[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
[1:11] 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
[20:27] 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] 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
[1:22:16] , 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