March 11th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Contributed by Helen Venada,
Waste Reduction and Hazardous Waste Coordinator,
San Juan County Solid Waste Division
Learn to recycle naturally at a free workshop this Saturday.
The workshop is from 1:15 to 3:45 p.m. at the Orcas Senior Center in Eastsound. It is sponsored by the San Juan County Solid Waste Division, WSU Extension Master Gardeners, WSU Ag Program, and San Juan Islands Conservation District with funding from the WA Department of Ecology.
Participants can learn how to compost food and yard waste to build healthy, productive soil with improved water-holding capacity.
Plus, they will learn how to manage brush piles as wildlife habitat, and can purchase composters at reduced cost.
Reasons for composting:
- Composting is nature’s recycling system……easy and convenient once you learn the science and art of it!
- You can save money on your trash disposal bill.
- You won’t have to bag up your yard waste to take to the solid waste facility.
- Composting saves landfill space and reduces methane (a corrosive greenhouse gas).
- Composting turns your yard and kitchen waste into a free soil amendment for your plants.
- Burning leaves and brush produces air pollution…so why not add them to your compost instead?
Participants are asked to bring their own refreshments. This will be a “Zero Waste” event, so choose reusable or recyclable materials, or take back unrecyclable trash. Appropriate food scraps will be collected to feed the worms.
Contact 370-0503 for more information.
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March 11th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
By Rivkah Sweedler
The story of Colton Harris-Moore is a cautionary tale of what happens when a society does not provide in a positive way for its children, as when a society spends more on prisons than on schools, more on war than on health care.
We as a society have an increasing number of children with ADHD, depression and other imbalances. Medicating, punishing and imprisoning are not useful ways to help afflicted persons regain their stability and centeredness so they can be positive members of society.
When I was in Cuba in 2000, I did a story telling in a neighborhood school. I observed among the children a strong sense of cooperation and looking out for one another. Among U.S. schools I had been observing competitiveness and bullying. When asked, the Cubans explained that their philosophy as a Nation was that one should look out for and be kind to the more troublesome or difficult children. This way they would not grow up to be a problem or threat to the community, but rather a part of it. I would call this “Properganda”!
This cautionary tale is a wake-up to re-evaluate our approach to achieving a civil society that is truly civil.
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March 11th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
After much deliberation the San Juan County Council Tuesday authorized County staff to begin three steps toward raising money to keep the County’s solid waste utility afloat:
1) Prepare to sell bonds to pay down a portion of the utility’s rising debt and fund state-required capital improvements to its transfer stations.
2) Move forward with plans to transfer the Utility’s interest in a tract of land on Beaverton Valley Road and a closed land fill on Lopez to the County’s Equipment Rental and Revolving fund, to produce some cash and reduce the Utility’s responsibility for debt.
3) Proceed with an ordinance establishing a $15 minimum charge for dropping off garbage at any of the County’s transfer stations.
Additionally, the Council said that it would declare the utility’s need to proceed with capital improvements to meet Department of Ecology requirements to be an emergency. That could speed up the bidding and acquisition process for work at the San Juan County Transfer station.
The solid waste utility has seen its income plummet with the economic downturn. Faced with increased costs for planning a replacement transfer facility on San Juan Island and moving forward on projects to meet regulatory requirements, it has built up a $700,000 debt and is staring a cash flow crisis in the maw.
Tuesday County Public Works Director Jon Shannon presented the Council with four options for keeping the solid waste system operating, three of them involved maintaining the current level of service; the fourth would close transfer stations on two of the three islands. (Shannon’s outline of the options is available online at: http://www.sanjuanco.com/Docs/CAgendadocs/03-09-2010/County_Admin_SolidWasteMarch030910.pdf)
By a head nod, the Council indicated that reducing service by consolidating the transfer stations would be a last resort. Instead Council members indicated a preference for presenting an as-yet undefined revenue proposal to the voters in the fall election and, in the meantime, implementing the strategy of the property exchanges, borrowing and temporary fee increases to keep the utility functioning until the will of the voters is known.
Until last week, it appeared that the Council might assess a flat utility fee against land parcels in the County; however prosecutor Randall Gaylord issued a memo advising against that, saying recent case law could make such an approach vulnerable to legal challenge. Today he added that while an operating levy could be voted in by the electorate, it would have to be reauthorized by voters each year, making it essentially impractical.
Tuesday’s Council decisions were only preliminary. New fees, including any minimum drop off fee, must be adopted by ordinance after a public hearing. Council Members also indicated that they will seek public input and conduct additional discussion and deliberations before advancing a tax proposal to put on the primary or general election ballot.
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March 10th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
This year’s Count of Homeless Persons (PIT) in San Juan County recognized 79 persons as homeless.
Among the homeless, 29 were classified as unsheltered - living in tents, cars, boats (not equipped with facilities for living aboard) or staying in motels (with money from churches, etc.); and 50 people, including many children, were staying in temporary, unstable living arrangements either with friends or family members – a situation commonly referred to as “couch surfing”.
The state-required Count was conducted by the County Health & Community Services on Thursday, January 28th.
Count organizers had anticipated an increase in the number of homeless people in the county due to the worldwide economic crisis and significant local business closures, but the count remained close to last year’s numbers.
Last year’s count found 23 people unsheltered and 50 “couch surfing” a significant increase over the 2008 Count which reported only 9 unsheltered and 17 “couch surfing”. Similarly, in 2007 11 were reported unsheltered and 17 “couch surfing”.
Citing an extensive effort in 2006 which identified 50 homeless people, organizers, say the increased numbers reported since 2009 could be a result of the amount of effort that has been put into the count since 2009, rather than an actual increase in the overall number of homeless people.
Organizers admit these numbers are an estimate at best, it is impossible to truly know the exact number of homeless people and those staying with friends or family in unstable situations. However, based on this year’s results and information from churches, food banks and other organizations that help the homeless, organizers see no sign that the problem is decreasing.
San Juan County PIT Count organizers and volunteers worked with local schools, food banks, churches, healthcare providers, support service counselors, youth groups, Senior Centers, Family Resource Centers, Sheriff’s department, Fire and EMS departments and many other community organizations to perform this year’s count.
The PIT was established by the Washington legislature in 2005 in the Homelessness Housing and Assistance Act (RCW 43.185c). The goal of the Act was to reduce homelessness in our state by 50% by 2015.
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March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
The 2010 Census is underway. I urge you to participate as a complete count will benefit our community greatly. Census data is used to allocate state and federal funds. It is estimated that each individual counted may qualify our community for an additional $3,900 in annual support. In 2000, San Juan County was estimated to have one of the lowest compliance rates in the state with 38%. Our community cannot afford such a low count this time around.
Additionally, Washington State is slated to gain a seat in the US House of Representatives based on this year’s census data. The census count will determine which district gains that seat. Your participation in the count will have a direct impact on that decision.
Forms are being hand delivered by census enumerators beginning March 2. If you are not home, the forms will be left on your door. If for some reason you do not receive a form, copies will be available at the public library. Please make the effort to complete the census. You count!
Hilary Canty
Olga, WA
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March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Chinook School in southwestern Washington
As I drove past Chinook Elementary School in southwestern Washington State last weekend, I suddenly remembered the wet night that my gentle Dad burst angrily through the front door, rain dripping from his 1950s hat.
“What’s the matter Dad?” My college-age brother asked.
“That darn car was stuck in first gear all the way from Tacoma to Seattle!” he said. This was before I learned to drive, and didn’t understand how being forced to go a maximum of 15 miles an hour was such a handicap. He got home safely, didn’t he? Our 1956 two-tone Chevy, with the doors on the driver’s side held shut with wire, hadn’t quit on him, it just slowed him down on his way home from a job.
Dad was frequently unemployed in those days, and having a job – or a car – at all was the big deal, not how fast it went or how good it looked.
I imagined similar thoughts were put before the people of Chinook some years ago, while the school was still populated with elementary students. And it seems as if similar thoughts are concerning people on Orcas Island who are faced with a sizable school district bond.
People say we should only repair what’s broken: the plumbing in the elementary school, the heating that wastes tens of thousands of dollars each year, things like that. We shouldn’t expand at all with new buildings, they say.
That would be like replacing the ‘56 Chevy’s doors (at sizeable cost) without addressing the larger transmission issue; it would mean spending thousands of dollars on a “fix” rather than $30 a month for a decade to drive a car that is more fuel-efficient, more road-worthy, and more of a “tool” to enable my Dad to work.
Most of the “new” construction is actually replacement construction for school buildings that engineers have told us need to be upgraded for safety reasons; the new construction is also to provide a building for the vocational (Career and Technical) education, or CTE, classes that prepare our students for careers in the growing fields of applied physics, computer technology, marine technology, agricultural, construction and carpentry trades.
Maintenance of the school buildings is an issue. And maybe my Dad’s car would have run better if its previous owners had kept up oil and transmission fluid levels. But they didn’t, and in the meantime, the cost of fuel increased, the efficacy of the heating and cooling systems improved, and the regulations on pollutant emissions increased.
The School District had years of cutting maintenance expenses and deferring maintenance in order to balance the school’s general budget (in 2006, there was only $5,000 in the district’s reserve fund – it is now at $341,000, up $100,000 from last year). What this means is that the OISD Board, assisted by the Orcas Island Education Foundation (OIEF), and the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) have rebuilt the district’s financial structure responsibly and responsively.
Deferred maintenance, like a dangerously low reserve fund, will no longer be considered as a policy option by this school district board. The proposed school bond provides the capital (investment) outlay for a contractual maintenance plan as well as for energy savings and efficiency.
The bond, as currently written by OISD Board resolution, calls for the authority to request funds in two stages. This means that the Board may ask for the full amount they’re authorized to ask for in the first stage, but then they may well ask for a lesser amount in the second phase.
It’s been known to happen that capital projects come in under-budget: the replacement Tacoma Narrows Bridge was completed last year, under budget and before deadline; the oil field fires in Iraq following the first Persian Gulf War in the 1990s were extinguished far ahead of what was thought possible. Here on Orcas, we do the “impossible” rather frequently – purchasing Turtleback Mountain, outlawing jet skis and plastic bags, producing healthy reserve funds for our institutions, building outdoor stages with local effort, and operating cemetery and port districts at below the authorized tax dollars.
New construction business models have introduced the General Contractor Construction Manager (GCCM), rather than the design-bid-build process in which the lowest bidder (who may well be an off-island company) contracts for the entire job. In the GCCM method, the contractor is there throughout the building process to help mitigate issues in design.
Board President Scott Lancaster has been researching the GCCM model for the last five years. The Board hopes to write into the contract that local contractors have priority consideration, if not for the General Contractor position, but also for the sub-contracting jobs that the bond pays for. This is why the bond has been described as a “Local Stimulus” investment that will employ islanders.
And for those over age 61 and those disabled who will “never” see an increase in their income, if that income is below $35,000, our County’s Treasury provides that their property value will be “frozen” and they can be exempted from paying any of a new bond amount. (See accompanying story “Low-income Seniors and Disabled Qualify for Bond ‘Tax’ Exemption”).
Did you know that the kids at school are building new cars? Julian Glasser, class of ’09, retrofitted an engine to use biodiesel fuel. This year, another senior is working to re-define the car as our primary mode of transportation.
This week, Kari Schuh, the Career and Technical Education Director, and Superintendent Barbara Kline are meeting with State school officials to discuss local “satellites” of vocational instruction centers. Maybe within our lifetime, Orcas students will “invent” a new mode of transportation that ends our dependence on foreign oil and high prices at the gasoline pump, much as Lakeside School students Paul Allen and Bill Gates, Jr. built a new information communications system in the last generation.
That will never happen, you say? I remember my Dad saying, “I’ll never have a car that works,” and my Mom replying, “Never is a long, long, time.”
My Mom also went to work the following year, and two years later, bought one of those weird little Volkswagen “Bugs” – on time. She considered it an investment in her livelihood, and in our future.
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March 9th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Senator Kevin Ranker has sponsored bills that will better manage and protect the health of Puget Sound, straits and coast and the communities that depend upon them. The two measures, Senate Bill 6350 and Senate Bill 6557 garnered bipartisan support in the State House on March 4 and will now return to the Senate for concurrence.
Senate Bill 6350 will limit user conflicts between the increasing number of existing and new uses being proposed in our states marine waters. SB 6557 will help limit the amount of environmentally harmful copper, which ends up in Puget Sound, straits and coast waters through dissolving brake pads.
“The Sound and our beautiful coastal waters are so critical to everyone in this state. We must do everything in our power to protect the precious environmental and economic resources,” said Ranker, the prime sponsor of both measures. “These bills will go a long way toward keeping our waters clean and their usage fair, and I appreciate the strong support in the House, particularly from my seatmate, Representative Jeff Morris,”
Marine spatial planning will limit conflicts between critical existing uses such as fishing, shellfish aquaculture, shipping and recreation while promoting renewable resources such as wave, tidal and other energy facilities. SB 6350 received a 64-34 vote in the House.
“In order to maximize the benefits our Sound and ocean provide – both ecologically and economically – we urgently need a comprehensive process to rationally guide the multiple management objectives,” Ranker said. Close to seven million metric tons of dissolved copper enter the Sound and ocean every year — half of which originates from brake pads. Copper causes significant harm to salmon and other marine species.
SB 6557, which passed through the House with a vote of 86-12, requires brake pads be made of substances less detrimental to the environment. “We’ve found that the copper powder that comes off brake pads is a significant contributor to polluting the marine environment,” Ranker said. “Together with the auto industry, we are fixing the problem by developing a solution to keep motorists safe while protecting our waterways.”
David Dicks, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership said “The best way to control pollution in Puget Sound and all of Washington’s waters is to stop it at the source.The elimination of copper brake pads is one way to reduce a significant source of highly toxic material in our aquatic environment. The passage of this legislation ensures that any new products must be safe for drivers and safer for the environment.”
Both bills now head back to the Senate for concurrence on amendments, and must be finalized by March 11.
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March 8th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Contributed by the SeaDoc Society
Harbor seal populations have exploded nearly tenfold in the Salish Sea since the 1970s, while at the same time many rockfish species have plummeted. Some fishermen blame that on the increase in hungry seals. But coincidence is not science. So who ya gonna call?
SeaDoc-funded scientists rolled up their sleeves and collected almost 1,000 samples of seal scat in the San Juan Islands. Detailed analysis of these samples revealed that herring make up nearly 60% of these harbor seals’ diets, with their next favorite meals being salmon, pollock and cod-like fish. The seal’s total menu, though, was surprisingly diverse, with seals chowing down on at least 35 species of fish! Still, through the entire first year of the study, less than 3% of samples contained rockfish bones. Case closed? Not so fast…
In the second year, 12% of the samples contained rockfish remains, particularly in the winter when there are fewer salmon locally. With all the seals in the Salish Sea, those numbers could impact rockfish recovery. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should start controlling seal populations: this study showed seals also have a taste for dogfish, another major fish predator. So fewer seals could mean more dogfish. The real answer is to remember that all parts of our ecosystem are tightly intertwined. Rockfish recovery depends upon ecosystem recovery, including salmon recovery, herring recovery and so on around the Sea.
To learn more, visit www.seadocsociety.org
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March 8th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Iris Parker Pavitt in Aspen's Garden at the Orcas High School
Updated March 8 at 7 a.m.
The energy of youth continues to work to make the world a better place. One quiet but constant example is Iris Parker Pavitt.
Iris, an Orcas High School junior, is the President of the Orcas High School Environmental Club.
Since taking over leadership of the Club, which meets Mondays after school and consists of about a dozen members, the club is at the forefront of recycling reminders, especially to the school population. It is also, like most clubs, heavily involved in fundraising. This year, its goal is to help finance a trip the club will be making to the Hanford Nuclear Facility.
With snow forecast this week, one Environmental Club fund-raiser may pay out soon – forecasting the date on which it snows in Eastsound. This contest is a collaboration with Chimayo Restaurant; contestants pay a $2 entry fee to pick a day on which it snows. That date is then marked on the calendar at the restaurant. The closest date wins lunch for two at Chimayo. The contest will run through next winter, and Iris points out that the closest date wins, so a winner is guaranteed.
The Club also is making a video for entry into “America’s Greenest Schools.” The video shows club members planting trees in front of the elementary school last fll, Interviews with school bus drivers, and school administrators, discussing the possibility of a roof garden at school, and the expansion of the gardens and greenhouse, will also be included in the video. The winner of the national contest will receive a hybrid school bus, a “Green School Makeover” (valued at $20,000) and $500 for school supplies.
In addition to her duties as President of the Environmental Club, Iris works at the Public Library for school credit – which is “dangerous,” the book lover says, because she checks out at least three books every day she works. Iris has also participated in the Farm Education and Sustainability for Teens (FEAST) program, interned at the Historical Museum, and serves as editor for the High School Key Club, a service organization under the auspices of the Kiwanis Club. She also serves on the Farm-to-Cafeteria Board.
This week, the Environmental Club plans two community-wide events. The first is another Dodge Ball Tournament on Friday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the High School Gym. For $2 entry team, anyone can join a team to plan in the tournament. A “St. Patrick’s Day” theme will be part of the event. Several Dodge Ball Tournaments have been held this year, and this may be the last, Iris says.
The next day, Saturday, March 13, all are invited to help with a garden work party of “Aspen’s Garden” in front of the High School. The clean-up will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The garden was installed in memory of Aspen O’Donnell, an 18-year-old Orcas High School student who passed away due to illness in 1997.
Last year, Juliana Bates planted a herb garden and repaired the fence and gate at Aspen’s Garden as part of her Senior Project. The Environmental Club will purchase plants from the Farm-to-Cafeteria plant sale for the work party. Snacks will be provided.
Club Advisor Gregory Books, High School science teacher, is trying to work around a regulation for the Hanford Site Tour, which the club hopes to visit in early June: tour visitors must be 18 years old or above.
If that doesn’t happen, Iris says the Club may go camping at a State Park. “Whatever we do, it will be fun,” she says.
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March 7th, 2010, by Margie Doyle
Two important pieces of legislation sponsored by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-San Juan Island, cleared the House on March 3 with near unanimous bi-partisan support. S Senate Bill 6346 offers residents of San Juan county alternative transportation options, while Senate Bill 6349establishes a farm internship program for smaller farms throughout the state. “With significant help from farmers and labor we were able to create a pilot that will help us ensure we preserve family farms in to the future,” Ranker said
Ranker believes farm internships are a way to inject youth into a pivotal, but aging sector of the state’s economy.
“The average age of a farmer in Washington is 57 years old,” he said. “If we’re serious about promoting agriculture in Washington, we’re going to have to encourage younger people to get into the farms and get their hands dirty.”
In order to qualify for the program, farmers with gross annual sales of less than $250,000 must submit a written application to L&I for certification and include the nature of work and how it will provide the intern with vocational knowledge and skills. SB 6346 passed 95-2.
SB 6346 allows residents of San Juan county to operate neighborhood electronic vehicles (NEVs) and medium-speed electronic vehicles (MEVs) on city streets and county roads that are not state routes if the road has a speed limit of 45 mph or less. State law previously would not permit these vehicles on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less. The bill passed 92-5. Both bills were amended in the House and as a result will return to the Senate for concurrence prior to arriving on the Governor’s desk.
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