:27] fares

[32:27] more

[32:29] . You went

[32:29] beyond

[32:29] the

[32:30] 30% and you took

[32:30] away

[32:31] our

[32:32] most coveted discount

[32:32] of all

[32:34] , our

[32:34] multi-ride fair.

[32:35] Good, thank you

[32:36] , Cindy. Thank

[32:36] you

[32:45] . Alison

[32:46] Bush is next, or

[32:46] Allan Bush, I'm

[32:47] sorry, Alan

[32:47] Bush

[32:49] . Yeah

[32:49] , sorry

[32:52] , Alan

[32:53] Chipagoshian

[32:54] , 50-10 totem trail

[32:56] Guaymas Island. I'm gonna take

[32:57] a little different tack here

[32:59] .

[33:00] When when

[33:01] we graduated from

[33:01] medical school, we take a

[33:03] sacred oath called the

[33:03] Hippocratic Oath

[33:05] . Which dates

[33:06] back to several

[33:07] 100 years

[33:08] before Christ

[33:10] and

[33:11] still

[33:12] applicable today about taking

[33:13] care of patients, not

[33:14] poisoning

[33:15] them, respecting our teachers

[33:16] ,

[33:16] and not

[33:17] sharing their grief

[33:19] ,

[33:19] their disease process with

[33:21] a

[33:21] ,

[33:21] with other people. So that was

[33:22] several

[33:23] 100 years

[33:23] before

[33:24] hipaa

[33:24] .

[33:24] Why am

[33:26] I saying this

[33:26] ? Because

[33:26] when you take

[33:28] . The oath for

[33:28] the

[33:28] job

[33:30] you

[33:30] have sitting up there

[33:32] .

[33:33] You swear, to abide by

[33:33] the

[33:33] Constitution of

[33:34] the United

[33:35] States

[33:35] . And

[33:37] what

[33:37] that

[33:37] says

[33:38] is

[33:38] government by

[33:39] the people for

[33:40] the people

[33:41] , and

[33:41] we

[33:42] listen to

[33:43] these people today

[33:45] . It

[33:46] sounds

[33:46] really

[33:48] nice that things are not

[33:48] being

[33:50] followed appropriately. I

[33:51] mean, millions of

[33:52] dollars

[33:53] wasted on a, on

[33:54] a

[33:55] completely

[33:55] idiotic

[33:57] electric ferry which if

[33:58] you charged it and of course

[33:59] would have

[34:00] no power if you just

[34:00] do

[34:01] the

[34:02] calculations there and a

[34:02] host

[34:04] of other things that we

[34:04] have

[34:06] wasted hundreds

[34:06] and

[34:07] thousands and perhaps

[34:08] millions

[34:08] of dollars

[34:09] on things

[34:10] . And I'm

[34:11] just saying

[34:11] , please

[34:13] , please

[34:13] live up to your

[34:15] . Sacred oath

[34:15] .

[34:15] Thank you

[34:17] . Thank you, Chip

[34:21] .

[34:22] Allan Bush and then we'll go

[34:22] online

[34:27] . Allan Bush

[34:29] , 6628 West

[34:29] Shore Drive

[34:31] . Um

[34:31] , I'm

[34:33] a

[34:33] 3rd

[34:34] generation Islander

[34:35] , 3rd

[34:35] generation ferry committee

[34:36] member

[34:39] . And I'm a

[34:39] little

[34:39] troubled

[34:42] . With how things are

[34:42] going, you shouldn't

[34:43] be

[34:44] in

[34:45] court. We should be

[34:46] talking

[34:47] amongst ourselves, and I

[34:47] , I

[34:47] believe we

[34:48] can

[34:49] lead ourselves

[34:49] out of this

[34:49] . Um

[34:53] , If numbers are

[34:54] going to be projected

[34:56] . And um

[34:58] And

[35:00] those

[35:00] projected numbers

[35:02] average

[35:02] about

[35:03] $850,000 a

[35:04] year

[35:05] off of what actual expenditures

[35:07] are, I think

[35:07] that's probably

[35:08] troubling

[35:09] to me

[35:11] . And um

[35:12] I've

[35:13] ,

[35:14] i've been here before. I've

[35:14] asked you

[35:16] , um, a

[35:16] series

[35:18] of

[35:19] questions and this legal matter

[35:21] is getting in the way

[35:21] . I

[35:21] was

[35:22] told that you

[35:23] couldn't answer

[35:23] them because of

[35:24] that legal

[35:25] matter

[35:25] . And um

[35:28] In hindsight

[35:29] , I

[35:30] guess, um, I, I

[35:31] asked one

[35:32] question

[35:32] . What

[35:34] capital

[35:35] expenditures were, were

[35:37] made

[35:37] in

[35:38] 2024, and the

[35:39] answer was

[35:40] , uh,

[35:41] we can or you

[35:41] , the

[35:43] county

[35:43] calculated them properly

[35:45] .

[35:46] Considering the, the rule

[35:47] , the

[35:47] accounting rules

[35:49] . And um

[35:50] , Come

[35:52] to find out

[35:53] . A year later

[35:54] , Um,

[35:55] there's

[35:56] been

[35:56] some

[35:57] findings

[35:58] that

[35:59] there's been some

[35:59] engineering

[36:01] questions of whether or

[36:01] not

[36:02] that

[36:03] engine replacement and the

[36:04] engineering

[36:05] surrounding it was

[36:06] a

[36:08] capital expense, and it was

[36:10] .

[36:10] And um

[36:12] I

[36:12] just

[36:12] isolate

[36:13] that

[36:14] one

[36:15] crucible engineering in

[36:17] JULY

[36:17] of

[36:19] 2024 was

[36:19] assigned or

[36:21] given

[36:21] the

[36:22] opportunity

[36:23] to engineer an

[36:24] engine replacement

[36:26] . And um

[36:30] That

[36:31] contract

[36:32] totaled in

[36:32] 2024

[36:33] ,

[36:33] around

[36:35] $79,000 and

[36:37] yet we

[36:37] were

[36:38] invoiced on our side

[36:39] of the

[36:39] ledger, you know and

[36:41] . That

[36:42] expense

[36:44] . And so

[36:44] , uh, when asked

[36:46] to recalculate

[36:48] . I would hope

[36:48] that

[36:48] you

[36:49] would

[36:50] look at

[36:50] the

[36:51] whole picture, not

[36:53] just 2025 or

[36:53] what you thought

[36:55] you were going

[36:55] to spend in that year

[36:57] . But

[36:58] Based on your formula

[37:00] . You are

[37:00] um

[37:02] . Looking at

[37:03] 5 years, so

[37:04] you're looking at the

[37:04] 2

[37:06] years

[37:06] before

[37:07] actual

[37:08] expenses, and

[37:09] then projections, and

[37:10] I think

[37:11] that's where I guess the

[37:13] arbitrary

[37:13] and

[37:15] capriciousness

[37:16] starts entering into

[37:17] the

[37:18] equation and

[37:18] um to

[37:19] be

[37:20] $850,000

[37:20] off

[37:22] . On

[37:22] a

[37:23] projection and

[37:24] then

[37:24] not be able to account for it

[37:25] later on

[37:26] . Um

[37:28] , There's lots of

[37:29] labor, lots of time spent

[37:30] on

[37:31] county

[37:31] on

[37:31] county

[37:33] staff's time

[37:34] that, uh, probably

[37:34] should

[37:35] be

[37:35] capitalized

[37:38] . We've spent 10

[37:39] years on a

[37:40] capital project a

[37:41] ferry

[37:42] replacement project, and

[37:42] none

[37:43] of that

[37:44] staff time has

[37:45] been capitalized, or at

[37:46] least

[37:47] we have not seen it

[37:48] . Um

[37:49] , labor

[37:49] ,

[37:50] uh, during

[37:51] the

[37:51] haul

[37:51] out

[37:52] out

[37:53] out

[37:54] out out

[37:54] out $218,000 none of

[37:55] that was

[37:56] capitalized

[37:58] , even

[37:58] though

[37:58] um Nichols Brothers

[38:00] . Um

[38:03] Invoices called for

[38:04] staff time

[38:05] to be contributed to

[38:05] that

[38:07] expense, so thank you

[38:07] , Alan.

[38:08] Thanks

[38:14] . We're ready to go

[38:14] online

[38:20] . You

[38:20] are online

[38:21] , you

[38:21] please raise

[38:22] your hand, and

[38:23] we'll call

[38:32] . Like

[38:32] sanding. Oh

[38:33] ,

[38:34] Sandy, go ahead, please

[38:43] . Sandy

[38:44] ,

[38:44] you need

[38:45] to unmute

[38:56] . Well

[38:57] , Sandy

[38:57] figures that out

[38:58] , is anybody

[38:59] else

[38:59] ? Online

[39:08] . Sandy

[39:08] , you want

[39:08] to try again

[39:15] ? That's not

[39:15] working

[39:19] . So

[39:19] there's nobody

[39:20] online to comment at all

[39:24] ?

[39:24] Nobody online

[39:28] . Ok

[39:28] . Anybody else

[39:29] in the room like to comment

[39:31] ? Go

[39:31] ahead

[39:32] . Um

[39:33] , You

[39:33] have to come up

[39:35] to the mic

[39:35] . In

[39:35] a

[39:36] wheelchair. Oh

[39:37] I'm sorry

[39:38] , but I know

[39:39] it's hard

[39:40] We bring

[39:40] the microphone

[39:41] to her

[39:41] .

[39:42] No

[39:53] . Quarters here

[39:53] . Thanks

[39:55] ,

[39:55] honey

[39:58] . Um

[39:58] , 4

[39:59] years ago, oh

[40:00] , Pat

[40:00] Ridgeley

[40:01] , Erickson

[40:04] . 5458

[40:04] West

[40:04] Shore Road

[40:06] . We

[40:07] moved here a

[40:07] little

[40:08] over

[40:09] 4 years ago

[40:11] . Um

[40:13] ,

[40:14] Because it's a beautiful county

[40:18] And because the ferry

[40:18] ran

[40:20] pretty darn regularly

[40:20] . And

[40:22] we

[40:22] were counting on that kind of

[40:23] service

[40:25] . It's

[40:25] a short ride

[40:27] .

[40:27] Could have bodied orcas

[40:28] , but

[40:29] then we'd be

[40:29] sitting forever

[40:31] in

[40:31] fairy lines, you know what I

[40:32] mean

[40:34] . I know

[40:34] your job

[40:36] is not

[40:36] easy to do

[40:38] . And that

[40:38] you have

[40:39] to rely on your staff

[40:41] . To

[40:42] provide you information

[40:44] . But

[40:45] I

[40:45] have sat and

[40:47] watched these

[40:48] people that have been here

[40:49] longer than we have

[40:51] . They have

[40:52] good hearts

[40:54] as well and

[40:54] are

[40:54] willing to help

[40:56] . One thing I

[40:56] have

[40:58] to

[40:58] tell you, would have

[41:00] been

[41:00] easy to figure out

[41:03] . And

[41:03] restore some

[41:05] trust between

[41:05] public works

[41:07] ferry department

[41:08] and commissioners

[41:09] and

[41:09] the

[41:10] islanders

[41:12] . Take care of

[41:12] the

[41:12] problem

[41:13] that

[41:14] the

[41:14] judge

[41:16] said

[41:16] concerning

[41:18] the

[41:18] non-expiration

[41:19] very punch cards

[41:21] . Does

[41:21] it

[41:21] make

[41:24] sense that the

[41:24] islanders helped

[41:25] the

[41:25] county out at

[41:27] a time at,

[41:27] you know

[41:29] , post covid

[41:30] . By

[41:32] buying

[41:32] those

[41:34] specialty tickets when

[41:34] before that there were

[41:35] expirations

[41:37] , and after that

[41:37] there were

[41:39] . Does it make sense

[41:40] to turn them in

[41:43] ? Now

[41:43] at a

[41:43] higher rate

[41:46] . One

[41:46] for

[41:47] one

[41:47] doesn't

[41:48] make sense

[41:48] , but the

[41:50] ,

[41:50] but just

[41:50] that

[41:52] one

[41:52] thing plus

[41:52] the

[41:54] ferry

[41:55] committee would would

[41:55] help

[41:56] both

[41:57] sides

[41:57] , you would

[41:57] begin

[41:59] to

[41:59] see

[41:59] more of

[42:01] what these

[42:01] gentlemen and

[42:02] ladies have

[42:03] tried

[42:04] to say to you in a short period

[42:06] of time. They are

[42:06] bending

[42:07] over

[42:08] backwards to be

[42:10] . Who

[42:10] I've come

[42:11] to know as

[42:12] ladies

[42:12] and gentlemen

[42:13] and

[42:15] not whining

[42:15] , aggravating

[42:15] people

[42:17] . Anyway

[42:19] , good luck

[42:19] , guys

[42:20] Thank you

[42:21] . Thank you. Just to

[42:22] correct on the

[42:23] punch

[42:23] card

[42:24] turning in, it's a

[42:24] ride for

[42:26] rides, so if it was good for

[42:28] a

[42:29] driver and car

[42:29] . The new

[42:30] system

[42:31] would be driver

[42:32] and car.

[42:33] There's no

[42:33] dollar change. It's

[42:33] the

[42:35] same thing. It's just, it's

[42:35] on

[42:37] the e-ticketing instead of

[42:37] a

[42:38] paper. So

[42:39] it's the

[42:39] same value.

[42:40] There's no

[42:40] . Ok

[42:44] . Anybody else

[42:46] ?

[42:46] Like to comment

[42:55] ? So

[42:55] we

[42:55] have

[42:55] on

[42:56] here a

[42:57] potential

[42:58] executive

[42:58] session. Um, do

[42:59] we have

[43:00] amount

[43:02] of time that we want to do for

[43:02] that

[43:04] . Please

[43:06] . Ok

[43:07] Yeah

[43:09] . What you

[43:12] I

[43:13] don't have all the written

[43:14] stuff on that. Yeah

[43:20] . Of

[43:20] our

[43:21] comments after that

[43:22] . Yeah

[43:23] , the

[43:23] comments

[43:24] , you can still, uh,

[43:24] send

[43:25] in comments, uh, till

[43:26] the

[43:26] end of

[43:27] Um

[43:29] , What's the date

[43:29] on

[43:30] that

[43:31] ? Do you have it in front

[43:31] of you

[43:40] ? The comments can be

[43:41] sent in today

[43:42] . Till

[43:43] till today

[43:45] ,

[43:45] right? Your Honor, before

[43:46] we

[43:47] retire Eric Peterson

[43:49] , uh,

[43:49] Saskatchew County, uh, Chief

[43:50] Civil

[43:51] Deputy prosecutor before

[43:52] he retired to executive

[43:53] session

[43:54] the

[43:54] question

[43:56] was posed about

[43:56] this, this

[43:56] and

[43:56] the

[43:58] next actual

[43:59] slide with respect to

[44:01] the 2025

[44:01] fair shedding

[44:03] . This is

[44:03] the

[44:05] detail line, these two

[44:05] pages

[44:05] are

[44:07] the

[44:07] detail

[44:08] line from

[44:09] the

[44:10] Nielsen brothers' book

[44:10] the

[44:12] Contract. Once they were

[44:14] , once

[44:14] the uh

[44:16] Public works

[44:17] department

[44:17] and accounting

[44:18] division went

[44:19] through the individual

[44:20] line

[44:21] items and you can

[44:21] see

[44:21] the

[44:23] yellow items which were

[44:23] presumed to

[44:25] be part of the full

[44:27] Nielsen Brother boat builder

[44:28] contract and part

[44:30] of capital.

[44:30] They were not attributed

[44:32] to

[44:32] Capo. The process was

[44:33] followed

[44:33] which

[44:34] we explained as you

[44:34] pull

[44:35] out the

[44:36] items once you get

[44:36] the

[44:37] final contract, you don't know

[44:39] what's going to be capital or

[44:39] not until you

[44:41] get all the

[44:41] line

[44:42] items because there

[44:43] are change

[44:44] orders and things like that

[44:44] that occur

[44:45] , so what happened is

[44:46] This is

[44:48] a spreadsheet that was

[44:48] provided in the in

[44:50] the appeal

[44:51] before

[44:53] . After

[44:54] the

[44:55] decision

[44:55] explaining what we're going

[44:56] to

[44:57] be presenting today

[44:59] . About this

[45:00] case and so what we have

[45:01] are

[45:01] the individual light items

[45:02] which were

[45:03] pulled out and

[45:04] put

[45:04] in to

[45:06] the

[45:06] actual

[45:08] um capital

[45:08] portion of the

[45:10] Nielsen

[45:10] brothers' contract contract So

[45:11] that's the explanation. These

[45:11] numbers

[45:12] were

[45:13] not available

[45:13] in

[45:13] 2024

[45:15] . In 2024, we

[45:17] were

[45:17] losing

[45:17] the

[45:20] projected 2025 numbers, so

[45:20] I don't know how

[45:21] do you make

[45:22] that clear and

[45:23] so what we're

[45:24] having, we're in the situation

[45:25] we're having to

[45:26] address now is

[45:27] a situation where

[45:28] How do

[45:28] you

[45:29] calculate

[45:31] a past projection

[45:33] .

[45:33] Instead we're using the

[45:34] actual

[45:35] numbers

[45:35] from 2025

[45:37] , how they

[45:38] were actually assigned to this

[45:39] ,

[45:40] and I understand there are

[45:40] other line items

[45:41] which

[45:42] were

[45:42] discussed or brought

[45:44] forward

[45:44] both today in a written

[45:45] document that was

[45:46] provided by

[45:47] Fair Affairs entering the

[45:47] portion of

[45:48] the sharing, and I

[45:49] think we have the

[45:51] ability to

[45:51] ,

[45:51] to have a

[45:53] conversation to

[45:54] provide information to these

[45:55] people about

[45:56] that

[45:56] information

[45:58] . And so that's what

[45:58] we, I, i

[46:00] just want to try

[46:00] this

[46:02] explanation and let you know

[46:02] that that

[46:04] . Um

[46:04] , that that's

[46:05] where we're at, and

[46:06] that's the

[46:07] information about this these

[46:07] particular items

[46:08] . So

[46:09] , Thank you

[46:09] for

[46:11] the explanation. I

[46:11] asked

[46:12] specifically because when

[46:13] I

[46:13] looked at that, the quick

[46:14] glance I got at it, uh, while

[46:15] it was up

[46:16] , it looked like what

[46:16] we would have

[46:18] had after the

[46:18] fact, so

[46:18] . Mhm

[46:20] . It

[46:20] , it looked

[46:21] like what

[46:22] we would have after

[46:23] the fact, and I was trying to

[46:23] decide if

[46:24] this

[46:24] was

[46:25] something

[46:25] that was after or if

[46:27] this

[46:27] was

[46:27] actually a quote from them that

[46:29] was used for

[46:29] the

[46:29] 2025

[46:31] fair

[46:31] setting. So that's why I was

[46:32] asking the question to help

[46:33] with my

[46:34] clarity on what

[46:36] was

[46:36] physically available

[46:36] in

[46:38] 2025

[46:38] when they were making these

[46:39] choices

[46:40] As a 2024 I

[46:41] should

[46:42] say.

[46:43] I'm going to see if I can get

[46:43] the right direction on

[46:44] this

[46:45] scrolling here

[46:47] . That's

[46:47] what

[46:47] this explanation

[46:48] was

[46:49] was

[46:50] about.

[46:50] The the

[46:50] JANUARY

[46:51] 2021

[46:52] , 2025 was

[46:52] when

[46:53] the

[46:54] Nielsen brothers

[46:54] contract was signed

[46:56] , so

[46:56] we

[46:56] don't have any knowledge about

[46:57] the line

[46:58] items, how they

[46:59] were

[46:59] trolled between

[47:01] uh Kapla at the

[47:03] time, we signed

[47:03] that contract

[47:03] .

[47:04] So this

[47:05] is this the detail that

[47:08] we gave in this, in these

[47:09] two

[47:10] pages are

[47:10] the

[47:12] contract is

[47:13] complete, the dry dock

[47:14] went

[47:14] into MAY. It takes time to get

[47:15] those, those in

[47:16] . Voices all

[47:17] sorted out and provided

[47:18] to

[47:19] public works

[47:21] . And so that's,

[47:21] that's what what that

[47:22] information is

[47:23] the detail. Ok,

[47:24] so the numbers that

[47:25] were used

[47:25] when

[47:26] , in 2024, when

[47:27] they went

[47:28] through this

[47:28] process was

[47:31] the

[47:31] estimate, I'm guessing that we

[47:32] had received projection is an

[47:33] estimate. So there was

[47:34] an

[47:35] estimate made just based off of

[47:35] what we expected

[47:37] was needed,

[47:37] and that's how

[47:39] they

[47:39] helped

[47:39] calculate, but I

[47:41] , I think Cindy

[47:42] brought up a good point. We

[47:42] knew we

[47:43] were going to haul out.

[47:44] We knew we were going to

[47:46] replace the engines

[47:46] . Why was

[47:46] the

[47:48] Projected

[47:50] only 200,000

[47:50] instead of

[47:50] the

[47:51] million. That

[47:52] was the point that Cindy

[47:53] brought up

[47:55] . Well, those are

[47:55] some of the

[47:57] questions that

[47:57] we

[47:57] have, we have provided to us

[47:58] today

[47:59] , which

[47:59] I think public

[48:00] works and I

[48:01] can work on

[48:01] getting

[48:02] the

[48:04] information for to

[48:04] explain

[48:04] the differences and

[48:05] why

[48:06] those

[48:06] numbers are the way

[48:08] they were

[48:08] .

[48:09] But that is a

[48:10] good point

[48:11] because we knew we're gonna pay

[48:12] the point, Your

[48:13] Honor

[48:13] . We're

[48:13] going to have a haul

[48:15] out and

[48:15] that would have

[48:17] lowered the

[48:17] calculated

[48:19] . Ticket price

[48:19] ,

[48:20] correct

[48:20] , uh, by having

[48:21] the

[48:22] lower estimate

[48:22] for

[48:23] costs versus

[48:24] what was actual

[48:26] . Yeah, if you

[48:26] would have had a

[48:28] higher

[48:29] projected cost, it would have

[48:29] had the

[48:30] increase

[48:31] be more

[48:31] , but

[48:32] ,

[48:33] but like I mentioned, 800

[48:35] off

[48:35] of the

[48:36] projection, so it's

[48:37] .

[48:38] Just projections are very

[48:38] difficult and

[48:39] . Ok

[48:40] . There's also

[48:40] another

[48:42] piece of kind

[48:42] of

[48:43] misinformation or lack of

[48:44] clarity

[48:44] , the

[48:44] ferry design

[48:45] dollars

[48:46] were designed money

[48:47] from the state

[48:48] . They weren't,

[48:49] didn't come from any of

[48:49] you,

[48:49] and

[48:51] could not be used in

[48:52] anything but

[48:52] fairy

[48:53] design

[48:53] , and

[48:54] I had met with

[48:55] Steve Orsini

[48:56] before I was even elected, and

[48:56] I

[48:57] agreed with him then the

[48:58] electric ferry was not a

[48:59] great

[49:00] idea, and I'm really glad to

[49:01] see that we've

[49:02] moved away from

[49:02] that, but those were not our

[49:03] dollars

[49:04] to

[49:05] be reallocated or

[49:07] utilized differently. They just

[49:07] gave us a plan

[49:09] to base our

[49:09] .

[49:09] Decision

[49:11] or

[49:11] further decision

[49:11] on

[49:13] now looking

[49:14] at

[49:14] a

[49:16] diesel hybrid,

[49:16] which will be the ferry

[49:18] , but

[49:18] that's still, we're looking at

[49:19] 10 years down the road where

[49:20] our ferry is

[49:20] now

[49:21] working

[49:22] adequately and we can keep it

[49:23] going and we can work

[49:24] slowly

[49:25] towards getting adequate

[49:25] funding for the

[49:27] diesel hybrid

[49:27] instead of

[49:29] the

[49:29] incredibly

[49:29] expensive, as you pointed out

[49:30] years ago, Mr

[49:31] . Arsini

[49:32] , very

[49:32] expensive

[49:34] and

[49:35] very not, no

[49:35] ,

[49:36] we're not sure how well it's

[49:36] gonna work. So

[49:38] , so

[49:38] those

[49:39] dollars, we have to take that

[49:39] out of the conversation

[49:40] . They

[49:41] aren't part

[49:42] conversation about

[49:43] how we come up with a very

[49:45] good

[49:45] ferry for our

[49:45] county

[49:47] for for

[49:47] price

[49:49] . So

[49:50] Alan

[49:50] did, was there

[49:52] ?

[49:52] So I

[49:54] , I

[49:55] , um, I, I

[49:56] just want to

[49:56] put forward to the

[49:57] commissioners you have

[49:58] 2

[49:59] resolutions before you today.

[49:59] One

[50:01] pertains to the

[50:01] punch cards

[50:03] and the expiration

[50:03] of them, and

[50:04] another is

[50:05] , is what to do, and

[50:06] I understand

[50:07] that

[50:07] those

[50:08] indicated today that

[50:09] you did,

[50:10] they did not get

[50:10] the

[50:10] draft

[50:10] version

[50:12] of that was

[50:12] not

[50:13] distributed

[50:14] . So

[50:14] we

[50:15] have built

[50:17] into this an opportunity for an

[50:17] executive session

[50:18] for you to

[50:19] discuss this matter if you wish

[50:19] to

[50:21] do these matters, if you

[50:21] wish to do so, so

[50:23] . That's the

[50:24] question of whether we wish to

[50:26] do so at

[50:26] this time or whether

[50:28] or not you wish to enter any of

[50:30] the resolutions

[50:32] . So

[50:32] , so

[50:32] that's

[50:33] the the proposals

[50:34] that are

[50:35] before you today

[50:35] . We

[50:36] have

[50:36] an

[50:37] opportunity to discuss either

[50:38] of those matters in

[50:38] the

[50:39] executive session if you'd like

[50:42] Commissioner Browning

[50:43] , any

[50:43] thoughts

[50:48] ? You get

[50:50] that? I'm

[50:50] just curious

[50:54] . Person

[50:55] . Is there

[50:55] a reason why we

[50:57] didn't get that

[50:57] that text

[50:59] . I

[50:59] would take

[51:00] interest in the executive

[51:00] session

[51:03] . Mr

[51:04] . Brownie

[51:06] . I

[51:06] don't

[51:07] have the script on

[51:08] going to the

[51:08] session

[51:10] . Right here

[51:13] And we

[51:13] just

[51:14] needed time

[51:15] . As

[51:15] to when you

[51:16] think

[51:17] you'll be

[51:17] ending the

[51:18] executive session

[51:20] . So

[51:21] we

[51:22] will

[51:22] be

[51:22] leaving to

[51:24] go into

[51:25] executive

[51:26] session. It

[51:26] is

[51:29] now 10:53

[51:29] , um

[51:31] .

[51:31] And we will

[51:33] go

[51:33] into executive

[51:34] session in the next room over

[51:35] .

[51:35] Is

[51:36] that ok

[51:37] ? And

[51:38] then we'll

[51:38] , um,

[51:38] we're

[51:39] gonna

[51:40] be there

[51:40] for

[51:41] roughly 30

[51:42] minutes we'll

[51:42] come

[51:43] back by 11:30

[51:46] . So

[51:48] , uh we like

[51:49] to call

[51:49] I'm gonna call

[51:52] executive session for potential

[51:53] litigation dealing with

[51:55] rcw

[51:55] 4230

[51:58] . 1101

[52:00] Princess who expect

[52:00] to be

[52:02] executive session until

[52:05] 11:25 and

[52:07] , We will be

[52:09] in the

[52:09] separate room

[52:10] over there, and

[52:11] we'll come back in if we aren't

[52:12] able to come to a conclusion

[52:13] by

[52:13] that time

[52:14] . So

[52:14] with that we

[52:15] were

[52:16] adjourned to the executive

[52:16] session. Ok

[52:59] Out

[52:59] of

[52:59] executive

[53:00] session and no

[53:00] decisions have been

[53:01] . We are

[53:01] coming made

[53:03] . Um

[53:04] , with that

[53:05] , we

[53:05] have a

[53:06] little bit uh

[53:09] . Going

[53:10] forward from then we have uh a

[53:12] couple motions, Commissioner

[53:13] Brown, do you have a motion

[53:14] ?

[53:14] I'd certainly like to start

[53:15] with a

[53:17] resolution amending and

[53:17] superseding

[53:19] the

[53:19] resolution 2

[53:21] r

[53:23] 20,250,260 and

[53:25] r

[53:26] 20,260,060

[53:26] requiring

[53:28] conversions of

[53:28] all

[53:28] punch cards

[53:28] sold

[53:30] without

[53:30] expiration. I'll second

[53:32] . It is

[53:33] move

[53:33] to

[53:35] 2

[53:35] to

[53:36] have

[53:37] a

[53:37] resolution

[53:38] amending

[53:39] and superseding

[53:39] resolution

[53:41] . Ours

[53:45] . 202502

[53:46] 60

[53:48] and

[53:51] our 2026-0060 requiring

[53:52] a

[53:53] conversion of all punch cards

[53:54] sold

[53:55] without expiration

[53:57] . Any

[53:57] more discussion

[53:59] ? Like just a,

[54:00] just a, just to verify

[54:00] , this

[54:00] means

[54:02] that any

[54:03] , any

[54:04] punch card

[54:04] you have will

[54:06] be

[54:06] exchanged ride

[54:07] for ride, no

[54:08] dollar value, ride

[54:09] for ride, person for person

[54:10] ,

[54:11] bike for bike, whatever you

[54:11] have it for

[54:12] , you'll get the

[54:13] value, you'll get the ride

[54:14] ,

[54:15] there's no discussion of value

[54:16] of what you paid for it

[54:17] , so

[54:17] and

[54:17] it

[54:18] beyond

[54:20] into forever

[54:22] . And you

[54:22] can

[54:24] Paul and have it over the

[54:25] phone to have

[54:26] that happen. You

[54:27] need to call and make that

[54:27] conversion happen

[54:28] , and there's

[54:29] no time limit for that

[54:31] conversion. No, and we'll

[54:31] put

[54:32] the information on who to call

[54:33] and how to call, so

[54:34] it's clear

[54:35] ,

[54:35] ok, yeah

[54:37] . Any more discussion

[54:39] ?

[54:40] All those in favor say aye. Aye

[54:42] those opposed, motion passes

[54:44] .

[54:44] Good

[54:46] . The

[54:47] next item

[54:48] , um,

[54:49] because of the

[54:51] . Court order we

[54:51] have

[54:51] to

[54:53] recalculate

[54:54] our

[54:54] fair

[54:56] revenue target and we

[54:57] are going

[54:58] to present that or

[54:58] we'd like to

[54:59] have that

[55:01] . On the

[55:02] consent

[55:02] agenda

[55:03] on

[55:04] September 14th, so do

[55:05] we have a motion to

[55:06] do that? I

[55:07] would also make

[55:07] a resolution

[55:09] for recalculation of

[55:11] fares

[55:11] based on the court order

[55:14] . I'll

[55:14] second that being

[55:16] placed on the

[55:16] consent agenda that day

[55:18] . Any

[55:19] more discussion on that

[55:20] ? We

[55:21] want to make sure we

[55:22] take the

[55:23] information gathered

[55:24] today in

[55:25] uh go back and look at some of

[55:26] those things

[55:27] to do some

[55:27] adjustments, so I really

[55:28] appreciate all the

[55:29] comments we

[55:29] have

[55:30] , and that's

[55:32] why

[55:32] we're

[55:33] waiting till the

[55:33] 14th on

[55:34] consent agenda to deal with

[55:34] that

[55:36] . Just

[55:36] a quick question

[55:38] .

[55:38] Now that you're attorney has

[55:39] filed the thing to go to

[55:40] the

[55:41] appellate court with this

[55:43] . I

[55:44] that stop you from

[55:45] doing what

[55:45] you're doing

[55:45] ? We

[55:47] are moving

[55:47] forward. This is what the

[55:48] motion is

[55:50] here. Any more

[55:50] discussion on that

[55:52] . All those

[55:54] in favor of putting that on the

[55:56] consent agenda

[55:56] for

[55:57] SEPTEMBER

[55:59] 14th signified by saying aye

[55:59] aye aye

[56:00] , all

[56:01] opposed, motion

[56:01] passes

[56:04] . Anything else at this

[56:04] time

[56:06] ? So with that

[56:07] we are going

[56:08] to adjourn for a couple of

[56:08] minutes. We'll be back

[56:10] at 11:30

[56:10] for consent. Thank you

[58:19] Good morning. I call this

[58:20] session schedule kind of

[58:20] commission to order. It

[58:21] is

[58:21] AUGUST 31

[58:22] , 2026, we

[58:22] are here

[58:23] for

[58:23] our

[58:24] consent

[58:25] agenda items

[58:26] ,

[58:27] and we have a couple that have

[58:27] been polled

[58:29] already, so

[58:29] number

[58:29] 18 was

[58:30] pulled

[58:31] , which

[58:31] was a

[58:32] personal service

[58:33] agreement with

[58:34] Chinook Enterprise. They have

[58:34] to do some

[58:36] more work on that to

[58:36] get it to come forward

[58:40] . 18 that

[58:40] got pulled

[58:42] . 18, yep

[58:43] . That

[58:43] makes

[58:45] sense

[58:45] , like

[58:45] the construction

[58:47] contract agreement

[58:49] . Tree works

[58:51] .

[58:52] Is under

[58:52] public works

[58:53] . Yeah

[58:54] ,

[58:54] The tree works fine

[58:59] . The

[59:00] railroad bridge debris Chinook

[59:01] was moved to miscellaneous

[59:02] agenda and

[59:03] uh, the tree works

[59:04] one was just

[59:05] pulled because

[59:05] that one was the one that

[59:06] lacked. Yeah

[59:08] Commissioner Burns

[59:08] do

[59:10] you have any other ones to,

[59:10] uh, I want to make

[59:12] a motion to

[59:12] close public

[59:14] hearing

[59:14] for

[59:15] previously televised hearing

[59:16] .

[59:17] The

[59:18] motion

[59:19] approved. I second.

[59:19] It was moved a

[59:20] 2nd

[59:21] to

[59:22] close

[59:22] the

[59:23] public hearing

[59:23] we

[59:23] had

[59:24] earlier

[59:25] ,

[59:25] we forgot to close it

[59:26] , so any

[59:26] more discussion

[59:27] on that

[59:29] ? Polo's

[59:30] in favor

[59:30] , say aye. Aye

[59:32] . All

[59:32] those opposed

[59:32] ? Motion passes.

[59:33] Thank you

[59:35] . Now the

[59:35] consent

[59:37] agenda items

[59:39] . Mr

[59:39] . Burns, do you

[59:40] have anything you wanna talk

[59:41] about? I've got a

[59:41] few here

[59:43] .

[59:43] Let's look at

[59:45] , uh, number 10

[59:46] under Parks and Rec

[59:47] . This

[59:48] contract for Hilt Creek Park,

[59:48] um

[59:50] , I

[59:51] should say it is for Hill

[59:51] Creek Park

[59:52] and

[59:52] will include

[59:53] construction of a

[59:54] gravel access

[59:54] road

[59:55] , parking

[59:57] , uh, concrete pad

[59:57] and stormwater system

[59:59] improvements. I'm happy to see

[1:00:00] this moving forward

[1:00:01] . He

[1:00:01] creates

[1:00:02] a beautiful location, so I'm

[1:00:04] glad the public will get to

[1:00:04] enjoy that once

[1:00:06] we get

[1:00:06] those

[1:00:06] installed

[1:00:08] . You look down at

[1:00:09] number

[1:00:10] 14

[1:00:10] under public health.

[1:00:11] Um, this is

[1:00:12] a

[1:00:12] sub recipient

[1:00:13] agreement between the

[1:00:14] county

[1:00:15] and Catholic Community Services

[1:00:15] of

[1:00:17] Western Washington that will

[1:00:17] provide

[1:00:22] $152,608 for um these

[1:00:22] funds

[1:00:23] are

[1:00:24] from the, these are

[1:00:26] federal funds that were granted

[1:00:27] through

[1:00:28] the

[1:00:29] state and the

[1:00:29] substance abuse prevention

[1:00:30] ,

[1:00:31] treatment and

[1:00:31] recovery service

[1:00:31] block

[1:00:33] grant, and these are

[1:00:33] not

[1:00:34] county funds. I'd like to

[1:00:35] point

[1:00:36] out when we do something like

[1:00:36] this

[1:00:37] where we're basically

[1:00:38] doing a Pass through to

[1:00:39] help

[1:00:40] local agencies get funds to

[1:00:42] help the community

[1:00:42] . And

[1:00:42] then

[1:00:44] number 17, funding agreement

[1:00:45] with New

[1:00:46] Earth

[1:00:46] Recovery. This

[1:00:47] agreement will spend a

[1:00:48] maximum

[1:00:49] of

[1:00:51] $610,000 of opioid

[1:00:52] settlement dollars to help

[1:00:52] purchase

[1:00:53] the property and

[1:00:54] retain the nine bed facility

[1:00:55] New Earth Recovery

[1:00:56] is

[1:00:57] currently

[1:00:57] operating

[1:00:58] . I

[1:00:59] believe that's all

[1:01:00] I have to

[1:01:00] stumble

[1:01:02] through.

[1:01:02] Commissioner Browning, do you

[1:01:03] have any comments

[1:01:04] ? Yeah

[1:01:04] , um,

[1:01:05] number 6 is

[1:01:06] a

[1:01:06] personal service

[1:01:07] agreement with Kern's Funeral

[1:01:07] Home

[1:01:09] , and they will fill

[1:01:09] in

[1:01:09] when the

[1:01:11] , when we're short on

[1:01:11] time with

[1:01:13] our coroner to

[1:01:13] go

[1:01:13] to

[1:01:14] a site of a death

[1:01:15] . They can do

[1:01:15] a

[1:01:16] death scene

[1:01:18] investigation and

[1:01:18] if there's any concerns,

[1:01:19] there's

[1:01:20] also our

[1:01:20] police

[1:01:21] or

[1:01:21] sheriff's

[1:01:22] department is there

[1:01:23] so they can support it. They

[1:01:23] can come up with

[1:01:24] a

[1:01:24] very

[1:01:25] accurate death

[1:01:27] our coroner. Um

[1:01:29] number 8, I justo point

[1:01:30] out Josh

[1:01:31] , who

[1:01:31] runs

[1:01:31] our

[1:01:32] emergency

[1:01:33] medical services

[1:01:34] .

[1:01:34] He's become very, very

[1:01:35] well

[1:01:36] known

[1:01:36] for

[1:01:36] his

[1:01:38] training

[1:01:38] and

[1:01:39] education program and he's

[1:01:39] going to

[1:01:40] do

[1:01:40] training and

[1:01:41] tracking

[1:01:42] software. Mostly I

[1:01:43] just I want to have people

[1:01:43] realize he's

[1:01:44] been

[1:01:45] so good about

[1:01:45] making sure that we are the

[1:01:48] best trained

[1:01:49] emergency medical

[1:01:50] system around

[1:01:52] , um, number 9,

[1:01:52] the, the discussion

[1:01:53] of

[1:01:54] the

[1:01:54] official change of the big

[1:01:55] rock

[1:01:56] to

[1:01:56] Yadwassa Park, and, and

[1:01:57] that's

[1:01:58] . Going to be uh I

[1:01:59] think

[1:01:59] good

[1:02:00] for the

[1:02:01] upper scadget will

[1:02:01] appreciate it

[1:02:02] . That's the

[1:02:03] , the

[1:02:03] word, the name they chose.

[1:02:03] That's a

[1:02:05] public hearing on that

[1:02:05] So the public

[1:02:07] hearing on

[1:02:07] the

[1:02:07] naming will

[1:02:08] be

[1:02:09] OCTOBER 12th.

[1:02:10] Yep, thank you

[1:02:12] . And then

[1:02:12] , uh,

[1:02:12] finally

[1:02:13] the

[1:02:14] administrative

[1:02:14] Services

[1:02:17] , Purchase and sale

[1:02:17] agreement with

[1:02:18] the Swinish for

[1:02:19] the purchase of property, and

[1:02:19] we're

[1:02:21] going to talk about that

[1:02:21] today, and that's the

[1:02:23] most

[1:02:23] exciting part we've had going

[1:02:24] on in a while. 00, wait

[1:02:25] ,

[1:02:26] there's an agreement with

[1:02:26] the

[1:02:26] State Department

[1:02:27] of

[1:02:27] Health to

[1:02:28] give

[1:02:28] us

[1:02:30] $172,000 more for our

[1:02:30] public

[1:02:30] health

[1:02:32] department to

[1:02:32] make up for some of the losses

[1:02:33] of the

[1:02:34] money that was pulled

[1:02:34] away

[1:02:37] . Very good

[1:02:38] , thank

[1:02:39] you, um

[1:02:41] .

[1:02:42] Emergency management 7, I

[1:02:43] really appreciate the work

[1:02:44] that

[1:02:44] they will do

[1:02:46] over there

[1:02:46] to get

[1:02:48] the different funds available.

[1:02:48] Um, we're getting

[1:02:50] , um, some

[1:02:51] funds from the Washington State

[1:02:53] Military Department, and

[1:02:54] the

[1:02:54] us

[1:02:55] Department of Homeland Security

[1:02:55] we're

[1:02:57] getting

[1:02:57] about

[1:02:57] $62,000 to

[1:02:58] help some

[1:02:59] of the programs we

[1:03:00] have going on in the county

[1:03:03] .

[1:03:03] And

[1:03:06] Number

[1:03:08] . Mm

[1:03:13] 22

[1:03:15] . Tom was

[1:03:15] going to

[1:03:16] talk about that

[1:03:16] , so

[1:03:17] you need to go to a mic

[1:03:19] . Um

[1:03:20] ,

[1:03:20] resolution authorized

[1:03:21] the

[1:03:22] closure of a portion of

[1:03:22] Collins

[1:03:23] Road

[1:03:27] , number 63,310 at

[1:03:28] the

[1:03:28] railroad

[1:03:29] grade crossing

[1:03:30] , um, to

[1:03:31] all through traffic

[1:03:32] to

[1:03:33] allow

[1:03:33] certain county road work to

[1:03:35] be

[1:03:35] completed and

[1:03:36] disclosure

[1:03:37] will

[1:03:38] commence on or about

[1:03:40] OCTOBER

[1:03:40] 12th and

[1:03:40] or dates

[1:03:42] to

[1:03:42] be

[1:03:42] determined shall be

[1:03:44] . Until the

[1:03:45] commissioners open it

[1:03:46] , so Tom,

[1:03:47] what are you doing out there?

[1:03:47] On Collins Road

[1:03:49] . Good

[1:03:49] morning

[1:03:49] ,

[1:03:50] Commissioner Tom

[1:03:51] Mueller County

[1:03:51] Engineer. So

[1:03:51] this

[1:03:53] stretch of

[1:03:53] Collins Road is on the west

[1:03:54] side of Cedar

[1:03:55] Wooley, and it's

[1:03:56] been effectively closed

[1:03:57] since

[1:03:58] 2001, where

[1:03:58] , when

[1:04:00] , um Washdot

[1:04:01] directed us to close

[1:04:02] that leg

[1:04:02] of

[1:04:03] the intersection so that we

[1:04:04] could

[1:04:05] um reconstruct Cook

[1:04:05] Road

[1:04:06] .

[1:04:06] Um, in

[1:04:07] the

[1:04:07] intervening years,

[1:04:07] it's never

[1:04:09] been opened, the

[1:04:09] railroad crossing there has

[1:04:10] been

[1:04:11] blocked off with ecology

[1:04:11] blocks

[1:04:14] . And wash that's going

[1:04:14] to be

[1:04:15] reconstructing their

[1:04:16] roundabout through that

[1:04:16] intersection here this

[1:04:17] coming

[1:04:18] summer, and there's going to be

[1:04:19] no accommodations

[1:04:20] for the south

[1:04:21] leg of Collins Road going

[1:04:21] overneath

[1:04:22] the

[1:04:22] railroad tracks,

[1:04:23] going over the railroad tracks.

[1:04:23] So

[1:04:25] , Just

[1:04:25] as a

[1:04:27] matter of um

[1:04:28] Cleaning up, um

[1:04:29] . Paperwork and

[1:04:30] making sure that

[1:04:31] this road

[1:04:32] is

[1:04:33] officially and definitely

[1:04:34] closed. We wanted to to go

[1:04:36] through

[1:04:36] this

[1:04:38] um exercise, and

[1:04:38] in addition, washed out

[1:04:39] is

[1:04:40] seeking um about 1000 cubic

[1:04:41] yards of

[1:04:42] compensatory flood

[1:04:43] storage, and so by removing

[1:04:45] this roadway, they will be

[1:04:47] able

[1:04:47] to meet

[1:04:47] their

[1:04:48] environmental

[1:04:48] requirements

[1:04:49] for

[1:04:49] the

[1:04:50] roundabouts. Um, we're

[1:04:51] still

[1:04:52] working out the agreement with

[1:04:52] them

[1:04:54] for compensation for

[1:04:54] removing that, um

[1:04:56] . Stretch of

[1:04:57] roadway, but uh this is

[1:04:58] the

[1:04:58] first step in

[1:04:59] , in

[1:05:00] , uh, going

[1:05:01] that direction, so that is

[1:05:02] why

[1:05:03] I'm proposing the indefinite

[1:05:04] closure of

[1:05:05] Collins

[1:05:05] Road at the

[1:05:06] railroad tracks and just

[1:05:07] a

[1:05:07] little bit south of that

[1:05:08] . I

[1:05:10] knew you weren't here back when

[1:05:10] they did close it

[1:05:12] , and there's

[1:05:12] definitely a lot of

[1:05:14] concern

[1:05:15] about potential floods. How can

[1:05:16] people evacuate and so

[1:05:17] forth

[1:05:17] .

[1:05:17] Any comments

[1:05:18] on

[1:05:19] that

[1:05:19] ? Certainly

[1:05:19] so both

[1:05:20] in

[1:05:21] the 2021 flood event

[1:05:21] and then

[1:05:23] the

[1:05:23] 2025 flood event

[1:05:23] ,

[1:05:24] uh, there was no

[1:05:25] calls for

[1:05:26] reopening that

[1:05:26] road

[1:05:28] and

[1:05:28] from

[1:05:29] um

[1:05:30] bnsf's maintenance along that

[1:05:31] corridor, there is

[1:05:32] no

[1:05:32] physical

[1:05:33] way to

[1:05:33] any more

[1:05:34] cross that

[1:05:34] crossing

[1:05:37] . So they're going to

[1:05:38] make

[1:05:39] a

[1:05:40] big ditch there, or I

[1:05:40] mean, could people walk

[1:05:41] across

[1:05:41] if they wanted to, or is it

[1:05:42] going to

[1:05:43] be

[1:05:43] in passable

[1:05:44] for

[1:05:45] humans

[1:05:46] . It is going to

[1:05:46] be

[1:05:48] impassable. Ok

[1:05:48] . I'm sure that

[1:05:49] as

[1:05:50] a pedestrian you could walk

[1:05:51] across the tracks, but it

[1:05:52] is

[1:05:53] a

[1:05:55] formal um roadway, it would

[1:05:55] uh

[1:05:55] be

[1:05:57] indefinitely closed. Ok

[1:05:57] ,

[1:05:58] thank you. Any

[1:05:59] other questions,

[1:05:59] Anton? No

[1:06:01] . Any other questions

[1:06:02] or anything else on

[1:06:03] the consent

[1:06:04] ?

[1:06:06] So do I have

[1:06:06] a

[1:06:06] motion. I move

[1:06:07] to

[1:06:08] approve the consent

[1:06:08] agenda

[1:06:09] items 1

[1:06:10] through 17

[1:06:11] and 19

[1:06:11] through 22

[1:06:12] , including all items

[1:06:13] requiring ratification,

[1:06:14] vouchers

[1:06:15] and warrants for

[1:06:15] Monday

[1:06:15] , AUGUST

[1:06:17] 31st

[1:06:17] , 2026

[1:06:17] . I

[1:06:18] second

[1:06:19] that

[1:06:20] motion. He's moved

[1:06:20] a second to approve the

[1:06:21] consent

[1:06:22] agenda items 1

[1:06:24] through 17 and

[1:06:27] 19 through 22, including all

[1:06:29] items from ratification,

[1:06:29] vouchers, and

[1:06:30] warrants for

[1:06:31] Monday, AUGUST

[1:06:31] 31st

[1:06:32] , 2026

[1:06:33] . Any

[1:06:34] more discussion? All

[1:06:35] those in

[1:06:36] favor say aye. Aye

[1:06:37] , all those

[1:06:37] opposed

[1:06:38] , motion passes

[1:06:40] . Now, we

[1:06:40] have

[1:06:42] , a

[1:06:42] bunch

[1:06:44] of miscellaneous,

[1:06:44] let's

[1:06:46] To

[1:06:46] MR. Honey's

[1:06:47] here ready

[1:06:47] to go

[1:06:48] . Let's

[1:06:49] go

[1:06:49] with number one

[1:06:51] Real estate purchase

[1:06:53] and sale

[1:06:53] agreement with the

[1:06:54] Squeamish

[1:06:54] Indian

[1:06:55] tribal community for the

[1:06:56] purchase of real property

[1:06:58] . As

[1:06:58] Sasketch County

[1:07:00] parcel

[1:07:01] numbers

[1:07:03] p 116854

[1:07:06] p

[1:07:07] 15448

[1:07:09] p

[1:07:09] 15501 and

[1:07:11] p

[1:07:12] 15534

[1:07:13] and

[1:07:14] p 15,490

[1:07:18] . Ok

[1:07:18] , go

[1:07:19] ahead

[1:07:20] . Good Morning,

[1:07:21] commissioners. Will Honey

[1:07:22] ,

[1:07:23] prosecuting attorney's office

[1:07:25] .

[1:07:25] Um, so

[1:07:25] this is

[1:07:27] , of course, a

[1:07:27] purchase and

[1:07:27] sale

[1:07:27] agreement

[1:07:28] between

[1:07:29] the county and the

[1:07:30] Sunomish tribe

[1:07:31] , and

[1:07:32] it involves

[1:07:32] the

[1:07:34] county selling uh

[1:07:36] Um

[1:07:36] ,

[1:07:36] Fishtown and

[1:07:37] Pleasant Ridge

[1:07:38] , uh

[1:07:39] properties, we don't

[1:07:40] own those

[1:07:41] yet. So what this is, is

[1:07:43] , um,

[1:07:43] an agreement to

[1:07:45] lay

[1:07:45] in place

[1:07:47] ,

[1:07:47] the framework for so

[1:07:48] that when

[1:07:49] we close on

[1:07:50] the

[1:07:50] Haller property

[1:07:52] we have a

[1:07:52] full

[1:07:53] agreements with

[1:07:54] money

[1:07:55] in escrow, so that

[1:07:56] we

[1:07:56] can

[1:07:57] transfer the various pieces of

[1:07:59] the property, uh, to the

[1:07:59] parties that

[1:08:01] are supposed to

[1:08:01] get them, and of course, you

[1:08:03] know

[1:08:03] , www is ending up with the

[1:08:04] habitat

[1:08:06] . Swisher ending up with

[1:08:07] the Uplands, and

[1:08:08] we are

[1:08:08] reselling. What I wanted to

[1:08:09] do

[1:08:10] is just

[1:08:10] for

[1:08:10] folks in

[1:08:12] the

[1:08:12] audience, and they might be

[1:08:13] watching

[1:08:14] this

[1:08:14] to just not take

[1:08:15] a lot of time, but a little bit

[1:08:15] of

[1:08:16] high level as

[1:08:17] to what we're

[1:08:17] doing here and why we're

[1:08:18] doing

[1:08:18] it

[1:08:19] . Um, so

[1:08:21] what we're looking

[1:08:22] at here with this overview map

[1:08:23] ,

[1:08:23] of course

[1:08:23] , is

[1:08:24] , here's LeConnor,

[1:08:24] the

[1:08:25] son

[1:08:25] age

[1:08:26] Channel, the

[1:08:26] McGlynn jetty

[1:08:28] , the North Fork

[1:08:28] of the

[1:08:28] Skagit

[1:08:30] River, which

[1:08:30] branches here and here

[1:08:32] . Um

[1:08:32] , Ika

[1:08:33] Island, Goat Island

[1:08:35] . Bald. This

[1:08:37] is uh the

[1:08:37] Fishtown area

[1:08:39] , um,

[1:08:39] you know, this is the

[1:08:40] Haller

[1:08:40] farm

[1:08:42] . It's uh been in

[1:08:42] continuous

[1:08:43] owner

[1:08:43] since

[1:08:44] ownership of the same

[1:08:46] family

[1:08:46] since prior to statehood

[1:08:48] . This

[1:08:48] red area within it

[1:08:51] . Is

[1:08:51] the

[1:08:51] number

[1:08:52] one

[1:08:53] sgadget

[1:08:53] Chinook

[1:08:55] recovery

[1:08:55] estuary projects

[1:08:57] , uh,

[1:08:57] kind of in

[1:08:57] the

[1:08:59] portfolio that

[1:09:00] identified by

[1:09:01] the

[1:09:01] Chinook

[1:09:02] recovery Plan, the

[1:09:02] 2005

[1:09:03] Chinook

[1:09:04] recovery plan that was

[1:09:04] put

[1:09:05] together by the

[1:09:06] tribe's wfw and

[1:09:06] the

[1:09:08] federal agencies

[1:09:08] . Now I

[1:09:09] think anybody who's

[1:09:10] been around

[1:09:11] the Skagit Valley for

[1:09:11] the last

[1:09:11] 2

[1:09:12] or

[1:09:13] 3

[1:09:13] decades

[1:09:15] , understands

[1:09:16] that there's been a lot of

[1:09:17] conflict

[1:09:18] over um these projects

[1:09:20] Not

[1:09:20] moving

[1:09:22] forward

[1:09:22] other than

[1:09:23] the projects on some

[1:09:24] public

[1:09:25] land that the state owns around

[1:09:25] the mouth

[1:09:26] of the South Fork

[1:09:28] . Um

[1:09:29] and that really has been

[1:09:29] the

[1:09:29] core of

[1:09:31] You know

[1:09:32] , the

[1:09:33] challenges that

[1:09:33] we've

[1:09:34] experienced with

[1:09:36] uh with tide

[1:09:36] gate permitting

[1:09:37] , with

[1:09:38] water

[1:09:38] rights and so solving

[1:09:39] that

[1:09:40] problem and it

[1:09:40] , it certainly, i

[1:09:40] think

[1:09:42] boiled over into the

[1:09:43] political realm and any

[1:09:44] other

[1:09:44] realms

[1:09:46] . And it's been a long

[1:09:47] running problem in

[1:09:49] our

[1:09:50] community. Uh, when

[1:09:51] we started

[1:09:51] ,

[1:09:52] uh, the, the Seattle

[1:09:53] City Light

[1:09:54] dam re licensing

[1:09:54] in

[1:09:55] 2020, I

[1:09:56] think that, you know, we really

[1:09:56] were able to

[1:09:58] come together with

[1:09:58] the tribes and with

[1:10:00] the

[1:10:00] resource agencies to say we

[1:10:01] need a new approach

[1:10:02] to this

[1:10:03] . Um

[1:10:03] we need

[1:10:04] to

[1:10:05] really

[1:10:06] focus on

[1:10:07] uh

[1:10:08] working together and

[1:10:09] , um, you

[1:10:09] know, making

[1:10:10] this

[1:10:11] happen

[1:10:12] because more decades of

[1:10:13] arguing

[1:10:14] about this is the wrong answer.

[1:10:14] So that's

[1:10:16] What

[1:10:16] this represents

[1:10:18] in

[1:10:18] , you know, we reached, uh, I

[1:10:19] think

[1:10:20] around that

[1:10:20] concept in

[1:10:21] 2020

[1:10:22] . Um

[1:10:25] , and made, uh, you

[1:10:25] know, some

[1:10:27] steps towards it

[1:10:29] ,

[1:10:29] but

[1:10:29] in

[1:10:30] 2024, the

[1:10:31] Haller family

[1:10:32] put out there that

[1:10:32] they

[1:10:33] were

[1:10:34] interested in selling the farm

[1:10:36] .

[1:10:36] Um

[1:10:37] , it's actually a group

[1:10:38] of

[1:10:38] families at this

[1:10:39] point that own

[1:10:40] this farm

[1:10:41] and uh but they also

[1:10:42] made clear that

[1:10:43] they really

[1:10:44] weren't interested in seeing it

[1:10:44] go

[1:10:45] to habitat

[1:10:46] . So that was

[1:10:46] a

[1:10:48] problem, at least for our plans

[1:10:49] for the

[1:10:50] broader community's

[1:10:50] plans for

[1:10:52] the

[1:10:52] fisheries

[1:10:53] resource for the recovery plan,

[1:10:53] all

[1:10:54] of this

[1:10:55] , tribal

[1:10:56] interests,

[1:10:57] um, and what we were able to do

[1:10:57] as

[1:10:59] county government is bring

[1:10:59] the

[1:10:59] parties

[1:11:01] together and say,

[1:11:01] you know, the county can

[1:11:02] come

[1:11:03] in

[1:11:04] . We have eminent

[1:11:05] domain

[1:11:06] authority, and we'll make you a

[1:11:08] friendly offer, and what that

[1:11:08] will do

[1:11:11] . Provides

[1:11:12] significant

[1:11:13] federal tax advantages and the

[1:11:14] capital

[1:11:14] gains

[1:11:15] scenario, um

[1:11:17] , And

[1:11:17] real estate excise tax

[1:11:18] , so

[1:11:19] we're able

[1:11:21] to

[1:11:21] persuade thusly,

[1:11:22] we're able to persuade

[1:11:23] the

[1:11:24] Haller Farm family

[1:11:24] to sell

[1:11:25] this

[1:11:25] farm

[1:11:27] . And

[1:11:28] uh including a plan

[1:11:28] that would

[1:11:30] involve this red

[1:11:31] area being turned into

[1:11:32] fish

[1:11:32] habitat and a dike

[1:11:33] estuary dike

[1:11:35] setback project. Again

[1:11:35] , number

[1:11:35] one

[1:11:37] project here, top of the

[1:11:37] list in terms of moving

[1:11:39] the

[1:11:39] arch sticks

[1:11:40] towards recovery

[1:11:42] and solving these problems with

[1:11:42] tide gates and other things

[1:11:44] . Um

[1:11:44] the rest

[1:11:45] of the

[1:11:46] farm though, uh

[1:11:47] what's to be done about

[1:11:48] that

[1:11:48] ?

[1:11:49] And so this was the

[1:11:50] plan we

[1:11:51] came up with. This is my rough

[1:11:53] hand-drawn map. They're,

[1:11:54] believe me, there are better

[1:11:54] maps and we have surveyors

[1:11:55] involved, so nobody get

[1:11:56] concerned here

[1:11:57] , but, um

[1:11:57] , You

[1:11:58] know

[1:11:59] , and this was, this

[1:11:59] was

[1:12:00] the rough

[1:12:00] plan that

[1:12:01] the

[1:12:02] habitat

[1:12:02] portion here goes to

[1:12:04] the

[1:12:04] state

[1:12:04] that

[1:12:06] Swinomish end up with

[1:12:07] Fishtown. Fishtown, of course,

[1:12:07] is

[1:12:08] the

[1:12:09] storied artist colony at

[1:12:09] the mouth of the

[1:12:10] North Fork

[1:12:11] .

[1:12:11] It's a

[1:12:11] very

[1:12:13] significant

[1:12:14] cultural site for Swinomish

[1:12:15] .

[1:12:15] There's a historic village

[1:12:16] there that there was

[1:12:17] an

[1:12:18] archaeological investigation

[1:12:20] in

[1:12:20] the 80s

[1:12:20] , very important to

[1:12:22] the

[1:12:22] tribe, and

[1:12:24] , uh, Swinish up here

[1:12:25] is to get this other

[1:12:26] piece

[1:12:26] of

[1:12:27] uplands, uh, pleasant

[1:12:29] , Ridge

[1:12:30] ,

[1:12:31] um, guillo pickles, which is

[1:12:31] operating at the

[1:12:33] pickle plant.

[1:12:33] They

[1:12:34] , uh, have purchased

[1:12:35] this

[1:12:36] portion of the property

[1:12:36] . This

[1:12:36] doesn't

[1:12:38] entirely track how it

[1:12:38] ended up, but But you get

[1:12:39] the

[1:12:40] idea. And so the idea

[1:12:42] here is

[1:12:42] ,

[1:12:43] uh, you know, the

[1:12:44] county

[1:12:44] closes

[1:12:45] on this acquisition

[1:12:46] , and we

[1:12:47] immediately

[1:12:47] turn

[1:12:49] around and

[1:12:50] transfer the habitat land

[1:12:51] to

[1:12:52] wfw

[1:12:53] , uh, Seattle City

[1:12:54] Light

[1:12:54] has

[1:12:54] stepped

[1:12:55] up

[1:12:56] and said that

[1:12:56] they're willing to fund that

[1:12:57] from

[1:12:58] Uh

[1:12:58] , the ferc

[1:13:00] settlement

[1:13:00] agreement, so it's a win there

[1:13:01] and we're, you know, that was

[1:13:01] one

[1:13:03] of our big concerns and

[1:13:03] that

[1:13:04] ferc

[1:13:05] settlement process is

[1:13:05] making sure

[1:13:07] that this money

[1:13:07] isn't just sort of fire hosed

[1:13:08] on our

[1:13:09] land base to buy

[1:13:09] random

[1:13:10] land without moving

[1:13:11] the

[1:13:12] yardsticks on what matters here

[1:13:12] So

[1:13:13] that's a

[1:13:14] great thing. Um

[1:13:15] ,

[1:13:16] we've also

[1:13:17] , uh, Swinomish

[1:13:19] , uh,

[1:13:19] after we closed, they, and

[1:13:21] that's what this purchase and

[1:13:21] sale agreement is

[1:13:22] about

[1:13:23] is

[1:13:23] Swinomish gets Fishtown and

[1:13:26] Pleasant Ridge. Um, in the

[1:13:27] purchase and sale agreement in

[1:13:28] paragraph, have three, you'll

[1:13:29] see one of the things we

[1:13:30] negotiated is

[1:13:32] upon execution

[1:13:32] ,

[1:13:33] Swinomishev agreed

[1:13:34] to put their

[1:13:34] money

[1:13:35] in escrow

[1:13:36] with land

[1:13:36] titles so

[1:13:37] that everybody's

[1:13:37] clear that

[1:13:38] we're all in and

[1:13:39] we're partners on

[1:13:40] this together

[1:13:41] Uh, and that was

[1:13:43] , uh, really

[1:13:43] grateful that they agreed to

[1:13:44] that because I think

[1:13:45] that's

[1:13:45] really helpful in terms of

[1:13:47] How

[1:13:48] the rest of us are looking

[1:13:48] at

[1:13:48] it

[1:13:50] , uh, and

[1:13:51] , um, and then

[1:13:52] with

[1:13:52] respect to the

[1:13:54] , the

[1:13:54] farmland

[1:13:55] piece here, and that's, by the

[1:13:56] way, all of

[1:13:57] the improvements,

[1:13:57] so the

[1:13:59] , the farmhouse, the farm

[1:14:01] uh, you know, the barn, all of

[1:14:02] that, there's

[1:14:03] 3 houses

[1:14:03] on the

[1:14:04] property. They're

[1:14:05] all part of

[1:14:06] this

[1:14:06] core farmland

[1:14:08] , which will

[1:14:10] remain ag nrl

[1:14:10] . The

[1:14:12] intention is

[1:14:13] we're peeling off the

[1:14:13] Swinhamish

[1:14:14] piece

[1:14:15] pieces in

[1:14:15] the

[1:14:15] wfw pieces were being

[1:14:17] Paid

[1:14:17] by

[1:14:17] them immediately

[1:14:19] for those, and

[1:14:20] the idea is

[1:14:21] that

[1:14:21] Skagit County

[1:14:22] will put a

[1:14:23] farmland

[1:14:24] legacy

[1:14:24] easement on the

[1:14:25] farmland

[1:14:26] property and

[1:14:26] immediately

[1:14:28] resell

[1:14:28] as farmland

[1:14:28] . So

[1:14:29] , you know, it's

[1:14:30] a

[1:14:31] real win-win for the

[1:14:31] community

[1:14:33] , you know, it, it

[1:14:33] meets

[1:14:35] Swinnerish needs in terms

[1:14:35] of cultural lands. It

[1:14:37] keeps

[1:14:38] gillo pickles in operation,

[1:14:38] which is

[1:14:39] a, you know

[1:14:39] , pretty

[1:14:40] significant, um

[1:14:42] , Economic

[1:14:42] activity, they're also up

[1:14:43] at

[1:14:44] the port. They're a

[1:14:44] national

[1:14:46] concern

[1:14:46] . It secures the

[1:14:48] property needed for this number

[1:14:49] one estuary project

[1:14:50] and

[1:14:50] the

[1:14:51] recovery plan

[1:14:51] . And

[1:14:52] it protects

[1:14:53] this farmland for the long term

[1:14:56] The farmland legacy easement

[1:14:57] ,

[1:14:58] uh, we've negotiated with

[1:14:59] the

[1:14:59] tribes and

[1:15:00] agencies

[1:15:00] and

[1:15:02] agreed

[1:15:02] to

[1:15:02] include

[1:15:04] a

[1:15:04] climate

[1:15:05] contingency provision in the

[1:15:06] farmland legacy easement

[1:15:07] . So

[1:15:07] that

[1:15:08] if it

[1:15:09] ever does, the sea

[1:15:10] ever comes up and it

[1:15:10] can't be

[1:15:11] used for even raising

[1:15:13] oats, it

[1:15:13] can at that point be used for

[1:15:14] habitat

[1:15:15] , but that's as far as

[1:15:16] we're concerned, a ways down

[1:15:18] the road

[1:15:20] , this little 8 acres

[1:15:20] up here goes with

[1:15:22] the

[1:15:22] farmland

[1:15:22] as well, and

[1:15:23] there's buyers

[1:15:25] have expressed interest in it.

[1:15:25] I think

[1:15:26] what

[1:15:27] we will have into

[1:15:27] this at the end

[1:15:28] of it

[1:15:29] as

[1:15:29] well

[1:15:29] within

[1:15:30] the bandwidth

[1:15:31] , the

[1:15:31] fair

[1:15:31] market value

[1:15:33] , particularly

[1:15:34] considering all the structures

[1:15:34] and

[1:15:35] infrastructure houses and

[1:15:36] so forth on the farmland

[1:15:37] .

[1:15:38] Portion. So it's really good

[1:15:39] farmland too. It's some

[1:15:41] of the

[1:15:41] best in the

[1:15:42] valley, you know

[1:15:42] ,

[1:15:43] close to the

[1:15:44] fine

[1:15:44] materials are

[1:15:45] towards the edge of the delta

[1:15:46] ,

[1:15:47] you know, it's it's it's

[1:15:47] good

[1:15:48] stuff

[1:15:49] , um, so

[1:15:50] the breakdown

[1:15:51] is

[1:15:52] 236 acres in

[1:15:54] the farmland

[1:15:54] , 126

[1:15:54] for

[1:15:56] the habitat

[1:15:58] , uh, 64

[1:15:58] for

[1:15:59] Pleasant Ridge to Swinomish

[1:16:00] in

[1:16:01] 101 in

[1:16:01] fish acres

[1:16:02] to swim

[1:16:02] in

[1:16:03] Fishtown

[1:16:05] . Um

[1:16:07] , totaling

[1:16:07] 524

[1:16:07] acres

[1:16:09] , um, this is the final

[1:16:11] survey map

[1:16:12] , uh, record or

[1:16:12] survey

[1:16:14] that

[1:16:14] Samra Engineering

[1:16:15] has prepared that we've all

[1:16:16] agreed to at this point

[1:16:18] . And it

[1:16:19] you know

[1:16:20] , includes all the

[1:16:21] necessary easements for the

[1:16:23] drainage districts to be able

[1:16:23] to maintain

[1:16:25] their

[1:16:25] infrastructure, access season,

[1:16:26] for fish

[1:16:27] and

[1:16:28] wildlife, so forth

[1:16:28] There was a

[1:16:29] lot of work

[1:16:30] that

[1:16:30] went into this

[1:16:32] . So

[1:16:34] , um, getting

[1:16:35] on and trying not to take up

[1:16:36] the whole time today. Uh

[1:16:37] , I

[1:16:37] know there's some other things

[1:16:37] we

[1:16:39] got to get to. The basic

[1:16:39] , so

[1:16:39] the

[1:16:41] basic intent here

[1:16:41] , this

[1:16:41] agreement is

[1:16:44] a sub-agreement to

[1:16:44] this larger transaction that

[1:16:45] we're

[1:16:45] putting together

[1:16:46] . This

[1:16:48] agreement governs

[1:16:48] the

[1:16:50] county's

[1:16:50] 2

[1:16:50] step sale

[1:16:52] of Fishtown and

[1:16:53] Pleasant Ridge

[1:16:53] to

[1:16:54] Swinomish

[1:16:54] , um

[1:16:55] and you know this is, this is

[1:16:56] a

[1:16:56] big deal

[1:16:57] . We've we've been, you

[1:16:57] know

[1:16:59] , I think, as you know,

[1:17:00] we've been working on this for

[1:17:01] 2 years

[1:17:01] . Uh

[1:17:02] , and

[1:17:04] Um, you know

[1:17:05] ,

[1:17:05] it's

[1:17:06] come together

[1:17:07] , 01 other

[1:17:08] thing I wanted to mention is I

[1:17:09] think Upper Skagits

[1:17:10] also

[1:17:10] expressed interest

[1:17:13] in

[1:17:13] contributing

[1:17:14] some capital to

[1:17:15] this along with the county to

[1:17:16] help us out. We've got

[1:17:16] to work

[1:17:17] out the details of that

[1:17:19] , so we

[1:17:19] really want to bring this

[1:17:20] together into a, you know

[1:17:21] , team

[1:17:22] scadget effort, and it looks

[1:17:22] headed

[1:17:24] . Um

[1:17:26] , So the

[1:17:26] idea

[1:17:28] here is

[1:17:28] what we're doing is

[1:17:29] we're

[1:17:29] accepting

[1:17:30] an offer

[1:17:30] from

[1:17:31] Swinomish

[1:17:32] . Um

[1:17:33] , and we have till

[1:17:33] today to do it, so it's good

[1:17:35] we're here on AUGUST 31st. Um

[1:17:37] ,

[1:17:38] And then

[1:17:39] the

[1:17:39] idea is over

[1:17:40] the

[1:17:42] course, we

[1:17:43] will

[1:17:44] also exercise

[1:17:44] the option here. Um, we've

[1:17:46] got

[1:17:47] some details to work out with

[1:17:47] the

[1:17:48] Heller family

[1:17:49] , uh, in terms

[1:17:49] of

[1:17:50] a

[1:17:51] few

[1:17:51] trailing

[1:17:53] issues

[1:17:53] , uh,

[1:17:54] price adjustment based

[1:17:55] on their

[1:17:55] sale of the

[1:17:56] Gilo property, for

[1:17:58] one thing

[1:17:59] , um, and they

[1:18:00] acceptance of

[1:18:00] their

[1:18:02] survey map

[1:18:02] and the partition of the

[1:18:03] property into the parcels

[1:18:04] we

[1:18:04] need

[1:18:05] . Uh

[1:18:06] , so the plan is over

[1:18:07] the next two months

[1:18:08] to

[1:18:08] move

[1:18:09] towards closing

[1:18:09] and

[1:18:10] to

[1:18:11] close by

[1:18:11] the end of OCTOBER

[1:18:13] . We'll see

[1:18:14] if we

[1:18:15] get

[1:18:16] there that good shot

[1:18:16] that we will

[1:18:18] . It might drag out

[1:18:18] a little bit longer than that

[1:18:19] ,

[1:18:20] but hopefully not

[1:18:22] . Um

[1:18:22] , this

[1:18:23] agreement that

[1:18:24] you're

[1:18:24] signing

[1:18:25] today is a

[1:18:27] contingent agreement

[1:18:27] You know, you've heard of

[1:18:28] contingent sales when

[1:18:28] somebody's

[1:18:29] off by your house,

[1:18:29] if I can sell my house

[1:18:31] over

[1:18:32] here, it's contingent in that

[1:18:33] same way, which is

[1:18:34] that there's

[1:18:34] no

[1:18:36] obligations here unless we

[1:18:36] close with Haller

[1:18:37] . Like

[1:18:38] we

[1:18:38] can,

[1:18:39] if we don't have any property

[1:18:39] to

[1:18:40] sell

[1:18:40] them, we can't sell

[1:18:41] them the property and

[1:18:42] that's

[1:18:43] reflected in the agreement. Uh

[1:18:44] ,

[1:18:45] one of the issues that you are

[1:18:45] aware of that we

[1:18:47] were working

[1:18:47] through at some length

[1:18:49] . Over

[1:18:49] the past

[1:18:51] couple of

[1:18:52] weeks anyway

[1:18:52] was

[1:18:53] , um

[1:18:56] , And by the way, that's

[1:18:56] a

[1:18:58] paragraph 15 that makes it

[1:18:59] contingent that I just

[1:18:59] mentioned

[1:19:00] , but um

[1:19:01] , It

[1:19:02] was

[1:19:03] a

[1:19:03] the

[1:19:03] question of

[1:19:05] dispute resolution

[1:19:06] under these agreements

[1:19:07] , and

[1:19:08] it's, you know, it's just one

[1:19:08] of, there's

[1:19:09] , there's many

[1:19:10] things that we needed to work

[1:19:10] out

[1:19:11] , many

[1:19:12] subquestions, I guess

[1:19:13] you might say, and this

[1:19:14] . And

[1:19:14] ,

[1:19:15] uh, you know, the

[1:19:16] tribe likes

[1:19:16] to

[1:19:17] have

[1:19:18] disputes with land

[1:19:19] they

[1:19:19] own resolved in tribal

[1:19:20] court

[1:19:21] under tribal law

[1:19:23] . And of course

[1:19:23] we like to have

[1:19:25] them

[1:19:25] resolved

[1:19:26] under Washington law

[1:19:27] in

[1:19:27] Washington courts

[1:19:28] . Um

[1:19:29] , and so

[1:19:30] we were able to bridge that

[1:19:31] by

[1:19:32] agreeing that if there are

[1:19:34] any

[1:19:34] disputes that we will

[1:19:37] uh

[1:19:37] resolve them We don't plan on

[1:19:38] there

[1:19:39] being any disputes, by

[1:19:39] the way, just to be clear

[1:19:41] , but

[1:19:41] 11 always needs to

[1:19:43] , um, plan

[1:19:44] for contingencies, and that's

[1:19:44] why we

[1:19:45] have agreements

[1:19:46] , um, but

[1:19:46] uh

[1:19:48] . Under federal law

[1:19:50] , under

[1:19:50] the

[1:19:50] Federal arbitration

[1:19:52] Act

[1:19:52] with

[1:19:53] any

[1:19:53] disputes

[1:19:54] enforceable

[1:19:55] in federal district

[1:19:55] court. Of

[1:19:55] course

[1:19:56] , the

[1:19:57] tribe is subject to

[1:19:59] federal law, and so we were

[1:20:00] able to bridge

[1:20:01] that gap uh with

[1:20:01] that approach

[1:20:02] . Um

[1:20:04] , Are there

[1:20:04] any

[1:20:06] questions at this point

[1:20:06] ? Mr

[1:20:06] Burns

[1:20:08] , any questions? Just for

[1:20:11] public clarification, you were

[1:20:13] talking about the, the way that

[1:20:13] the property would be

[1:20:14] sectioned

[1:20:15] off and

[1:20:15] uh sent

[1:20:17] to different

[1:20:18] organizations, tribe

[1:20:19] , um, when

[1:20:20] we get to the

[1:20:21] sale

[1:20:22] of

[1:20:22] the

[1:20:22] farmland that

[1:20:24] is left, that

[1:20:24] we're going to put a legacy

[1:20:25] easement on and

[1:20:26] then we're

[1:20:26] going to put it up for sale.

[1:20:27] That's right. You want to

[1:20:28] just

[1:20:28] talk about the

[1:20:29] rough timeline

[1:20:29] that you expect

[1:20:30] for

[1:20:31] that? Yeah,

[1:20:31] I mean, as

[1:20:33] quickly as possible,

[1:20:33] uh, you know, there'll be,

[1:20:33] we'll

[1:20:35] , we'll

[1:20:35] need to put a

[1:20:36] farmland legacy

[1:20:37] . On

[1:20:37] it and then

[1:20:38] surplus the property. It has

[1:20:39] to

[1:20:39] be sold

[1:20:40] . Um

[1:20:42] , at

[1:20:42] auction

[1:20:42] effectively

[1:20:44] . It's

[1:20:44] by

[1:20:44] law

[1:20:45] required to sell

[1:20:46] to the highest

[1:20:46] bidder

[1:20:47] . Um

[1:20:49] , You know

[1:20:49] , I think

[1:20:51] ,

[1:20:52] uh, uh, you know, we, we, we

[1:20:52] ,

[1:20:53] we can have

[1:20:53] a discussion as to

[1:20:54] where we want to

[1:20:55] put that

[1:20:55] price

[1:20:56] point

[1:20:57] . Obviously we're looking

[1:20:58] to recapture the money we have

[1:21:00] into this, uh, and, and

[1:21:00] that's

[1:21:01] the point

[1:21:02] . I

[1:21:02] think that the

[1:21:02] public needs

[1:21:04] to

[1:21:04] understand is

[1:21:05] there's a lot of paperwork

[1:21:05] going on

[1:21:07] , a lot

[1:21:07] of

[1:21:07] agreements,

[1:21:08] a lot

[1:21:09] of complexities, but

[1:21:09] the

[1:21:09] basic

[1:21:11] thing

[1:21:11] here is the

[1:21:12] county's role

[1:21:13] in this, is to,

[1:21:14] to, to fill a real need

[1:21:15] and

[1:21:16] facilitate

[1:21:16] . Uh

[1:21:18] , the ability to

[1:21:18] move these

[1:21:19] big projects

[1:21:20] forward

[1:21:20] on the delta

[1:21:20] that

[1:21:22] involve

[1:21:22] tribal interests agency

[1:21:23] interests

[1:21:25] , farming interests,

[1:21:25] dike and

[1:21:25] drainage

[1:21:26] district

[1:21:27] interests. It

[1:21:28] really, you know

[1:21:29] ,

[1:21:29] it

[1:21:29] really is, it's tough to see

[1:21:30] it

[1:21:31] working without

[1:21:31] county

[1:21:32] leadership and exercise of

[1:21:33] our

[1:21:34] regulatory and

[1:21:34] other

[1:21:35] authorities

[1:21:36] to help bring this

[1:21:36] together, but at the end of

[1:21:38] the

[1:21:38] day, the goal here is that

[1:21:39] we're no money out

[1:21:40] of

[1:21:40] the

[1:21:41] pocket for the people. In fact

[1:21:43] ,

[1:21:43] it's possible, you know, we'll

[1:21:45] even make a little on this. I

[1:21:45] don't know. That's not really

[1:21:46] the goal, but

[1:21:47] But we will sell

[1:21:48] it to the

[1:21:49] highest bidder

[1:21:49] , so

[1:21:50] great, you covered the points I

[1:21:52] I wanted you to, so I

[1:21:52] appreciate that. And

[1:21:53] I also

[1:21:54] appreciate all the work you put

[1:21:55] in on this. I know we've

[1:21:56] all

[1:21:56] had a lot of calls and

[1:21:57] , uh,

[1:21:57] meetings

[1:21:58] and trying to work

[1:21:59] through this and the, the

[1:21:59] differences

[1:22:00] along

[1:22:01] the way. I

[1:22:01] went out and toured

[1:22:02] the

[1:22:03] property

[1:22:04] , um, at one point

[1:22:05] , so

[1:22:05] ,

[1:22:06] um, thank you for all the work

[1:22:06] that you

[1:22:07] put into it. I

[1:22:07] do

[1:22:08] appreciate it and I'm glad

[1:22:09] that

[1:22:10] we are reaching a point where

[1:22:10] we can

[1:22:12] move forward. That's all

[1:22:12] I have

[1:22:13] . Commissioner Browning

[1:22:14] ,

[1:22:14] any questions

[1:22:15] ? Well

[1:22:16] , I do

[1:22:17] appreciate

[1:22:18] your

[1:22:19] near legendary

[1:22:19] tenacity on this. This has

[1:22:20] not

[1:22:21] been something that's happened

[1:22:21] quickly, and

[1:22:23] you had to keep

[1:22:23] your foot on it all the

[1:22:25] time,

[1:22:25] and thank you for that, and

[1:22:26] I

[1:22:26] do

[1:22:27] trust that with a little

[1:22:28] help perhaps from the Upper

[1:22:29] Sketcheon and others

[1:22:29] , we will

[1:22:30] at least come out of this hole

[1:22:32] and I'm sure that will happen

[1:22:34] ,

[1:22:34] so perfect job

[1:22:36] . We've got a

[1:22:37] real, a

[1:22:37] real responsive

[1:22:39] , uh,

[1:22:39] estuary project

[1:22:41] , one that we

[1:22:42] have not had for a while. This

[1:22:42] is good

[1:22:43] . Well, there's a

[1:22:43] and

[1:22:44] there still. I don't want to

[1:22:45] .

[1:22:46] You know

[1:22:46] , oversell where we are

[1:22:47] but I

[1:22:48] do think that coming

[1:22:48] together with

[1:22:48] Swinomish, I

[1:22:50] think our community should

[1:22:51] appreciate what a big

[1:22:52] deal that

[1:22:53] is. No, I'm very grateful

[1:22:53] They've been very

[1:22:54] , very good in

[1:22:55] this whole process. It's

[1:22:55] fantastic

[1:22:56] for them

[1:22:57] . So

[1:22:57] . Good

[1:23:00] .

[1:23:00] Yeah, I

[1:23:01] also like to thank you,

[1:23:01] Will, for all the work on this.

[1:23:02] Uh, I remember

[1:23:03] a phone call I

[1:23:03] got

[1:23:06] . Almost 2.5, 3

[1:23:06] years

[1:23:06] ago

[1:23:07] when

[1:23:08] he said this property was

[1:23:09] listed, so the broker had

[1:23:09] listed

[1:23:10] the

[1:23:11] whole property

[1:23:11] and

[1:23:11] so that's when

[1:23:12] we started

[1:23:13] thinking about what are the

[1:23:13] options

[1:23:15] available and you did a

[1:23:15] lot of work and we really

[1:23:17] appreciate the Sumish tribe

[1:23:18] coming together on this

[1:23:19] , and I

[1:23:19] know

[1:23:20] Gil

[1:23:21] Pickles taking some of

[1:23:22] the property too and in the

[1:23:24] upper Skagit helping also

[1:23:24] and

[1:23:24] so

[1:23:26] , um, it's a big

[1:23:26] deal and

[1:23:27] part of it is I want to

[1:23:28] make

[1:23:29] sure that we can still

[1:23:30] maintain

[1:23:31] our ditches in the county and

[1:23:33] our drainage and our

[1:23:33] tide gates

[1:23:34] and so forth

[1:23:35] . Been one of

[1:23:35] the

[1:23:36] issues because the

[1:23:37] salmon

[1:23:38] recovery

[1:23:40] . We

[1:23:41] have

[1:23:42] had

[1:23:42] some

[1:23:43] issues trying to

[1:23:45] get permits to

[1:23:45] get those tide gates and so

[1:23:47] forth fits for agriculture, and

[1:23:47] that's very

[1:23:48] , very

[1:23:49] important for

[1:23:49] um, agriculture

[1:23:51] in Sasketie

[1:23:51] County. So thank you for all

[1:23:52] the work on this

[1:23:53] . Appreciate it

[1:23:56] Anything else

[1:23:58] ? To have a motion

[1:23:58] on

[1:24:00] the miscellaneous

[1:24:00] item to

[1:24:00] item one

[1:24:02] . I'm

[1:24:02] very happy to

[1:24:03] make a motion

[1:24:04] to approve item 1

[1:24:05] the miscellaneous agenda

[1:24:07] . I'll

[1:24:07] second. Let's move

[1:24:09] to 2nd to

[1:24:09] approve miscellaneous agenda

[1:24:11] item number one. Any more

[1:24:12] discussion

[1:24:14] ? All those in favor

[1:24:14] say

[1:24:15] aye

[1:24:16] , aye, who's

[1:24:16] opposed?

[1:24:16] Motion

[1:24:18] passes. Thank you.

[1:24:18] Commissioners

[1:24:22] . Well, thank you.

[1:24:23] Thank you. And we'll get this

[1:24:25] signed so we get it over to the

[1:24:27] Swimmer's tribe today

[1:24:29] . The

[1:24:29] next

[1:24:30] item #2

[1:24:31] , public health

[1:24:33] . Um

[1:24:33] ,

[1:24:34] personal service agreement with

[1:24:35] Chinook Enterprise

[1:24:36] to

[1:24:36] provide

[1:24:37] individual

[1:24:38] support

[1:24:38] , employment

[1:24:39] group support, employment

[1:24:40] and

[1:24:41] community inclusion services

[1:24:42] to

[1:24:43] eligible

[1:24:43] individuals with

[1:24:45] developmental disabilities,

[1:24:46] compensation is based upon a

[1:24:47] fee schedule and shall

[1:24:47] not

[1:24:48] exceed

[1:24:49] 1.5

[1:24:49] million

[1:24:50] . The

[1:24:50] agreement

[1:24:52] is ratified to

[1:24:52] commence on JULY 1

[1:24:54] , 2026

[1:24:54] and

[1:24:55] continue until

[1:24:56] JUNE 30

[1:24:57] , 2027

[1:24:58] .

[1:24:58] Um

[1:24:59] , commissioner Browning is on

[1:25:01] the Chinook

[1:25:01] Enterprise board,

[1:25:01] so he will be

[1:25:03] . Recusing on this

[1:25:03] one

[1:25:05] . Any

[1:25:06] questions or thoughts

[1:25:07] ?

[1:25:08] I was actually just going to

[1:25:08] give you a motion. Ok

[1:25:09] , I'd like

[1:25:10] to move to

[1:25:10] approve

[1:25:11] miscellaneous agenda

[1:25:12] item

[1:25:12] number 2, and I will

[1:25:14] second

[1:25:15] that. It is we moved to 2nd to

[1:25:17] approve Miscellane's agenda

[1:25:19] with the

[1:25:19] Chinook Enterprises

[1:25:20] .

[1:25:21] Any

[1:25:21] more

[1:25:22] discussion? All those

[1:25:23] in favor say aye

[1:25:24] . Aye. All

[1:25:24] those opposed

[1:25:26] ? Motion passes

[1:25:30] .

[1:25:30] Um

[1:25:30] , item number 3

[1:25:32] . Resolution

[1:25:33] to call for

[1:25:35] a public hearing

[1:25:35] to

[1:25:35] consider

[1:25:37] testimony regarding,

[1:25:38] excuse me

[1:25:39] . The

[1:25:39] 2026

[1:25:39] , 2031

[1:25:41] , 6

[1:25:42] year transportation improvement

[1:25:43] program

[1:25:44] , revision 2

[1:25:45] , public

[1:25:46] hearing is scheduled to take

[1:25:47] place Tuesday

[1:25:48] , SEPTEMBER 15th

[1:25:48] ,

[1:25:48] 20206

[1:25:50] at 1:45

[1:25:51] or

[1:25:52] soon

[1:25:52] thereafter

[1:25:52] as

[1:25:53] possible the

[1:25:53] county

[1:25:54] commissioner's

[1:25:55] hearing

[1:25:55] room located

[1:25:58] 1800 Continental

[1:25:58] Place. Tenants will be

[1:25:59] in

[1:25:59] person or by phone

[1:26:01] . Any

[1:26:01] discussion on that

[1:26:03] ? I'd like to

[1:26:04] make a motion

[1:26:04] to

[1:26:04] approve

[1:26:06] miscellaneous item number 3.

[1:26:06] I'll

[1:26:08] second that. Let's move

[1:26:09] the second

[1:26:09] to approve

[1:26:10] the

[1:26:11] resolution to have a

[1:26:11] public

[1:26:11] hearing

[1:26:13] dealing with the

[1:26:13] six-year transportation

[1:26:14] improvement program

[1:26:15] . Any

[1:26:17] more

[1:26:18] discretion? All those in favor

[1:26:18] say

[1:26:19] aye

[1:26:20] . Aye. All those closed.

[1:26:20] Motion passes

[1:26:22] . Thank you

[1:26:24] .

[1:26:24] Anything else come before us at

[1:26:25] this

[1:26:26] time

[1:26:26] ? So

[1:26:27] with

[1:26:28] that we

[1:26:29] are

[1:26:29] adjourned and

[1:26:30] I believe

[1:26:31] we have

[1:26:31] nothing

Record of the Proceedings - Monday Session - Aug 31st, 2026

Agenda

Transcript